Reviews of trips to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay

"Truly wonderful holiday for our first African experience." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"We were wery satisfied with the service from Gwynneth and expert africa and had a fantastic tour to Namibia. We will return to Africa again and if possible use Expert Africa again.

There were only to mistakes a) we did not get the 4wd car we asked for and b) we did not get a familyroom at Kulala Winderness Camp as indicated in our confirmation invoice due to a booking mistake. However, everything else went fine during a one month long trip staying many different places." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We'd been to southern Africa a few times before (SA and Botswana), so we wondered how Namibia would compare with those countries. In some ways, for us, it combines the best aspects of those two countries - relatively straightforward self-drive, great wildlife, dramatic and varied scenery, great accommodation and good food.

One thing we'd do differently next time (fingers crossed that there is a next time!) is to hire a 4x4 - our little Toyota Yaris coped with everything we threw at it but we'd have been more comfortable in a vehicle with greater ground clearance and a softer ride.
Big thanks to Gwynneth for all her help and advice - our trip ran really smoothly.

Suggestions for improvement:

Not really, we would use you again for the countries where we feel we want the peace of mind of booking through a tour operator." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"The trip certainly was a grreat experience and we enjoyed the wildlife and the people very much.

What is always difficult is the estimation of a good itinerary - there were some days that we were more in the car than we planned or expected to be, but it's difficult to avoid unless you go again to a place you already know a little bit." Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"All I can say is that we had never expected to travel to Namibia before this holiday but after it, we are so glad we have.

Seeing wonderful animals such as leopard, cheetah, elephants, lions and hordes of antelopes etc. in the wild and with the assistance and genuine affection for their jobs of the local guides, we both feel as though we have experienced something no one else has had...

Obviously, other people are doing the same, but we were made to feel very special by almost all of the people we met and by their staff, and it really made a difference to our holiday. The local people seemed so friendly and attentive to tourists and many countries around the world could benefit from their 'ideas on customer service'. A superb trip all round." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We didn't know what to expect on our trip and what a wonderful experience we had. Maruska did a fantasic job creating an itinerary that matched our interests and our budget. We enjoyed all of our accommodations, tours, etc...throughout our trip. We had the added challenge of a nine hour time difference but this was never an issue.

Maruska always answered any questions we had with a very detailed email response and promptly called whenever we'd set up a time/day to talk by phone. We appreciated the detailed information and the inclusion of the Bradt Namibia guide. The Bradt Namibia guide we found to be even more helpful once we were on our trip, reading it regularly as we made our way from place to place. The descriptions and information was very helpful, the "notes for travelers" were extremely helpful as well.

We felt so well prepared for this trip from all the information Expert Africa provided us, there were no surprises and things unfolded seamlessly.

The reviews on your web site were helpful to us as it provided us with information, insight in regards to what we could expect. We like that they are unfiltered and when Expert Africa would comment/respond to a review that was less than favorable. We really hope our reviews will be helpful to other travelers and are sorry it has taken us so long.

The recommended length of stay was helpful and we felt accurate based on our experiences. The length of stay for most of the places we stayed was 2 nights and we wondered if that would feel too quick, however, we felt very satisfied as we went from place to place. We felt like we'd experienced the activities and seen as much as we could within out stay. While we enjoyed all of our accommodations if we were to highlight some it would be Onguma Tented Camp, Etendka Camp, Khwai Tented Camp, and Mapula Lodge. Onguma and Mapula were definitely luxury experiences were are not necessarily accustomed to, however, we enjoyed them completely - we appreciated the simplicity of Etendka and Khwai.

We are already planning on another visit to Southern Africa and we would readily work with Maruska and Expert Africa again!

Suggestions to help improve trips and service:

The only thing we might do different was a 2WD car with more clearance. Many of the roads we traveled on weren't much different than roads we drive in Alaska, however, in Alaska we have a 4WD vehicle with more clearance than what we had. So, driving on some of the roads in a 2WD vehicle was different for us. We understand that because of our trip budget we pretty much had to go with the car we had and things really did work out well. However, if someone can afford it we believe a 2 wheel drive vehicle is sufficient for the self-drive we did in Namibia but having one with more clearance than an economy sedan would be better." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip to Namibia was enjoyable, although some of the driving distances were long this was more than made up by the fantastic places we visitied.

For the most part the lodges were excellent and all the locals we met really helped to make our holiday special.

The information pack provided by Expert Africa, including leaflets / maps and a guide to the region was really useful and great to have with us." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing experience which went all too quickly (except Swakopmund) and we will definitely return and explore the north. All the people we met were so friendly and helpful. We went south for the photography which was fantastic and we couldn't top clicking the shutter - so we have hundreds of momentos.

The top experiences for us were the Kalahari desert Sundowner Drive from Anib and the desert horses near Klein Aus Vista. The walking for me was excellent, especially from Canon Roadhouse and Rostock Ritz and I felt perfectly safe on my own.

Well done Gwynneth for helping to chose the accommodation and making it as easy as possible for John to access." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"It was absolutely fabulous!! Thank you all so much!

We have travelled worldwide over a number of years and I have dealt with probably hundreds of travel agents. Maruska was definitely one of the best agents I have ever worked with anywhere.

Thanks you, Maruska, for a fantastic job!!!

Suggestions to help improve service:

Expand your service into other countries in Africa and we will definitely book with you again!!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"First of all, we would like to mention two issues:
1. the distances from one to another place does not seem very long if you see the distance in kilometer on paper, but in reality it can take you quite a long time, especially when a big part of your trip is on gravel roads. Some travel days were in that sense quite tough for us.
2. our bank card has been skimmed in Tsumeb. Looking back, we probably know that it happened when some 'very helpful' guy wanted us to help with our transaction at an ATM. Of course, we have not been careful enough, but please be aware, these guys seem to be experienced and it all goes very fast, without any violence whatsoever.

Okay, those are the only two (minor) complaints, but overall our two weeks in Namibia were great! We have seen a lot of different things and have done a lot of things. All the lodges we have stayed in were unforgettable in their own way, however Desert Homestead, Doro Nawas, Etosha Aoba Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge stand out. We really like the lay-down sandboarding near Swakopmund and also enjoyed the surrealistic landscape of the Sossusvlei. The most unforgettable thing of our holiday was, however, the Etosha National Park or more in general the game watching in Namibia. It is at times breathtaking to see wild animals at very close distance. We would like to recommend a trip to this beautiful country in all its elements to everyone!

Suggestions for improvements:

We experienced your service as very helpful and useful. We cannot think of anything to improve it." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip