Reviews of trips to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay

"A great trip, both for the scenery and the wildlife.

Accommodation everywhere was excellent. Food for a carnivore was outstanding.

Be aware that many of the gravel roads are very poor and challenging to drive on, especially in an SUV." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Just an amazing holiday! We can begin to say. The combination of people, experiences and scenery and wildlife. The locations were incredible.

Highly recommended!

And THANK YOU Tracy for all your help!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fabulous trip to Namibia. We enjoyed the whole experience. We loved the scenery and seeing all the wildlife, particularly in the northern part of the country including Etosha. It was everything we imagined and beyond. We wanted to go back before we had even left the country.

Everything was well-organised and the accommodation we stayed in was of a very good standard but with a pleasing variety of styles/overall feel. The people we met were also overwhelming kind and helpful.

Maruska made a fantastic job of arranging our trip - she listened carefully to what we were hoping for and put together an excellent itinerary for us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We cannot think of anything in particular. We definitely plan to be back for more trips." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"It was and we were extremely happy with the itinerary and everywhere we stayed.

We had a terrible beginning due to flight cancellations and Chris McIntyre was very proactive and set up a WhatsApp group with the team (thanks Tracy too) over a weekend to advise us. They came up with another plan, liaised with our hotels, booked us new accommodation where needed and rearranged a day trip. It was the best service we've ever had from a travel agent.

It was our third trip with `Expert Africa and we are already thinking about the next one!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A difficult start to the trip due to flight diversion, cancellation and three days stuck in Johannesburg. Airline (travel not booked through Expert Africa) were very poor with little communication and terrible customer service

In contrast, the standard of service from Expert Africa, one-to-one contact, liaison with lodges, and sourcing of alternative tickets to make sure we had a back-up plan to get to Namibia and could commence our holiday as soon as possible was well beyond what is expected. This is found in very few companies, was excellent and should be highly commended. Many thanks to Sabina, Chris and others who got involved over their weekend.

Once we arrived, the trip was excellent.

For travellers going via Frankfurt, it is worth highlighting that it is not an easy airport for short connection times. We had three hours on the way out which was ok but not generous. On the return, flights were changed several times and we were rebooked with 1 hour 40 minutes. Security was a total shambles and despite running or queuing all the way with no stops for anything we were very lucky to make the connection as bags were just about to be taken off. We would think very hard about a connection in Frankfurt in future with less than maybe 3 hours outbound and less than 2 1/2 hours inbound.

We have travelled in southern Africa several times with children since the requirement to carry birth certificates and never had to show them. On this visit, they were required on entry into Namibia. This seemed to be a requirement across all desks as we arrived and several families appeared to be having difficulties. What was actually sought was a document with the parents' name - not shown on a UK birth certificate. This was not a problem for us as the birth certificate was taken by our immigration officer as being what it is, although she clearly was not familiar with it. However, carrying a copy of the certified copy of entry into the register as well might be a good idea for parents.

We were pulled up at a traffic stop and required to show a driving licence. A UK licence in English was not accepted (despite being legal). The officer was determined to issue a ticket. He eventually relented and allowed us to phone his Chief Superintendent - who told us and him that he was wrong. Despite having to let us pass, he remained convinced that he was right and assured us that he would check, stop us again on the return, make us read the Road Traffic Act and issue a ticket then. He happened to be otherwise engaged further down the road later. It might be worth carrying an international licence for such situations and is definitely worth pursuing a resolution with a superior." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"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

"It was a fantastic trip and we have made many great memories.

We hope to do many such trips in the future." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 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

"We had a magical time in Namibia on our honeymoon. Tom helped us decide on an itinerary and recommended the hotels and lodges to stay in to suit our budget. He was very knowledgeable and knew exactly how long it would take to drive between them and where we'd be best spending more time.

The pack that Expert Africa sent us was great - the map and itinerary with directions was all we needed to easily navigate our way around. We really wouldn't have any faults at all (if you pushed us then maybe a more robust car would be beneficial. We had 1 flat tyre which is not unusual on those roads but we did struggle with some of the long and bumpy driveways to the lodges).

It's impossible to choose favourites but Zannier Sonop, Sossusvlei Desert Lodge and Onduli Ridge were our favourite stays. The staff were always so welcoming and looked after us very well. And they were all set in the most beautiful scenery. It really takes your breath away.

We will not forget this trip in a heartbeat and hope very much to replicate again or something similar in the not so distant future.

Thank you Tom for helping us plan such a memorable honeymoon - what a great start to married life!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 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