"Initially even we thought we were slightly bonkers with this ambitious itinerary but after extensive and detailed planning everything went smoothly (with the exception of Elegant Farmstead cancelling our booking at the very last minute in favour of a large group; if this is typical of their attitude maybe they're not suitable for EA's independent travellers).

We had a FANTASTIC time!!!! Whilst some drives were long they were perfectly manageable with two drivers, a flask of coffee and our trusty MP3 player to entertain us. The roadside picnic stations provided good places to stop and eat a bit of lunch – there are plenty of supermarkets in the towns to buy provisions, including a 5 litre bottle of water. Most lodges charge for water (about N$13 for a small bottle) so it makes sense to buy a big one in a supermarket (about N$20) and top up your little bottles from it. There seemed to be far fewer parking guards about than on our previous trips and, we were surprised to see, even petrol station attendants don't seem to expect tips any more.

Garden Lodge provided a gentle start to our marathon trip with good company, tasty food, an excellent boat trip and lots of cats and dogs to play with. Kasane is an interesting little frontier town, buzzing with activity though not the place to stock up for a long trip. Don't be surprised to see a warthog trotting across the road in the middle of town.

The brand new Ngoma lodge is excellent (see review) with loads of animals to see, excellent food and great staff. We highly recommend it. It is one of the few places that provides free water – we promised to take our Ngoma bottles all the way to Cape Town; after many refills they finally met their demise at security in Cape Town airport!

We returned to Garden Lodge to have our car delivered and set off for the border next morning. Crossing the border into Namibia is no problem at all and after stocking up at a supermarket in Katima Mulilo we set off across the Caprivi strip. Roads in the Caprivi are, as Chris's book says, long, straight and can be quite tedious though you need to keep an eye out for wandering cows, goats and dogs (and the occasional human).

Arriving at Ndhovu in the early afternoon, we spent a couple of hours on our deck on the river bird-spotting. Next day we took a trip across to Buffalo (suggest pre-booking if you want to do this) and then drove ourselves to Mahango in the afternoon.

It was a long drive to Ghaub the next day but switching from 'Caprivi time' meant we gained an hour; we had been debating whether the hour was going backwards or forwards and it was only when the guard at the vetinary gate greeted us with a cheery 'Good Morning' that we were certain! After two nights peaceful rest we set off to Okaukeujo. We arrived at Etosha in good time and managed to visit several good waterholes on the drive across the park.

We spent most of the next day in the park and then moved on to the big surprise of the trip; Taleni. We'd wanted to spend two nights at Okaukeujo but had been unable to get a room despite booking very early. Taleni is just outside Etosha and we loved it. It does attract some large groups but the staff use the different dining areas to give couples or family groups privacy and peace.

A comfortable morning's drive brought us to Gocheganas, just south of Windhoek, which proved an unexpected pleasure. We had been booked to stay at Elegant Farmstead but they had cancelled our booking at the very last minute (after we arrived in Namibia). As it turned out Gocheganas fitted in with our itinerary much better and we thought the place was excellent. Thanks to Sabina for organising the change for us; in the days before BlackBerrys and the internet this could have been a major problem but in this case was (almost) painless.

The drive to Bagatelle, for some reason, took longer than anticipated; the roads were good and we'd calculated the distance but it just took longer! However we arrived in comfortable time and enjoyed watching the waterhole, excellent food and company and, of course, the meerkats!

Next, off to Fish River Canyon. Until Keetmanshoop the B1 is a good tar road but you then have to venture onto gravel. The road is bumpy and undulates with the landscape, which is beautiful, and you may even meet a train! The canyon itself is fantastic and there are few people about; such a contrast to its rival in the USA!

We left Canon Lodge in the sunshine and headed for the border with South Africa. The crossing itself was painless though there was a notable diminishment in friendliness of immigration staff on the South African side. Heading down the N7 the weather turned and we found ourselves in rain and/or cloud. As we had plenty of time we went down to Skilpad to see the flowers with which we were disappointed. However, driving back over the mountains they were lovely.

It absolutely tipped it down overnight (not ideal in a room with an iron roof!) and we set off for the marathon drive to Cape Town with some trepidation. Driving over the mountain passes in heavy cloud was 'entertaining' to say the least (particularly when we were held up by major roadworks – waiting time at least 20 minutes). We stopped off in Clanwilliam which we thought a lovely town.

The sun came out as we arrived in Camps Bay. We'd arranged our own accommodation here; there are lots of good guest houses .
The place has clearly been spruced up since the World Cup and there are some excellent new restaurants. We ate at The Codfather – excellent but shellfish is very expensive, Ocean Blue – just as excellent but less pricey, and The Kove – best steak Martin had all trip and great staff. Tuscany Beach was also highly recommended by our guest house.

We did the tourist bit – open top bus tour (don't forget to use the vouchers printed on the back of the ticket!) boat trip and lunch at the V&A – recommend The Greek Fisherman and City Grill Steakhouse – then the bus back to Camps Bay. The following day we drove (yes we hadn't had quite enough!) down to Cape Point where there seemed to be bonteboks around every corner (even on the beach) and few other visitors about.

Finally off to Hermanus and the whales. You really can see them from the coastal path, though the boat trip out to sea is well worthwhile too. The town is lovely and there are some excellent wineries to visit nearby.
Overall, a wonderful trip which we'd wanted to do for years. What's next???????

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

If only travel to Africa was less expensiver!

The name says it all - you are the Africa Experts and although we do shop around we come back time and time again.

Perhaps a minor point is that you should consider regular travellers' previous trips before saying they can't do something" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was excellent, the places we stayed were great and we had a marvellous time.

The drives between the accommodation were just the right length, we always arrived at or just after check in time and had the afternoon to explore, which was good.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing we would do differently if we were going again is to miss out one night in Clanwilliam and add the night to Erongo instead. There wasn't much to do in Clanwilliam outside the wild flower season and Lambert's Bay was pretty much closed down for the winter." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing adventure through SA, Namibia and Botswana. Being independent Kiwis, we were keen on arranging our own itinerary and travelling under our own steam, preferably off the beaten tourist track. Namibia appealed, and once I found your amazing website I was hooked. In a former life I was a travel agent here in NZ, but most trips were packaged and rigid, and that was not what we wanted. Having worked out roughly where we wanted to go, I emailed your office, who then referred me to your Namibian expert who (unbelievably!) actually lived in NZ.

Maruska's in depth knowledge of Namibia and her recommendations really made the trip work. Travelling distances were good, and although we travelled over 7,500 km in 5 weeks, it was very do-able. Maruska listened to our preferences and we were delighted with her choice of accom. We enjoyed having the freedom of travelling in the 4WDs to suit ourselves. I fully expected the odd hiccup when we finished with the vehicles and then were reliant on a complicated series of transfers, boats, small planes with no set schedule, more transfers etc, but it all went according to plan and worked like clockwork.

Full marks to Maruska and your agents in Namibia and Botswana for attention to detail and for putting it all together.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep doing what you do so well. Your website is just fantastic, great to read other peoples reviews, which is why I've spent all day putting up all this feedback (Sorry it took so long!).

The Brandt guides to Namibia and Botswana are actually in our local library, and it was from there I picked up the website in the first place. Our copies are well worn from the trip, and there was a bit of a bun fight over who kept them. Maybe one per couple would be good, or at least one per vehicle? The Namibia maps were great and Maruska had highlighted each of our stops which was also great attention to detail. We were very happy with the service we received from Maruska - she's a gem - look after her!" Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we enjoyed it. However, the main reason for our visit - earlier in the year than we would otherwise have chosen - was our long-standing desire to view the vivid 'carpets' of spring flowers for which Namaqualand is so famous. This year there were none - according to local experts, the worst year for a decade. So this was a disappointment and meant that we drove a huge distance - to Springbok and back - for very little purpose. Of course, no-one can be blamed for that.

Our second disappointment was Constantia Uitsig and I have tried to explain why in my comments above. I'd be interested to know what your other clients think about this place." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Expert Africa were highly efficent with great advice prior to us booking out trip and were excellent when we left our documents in Windhoek and faxed a copy for us to continue our trip.Thank you we would recommend you to all our friends considering a trip to Africa.

The lodges we chose we fantastic with excellent and knowledgable staff and guides, as it was low season we often went out on our own and had personnal service which was a bonus.

We had a trip of a lifetime and look forward to another trip to Africa in 2011" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"I think the individual feedback says it all - we were enchanted with our accommodation, captivated by the people, intoxicated by the countryside, the flora and the fauna, not to mention the sea life.

The planning was perfect - we had been closely advised by Expert Africa and found the timings to be spot on - no stay in one place was too short, no stay too long. We were priviledged to have 40 days and the luxury of being able to enjoy two countries, we felt, at our leisure." Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 24 on a Namibia trip

"Officials generally were not very helpful or pleasant eg at border, NWR park receptions (Hobas, Sossusvlei, Anderson gate - exception Ai-Ais).

Betesda - one night here before Sossusvlei would have been enough, then straight on to Rostock Ritz for 2 nights from Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei - 4 wheel drive ticket is now NA$110pp
Solitaire - a must to stop off for petrol and atmsophere at Moose's for apple crumble and coffee - general buzz of overlanders

Etosha
Is it right that the park fees are not included in the Park Lodge accommodation costs?
Saw 11 lions watched game herds approaching Springbokfontein waterhole.
Etosha Pan look out is a must
Lunch stop at Namutoni, really liked the atmosphere and cleanliness of this site, nicely laid out.

Cape Interliner bus service to Livingstone was 1.5 hours late leaving Tsumeb and 3 hours late at Livingstone.

Exceptional help and planning from Sabina in organising our trip, thank you!

Suggestions for improvements:

Definitely we would recommend Expert Africa." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Whole trip. Very well organised and on the whole super accommodation. All went without a hitch and the Kalahari well worth a visit.

We had some rain whilst there which made some driving difficult and we were glad we had the 4x4 although probably not necessary if dry. Would certainly go back there, probably at a different time of year to see the contrast.

Thanks for organising it all at short notice.

A couple of places we stayed on our own and we can recommend them maybe for futures use. Oystercatcher Lodge at Shelley Point St Helena Bay WC. Superb location and lovely rooms.
La Boheme B& B Plettenberg Bay. Again lovely rooms and great host." Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"As regular visitors this was one of our best holidays." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 6 on a South Africa trip

"First of all we must say thankyou for such an excellent holiday. We had a wonderful time and Namibia in particular was everything we hoped and expected for our second visit to the country. Throughout the accommodation was excellent and the food made a considerable impression at many of the places we stayed - we have the extra pounds to prove it!

In short a very ejoyable and successful holiday with lots of highlights, too many to mention, although the Baboons at Augrabies Falls and the three days of Whale watching at Hermanus will be remembered for a very long time. Oceans Eleven at Hermanus and Camps Bay Retreat were very good recommendatins so thanks Tracy for all your good ideas and helpfulness.

It was a super holiday and getting back to reality is proving very hard We are already working on the next trip to Nambia. What more can we say!" Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip