Reviews of trips to Windhoek

"Our trip to Namibia beat all expectations. We had less than two weeks so we concentrated on the central highlands and game spotting. Namibians were, to a person, friendly and helpful.

Olive Grove is a peaceful place to start and wind down at the finish. The choice of Erongo was a great opener, followed by the countless game of Etosha.

Mundulea was the definite highlight, and Okonjima was a great finale as it made sure we saw the cats.

Suggestions for improveMent:

No suggestions, the service was excellent." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"The very satisfactory above just about says it all." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"we had a lovely holiday.

Namibia is such a beautiful place

Gwynneth organised everything perfectly. It all ran like clockwork. Thank you

Suggestions for improvements:

It was all good" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 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

"Namibia proved to have and be all we could hope for.
Absolutely nothing is small scale, from the dunes, desert, coast and salt-pan to the welcome of its people and animals.

Suggestions to help Expert Africa improve our trips and service

Maruska and Gwynneth were so impressive in every aspect of our arrangements, and Wilderness Safaris also proved to be very competent ground agents, so we're hard pressed to think of any tweaks.
If we're being really nit-picky then our view of Swakopmund means that two nights wasn't really ideal for us, but we do realise that it's a lot to do with personal choice and might be difficult to ask enough questions to deduce this. All we can say is that it is very 'small-town', so people with lots of travel experience might have issues with it (in the winter at least) in comparison to the rest of Namibia." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 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

"This was our first trip to Africa and we had only a vague idea of what to expect. The whole trip was fabulous. All the arrangements worked. All the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. All the accomodation was lovely. Even the basic camp on Mboma island was a hoot.

Although we are not birdwatchers, the array of birds pointed out by the guides and spotted by us has made us keen twitchers. Binocculrs are a must. Enjoyed all the food, even the more exotic. The night skies were a treat.

We were a bit surprised to find how cool it was in the early mornings and after sunset and found the ponchos and hot water bottles very useful. Loved the daily sundowner routine. Our highlight was coming upon a cheetah in the early morning and following it for 45mts. There was nobdy else around.

The ballon flight was great fun. skillfully managed by pilot and support staff.

Suggestions for improvements:

I think the way we did ie(Livingstone-Chobe-Linyanti-Khwai) was good. Took too many evening clothes and not enough warm clothes. Picking up the luggage at Jo'burg everytime was a bore and it would be nice to be able trust the security enough to not have to do it. The singing and dancing from the staff at the lodges was hugely enjoyable.

We did spend a lot of time travelling after we left Maun and the drive to and from Kulala was tedious and stressful in parts. Would have preferred a day each in Maun and Windhoek and possibly flown to Kulala as other guests did. The river was ok but could have given it a miss. Overall, it was a fantastic experience which we will recommend to friends" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"This was our third trip to Africa and certainly one of our best.

Our itinerary as prepared by Expert Africa perfectly and the recommendations of our agent, Gwynneth, for Xigera in Botswana, and Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Olive Grove Guest House in Namibia, lived up to our expectations.

We like the flexibility of being able to combine our own travel arrangements with those made for us by Expert Africa." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip