The Wild Dog Safaris team
Wild Dog Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1997)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, NTB & TASA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $109 to $1,087 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best. Trip. Ever.
The two Wild Dog employees we had the opportunity to travel with were amazing. By the end of our three week journey, they felt just like one of the group and we were sad to leave them. Both very knowledgeable and helpful.
Email Mary and Pete Coulson | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
3 week bespoke camping trip into Kaokoland, NW Namibia
Having been on Wild Dog Safari’s (WDS) 23 day African Odyssey in 2009 my wife and I wanted to do something more adventurous. After extended discussions involving Liz, the boss of WDS, and Tuhafeni, the same guide as we had for 2 weeks of our 2009 trip, we had a plan. A 3 week private camping tour with Tuhafeni as our guide/driver, travelling North West through Kaokoland up to Camp Synchro on the Kunene River. We would round off with a few days in Etosha.
Kaokoland is an awe inspiring area, vast nearly empty land, hauntingly beautiful desert and mountains dissected by huge ephemeral river beds where we saw desert elephants, rhino, giraffes and the enormous fresh paw prints of a lion which chose to keep a low profile! How the Himba manage to survive in this parched land is incredible.
Tuhafeni never ceased to amaze with his knowledge, enthusiasm, and incredible eyesight! Nothing was too much trouble going out of his way to make the holiday an amazing experience. Despite the lack of shops (only 2 opportunities to stock up provisions in the 1st 2 weeks!) food was plentiful and well prepared, usually cooked over our camp fire. Salads, meat and yoghurts were kept fresh in a small fridge on board our Land Rover. Tent was spacious, well ventilated and pitched in under 5 minutes.
From start to finish everyone in the company was so helpful. We were treated more like friends than clients. An amazing trip. We will be back!
Email Michele | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Namibian Explorer
I did a 10 day tour which as a first time visitor was a perfect introduction. Although we travelled long distances it never felt rushed and we saw a broad variety of landscapes. Our guide and camp assistant were excellent and definitely helped make it a memorable trip.
BG
Email Emil | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever !!!
What a trip !?!?!? One of best things I have ever done. Wild Dog Safaris made my Dad's dreams come true. They are such an amazing team and our communication with them was so easy. Every single detail was done with such a professionalism and with so much passion. If you are planning any trips in Namibia or outside Namibia consider that Wild Dog Safaris are the best.
We did the 10 day Namibian explorer with them and I have to say that it was an amazing trip. Our guides did the impossible to satisfy all our requests. We were pampered like little children.
I wanted to surprise my dad with boat fishing and they organized everything within couple of minutes. It was another lifetime experience.
Congratulations to all of members of Wild Dog Safaris !!!
You made me feel like I am at home.
CA
Email Joel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stunning Sossusvlei experience!
It was an amazing experience. The 3 day Sossusvlei tour with Wild Dog Safaris was an unforgettable and amazing experience. It started with a great service, a very friendly, knowledgeable guide Marcus who is also very good at spotting game and other interesting animals and things on the road and a very safe and a very good driver. He is very flexible and accommodating.. the Sossus dune lodge they booked us with is inside the park and great service and food.
And to top it all, the itinerary was just perfect. We were on top of the Dunes at sunrise and able to sea the beauty of the deadvlei with and without the sun.. simply stunning!
DE
Email Brigitte Ritz | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Etosha and Southern Swing as Camping Safaris were really great and unforgettable!
We made the three day Etosha Tour in February and the 7 Day Southern Swing Tour in March as Camping Safaris. Our guides were very well informed, cared for us and were excellent drivers and cooks. The equipment was fine, all our camping sites all right and nice, the service always really good. We enjoyed all the places we visited very much and had nice people travelling with us.
So we were lucky travelling with "Wild Dog Safaris" and can recommend it to everybody.
Maybe we visit Namibia again some time. If so we would love to make our bookings with your Company again.
Email Traveller | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Only go with Elias if you can!
I found from the tours I did it was very guide dependent.
If you got a good guide it was a great tour.
I think the problem I saw with the tours were :
Time management, I think some of these trips need to leave earlier and have their supermarket shopping already organized on the first day so you don't spend most of the day shopping and then when you make it to the attraction then it is rushed, especially end of day game drives.
I think in the Northern the craft market and supermarket should disappear, and the bus should go straight to Africat, and then a proper game drive through its premises should occur, before a trip to the Leopard. People fly from across the world and the 1st day experience isn't good and compares badly to the Southern tour. Otherwise drive straight to Etosha and spend more time there instead. Its way too slow and boring compared to say the Southern tour.
For eg Africat, we arrived way too late at this attraction, then we had a rushed game drive where the local guide spend 15min talking about the game park we were not going to (why not arrive earlier at this place and go on a proper game drive through the premises as it has heaps of cool animals), then spend 30min talking about 2 termite mounds while the sun keeps setting. On the way to the Leopard, there were heaps of amazing animals and they refused to stop for pics!! The leopard was a bit of a zoo attraction which was rushed and the Cheetahs were old and in bad condition. Then my top went "missing" from the game car when in the visitor centre. The camp site was way too far from where all the animals were as well.
The next day to Etosha we also arrived late and had a rushed game drive. Its was more about scoring points on animals sighting then enjoying the park.
The next thing which I thought was unprofessional, was the tour guide slept with one of the clients on the 2nd day in the tents near us!!! It was then I couldn't really take the tour seriously anymore.
Optionals were pumped hard, as they receive commission for it and 2 out of the 3 tours were really focused on it too much to the point of obsessiveness. Especially pushing high price ones, which I was not interested, in the end I just booked it myself as the guide wasn't interested in booking the one I wanted.
On 2 occasions, when lunch was in the itinerary I received no lunch at all. So I had to go buy my own lunch.
The Botswana Delta visit is a nice place, but there are not actually many animals there, its a fishing lodge. I think a better location should be selected.
I think the tour company should focus more on delivering animal and national park experiences, if it calls itself a "Safari" company, it is more of the tour company.
The HQ are very polite but I think some of the guides are bit out of control and need some management. Apparently a lot of the younger ones just pick and choose which tour they want in which would give them the most tips and optional bonuses and use excuses to cancel tours they don't like.
I think they should be doing it because that's what they love to do, and you can see that come across in certain guides clearly.
I think the best tour they offer is the Southern tour. The Northern ones need some work. I would select another route for Botswana from what I experienced sticking to the National Parks. We added a bit more of the national parks and it made that tour a bit better because we were a smaller group.
I think if some of the things didn't happen on some of these tours which I mentioned I wouldn't be as critical...
JP
Email christy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
well priced with fulfilled tour content
we joint 3 days tour to Etosha national park and 3 days to Sossuvlei. both are completely camping tour. both tours had a long distance driving but the guide had stopped in several check-points on the way to give us toilet break, food shopping, lunch break, and quick area guide. with this reasonable quoted price the tour was very fulfilled with excellent service from the knowledgable tour guide.
US
Email lisa curran | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing, great value
An incredible 3 weeks that I will never forget: 19 day combination tour. This is a budget safari offer...no champagne or fluffy bathrobes -- exactly what I was looking for. Three weeks on the road, mostly one-night stays in each place, seeing incredible sights, incredible wild life. We opted for the accommodated version (most meals with the group on the road and at the campsites) -- accommodations were mostly awesome (one dud, but let's face it... options are limited in some areas). Food was good and tasty... but again, I'm here for safari, not 5-star meals.
We camped two nights. Equipment was perfectly fine... easy to set up, take down, comfortable.
Best: itinerary, wild life, fellow travelers
Least: We were the only ones who were accommodated/in lodges, so there were some disconnnects. But they are fixing that -- 2017 tours will be either all campers or all accommodated.
Visited August 2016
CA
Email Alain | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing ans unforgettable trip !
My wife and me, we did the 10 day Namibian explorer. Without doubt, we really recommend Wild Dogs for safari ! Our tour guides, Marcus and Ruben were funny, polite,organised and always at our service. They did everything they could to make each day, an interesting day. We learned many things from our guide about Namibia and all the sites we're gone, they really know them. Anytime we wanted, they stopped for photos, made regular stops to stretch our legs and for small shopping. The meal was excellent, only few minutes to put the tents up (fully large for two with luggage), it's easy and the guides helped us. The campsites are incredible ! Too nice ! Beautiful rocks. Etosha for elephants, rhino, giraffe and.... and climb on the Dune 45, they're a must to do ! We also really appreciated the desert tour at Swakopmund.
If you want to make an amazing, friendly, and well organise safari ? Go with Wild Dogs !