Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"It turned out that Maduska very very knowledgeable about Namibia and basically did a great job in organizing our trip.

My only complian is that we had to drive about 450 klms on the last drive to get from sossusvlei Lodge to Engingu Guest lodge and I was cursing the last 100 klms. Fortunately the place was quite magical and made it worth it, but the drive was very long for 2 60 + folk

We have traveled extensively and found that Namibia is unexpectedly a wonderful gem............I am truly sorry to not have spent more time there" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Namibia trip

"Apart from the route between Doro Nawas and Hobatere, and our last full day, the information and advice was thorough and very useful.

I think the instructions need to more consistent i.e. if comments are made about some bad roads, then ALL bad roads in the itinerary should be mentioned. Time or distance from the main road to the actual camps would be very useful.

We are not used to package holidays and it is easy to be complacent and think everything has been arranged in advance, all the maps perfect etc when using someone else.! I would have phoned ahead to all the places first to let them know when to expect us and check on directions. I am not sure what would have happened if we had a problem on route and not arrived which left me somewhat anxious especially as the phone did not always connect.

I bought a Namibian phone card which was good value - nb all internal text messages are free - you just pay for the calls.

The Bradt guide book was excellent - we almost left it behind and would have been stuck without it. We met other people using it.

The guide book had a few corrections to be made :

1) no walking tours included at Doro Nawas
2) Otavi - Rugger club was clearly not serving any meals
3) the Meteor Hotel in Otavi is called the Travel Inn on the main road so easy to miss it. A good recommendation and we had tasty pizzas.
4) In Etosha you talk about parking uder a tree in midday but we saw no trees where this can be done - suggest you delete this in next editions.
5) No garden centre restaurant in Okandja
6) Rhinos in Okandja was a simple restaurant run by a friendly family from Madeira and a good stop for a quick lunch.
7) In Okandja one lot of stalls has been burt down recently - only one lot of stalls now at the far end of the town.
8) Uis - beware of people selling crystals quite aggressively at the petrol station
9) If you want to go to the Tug Restaurant at Swakopmund you need to book it well in advance. In the end we got a late cancellation. Considered a touristy place by the locals but quite fun!
10) No ATMs in the Etosha Park - would have been useful to know this.
11) Petrol pump at Windhoek airport is not for the public. Only certain car hire companies can use it - Budget is one of them. Might be a good idea to fill up in Windhoek first to play safe.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We felt that driving times as described were not always realistic for a small car. As mentioned before, it would be useful to know in advance how long it takes to drive up the private roads or how long they are. 5 or 7 kms is a long way when you think you have arrived!

We are not convinced that Doro Nawas was the best stop for 2 nights and that we could have spent the time doing something else more interesting such as visiting the cheetah or lion conservancies.

Rating the accommodation is difficult as a tent cannot be called excellent and there fore I have given a consistent good throughout the form. ~They were all spacious and airy with comfortable beds." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is a unique destination, which still ticks all the boxes for us, even after 10 years of annual visits!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Overall our trip was marred by the fact that we had an ordinary car. This was totally unsuitable. You have already received comments on the especially bad roads. This made travelling stressful, uncomfortable and tiring. We would often only reach our destination at dusk as we had to travel so slowly.We could not enjoy the journey or stop because of the stress of the hours of daylight left to get to our destination. Once at our destinations we were exhausted and shaken which marred our enjoyment of the lodge, location, wildlife.
Etosha, one of our planned highlights was especially disappoiting due to the fact we only had a car (see earlier comments).

We saw almost no other 2WD vehicles throughout the trip and everyone we spoke to, either locals or in the tourism business could not believe we had been advised that a car would be ok for the journey we were undertaking.

We advise that under no circumstances future guests are infomred that a 2WD vechilce is acceptable.

One final recommnendation....provide some advice on tipping and especailly advise on the car park security attendants. The first time we parked the car and saw someone coming towards us with a cosh we thought we were going to be attacked and not that he was coming to offer to look after the car.!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

see comments throughout questionnaire.

