Reviews of safaris to Southern Namibia

"We had a lovely and memorable trip with two teenage boys. The itinerary was realistic for the time we had available and we had a great range of experiences tailored to our requests.

We have given individual feedback on lodges and experiences but overall they were of a very high standard.

Estimated timings of road transfers were reasonable although we appeared to be slow on dirt roads. Overall B and C roads were good and we never felt we needed to rush.

We went “off piste” from Mundulea to Ongava - going north to the east gate to Etosha and driving through the park rather than the suggested route on tarmac. This meant we got to Ongava around 4pm and declined a sun down drive but meant we saw the east of the park.

We visited Namibia 25 years ago with no children, the first edition of Chris’ book and no device that needed to be plugged in to USB. Despite the changes in the world since we had an equally amazing time in 2023.

This was (for us) an expensive holiday but the service we were provided was good and we had confidence we would have a great holiday. That confidence was well founded.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Wilderness Safaris did not meet us at Windhoek - another guide showed us their lounge where we invited ourselves in.

But the lounge was a godsend as Europcar tested our goodwill with unprepared hire cars on a very cold morning and when check in IT failed as we tried to depart - leading to very long queues and our Frankfurt London flight “waiting” for us.

I was a little put off by Maruska living on the other side of the world. If we went again I’d have a 30 minute call before we left the UK to check my thoughts on gas stations (much easier than 1990s) and to get some insider tips - the one disappointing experience for us was a poor sundowner drive at our last stop at Red Dunes which we should have skipped." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We had an absolutely wonderful trip! We left almost all the details to Expert Africa, and they delivered! (I usually plan all our trips myself and am admittedly very Type A, so this is high praise.) The lodges we stayed at were uniformly wonderful in terms of comfort, service, food and activities. We particularly appreciated the outstanding food at our lodges after eating at a well-rated but frankly terrible hotel restaurant in a small city while waiting for a spare tire. Expert Africa also knew which lodges we should only pay for half-board at and which lodge to pay full board at: their recommendations were exactly right. And their recommendation to stay at a premier waterhole chalet at Okaukuejo in Etosha was spot on. We also appreciated their advice to stop at the Cape Cross seal colony, which was a highlight of our trip for us and our teenagers. The one thing we would have done differently was our full-day Sandwich Harbor tour while in Swakopmund--which was nice but too much driving to see more dunes--but otherwise we would not change anything!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"EA and Maruska provided great guidance and support. Very flexible in allowing us to modify the trip to meet our expanded intentions. Great vehicle, excellent itinerary.

We were surprised at the km of unpaved road. 3000km of 4000km. All serviceable, but occasionally very rough. Fuel readily available. 4305km/12.62km/liter/N$6905/$387 We consider this a good value.

We were very fortunate in that we had no tire or vehicle issues. We thought we were well prepared for communications. To our surprise neither of our iphones with T-mobile worked. We did not want to be out on the road without a phone to call for assistance, so we bought a che ap phone and 100 minutes of time. In the end we didn't need it but would not undertake the drive without a phone. Suggest you offer a phone as part of the package.

2nd- offer a basic sat based GPS system. Map is very good and easy to use, but a GPS allows better definition as to location, time and distance. We brought a basic Garmin GPS with southern Africa maps and it was indispensable.

In summation this was an adventure of a lifetime and EA made it possible." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"It has been a stunning trip. Perfect weather ( winter time ). Very few visitors at this time of year and most outings we did, organised by the accommodations with private guides to track the animals, were for the two of us! Brilliant!

Being an independent traveller for many decades, I have always planned and organized myself my trips all over the world. I must say I do not regret a second having asked for Expert Africa's help in finding and booking all the different accommodations for so many nights,i.e. 21 nights, because it would have been very difficult in coordinating the schedule of the trip...I do not want to imagine the implementation of the international transfers after the problem I met with the bank of Expert Africa, located in London!

Tom Morris has been from beginning to end a highly knowledgeable and professional advisor. His choice of accommodation was excellent and in congruence with my budget. The standard of accommodation in Namibia ( even in "modest" places like Okaukuejo ) is excellent, beyond expectation. Of course I would not have minded putting up at luxurious lodges every night !!!
Through Expert Africa, we rented a car for our self drive trip. When we met with a problem with Europcar ( picking up a car with a small damage on a door at the airport ), Tom answered me on the spot and got in touch with the general manager of Europcar in Windhoek to make sure we would not be charged for. I did appreciate his rapidness and help .
Expert Africa website is absolutely excellent. And the information leather pack, along with the guidebook, the map we got before the trip is very good.

Now I have to talk about the BIG problem I met with the transfer of money. from my bank to Expert Africa's bank.
My bank followed all the instructions given by Expert Africa SCRUPULOUSLY.
The two payments prior to the trip should have remained in euros for the whole transaction, between my bank and their bank. For an unknown reason, the payments were AUTOMATICALLY converted into UK currency before being converted into euros, no matter how hard they tried!
It was a real hassle, completely stressful, time consuming AND financially infuriating! I was charged an amount of 194€ for fees!

I have recommended Expert Africa very highly to several French travellers. But I wouldn't like them to experience the same predicament. I would not like them to reproach me with that.

As said before, carry on with transmitting your expertise and passion for Africa ." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"This is the 2nd time we have used Expert Africa to organise a holiday in Namibia. As on the first occasion, they suggested the itinerary and arranged car-hire and accommodation.
It all went very smoothly and was generally very enjoyable.
I feel that all required information and documentation was provided, in good time. Chris's book is excellent.
Because nothing went wrong I can't comment on your problem resolution.
It was useful to to have wilderness safaris available at the airport." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 30 on a Namibia trip

"A memorable trip to a new country. Any negatives about one or two places we stayed are more than outweighed by the excellent other ones. It was much hotter than expected (8-10 C above seasonal norms) and this, a bit of tummy trouble and the gravel roads made it tiring at times (and these are all hazards that are part and parcel of a trip and nothing that yourselves could / should expect to deal with).

The characteristics of travelling on gravel or tarmac are so different that we could have done with being better informed about specific routes when planning. Also the passage of time renders some of the guidebook information out of date and this is a problem on the map also. For example the map incorrectly shows a petrol station at Seeheim - this meant retracing our steps for 60 km (so an extra 120km which then meant missing an activity at our destination) to ensure we had enough petrol.

We lost count of the number of coffee shops / bakeries in the guidebook that had closed / disappeared. Having sussed the driving out we went "off-piste" and cancelled one overnight stay and cut-short our stay at Sesriem so we could fit in a stay at Walvis Bay. We let the cancelled place know but our email to Expect Africa to tell of the same went unacknowledged apart from an "o-o-o but someone is covering for me" reply.

Namibia is a spectacular country with friendly people and provided us with some great memories." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Absolutely loved it.

It was always a bit of a risk going back to a country that we had previously visited and loved, but this trip was even better." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"It was a successful and very enjoyable trip. Everything went according to plan, and the only tiny hitch was a delayed pick up at Eros airport on the last day. It was a return visit to the country for me, but Angel loved it as much as I do, especially the spectacular wild desert scenery." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"This was our 5th trip to Namibia, which we know very well. That is why we are probably also slightly more demanding customers, as we know what the options are and what we want.

For now four of the trips, we have used Expert Afrika, which we have great confidence in. This time was no exception, we had a wonderful trip to Namibia.

However, there was one - not insignificant - moment of irritation this time. We ended up with a hopeless 2WD Kia for the round trip in the beginning. This was very far from our request of a solid 4WD car (as also important during previous trips). When booking, we had an OK 4WD car on hand and then accepted the trip. Later however, we got ""upgraded"" to a larger 2WD car. This was not OK. Fortunately, we got the right category of car (Toyota Forester) after approx. 10 days - otherwise it would have been a disaster.

We look forward to use Expert Africa again for the fifth time, but next time, at first, we will make sure we have the right category of car before proceeding with the planning." Read full review: 36 nights in Africa; 35 on a Namibia trip

"We really enjoyed our trip to Namibia getting to see more of the country and its fantastic and varied scenery.

We are glad we followed the route we did, getting the bad roads out of the way first and finishing with the better tarmac roads and animal spotting.

We will definitely be seeking your advice and guidance for our next trip to Africa." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip