Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"All worked out very well. Toyota Corolla was perfectly adequate, the two passes have new surfaces so no trouble,most dirt roads very good but two sections on Klein Aus to Sesriem corrugated.

Discovered at Solitaire we had lost our oil filler cap but mechanic fixed a temporary repair which lasted for the remaining 2500km.

Disappointed the Budget office in Walvis Bay shut since wanted to talk about the cap.

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Thought Angela was brilliant,very helpful and quick to reply." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We had this trip on our bucket list for some time, i.e., visiting the Caprivi (Namibia) and getting into Botswana through the Okavango Panhandle and then transverse Moremi and Chobe all the way by 4WD (the rough way). Roughly 4530Km in 18 days.

The Caprivi is definitely a totally different part of Namibia - landscape, people, flora and fauna - you feel immersed in real Africa. The Nkasa-Lupala National Park (alias Mamili NP) is indeed a true hidden gem, where you can experience dry and wet ecosystems /environments. However game is (still) not so abundant as in the Okavango /Moremi.

The Panhandle was marvelous. We had the Okavango for ourselves. Boat trips into the channels are mandatory and they will not disappoint . The birding is superb.

Crossing Moremi into Chobe Savuti and Chobe river front was a trip within a trip in itself. What an experience. It just enriched us as kin travelers to Africa. S19º13'22,0'' E23º23'20,7´´ was the place where we got stuck with our 4WD. No matter how prepared we feel we are, how careful we can be, in Africa, the unexpected can really happen and for that one should be minimally prepared.This comes with proper advise and planning - Expert Africa has done it again, phenomenally - thank you." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was superb.

We are very happy with your recommendations, with your help and with the whole planning of the holiday.

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Would be nice to indicate people traveling around Namibia in a self-driving trip the distances between locations.

We knew that and for us it was OK, but I think that for some elder drivers some of the distances between one hotel to the next can be fairly long." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip and including the highlights we had it was even better than expected.

We always want to come back and see more of this vast and arid contry.

There are some regions left that we not have been, so until next time, cheers!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This was a comprehensive trip of almost a month, travelling in an anti-clockwise 'circle' ranging from Etosha in the north to Luderitz in the south.

We love this laid-back, spectacular country and the freedom that self-driving gives. It has to be one of the safest countries there is and we always felt completely comfortable. Apply normal common sense and visitors of any age can enjoy a wonderful adventure. In tourist terms everything is small scale and personal, even the most famous attractions attract very few people. Hugely enjoyable." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"A big thank you to all at Expert Africa especially Sabina , we had such a wonderful time from the beginning to the end , every aspect was memorable to us all . We packed so much in , met so many lovely Namibians loved the utterly stunning dramatic scenery we drove through and were at times overwhelmed by the solitude that we experienced together as a family . We feel very fortunate to have been able see some of this very special unspoilt country it's people and it's beautiful wildlife .

I could go on ... we took over 5000 photographs !! I hope for my children the experience has been a wonderful introduction to Africa .
Best Wishes
Fiona Howard" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was as a whole was excellent. The Namibian 2 weeks went much more smoothly than I personally had anticipated for an African self-drive holiday. We booked 18 months in advance, so with Sabina's guidance were able to pick the lodges which seemed to suit us best, and we knew ahead of the trip which were likely to be the best and worst. Sabina put up with a massive number of email questions over the preceding year, and I can only congratulate her on staying cool, calm and collected, and answering my constant questions accurately, in detail, and with good humour!

We relied on Chris McIntyre's Bradt Guide to Namibia as our 'Bible' during our 2 weeks. It is packed with almost all the detailed information that anyone could want to know about everywhere in Namibia, with very few updates needed. We only had to pay National Park fees for Etosha, not for the Namib Naukluft Park nor the Skeleton Coast Park. We also didn't have to pay taxes for entry to & departure from Mozambique! The information given re the left luggage facility at JHB OR airport was incorrect. They charge ZAR70 per case per day, and have apparently never ever accepted credit cards. Fortunately we had ZAR980 in cash that this cost us.

Being in an air-conditioned car in Namibia we didn't need to drink anything like the recommended quantity of water, and found the garages we filled up at usually had enough food/sandwiches to keep us going, so we didn't buy extra food.

We did have a hick-up on flights a week before we left UK, but Chris and Sabina managed to fix this to our advantage!

We were delighted that we had gone clockwise round Namibia, ending up with the highlights of Etosha and the Africat Foundation at the end. We met a number of couples who had gone round anti-clockwise, and were disappointed by the relative lack of game after they left Etosha.

Our week in Bazaruto could have been marred as all the other couples at Bazaruto Lodge on our arrival left after 2 days, and the whole hotel was taken over by 64 S. African marlin fisherman for their 21st annual Marlin Fishing competition! However when we booked they hadn't, but as they have used the same hotel at the same time of year for the last 20 years Expert Africa should have been warned beforehand by the Pestano Group Central Reservations team. The Manager,Tony, was quite embarrassed, but it didn't spoil our stay there. What was disappointing was the cloud cover and rain, which almost ruled out snorkelling - our main reason for going there!" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Thank you Maruska for organising this trip for us. We had planned to join an organised bus tour but the one we wanted was full. Thank goodness it was. You told us that driving ourselves was ok and you were right. We would have been very frustrated on a bus tour. We like to do our own thing and sit and watch the scenery and chat to the locals.

We did not lose our baggage at Johannesburg airport. We booked it all the way through. Very pleased to see it arrive with us in Windhoek and Newcastle.

We met many people who had not gone to Fish River or Luderitz. We were really glad to have gone there. Not many people at Fish River and we enjoyed Luderitz very much. You warned us in the book about driving to Luderitz- the sand and wind- but we found it much worse appropaching Walvis Bay- I suppose it depends on the weather on the day.

We did not feel we had time to arrange a trip to the ghost town of Kolmanskop so we dropped in there on the way east to have a look from the gates. We had been told we needed to book in advance in Luderitz but the man on the gate sold us a ticket so we went in. So it's worth trying that, or maybe they have changed the rules. We did not join a group but wandered around ourselves.

We were pleased to have a 4WD. We attempted more because of that eg tracks down to the coves on the Luderitz peninsula and certainly we would not have got up back up one of them withpout it! I did worry about having a puncture in the middle of nowhere but we did not have any. But drivers seem very helpful- we stopped when we saw someone else at the side of the road and hopefully we would also have had offers of help.

We went up the Cape Cross to see the seals after leaving Swakopmund. That was certainly worhwhile.

We would thoroughly recommend the trip to see the Desert Elephants in Damaraland. We visited the other places there by ourselves. We also visited Sossusvlei ourselves from Kalala. The drive up the entrance was not too bad and the road was empty. We spent all day out and visited the Sesriem Canyon on the way out.

All the hotels/ guest houses were excellent. We thought the standard of service was superb.

Thank you again for your help and advice. I will certainly recommend Expert Africa to my friends. We would love to go back to Namibia; it is such a big country and we felt we just scratched the surface. We want to go to Botswana too so I suspect we will be back to talk to you!

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Can't think of anything.

Being open at 10 pm UK time ( in NZ) was very useful to us!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Hard work. Not as rewarding as our first trip to Namibia but still fun.

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Advice on where to buy pulas was not good. Windhoek airport does not stock pulas in any of the three exchanges. Bank in Namibia (4 tried) also don't sell pulas. Finally bought them in Botswana at Barclays. Other point is that Windhoek airport exhanges do not take travellers cheques." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a special country in so many ways. The people are warm and welcoming, obviously proud of their country (and rightly so) and in touch with the environment in a way you don't see very often.

There is so much space, game, sun, fun, it would be easy to write a book about it!

It will be hard to better this holiday.

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Just keep on doing the same excellent job. You made our trip special." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip