Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"we thank expert africa and specialy Sabina for the professional assistance and organisation. Thanks to your suggestions we had a perfect and very well planned voyage. We will use expert africa for our next trip (we hope to go to zambia or tanzania....)

Thank you." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Expert Africa were highly efficent with great advice prior to us booking out trip and were excellent when we left our documents in Windhoek and faxed a copy for us to continue our trip.Thank you we would recommend you to all our friends considering a trip to Africa.

The lodges we chose we fantastic with excellent and knowledgable staff and guides, as it was low season we often went out on our own and had personnal service which was a bonus.

We had a trip of a lifetime and look forward to another trip to Africa in 2011" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip despite a few blips, none of which were down to Expert Africa and we have recommended your services very highly to fellow travellers of all nationalities. In most of the camps visited it was lovely that they had taken note of your having informed all camps of the celebratory nature of our trip.

Bearing in mind the importance of transport to travellers in Namibia notice should be taken of our comments re Budget as one of the greatest worries on a trip of this nature is the comfort and reliability of your vehicle.

Namibia remains one of favourite destinations and we shall visit again. This is a wonderful country, totally different to all the others we have visited both in scale and emphasis and the people are wonderfully friendly and genuinely hospitable. We were met with true kindness and enthusiasm including when we travelled a scenic D route ( D2319 on our way to Uis), very much off the beaten track and were met by a steep bank and water filled river. On getting out of the vehicle to determine the water depth and whether we should proceed we were suddenly surrounded by a group of young boys herding cattle upstream who encouraged us to proceed, promising that they would push us out if needs be. It cost us all our biscuits, a little bit of money and lots of laughs. This was typical of our welcome everywhere we travelled.

This was our second trip, but was even more enjoyable as we had decided to take more time to enjoy this wonderful country. The scenery, the scale and the people make this an unparalled destination.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Thank you as always. You make planning the holidays a pleasure and think of absolutely everything even before we do. We know we can follow your recommendations with complete confidence and recommend you to others withour reservation." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We had sought to cover more than most in a 16 day trip, and the combination of road & flights worked really well, so thank you Maruska for putting together such a workable itinerary. It helped that A loves driving and so was more than happy to cover 450km in a day when needed - and the roads were quite okay. Worst bit was a patch on the C12 to Fish River canyon (very bumpy) but other than that we had some fantastic drives, particularly the C13 from Fish River canyon up to Aus - stunning!

Our route was Windhoek-Bagatelle-Fish River Canyon-Aus-Luderitz-Wolwedans-Little Kulala (by car) and then Doro Nawas-Ongava Lodge-Windhoek by plane. It was a throughly enjoyable mixture of hikes, wildlife, dunes, scenic drives and flights. We consider ourselves immensely privileged to have seen Namibia's nature when it wished to reveal itself - be it lion cub, hyena, scorpion, desert elephant, rainbow, lightening... fabulous!

Suggestions for improvements:

Only thing I would have appreciated was a simple guide to birds & wildlife - just a basic booklet of the most likely suspects. I picked up a check-list (no pictures) at Little Kulala, and bought the Etosha guide booklet - but that was our last stop so it was tricky remembering what we'd seen. Couldn't find anything suitable in any of the lodge shops en route and didn't want or need individual books on birds, mammals, reptiles etc" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Officialdom
With one exception, officialdom was always courteous and polite, if often annoyingly slow.

At the vet fence north of Sehitwa in Botswana, we pulled slowly up to the white stop line on the road in front of the barrier as there were no vehicles in front. A policeman appeared and without explanation demanded a "fine" of 200 pula. He said we should have stopped at a stop sign which was propped up on bricks just a few feet earlier. After a polite stand-off, we left without paying. On discussing this incident at our next lodge, we were told that whilst on the spot fines are legal in Botswana, the amount demanded had been irregular. The consensus of opinion was that this had been a try on.

Suggestions for improvements:

We have been very satisfied, hence our repeat business. Off the cuff, we haven't any suggestions.

Overall
There were occasions when a 4WD vehicle could have been useful (but we don't know the cost).
This was our annual treatment for the 'Africa virus' and it worked very well (actually our eleventh trip to sub-Sahara Africa). Where next?" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"One of the best holiday we ever had!

Suggestions for improvements:

Can't really think of anything to be honest...." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip in a really attractive country with so many different types of scenery and a good mix of observing and physical activity.

The accommodation was of a uniformly high standard while allowing for a variety of styles. Food varied from the excellent, through the generally very good, to the indifferent, although this latter was unusual. The outings were well organised and enjoyable.

With the exception of some initial problems with car hire, all arrangements made by Expert Africa were faultless and the local knowledge they have and their advice on how to structure the trip were invaluable. We were very impressed with all aspects of the arrangements and have already recommended Expert Africa to others. We all hope to return to this fascinating country at some point.

In retrospect, there are a few changes which we would have made to the itinerary. While it appeared to be a good idea to have two nights in Swakopmund as we had a long drive on either side of our stay there, the driving conditions were less arduous than anticipated, and the charms of the town such that one night would have sufficed. The Tug restaurant is a must while in the town, though.

Although the Olive Grove guest house is perfectly reasonable, the change to spending a night in a town/small city after weeks out in the country was a bit of an anti-climax at the end of the trip. Windhoek seemed altogether more enclosed and oppressive than the smaller Swakopmund. The time to reach the airport from the excellent Erongo Wilderness Lodge was such that it would not have been problematic to go directly there from the lodge and miss out Windhoek. Alternatively, a night at one of the rural lodges to the south west of the town might be a more pleasant option.

Finally, the choice of a clock-wise route round the country was well chosen. To face days of travel on the gravel roads of the west after their relative absence in the east might have been a bit of a surprise and the varying landscapes of the country somehow seem to lend themselves to this direction.

Well done, Expert Africa! Oh, and Chris McIntyre's guide book was one of the best we have come across!

Suggestions for improvements:

Keep doing what you do now!!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We have recommended you to all our friends and look forward ourselves to travelling to Africa again with Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service

Your literature advised us to be very careful with certain issues and in particular with the car hire. Contiue to be open and honest and you will comtinue to thrive." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Our self-drive loop tour thru Namibia was excellent, and it was extremely helpful to have the help of someone as knowledgeable as Tracy in planning it.

That said, in retrospect I would tweak the itinerary just a bit.

Our stays (after Windhoek) were as follows:

1. Bagatelle Game Ranch, 2 nights. Two nights is too many here, even if the Dune Chalets had been available (and they were not). I think we should have gone straight from Windhoek to #2.

2. Bullsport Guest Farm, 2 nights. I believe this would have been a longer drive from Windhoek (I don't know the road condidtions, of course), but it would have been a nice place to spend three nights.

3. Kulala Desert Lodge, 2 nights. Perfect length of stay, and a visit to the dunes is a must in a Namibia trip, IMO.

4. Swakopmund; Villa Margherita, 2 nights. Nice hotel, but one night would have sufficed.

5. Doro Nawas, 2 nights. Driving to see desert-adapted elephants was excellent. 2 nights is perfect.

6. Ongava Lodge, 1 night. Two nights would have been better, with the full day spent exploring the west/central portion of Etosha.

7. Etosha Aoba Lodge, 1 night. We arrived here rather late, after a full day driving thru Etosha. Nice, basic accomodation with good food. From here we went early in the morning to explore the eastern part of Etosha, and early afternoon arrived at:

8. The Fort at Fisher's Pan. We had been waitlisted for a second night at Etosha Aoba, but after seeing The Fort's brochure, we decided to stay here instead. Over the top, ridiculous, NOT environmentally friendly. But a lovely view. I would not have enjoyed an extended stay here.
(If we had stayed two nights at Ongava, we might have been able to spend just one night on the eastern side of the park, with the exploration of the eastern side of Etosha being done the day we left Ongava.)

9. Okonjima Main Camp, 1 night. This was such a lovely spot to relax, birdwatch, walk (and view cats!), 2 nights would have been nice.

10. Erongo Wilderness Lodge. This is a great place for walkers, a two night stay is a minimum. But if you're not a walker, there is probably little here for you (except for excellent food!).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would recommend Expert Africa to anyone planning a trip to Africa!

Despite my comments on how I might have changed the itinerary, this trip was nigh unto perfect. Omitting Bagatelle and the second night in Swakop are the only major things I would have done differently (with benefit of hindsight), and I suspect that Tracy knew what she was doing when she planned it the way she did.

My detailed comments above are more for Tracy than the general public, though you are free to share them if you feel it would be appropriate.

Thank you, Tracy, for a wonderful trip!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We have discussed this on our way home and are quite happy to say this is the best Holiday we have ever had. Fantastic country, great people, great food in general and the experience of getting us close to some big animals was wonderful.

We did not really know what to expect but this surpassed any thoughts that we did have, so much so that we have decided we will return at some point!

It also has to be said that the expertise of Expert Africa has truly impressed us even down to this feedback process!!!

Suggestions for improvement:

Difficult really. Perhaps you could do a short survey prior to planning trips to ascertain interest of the group which might help you steer the plan towards certain camps and locations....having seen the facilities in Etosha itself, as a keen photographer I would have rather stayed in the park in preference to the Aobi and Fort Lodges...." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip