Office ladies exploring the Hoanib River
Great Explorations Namibia
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2021)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $182 to $909 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Catherine | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great trip and at an affordable price!
Jade put together an amazing experience for us. We had two full weeks to visit Namibia, did not want to break the bank, needed to have some down time in between locations, wanted to self-drive but never more than 5 hours a day, had to see the Skeleton Coast (!) and have outdoor adventures! Jade listened to our requests and tailored the trip for us. She met us at our hotel, walked us through the entire trip and was there for support during the trip. Professional, honest, and friendly. I Highly recommend Great Explorations. Our two-week trip:
1) Windhoek (Protea Hotel - our choice not Jade's. Do NOT recommend. We switched to the Hilton for our return to Windhoek. The Protea is sad and creepy - needs a facelift and the breakfast is, well, icky.) Dinner at Stellenbosch Wine Bar - great vibes, food, service and of course wine.
2) Drove to Sossusvlei thru Solitaire - had the apple "Pie" (NOT a pie but it is a delicious crumble - must do) and took pics. Look for the "influencers" dressed to the nines getting their cool pics taken. Stayed at Little Sossus Lodge - adorable, enjoyed it. Had the BEST time on the Sossusvlei Excursion! Climbed Big Daddy, guide was terrific, got the required pics of Deadvlei.
3) Drove the worst road on the planet to Swakopmund - and we have driven some pretty dreadful roads in our trips to 99 countries, but this one was a doozy! Stayed at the Swakopmund Sands - meh – tho it did have a good breakfast, and it was very clean - also nice staff. But it was super cold in Swakopmund and the tiny heater in the room heated - well - nothing. So we bundled up. But to be honest the hotels there are $$ so to have gone up a level would have been another $$$. The town is cute and safe and quiet. We did the Catamaran cruise + Sandwich Harbour Combo Tour – super fun! Pelicans, dolphins and a nice boat ride. Then the Sandwich Harbor tour – unbeknownst to me – included climbing all the dunes in a 4X4 vehicle. Absolutely bananas fun! The champagne and oysters on the beach 😊. Also did the Living Desert Tour, which was VERY informative and a must do. Hope you don’t get the guy we got – he threw in a LOT of opinions (not germane to the tour) and a side dish of cringe-worthy grandpa jokes and misogyny. Stick to the lizards buddy. Anyway…. We had great cocktails at Bar Zonder Naam (hip vibes), dinner at the Tug (meh dinner was OK, great service, - in ALL these places they NEVER give couples good tables. The good tables on the balcony, overlooking the water, etc. are ALWAYS for tour groups ☹), very nice dinner at Toni’s Fachwerk, beer at Brauhaus (NOT much variety but a chill place), and beer and lunch at Brewer and Butcher.
4) Drove to Twyflefontein Country Lodge. Immediately on arrival we got a flat. They helped change it – thanks!! Only for us to find out when we called Sani Sixt that there is a Sani Sixt tire service ON the property! (Why didn’t the check-in receptionist know this? More on her later). Room and lodge is very nice, buffet dinner is OK, very good restaurant service. But the lack of attention to detail for our tour that we had scheduled was baffling. We were supposed to do an AM - Guided Hike 7-Platte and a PM-Rock Engravings + Damara Living Museum. The Guide, George, who used to be the barman and it showed – zero training/certification – Starts the tour with “OK let’s walk.” ?? There was no intro, My name is, what is your name, where are you from, what you will see on the tour – nothing. I could see this was not going to go well. So I said, “Hey George, please tell us about the area, the geology, anything.” He said, “It’s not that kind of tour.” Um… the write-up about the tour says it is….Then he proceeded to complain about the tour, saying it was boring, the other hike is better, etc. We were confused. He then decided ON HIS OWN to change the course of the hike and go up this 300-meter hill. He is not a trained guide because he would scoot up the hill and abandon the group – I had to yell to find out where he was! Um… If I have to yell George, you are too far away. We had no idea what was going on or where we were going. He did show us the rock carving (very cool!) and proceeded to tell us that they were 300 million years old (The SIGN said that they were 5,000 years old) and said some other nonsense about the carvings – nonsense because it made NO sense – and took us back down the hill. My knee hurt for 4 days. Turns out he had completely messed up our walk – we were supposed to do a different walk and then go to the UNESCO Heritage site and the Damara Living Museum – Both of which are Must-dos! All he – or the receptionist – had to do was check our booking. But We loved the Heritage Site and the living museum – because someone else was the guide 😉. They are unorganized at Twyfelfontein and obviously will let anyone with a pulse do a tour. We were going to do the desert elephant tour with them but pulled out because we had zero confidence in them. If you end up staying there – you are forewarned. Again, Lodge is cute.
5.) Drove to Camp Kipwe. This was our little “splurge” and WORTH it!!! HIGHLY recommend. Built into the rocks in the landscape with the greatest sundowner spot on earth, Camp Kipwe greets you at your car ou can feel the 5-starness of it all. We did a morning safari with Werner – excellent guide – and made friends with the others in the safari truck. We did not want to leave ☹.
6.) Drove to Toshari Lodge in Etosha – Great lodge, room, food, and personal service. Jade told us to book our safari at the lodge. They said, “Unfortunately, they are all booked up.” I said, calmly, “That cannot be, since our travel arranger spoke with your colleague and was told that we must book upon arrival.” She found us a guide😉. Mariah was our guide – only in the biz 5 years and still working out the kinks. Very knowledgeable about the animals etc, and a good driver, but when she stopped for the bathroom before heading home, I told her, “I’m going to the bathroom and the Curio shop (next to each other).” She acknowledged. I came out of the Curio shop 10 minutes later (No timetable was established) and she was GONE. Gone – with the other couple who were on the tour with us. ?? We are pretty chill travelers but imagine if someone were not? We walked all over the parking lots, walked around buildings – nowhere to be found. There was a lodge so I went to the office to call OUR lodge to let them know that we had been left. Luckily a few minutes later Mariah showed up. She said “I didn’t know where you were. And we just drove over to the watering hole.” SMH. Did you try the bathroom and curio shop, where we said we would be? Mariah received a less than 5-star tip and got a small lecture from my saintly husband about professionalism and responsibility. This wasn’t poor training – this was poor thinking.
7.) Drove to Omaruru Game Lodge. Adorable with the restaurant right at the watering hole where zebra, elands, and Rhinos (!) come up and drink. Great food and service – cute room. We were supposed to do a game drive and cheetah feeding but the cheetah had passed away a year ago so instead we did a very fun elephant feeding. The next morning we went rhino tracking. Guides were excellent.
8.) Now time for another splurge – Avenir. This was supposed to be a 5-star luxury experience. Hmmmm….. Our room was definitely 5 star, as was the lodge – but that was it. Service was 2.5 stars at best. They were friendly but hopelessly poorly trained and understaffed. The friendly chef Linus checked us in (No one else works here?). It was rainy and icky but there were only two places to sit outside at the lodge and a family with their two small kids took over the whole area. If the lodge had any trained staff, they would have seen that we had nowhere to hang out. They also would have taken in the cushions on the lounge chairs by the pool so that when it stopped raining there would be somewhere to sit (instead they were sopping wet and no one offered to towel them off – also all the towels were wet ‘cuz they had left them out too) They offered coffee – but no coffee spoons to stir the coffee. No tissue boxes in the bathroom – had to get tissue from the toilet roll. I’m lactose intolerant – which they knew – so while my husband enjoyed a delicious crème brulee with cream – they served me CANNED fruit salad. But they had cut up fruit at breakfast? So awful it was funny. There was other stuff too – in summary, NOT a 5-star experience but we paid the 5-star price ☹. I never blame the service worker when it is clear that the training was sub-par.
9.) Drove back to Windhoek to stay at the Hilton – which we recommend. Good gym, good breakfast buffet, nice spa, good cocktail lounge on the roof for sundowners, excellent executive lounge, good location –but not a strong check-in experience. I had to remind them that I had upgraded to executive lounge etc. but we worked it out. Jade recommended a tour co to give a city tour (Bwana). Maybe someone else in their company does a good job (?) but we got Joe – who looked and acted like today was his first day. He didn’t know anything about the city, the history, why some statues were important, the current political situation – just nothing. When I asked him about his experience and credentials he said he took a German class. I don’t speak German, but good for you Joe! So they put an untrained and uncredentialed tour guide in charge of our day. Side note - I specifically said I did not want to visit Katutura – the Soweto of Windhoek. I’ve been to Soweto multiple times and I wanted to focus on the history - So he didn’t take us there; he took us to a place just like it but had a different name! He regaled us with stories about the red dust bins they pick up every two weeks, and how to get money from the machine so that you can clean the public toilets, etc. So I know all about dust bins and public toilets and nothing about the history of Namibia. Again, so bad it was funny. We asked him to drop us at the National museum. We had a lovely lunch in their roof restaurant. Then went to see the “museum.” Oh my. Did 3rd graders put this together? No chronology, no emphasis on particular events – just a bunch of pictures on the wall with captions underneath all out of sequence and zero context. I was hoping to get the history here – but no. Admitting defeat – I am destined to get my Namibia history from Google – we went back to the hotel. At least they didn’t charge us for the terrible tour; we did appreciate that / we did appreciate that 😊.
Despite the hiccups I would totally do it all over again because it was an amazing trip and Namibia is a magical place. The nature and Skeleton Coast are unparalleled. Next time I would:
• Not book at the Protea
• Pay attention to details and clearly communicate all tours. Establish that we require an experienced guide.
• Skip Avenir (not worth the price tag)
• Request that our safaris be booked in advance – would have gotten a better guide than Mariah.
• Pack lighter 😉
Email Jill | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour
Our self drive tour was very well organised. Communication was efficient and polite. The accommodations were excellent. The car chosen for us was fantastic.
IT
Email Carolina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing assistance and highly recommended
We were a group of four planning our first trip to Namibia and couldn't have made a better choice than Great Explorations. Lilly guided us throughout the entire planning process, always ready to help, even with last-minute requests and changes, even during the trip! She was exceptionally knowledgeable, responsive, and attentive, making everything smooth and stress-free. Her support exceeded our expectations and went far beyond what was expected, and we felt well taken care of from start to finish. Highly recommended!
IT
Email Claudia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everything perfect
5 stars to Great Explorations Namibia, and especially to our consultant, Jade. We have just finished a 12-day trip to Namibia—two families with children. The organization was perfect in every respect: the itinerary, 4x4 rental, lodges, and extra activities. For our final day, Jade left us speechless with a night at Otjiwa Eagle's Rest in Otjiwarongo—a wonderful lodge to cap off our wonderful vacation.
Email Frazer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Organised, knowledgeable, helpful and responsive
We had an amazing holiday and experience planned by Great Explorations Namibia. From the point of enquiry to being in Namibia, Jade from Great Explorations was helpful and knowledgeable helping to plan the best route and experience for our budget and family.
Nothing was too much trouble even when we were swapping hotels as to best suite our family needs.
Jade met us at our first hotel following arrival in Namibia and provided a welcome pack with all vouchers as well as a very useful highlighted and marked map for ease of use. She answered all our questions making us feel welcomed and prepared for the trip ahead.
As a young family smooth transition from locations and hotels aids in an enjoyable holiday and for the most part this went without any problems. Any small issues we were able to contact great explorations via a emergency number and they were very responsive and helpful.
We had wonderful time and were able to see all the sights and animals we had hoped and planned before our trip.
Note - swimming pools are cold at nearly all locations, no matter where across the country.
We travelled from Windhoek to Kalahari, over to Soussaveli, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontien, Grootberg, ,Etosha, Okonjima and then Avenir before back home. All accommodations were excellent. Okaukuejo at Etosha was probably the least plush, however we knew this coming into the trip, but it does have one of the best watering holes which was true for our trip.
Okonjima was beautiful and we would definitely recommend the other locations we stayed (Desert Hills Lodge, Twyfelfontien Adventure Camp - go premium well worth it, Onguma Bush Camp and Avenir Lodges).
The living desert tour in Swakupmund is really great especially for the kids as is the sandwich harbour dune tour with sand boarding.
Deadveli is lovely but you can explore on your own, however to get the most out of the game reserves, guided drives are best. On all our drives the guides found animals that we would have driven straight past.
Get up early at Etosha when leaving though, as we were fortunate enough to see a pride of 7 lions lazing and playing by the watering hole.
An amazing once trip made all the better by the organisations smooth running provided by Great Explorations Namibia would definitely recommend.
HR
Email Zoran | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Best Way to Plan a Namibia Self-Drive
We were planning a self‑drive trip through Namibia and initially started by researching possible routes, accommodations and logistics on our own.
After a lot of research, we contacted Great Explorations Namibia to check their self‑drive package, as they specialize in organizing tailored self‑drive itineraries, including accommodation bookings and rental car arrangements, which was exactly what we were looking for.
From that first contact, everything was perfectly organized: they took care of all the practical details, arranged our rental car and accommodation, and kept communication clear and timely throughout the entire process.
What we especially appreciated was how flexible they were in customizing the trip: we were able to adjust the itinerary in detail to match our preferences and interests, and all our requests were handled quickly and professionally.
The combination of excellent organization, reliable arrangements and friendly, efficient communication made the whole planning process completely stress‑free.
Based on our experience, we can highly recommend Great Explorations Namibia to anyone considering a self‑drive trip in Namibia.
IL
Email Efraim | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We traveled for two weeks with Jade as our guide. There are no words to describe it. The trip was planned perfectly and she accompanied us the entire
We traveled for two weeks with Jade's escort..there are no words to describe it..the trip was planned perfectly and she accompanied us the entire trip and solved every problem for us quickly, professionally and efficiently.
Jade is a pleasant professional and highly recommended.
Simply well done and thank you very much!
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Email katey | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour planning, flexible schedule and great selection of accommodations.
Lily customised our tour as we wanted to limit driving long distances. Her suggestions took account of our situation and she included first class lodges and an excellent driver/guide for our 11 day trip. Her costings were very fair and reasonable compared to other companies who quoted for like tours. She went out of her way to secure the best bookings and locations for us and met us on our arrival day with detailed itinerary.
Would highly recommend this company.
Email Brian | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great guide and well organised tour
Experienced tour guide,good communications and kept us informed about what was going to happen.The tour was good value.Most of the accommodation was lovely,but disappointing in Etosha safari park,the quality of food here was poor,also the accommodation was not the best.Namibia was an amazing country to visit,I’d advise anyone to give it a try
MX
Email Wendoly | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent planning and forward thinking Agency
Self-Drive Safari - 2 weeks
From the very beginning, Great Explorations Namibia showed an exceptional level of care and dedication (Anna). Every detail of our trip was thoughtfully and meticulously planned, allowing us to relax and truly enjoy every moment. We never had to worry about logistics or activities everything was perfectly taken care of.
They provided us with a beautifully organized folder with a clear, day-by-day itinerary, which gave us great peace of mind throughout the journey specially while traveling with young children.
I sincere recommend this agency to anyone seeking a stress-free, well-organized, and truly memorable travel experience.