I reiterate again DO NOT recommend 2WD vehicles... the stress, discomfort, seeemingly endless punctures/tyre problems overroad any real enjoyment of the holiday." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"For me this was a long held dream which exceeded my expectations. We had been impressed by the knowledge and experience of your staff - Tracy initially and then Angela - and their willingness truly to create what we wanted raher than (as with another company we approached) tinkering slightly with a standard package.

It was only once we got there that we realised the extent to which that knowledge and experience had been used to shape our trip into something that worked well for us and gave us a much better experience than we could have put together for ourselves. The advice and guidance, with some small exceptions, covered everything we needed to know to make life easy.

The exceptions - for me they were the lack of any obvious guidance on driving on sand roads (it's in the guidebook but I didn't see that until we were stuck), the detailed instructions for finding the wrong Erongo Lodge and something on the ubiquitous car guards would have been useful. My husband would have liked advice on going faster on the gravel roads when they're in poor condition - that was the local advice we were given and it certainly made the bumpier stretches less painful.

I can see however that there are inherent dangers in that and that it is important that less skillful drivers recognise that anything over 60-80kph could have unfortunate effects.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Any omissions were very minor. I'd be happy yo use you again and have certainly been recommending you to friends." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Everything on this trip was great. We've both travelled quite a lot and we rank this trip as one of the best. We saw everything we wanted to in the time we had and it really couldn't have been improved.

Our concern before we left was that we might have chosen too many places with too much driving inbetween. As it turned out, the journeys between places were some of our best experiences. We drove 2,300 miles in total and it was a pleasure. We would love to have stayed in places longer, but the itinerary really worked well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just to try and ensure that the vegetarian information gets through to the chef! Easier said than done, I know.

I'm sure they must find it frustrating to find out they have to make something else when the guest is actually sitting at the table.
We did actually make sure we told each of the lodges when we checked in." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"I was here 12 months ago, and despite that the whole trip never once became boring even though I had visited some of the places recently. If anything, the standards of service and of cooking have improved.

Every time I visit Namibia something or someone unexpected turns up such as the sign by the side of the dirt road in the 'middle of nowhere' that said 'Take a break - Teas available round the corner'. Thus it was that we met Philip who had converted an old farmhouse into a B&B and whose place was the only building around for many a mile.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just one: please get some of the lodges to buy an astronomical telescope - they only cost about £200 for a decent one and it would allow guests to benefit from another of Namibia's assets - its night sky.

Gwynneth was absolutely wonderful in arranging this holiday. Many thanks." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We were very satisfied with the itinerary agreed with you and really couldn't have asked for more.

The accommodation was excellent and staff everywhere were friendly and helpful.

A few tips for others. Don't believe time estimates for journeys given by locals. Add about 25% to get an accurate driving time. Unless you're sticking to tarred roads, it's well worth getting at least a high clearance 2WD vehicle, such as the Nissan X-Trails. There are a lot of large and sharp stones on many of the gravel roads. These are particularly bad around Palmwag and on the approach (from the south) to Wolwedans." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Our 2010 Africa trip was the latest in a succession of memorable trips arranged by Expert Africa. Each trip has brought a new experience relived again through our films, photos and my diary. This year's highlight just had to be the bushcamp experience at Dolomite Point. I have to praise the dedication and hard work which was shown by Abel, Jeraboam, Victor andJoseph. They made a superb team. I know it was only a temporary camp and will not be repeated but it was surreal.

This year was our 9th fly-drive visit to Namibia and 2nd to the Kgalagadi. We still believe there is no better place to see wildlife than Namibia closely followed by Botswana. If there is an increase in retirement pensions in April we'll be booking another trip!!

Thank you Expert Africa. You're the best tour operator we've found - scrupulously thorough and helpful.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

How can you improve on perfection?" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Overall thr trip was excellent.

The game viewing was excellent and I would urge people to spend more than a day or two in Etosha if they really want to see the wildlife.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I have used you many times and am very happy with the service provided." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip