Gondwana Travel Centre
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1993)
- Member Of:
- Namibia Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Self-drive mid-range & luxury tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $66 to $1,367 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Julee | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Cardboard Box
Lilly is outstanding. When our flight out of Johannesburg to Windhoek was cancelled she helped us determine what to do around potentially rearranging the tour schedule, with good cheer and humour. The help was invaluable. I highly recommend Cardboard Box's service - the recommended self drive schedules are excellent and their first hand knowledge of Namibia is invaluable to setup a holiday for success, certainly from the wonderful time we experienced. The car was perfect for Namibian conditions, including ensuring we had 100% cover, which we needed, after crunching the vehicle's running board on a massive boulder. Our tour (Southern Namibia) was spectacular. We were there for scenery and photography. It didn't disappoint. What a spectacular country. The food at most places we stayed was outstanding. Desert Quiver camp, in particular, is very highly recommended. Accommodations are wonderful throughout the trip. Thank you Cardboard Box for arranging our trip and helping us have a wonderful time.
Email Ted Robinson | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Selfdrive Botswana and Namibia
I got Cardboard Box details from a Trip advisor forum in 2015 and planned a selfdrive trip from Livingstone Zambia to J'Burg via Cape Town over 36 days with the help of Norelle for the Zambian, Botwsanan and Namibian part of the trip, 22 days.
Norelle was a great help giving good advice and guidance. Sadly I had to cancel due to illness 5 days before we were due to fly out. Again Norelle was very helpful with the paper work for the insurance company.
But I got better and reinstated the plan in 2017 and we had a great time.
Cardboard Box (Norelle) did every they said on the tin. Will use again
Email Gail | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Epitome of excellent service - Completely recommended.
We tried to book our self drive tour independently about a year in advance. It is important to book in advance if you have particular places you want to stay - Namibia is becoming popular especially in peak season. September was an excellent month to visit. We didn't find Etosha crowded and the wildlife viewing was mind blowing. I wasn't able to get bookings confirmed independently and UK travel agents couldn't offer me what I wanted and the prices were ridiculous. So turned to CBTS and the service we received from Allison was amazing. Advice given was spot on ( as noted during actual trip), emails were prompt and professional. All bookings went ahead as planned and we were given a detailed itinerary and a great map (all you need) on arrival in Windhoek. Allison even helped us out with some shopping as we arrived on a Sunday and left early Monday am from Windhoek so the shops weren't selling alcohol. We had one problem with Avis ( def not the fault of CBTS) and I was able to ring the Travel agency to help me make sure it was sorted out. And it was sorted. We hope to return to this area and will use CBTS again. Allison is a star. We stopped in on the way back to the airport and was very impressed with the glamourous offices as well.
Email Tim Dawkins | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent customer service from first enquiry to end of trip
As a party of 6 we all had special requests for sites and areas we wanted to visit. We could not find an advertised trip that covered everything we wanted to do. A quick email to the Cardboard Box shop and Alison came back with an itinerary that worked for everyone. From the first correspondence everything was well organised. we had no experience of Namibia and Botswana but the selection of accommodation and trips worked perfectly for all of us. Every communication and question we had was promptly answered by Alison, the travel pack left for us at our first nights accommodation was very useful, this contained a copy of all our bookings, some specialist information on driving, safety etc.. There was also a detailed map with the accommodation, petrol stations and banks highlighted to help us on our trip. I don't think we could have put this trip together ourselves as the vast experience they have on all the accommodation ensured we had a comfortable stay wherever we were.
FR
Email FabienG | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional Team
I booked 5 campsite with Tammy of Cardboard Box Travel Shop and we had a perfect customer service before and during our stay in Namibia.
Available by SMS and Email, Tammy gave us reliable information and fast answers.
Thank you !
BE
Email Martina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Top service - efficient, reliable, professional and friendly
We just came home from a 3 weeks’ trip to Namibia. We went to the Naukluft Parc (Olive trail, Namib dunes), Walvis Bay (Pelican Point), Swakopmund, Spitzkoppe, Opuwo, Epupa Falls, Van Zyl’s pass, Marienfluss, Etosha and Erongo. We travelled on our own with 5 family members (2 adults, 3 “kids” of 20, 18 and 15 years) and two 4x4 cars (as recommended by our travel agent for security reasons when you go to the Van Zyl’s pass and Kaokoveld). We slept in lodges, tents and in our car roof-tents.
It was an unforgettable trip : a real adventure where everything went well – no single problem, a lot of excitement !! No flat tyres although roads were frequently rough. All bookings had been done as announced, food and accommodation were very good. The fact that our trip, which we set up on purpose as an “adventure”, was such a positive experience is greatly thanks to Rachael from Cardboard Box Travel Shop who gave us invaluable advice about accommodation, places to see and to avoid, difficult roads, things to take with us…. As regular travellers, we never received such a personalised and attentive service as we experienced with her. We recommend everybody intending to visit Namibia to contact Cardboard Box Travel Shop (ask for Rachael !!). They will provide you with a tailored and friendly service, organising you a unique experience.
Email Dave | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly, professional, efficient - an example to all safari operators!
The booking was handled incredibly efficiently. Allison replied to all our questions and altered/formulated our itinerary as often and as much as we needed. She was always quick to answer emails - even when I thought the office would be closed! She is a total and utter credit to your company... we stopped by on our last day in Windhoek to personally thank her for such a fantastic job. We couldn't have asked for a better helping hand in planning our self-drive trip and plan to use them again next time!
Email Mary | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic efficient personal service, brilliant local knowledge and advice. Great holiday!
Allison was fantastic. She helped put together the most amazing holiday we have ever had. She responded to all our queries so quickly and made suggestions and down to earth advice which was invaluable when planning a holiday in an unknown country. She seemed to know all the lodges personally and the map and road distances provided were so useful. We felt very confident in Allison's arrangements which enabled us to have a stress free holiday
We were also very pleased that Allison is based in Namibia. When we had a damaged hire car - which the hire company dealt with very efficiently - Allison was able to contact the hire company and get back to us with an update in a matter of minutes; it is hard to see how a company based in the UK could do that however good they are.
The website was extremely useful and easy to use. The information on accommodation and alternatives with reviews was brilliant.
We cannot thank her enough.
US
Email Fran | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Cardboard Box organized a self-drive trip with the convenience of a tour but without the hassles
We were impressed with the service and attention to detail by Cardboard Box Travel Shop. Friends of ours have traveled twice with them so we decided to try them. We wanted a self-drive adventure in Namibia but not the headache of finding guesthouses, a rental vehicle and other logistics. Allison, our agent, was terrific in helping plan our affordable trip. She frequently offered several options or alternatives for lodging and seemed to understand what we were looking for. That's quite a talent when all you have to work with are emails! She included enough details to help us make good decisions. Allison perfectly estimated necessary travel times that allowed us to really enjoy our journey from place to place. Allison also responded to our questions quite promptly. Once we emailed to ask about an alternative driving route and she responded within minutes! The information packet(s) we received both through emails and upon arrival at our hotel were very informative and useful. We received an excellent map of Namibia marked with all of our destinations (as well as ATMs and petrol stations) and suggested routes, along with little local maps on our vouchers for finding each guesthouse/lodge. Also included was a little Namibia guide book that was a surprisingly helpful addition to our own Bradt guide and a SIM card for our phone. It seemed to us that Cardboard Box had managed to book the best rooms in our chosen locations and reserved an excellent 4X4 vehicle that was in very good shape with almost new tires (and two spares, which we did not have to use). The accommodations ranged from luxury tent camps to lodges and B&B's. All of them were comfortable and included at least breakfast. Many were astoundingly beautiful. We recommend trying to stay 2 (maybe 3) nights in the nicest areas to give time to explore and to book side trips. We are Americans in our late 60's and found that it was not difficult to drive around the country (on the left side), as long as you respect the suggested speed limits of the rental car agency and roads. Namibians are incredibly friendly and helpful. Both of us have traveled and worked at times in African and we found Namibia to be very safe, with clean drinking water and lots of healthy, delicious food. We enjoyed spotting wildlife on our own at waterholes in Etosha, as well as some guided game drives/walks offered by the lodges. We loved the freedom of taking our time and stopping where we wanted, while knowing that we had an in-country person to contact if we had questions. All the convenience of a tour with none of the constraints. We hope to come back soon!
IT
Email Alessandro Caraffa | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First amazing experience in Namibia, great !
Norelle is a great person (thank you for all!), with a lot of patience and a lot of suggestions about our holidays ! She gave us a lot of informations about the trip. and also she was available to solve a little problem encountered just when I reached Windhoek. The website is one of the most useful that I've visited.