Reviews of trips to Windhoek

"Really enjoyed our stay and the flexibility of our trip.

Impressed by the advice and help received from the Expert Africa staff. Only regret was we wished we had stayed a night near Twyfelfontein to give us more time to see the rock engravings, petrified forest etc." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic. Stunning scenery, and lovely laid back, friendly Namibian people.

The book on Namibia was invaluable, particularly, the guidance on local, en-route stops. Obviously written by people who knew their way around Namibia.

The level of support provided by Sabina was outstanding." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"WE were very lucky to go to Namibia for the fifth time, we visited some new places and some we now know quite well, most lived up to our expectation, only 2 we were disappointed with. We had some amazing animal experiences and traveled though very varied landscapes. The Namibians are such friendly welcoming and polite people , a joy to be with. They are always so thrilled to learn that we have returned again and again. we met many first time visitors who said they would be back.

The only down side was the car, not the one we ordered and not up to the gravel roads very hard and tiring to drive." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 27 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip to Namibia exceeded all our expectations. We were bowled over by the beauty and diversity of the country, its people and all of the nature that we were able to experience.

All of the arrangements made for us by Expert Africa worked smoothly. All of the information provided by them before our trip was excellent.

One thing strikes me that I would like to mention. Namibia is a country of wide contrasts and that is one of its glories. One could spend long time there discovering all of its treasures. However, unfortunately time for the average holiday-maker is limited. We spent mainly two nights in one place and then moved on. Because of the contrast in areas, places and types of accommodation, I found that moving on to the next place brought with it something like culture shock, because I had been so charmed with the last place and took a little time to adjust to the new. This is not a criticism and I would not have changed anything about our itinerary which was excellently planned, it's just an observation." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"My husband and I had an absolutely amazing time on this trip.

Everything went smoothly - thank you to Lucy for all the planning! The safari experience was incredible and we met some lovely people and had some amazing meals along the way. We couldn't have asked for anything more!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is an incredible country and Expert Africa organised everything very well and Martha in particular was there at the end of the phone whenever I had a question, her advice was invaluable.

A few negatives that are worth mentioning but should never stop any one from going are:

The gravel roads can be pretty hairy in a 2WD and had we had the funds, we would have much preferred to be in a 4WD as you feel every single bump in the road (so if you have the money get a 4WD). We had to drive extra slow in order to avoid damage to the car (especially the tyres) and the undercarriage (which is uninsurable) - with the gravel sometimes building up so high it's unavoidable to have a rock or two hit the underneath. The gravel roads can make the journeys tiresome, long and stressful. In sum, it is quite miraculous that there was no major damage to the car and in the end we only had a chip on the windscreen, so actually we are testament to the fact that the journey we did was do-able in a 2WD, it's just really not ideal. I felt like the mental stress the roads put on you should be emphasised more by the guide book and Expert Africa as we weren't quite prepared for how mentally exhausting the journeys would be as we were constantly worried we were going to seriously damage the car. When we hit tar roads again on the way to Windhoek we were elated!

Namibia is still very much in transition from its colonial days and much of the effects of colonialism are still present. Segregation of black and white people is still very much a part of life and almost all of the money / businesses are still in the hands of white Namibians. There's not much to be done about that as a tourist except be mindful of it. I felt I should have researched this before travelling so that it wasn't such an unpleasant surprise, it's very hard not to notice it. We came across blatant instances of racism from locals, especially at Bullsport (from a guest) but this is mostly among the older generation who still refer to Namibia vehemently as South West Africa. I feel silly for not having researched the country's colonial history more fully however i expected it to be just that, history, but considering the effects are still so prevalent, I think it should be emphasised more in the book and by Expert Africa, to younger, more naive travellers, like myself, admittedly. In Swakopmund it was most noticeable. We had some great chats to some black Namibians, who were happy to talk about their views on it and the staff at the Tug were so friendly, inviting and a lot of fun to while away an evening at the bar with.

On a Swakopmund note - the local tourist market in Swakopmund was quite overwhelming, they have some great things there and i bought some souvenirs but when we went we were pretty much the only tourists so all of the sellers were vying for our attention, it was difficult to get out of there, perhaps worth noting in the guide book.

As for the positives:

We were the only ones on the road for miles at some points, this country is still relatively un-visited by tourists so you feel like you're uncovering a hidden gem, everything is so pristine.

The different landscapes, the wildlife, the culture and the people are so amazing, i have never been any where like it. I often say I won't go back to the same place as there's too many other places to see but I might have to make an exception for Namibia. . .maybe when i can afford a 4wd!

It seemed mostly visited by retirees but we couldn't see why, this is the ultimate African road trip, everywhere we went was safe and friendly and it's cheap. The safari was first class, we saw every animal there was to see. Okonjima was fantastic and the landscapes second to none. Namibia has mountains, stunning desert dunes, cities, beaches and flat savannahs that stretch on for thousands of mile, it has everything.

I can't recommend this destination and Expert Africa highly enough, it's just a matter of time before the crowds discover it.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Martha was excellent, helpful, knowledgable and friendly, she helped us tailor our itinerary to our needs and budget, can't recommend her highly enough.

Two small things, there was a mix up at Sossus Dune Lodge where it was written on one of our itineraries that we were on a DBB basis but when we arrived they only had us down as BB so we aren't sure if we ended up paying twice?

The other thing again minor but worth noting, one day I called up to speak to Martha who wasn't available so I chatted to Sabina instead, who was very friendly and informative however, i called up to ask why it was that we couldn't fit Sandwich Harbour into our day seeing the seals and she explained it was because there wasn't enough time, completely fine however she wanted to emphasise the point by informing me some tourists were killed the week before rushing to get to Sandwich Harbour, which was information i probably could have done without having already been a bit nervous about the amount of driving on gravel roads we had to do, a case of too much information!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"It was a great trip.

It was very easy to do it with a pregnant lady and a small child, and he had a great time as well.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Expert Africa's service is great as always. There are a few small things you could improve regarding travelling with (small) children. For example: after arrival in Windhoek we might have (in hindsight) preferred a lodge where we could have dinner and with the option for an early checkin. Also, the vehicle we used was a bit on the small side (everything fit, but only just).

Also, on the feedback form it would be great if you could easily switch between lodges by clicking on the name in the left side menu. Now you can only go back and forth using the 'Previous' and 'Continue' buttons, which is not so efficient if you want to add an extra comment to the first lodge." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was wonderful, we probably would have liked to have stayed one night less at Nhoma (some of my family would not have agreed with this) and have missed out Huab Lodge. Highlights were Desert Rhino Camp and Mundulea.

Wouldn't have liked to do more driving though, so we missed out most of the country which we will have to visit again. Would have been useful to know rough driving times between camps. I didn't realise the gravel roads were yellow on map until it was too late!

I think would also have preferred to miss out Windhoek completely, Olive Grove was nice but it felt to me as if the holiday hadn't really started until we moved on.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Sabina was so helpful, we went through a few itineraries before I realised what sort of trip we were looking for and she made some great suggestions that I hadn't seen on the website. It was wonderful to correspond and talk to her, she was extremely knowledgeable and efficient and I really did appreciate her." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Truly amazing trip!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great time on this trip. Namibia is probably the most beautiful country we've ever been.

Our itinerary was probably not the most common for first-time visitors as we skipped some of the more popular destinations. The main goal was to see a variety of desert environments in a relatively slow pace. We also wanted to try self-driving in Africa while not covering too much distance.

Exert Africa came up with a part-fly, part-drive itinerary which took into account our requests and which we enjoyed greatly. The most impressive part was probably that the team managed all this despite our very late trip planning and booking (2-3 weeks before our travel date)." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip