Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"In 1 word: epic." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Really happy with this trip! Maruska did a great job assisting with the trip and was also very helpful when our luggage did not arrive.

On this note, the service and help from the local agents was also exemplary in getting us reunited with our luggage. We had great experiences everywhere we went. Driving was a breeze. A few rough roads, mostly Solitaire to Walvis Bay but otherwise the roads are fine.

On a personal note for me I would have rather spent an extra day driving the coast and one less day at Camp Kipwe but that is not meant as knock on Camp Kipwe. I am just quite fascinated by the coastal area.

All in all, we are very happy with the trip Maruska provided for us and the great service we received! We would do it all again in a heartbeat!

Keep doing what you're doing!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Amazing trip and very well organised by Tom Morris of Expert Africa.

Having been to Namibia before, and knowing roughly what we wanted to do, we set out to book the trip directly ourselves, but after discussion with Tom he came up with quite a number of options / lodges that we hadn't considered or been aware of.

After putting together a suggested itinerary it was clear that it was easier, and just as economic, to let Expert Africa organise all the accommodation. With map, guidebook and detailed intinerary and directions everything was made easy for travelling almost 4000km round Namibia over 3 1/2 weeks.

Overall a fantastic trip with great places to stay and visit.

Keep up the good knowledge of the country and its ever changing accommodation." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 23 on a Namibia trip

"I loved my trip. It really was the journey of a lifetime. It helped me a great deal to have the advice and support of Tom at Expert Africa in planning my trip, which was a fairly complex process as I was combining work and leisure for some of the time. Everything went smoothly and to schedule and I had no problems, which was amazing considering that I was away five weeks (everything except a cancelled flight home, but the airline dealt with that).


The places I stayed were well chosen and I enjoyed them all in different ways. I especially loved Fish River Lodge and the canyon there. I was lucky enough to meet the owners and to talk with them about their interesting plans to extend their conservation work in the area.


The only aspect of my journey that was different to what I expected and a bit more challenging was the driving. I did not have any problems, although I covered about 1,500 miles driving solo, but it is not easy driving on dirt roads (they are described as gravel roads but this is not really accurate). The car hire company and the Bradt guide recommend not driving above 70kph on dirt roads but that is not practicable over long distances and I think this advice should be revised. Nobody else was travelling at those speeds. If I had driven that slowly on certain days a 5-hour journey would have turned into an 8-hour journey, which presents a different kind of risk. I would recommend driving at the national speed limit, which is what I did, meaning that I was driving safely at 80-90 kph on those dirt roads. I think a frank discussion of what driving in Namibia realistically entails would have been useful, but this is a minor point!

Namibia is a beautiful country, for me part of its attraction is its remoteness and the opportunity to be alone in open spaces, but I also had encounters with Namibians of many different backgrounds, all of which were positive and interesting. I have brought home many happy memories and would love to return one day. Thank you, Tom, for making it happen." Read full review: 35 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"The trip as a whole was very nice.

The only problem was having a bat in our room while we were sleeping for 2 nights in Okakuajo and one night in Kalahari Red Dunes. But that isnt Expert Africa's fault!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"This was an amazing trip and covered areas of Namibia that we had not been to before. It involved long days driving which we were aware of and was part of the adventure. As this was our fourth visit to Namibia we knew the places we wanted to get to and also the majority of the lodges we wanted to stay and it didn't disappoint. All of the Gondwana properties were excellent and set the standard for accommodation in Namibia." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Great trip, especially suited to Africa novices like us.

Namibia has three really world class sights - Etosha, Sossusvlei and Fish Canyon. Luderitz, Swakopmund and Tweifelfontein interesting. Food and accommodation generally very good.
Only disappointment was the Skeleton Coast - one of the most boring drives I have ever made.

The main drawback of Namibia as a whole is the amount of driving involved, especially since the car rental firm imposes (maybe sensibly) a limit of 70km/h on gravel.

We covered 5000km and after all this time in the car, the last long stretch from Fish Canyon to Windhoek seemed an eternity...

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only suggestion would be to let people know about the time spent driving. We found that on gravel roads, with the car rental company's speed limits and our own stops, we took 50% longer than Google thought we should. This made for a couple of very long days.

Not sure we would have changed our itinerary but if we had been aware earlier it might have made the hours in the car less of a downer. You should also advise people to get a phone app like Spotify and download a LOT of music on it to be played over Bluetooth." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Overall the trip had many surprises, and thankfully they were almost all positive!

The people we met were all enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable. Several went out of their way to help us. We did not meet anyone who was antagonistic.

The accommodation was better than we were expecting. We found all the small lodges to be exceptional and very well appointed. The individual accommodation was always superb. As a retired geologist I found Mowani's great granite boulders to be inspiring.

There was a lot of travelling and some of the roads were a bit rough but our Toyota dealt with them easily and never let us down. On one occasion when we got stuck in deep soft sand it's four wheel drive got us out with aplomb!

We had gone to Namibia to see the scenery and animals and neither let us down. I will never forget the elephants of Etosha and Damaraland. The sand dunes of the Namib are unforgettable.

This was the best holiday we have ever had. Thankyou!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We would not have changed any of our accommodation, each lodge was perfect in its own way. Despite some misunderstandings in the planning process we were very happy with our trip which was quite memorable.

If we were booking this trip again we would allow at least three extra days and limit driving to about 4 hours so that we arrived by the early afternoon to allow time time to relax and enjoy the lodges facilities..

One night half way between Eningy Clay House and Hoodia Desert Lodge to break the journey. It took 7 and a half hours for this journey using the scenic route.

An extra night in Swakophund

An additional night in Okonjima, probably in the bush camp.

Ideally we would book earlier to ensure accommodation availability." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"This is my second time travelling with Expert Africa and I have recommended you to a number of friends and colleagues since my first trip in 2016 and again since returning from Namibia last week.

Everything was just wonderful and people were so welcoming. I appreciated the varied landscapes, accommodations and experiences. We had such a variety and number of animal sightings - over 800 zebra in total, for example, and a mother cheetah with four cubs (a first for me). The 11 black rhino in one evening at the Okaukuejo waterhole was an experience I will remember forever. Despite the challenging roads in places, travelling around Namibia did not feel difficult, but a privilege.

I also appreciated the detailed notes about driving times and roads to take (though a couple of our driving times didn't seem to align with the notes for some reason). It might be worth noting too that the distance given to Desert Homestead from the last turn was off by several kilometres. The road from Solitaire to Walvis Bay was quite challenging; I wonder if it might be worth noting this in the notes for future travellers?

We would be happy to share details of two places we had a great lunch that don't appear in the Bradt guide (in Uis and Otjiwarongo) if it's helpful to add there or to the notes for future travellers. Cactus and Coffee in Uis and Bohemia Cafe in Otjiwarongo.

Thank you for another fantastic trip!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

keep up the good work! You stand out." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip