Namibia Tours & Trips

• In-depth Cultural
• Active
• Safari
• Christmas & New Year
• +2

Beautiful country with stunning scenery. Accommodation was excellent and it was fantastic to have a comfortable, spacious, modern air conditioned coach for the unavoidable long journeys

Destinations

Windhoek, Sesriem, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein, Palmwag Nature Reserve, Etosha National Park+4 more

Age Range

12 to 70 year olds

Operated in

English

Operator

National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• Active
• Safari
• Christmas & New Year
• +1

Pre-tour information For the most part, the pre-tour information on the itinerary, transport, accommodation, excursions, conditions and so on was fairly accurate. There are three points where changes are needed. 1. Temperatures. Our tour started at the beginning of October, on the cusp between the colder winter months and the hot summer. It was much hotter than I expected with daytime temperatures reaching or exceeding the mid to high 30s most days. My impression that it would be cooler than this was reinforced by the Swakopmund temperature chart you include in the trip notes. From this I expected mid teens to low 20s. I did not know that Swakopmund is by far the coldest place that we visited. If you are going to show any temperature charts, these should be representative of the general conditions that travellers are likely to experience in Namibia as a whole. The tour was actually run by a local company, Mabaruli and I found this statement on their website: “October is the hottest month in Namibia with temperatures above 40°C”. Why was that information not added to the Exodus website? If I had known that in advance I seriously doubt that I would have chosen October for this tour. 2. Activity level. The trip was described as “Leisurely/Moderate” and at level 2 on a 10-point scale. There is no way that this is accurate. While there is a lot of time spent sitting in the truck doing nothing more than looking out of the window, when activity is required it was very tiring in the heat of the day. Bear in mind that there is no upper age limit for this tour and I think that everyone on our tour was over 50. What might be leisurely for a 20 year old may not be for a septuagenarian like me. 3. Initial meeting. There was no information on the time and place of the initial tour meeting on day 1. This should be specified clearly and unequivocally. Then everyone would know what to do and could arrange their travel plans around this meeting. Itinerary Overall I was satisfied with the itinerary. Maybe some minor tinkering is needed (eg. two hours at the craft market on day 12 was too long) but there were no major deficiencies. Staff There were three staff: Ronney, the tour leader, and two camp assistants, Happy and Jonas. Ronney was responsible for the overall arrangements, acting as guide while on the road, and as the full-time driver. This is too much for one person and it is no wonder that he was somewhat grumpy at times. One of the camp assistants should be a qualified driver and be able to relieve the tour leader of some or all of the driving responsibilities. Happy and Jonas were responsible for preparing the meals, setting up and breaking camp. Both were lovely blokes, always ready to help with a smile. Happy was a bit reserved at first but warmed up after a few days. Transport The truck was quite comfortable and reasonably roomy with two spare seats that were used for excess luggage (backpacks and so on). However, it was not well designed for the purpose. There were two pairs of windows at the front, above the driver's cabin. However, there was a wide solid horizontal panel between them that was exactly at eye level for anyone of normal height. As a result, forward vision was very limited. That is a ridiculous design for a safari truck. The roof opened for “game viewing” but there was nowhere near enough room for all of the passengers and we had to stand on the seats to get high enough to see. I don't know what can be done about this but the truck was certainly not fit for the purpose. We saw other trucks on our travels where everyone could simply stand up and see. Such trucks should be used for future tours. The trip notes say “People are expected to move around to permit everyone a chance to have a window seat.” One couple hogged the prime position (the front left seats) for the entire tour and declined to move. Allegedly this was because one of them suffered from travel sickness. The tour leader should have been more assertive, insisting that everyone got a turn in that prime position. People who suffer from travel sickness should not go on tours that will exacerbate their condition, or take suitable medication to combat the problem. A couple of days into the tour I noticed that one of the rear tyres was totally worn out, with the canvas showing through. The truck should never have been sent out in that condition. A couple of days later a tyre blew out but it turned out to be a new tyre that had been installed to replace the bad one, probably while we were in Swakopmund. It took an hour for the spare tyre to be put on. This blew out within 15 minutes so clearly the spare tyre were not in a suitable condition. We limped the rest of the way to Sophienhof camp with this flat tyre. The next day we were dumped in Outjo while four new types were being obtained. We were told this would take two hours. It took more than four hours, with no communication from the tour leader in the meantime. I realise that time is a bit elastic in Namibia but that is no excuse for keeping us in the dark. We had no choice but to sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting where we were told we would be picked up. We missed half a day in Etosha, the most important tourist destination in Namibia. Hotels The Prost Hotel in Swakopmund was perfect. Beautiful rooms, great breakfast and well situated close to the centre of town. The two hotels in Windhoek were not so good and the logic for using a different starting and finishing hotel was unclear. I would prefer that the starting and finishing hotel were the same. The Arebbusch Lodge is too far from the centre of town. However, this was not my major objection. Near the restaurant and bar there is a very nice pool area with umbrellas, tables, chairs and loungers. This was off-limits to us, being reserved for residents in “The Square”. The pool that we could use was small, a bit dirty, far away, and lacked umbrellas, tables, chairs and loungers. It was totally inadequate. You should not patronise a hotel that practises such blatant discrimination against some of its guests. The Utopia Boutique is also inconvenient in its location, really not near to anything. Moreover, it was disappointing to find that some of our group had nice, airy rooms around the pool area while others (including us) had small dark rooms with no view at all except for a blank wall. We are all on tour together, paying the same price, and should have similar accommodation. If the Utopia Boutique cannot satisfy this requirement, then go somewhere else, preferably within safe walking distance from the centre of Windhoek. When we arrived at the Utopia Boutique mid-afternoon there was a noisy party going on next door but we were told that if it wasn't quiet by 9 pm reception would call the police. The trouble was, reception closed at 8 pm and there was nobody around to take action. Eventually, at 10.30 pm, I found a security guard who said he would phone the manager who would then phone the police. The management should have made sure that someone was available in reception at 9 pm to deal with the noise if it was continuing. Maybe the partying was a one-off event and would not happen again but the hotel should have made sure that we were not disturbed. Campsites The campsites were a mixed bag. The first one, Sesriem, was quite poor. Our site was a long walk from the bar, shop and restaurant. The pool was a bit closer but it was so poorly maintained that it was uninviting. The toilet and shower block closest to our site was in very bad condition. The two sites in Etosha were acceptable, while Solitaire and Sophienhof were both very good. Brandberg was nice except that it was a very long and dusty walk to the bar and pool area. The worst one was Waterberg. While the campsite itself was fine, to get to the bar and pool involved a very long walk up hill. And when you finally arrived, the pool was an absolute disgrace, full of slimy green algae. Meals The meals provided were generally good to exceptional, particularly the dinners where Happy and Jonas went to great efforts to provide variety and to allow for the special dietary requirements of two of our group. Quantity was never an issue; sometimes the amount left over was something of an embarrassment in a country where there are some very poor people. There is one meal that requires special mention, and that is the dreadful buffet dinner at Waterberg. This was not included in the tour and turned out to be the worst, and most expensive, meal that we had in Namibia. With nowhere else to eat, and nothing on offer apart from the buffet, we had no choice. This should definitely be deleted in future, substituting an included dinner at one of the other campsites such as the ones in Etosha. Paid excursions We went on two excursions in Swakopmund. In the morning we chose the Sossusfly joy flight. We had high expectations of this flight, especially considering the very high price of $N460 each for just over 2 hours. We were quite disappointed, especially by the Skeleton Coast which was obscured by fog. I suspected that this was a common occurrence and later found out that there is fog for 4 days out of 5. Another problem was that what you saw depended on which side of the plane you were on. Usually, in these types of flights, the pilot makes sure that everything is seen by passengers on both sides. You should not be recommending this flight. In the afternoon, we went on Charly's Namib Desert tour. The minibus was very comfortable and Borden, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable and likeable. It was a terrific four hours. We travelled through the 'moonscape' where we were told about the history, geology, flora and fauna. The main focus was on the plants and they were presented in an interesting and informative manner. There were plenty of stops to photograph the weird landscape. Overall we were extremely satisfied with this tour. Ron Duggleby October 2018

Destinations

Windhoek, Namib-Naukluft Park, Sesriem, Sossusvlei, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Brandberg Mountain, Twyfelfontein, Kamanjab, Damaraland, Etosha National Park, Waterberg Plateau Park+11 more

Age Range

16 to 99 year olds

Operated in

English

Operator

Exodus Travels This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• Active
• Safari
• Christmas & New Year
• +1

Our Namibia tour was terrific. Such a diverise landscape from extreme deserts to amazing animals in Etosha. Most of the accomodations were good except for one but we had a terrific time. When we finished the tour, we found the world had changed drastically due to the virus.

Destinations

Windhoek, Namib-Naukluft Park, Sesriem, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein, Brandberg Mountain, Kamanjab, Etosha National Park, Waterberg Plateau Park+9 more

Age Range

16 to 99 year olds

Operated in

English

Operator

Exodus Travels This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• Active
• Family
• Christmas & New Year
• +1

Destinations

Windhoek, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein, Etosha National Park+3 more

Age Range

1 to 99 year olds

Operated in

English

Operator

Agate Travel This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries