Kimkim Trip Reviews for Namibia

Our trip consisted of Sossusvlei (2 nights), Swakopmund (2 nights) and Damaraland (3 nights)
We opted for a driver and guide and this was a significant part of the enjoyment of our trip. Vincent Taylor is not just a driver and guide but a senior person with in-depth knowledge and experience in Namibia and the region which provided us with deeper insight into Namibia and visiting places that other might miss. I would encourage others visiting Namibia to consider having a driver and guide since 80% of the roads we travelled on were not paved and distances between gas stations and facilities are far, driving around 5 hours every other days is tiring even as a passenger and if something happens having a local expert is helpful. Travelling on your own would be a completely different experience and much less interesting. The dunes of Sossusvlei are like a gigantic art installation with the changing light and shadows on the dunes with the unique vegetation and salt pans. The accommodations at the Desert Homestead Lodge were super with the roomy individual cabins. Swakopmund with its cooler temperatures was a relief from the heat, the Swakopmund Luxury Suites were comfortable and a good location. We would encourage visitors to do the combination cruise on the bay in the morning and the Sandwich Bay dune ride in the afternoon, both were memorable. Damaraland was unique to be staying among the boulders and going out one morning for tracking the desert elephants which we found and appreciated. Afternoons were too hot to do very much. We could have done with a less fancy accommodations at Camp Kipwe but it was very unique and beautiful. Travelling the roads and experiencing the vastness of Namibia was an experience in itself. The final accomodation at the Windhoek Luxury Suites was fine with a restaurant in a courtyard mall in the Spanish style was quite unique and enjoyable. The staff at all the accommodations were very helpful, friendly and professional.
The CapeTown portion of the trip was totally different. Staying at the Commodore next to the wharf was very handy for restaurants and shopping. Hotel staff were helpful and friendly was we were able to do most of the things that CapeTown is famous for. A great final stop on our very memorable trip.

Hotel Reviews

Premier OR Tambo Hotel

Great for being near the airport. Helpful and friendly staff. Nice rooms and a good restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Friendly staff

Location

Near the airport

Staff

Very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Desert Homestead Lodge

The setting of the hotel, the main building with a thatched roof and tasteful design and facilities. The rooms were large and very nicely done in a rustic way

Authenticity & Character

Unique design

Location

Beautiful setting

Staff

Very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swakopmund Luxury Suites

Swakopmund

Good location and helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Nice place, very modern design

Location

Near the beach and restaurants

Staff

Staff were very helpful when we had some problems

Cleanliness & Comfort

Camp Kipwe

Windhoek

This is a top end hotel set among boulders on a hill in the desert and barely visible from a distance. Each hut has a outdoor bathroom that we liked. Bar at the top of the hill for sunsets. Food was great and staff were friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

The hotel is part of the landscape, very unique and special

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Windhoek Luxury Suites

Windhoek

Quite and peaceful.

Authenticity & Character

The restaurant neary by in a Spanish style mall was quite unique

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Commodore Hotel

Cape Town

Our room overlooked the city and Table Mountain.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Being next to the wharf is probably the best location in Capetown because of the mall and the restaurants and bars near by

Staff

Very helpful with a few issues and needs that we had

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Twyfelfontein Tour

Damaraland

Tracking the desert elephants was a great experience in a dry river bed. We did find the elephants and a few giraffe. The cultural center experience was interesting. The petroglyphs were interesting though the trail is a bit difficult. The organ pipes and black mountain were interesting but not as much as the other activities

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved Namibia and our experience with Lucy and KimKim was great. She always was ready to help. The choice of lodges has excellent.

Hotel Reviews

River Crossing

Windhoek

A bit far away from restaurants and city center, Windhoek.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Better roads to get there.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Namib Desert Camping2Go

Stargazing and the silence at night is a plus. The tents are drivings distance from restaurants. It is one hour drive to Sesriem.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swakopmund Sands

Swakopmund

Just in front of the beach and walking distance to restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grootberg Lodge

The view from the rooms is breathtaking.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Onguma Bush Camp

Etosha National Park

The waterhole in front of the rooms is a good point for birdwatching and animal photography. The have a tour to a hide for photography and birdwatching worth the time!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Okaukuejo Campsite

Etosha National Park

We stayed at the waterhole rooms, which is a plus. Animals come drink at all hours day and night: elephants, jiraffes, rhinos and others.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Okonjima Plains Camp

Otjiwarongo

100% recommended!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Waterberg Guest Farm

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Olive Grove Guesthouse

Windhoek

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Activities at Okonjima Nature Reserve

Okonjima Nature Reserve

We booked leopard tracking and were lucky to see 2 of them!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

AfriCat Foundation

Okonjima Nature Reserve

Cheetahs are well taken care of.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The group we went with was Namibia Safari and tours. The vehicle they set us up with was fantastic. We self drove just over 3000km. We had one wasted night as we feel we didn’t need the stop in Caprivi East, we could have gone straight to Chobe.
Namibia safari and tours set us up with maps and gps and helped make everything very smooth. We lost the license plate off the back of the car and they had a replacement by the afternoon. They gave us lots of local advice about what to expect on the roads.

Hotel Reviews

The Elegant Guesthouse

Windhoek

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Swakopmund Luxury Suites

Swakopmund

No privacy at all in the bathroom space

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Twyfelfontein Adventure Camp

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Etosha Safari Lodge

Okaukuejo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Onguma Bush Camp

Etosha National Park

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shametu River Lodge

Divundu

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Desert Homestead Lodge

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Camp Kwando

Kongola (Caprivi)

Authenticity & Character

The staff and the chef were fabulous

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chobe Safari Lodge

Kasane

Just seemed huge after all of the smaller quainter places in Namibia. Very commercial.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Batonka Guest Lodge

Victoria Falls

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Chobe Safari

Namibia

Botswana seems to have a lot more tourists than Namibia. There is a dignity switch from German tourists to American and British tourist ms when you cross the border. Botswana seems way more commercial. If you like business and to be taken care of, you’ll prefer it here.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The summary first: in general, we are very pleased with our Namibia trip; it was a great experience and fulfilled our expectations.

Let me now give some more detailed, constructive feedback and please keep in mind that this was our fourth trip with Kimkim.

Positive things first:
- We were really satisfied with our guide/driver Pagge, who did his job without one mistake during our 14 days of traveling together. He was very experienced and knowledgeable, plus he gave us a lot of information even beyond classic information for tourists.
- All accommodations were fine. They were quite different in style (from tent style lodge to ordinary hotel) and we liked the diversity. Quite satisfied also with all arranged breakfasts and dinners!
- Most of the time the “intensity” of the trip was just optimal. Meaning that we had some activities every day (except first day), but we also had some free time for some rest or optional activities.

Not so optimal:
- If we compare with our previous Kimkim trips, preparations for this trip were “below Kimkim’s standards”:
o Starting with Kimkim platform: there were a lot of small mistakes (persistent wrong maps, inconsistency in texts, copy-past errors…)
o We needed several iterations before we came to acceptable plan (for example we asked for the driver at the very beginning…) and delays between iterations.
o Our contact Esther was always responsive and cooperative, but we believe that most of the time it was out of her power to fix the problems or to speed up the process.
- Additional surprise came when we got detailed plan from Namibian company executing the trip: plan was in several points different to the agreed Kimkim plan, but it was also more logical and more “executable”, so we accepted it.
o Important to add: during the trip we additionally tuned a trip a little and the trip was very good(!), so we are speaking here only about the preparation phase.
- It is not on us to judge what were the reasons for non-optimal preparation phase, but one simple explanation could be that Ester’s company was just not also the company later executing the trip

- We had one only operational “problem” at the beginning of our trip: we had Windhoek city tour planed for 10am on 8th April and we were waiting for a guide at the gate of the guesthouse. Nobody arrived, so at the reception we learned that they were just informed that the city was postponed till afternoon!? When we complained that we do not intend to wait for a guide the whole day in the hotel, we finally settled that we would meet with a guide by the church at 3pm and we later got originally planned city tour.

- Last comment is our subjective opinion that the whole trip was slightly overpriced. This opinion is based on our comparation with other three Kimkim trips (all of them were cheaper, but approximately same duration and all were including multiple internal flights) plus we learned during the trip that the cost of living in Namibia is quite low. Again, one simple explanation for the high cost could be that in this case just too many intermediate companies were involved.

To end in a positive tone: overall we were pleased with our Namibia trip.

Regards
Zvonko

The service we received throughout our trip was amazing. From the start in Windhoek and the instruction guide from Maxine down to our airport return with Josef we could not have had a better time.
The planning and TravelKey app were fantastic - Anna at Spitzkoppen was great, Tim who flew the hot air balloon was funny and incredibly skillful while all the locations we stayed in were also excellent. Our tour guide in Swakopmund who took us to the dunes at Sandwich Bay - PJ Breytenbach - was fantastic - very knowledgeable and passionate about the area and he was determined to ensure we had a fabulous experience. The vehicle we had was superb - my wife and I and our two friends whom we toured with cannot have been happier.

Our self-drive trip to Namibia was amazing! We didn't have much time but still managed to visit Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Etosha South and East, as well as Windhoek. Every stop along the route was worth it. Great vistas all over, very few people around, quality accommodations and the best roads we have seen in Africa so far. It was a great opportunity to get away from it all as a family. Of course, seeing all the animals in the national parks was the most memorable part of the trip: plenty of lions, elephants, girafes, zebras, etc. We didn't know much about Namibia before but we are definitely recommending it to everybody now!

Everything was amazing! All the places all the people, the organisation - everything is perfect!
I recommend it 100%! And I would do it over and over again!

Worth every penny! Our trip was fantastic, it was planned in every detail. All the places we went were worth visiting. The lodges were fantastic as well as the services provided, the food and the activities. The car was very good. Thank you Petru for organizing an amazing trip for us. We will certainly get back to you to organize our next trip around there.

This is an unusual review in that KimKim merely acted as the introducer to a third party safari company, Ultimate Safaris Namibia that provided the Namibian safari experience for us in October 2023.
Originally, we booked a bespoke tour through KimKim in 2019 with a view to travelling to Namibia in the summer of 2020. Due to covid, that trip was cancelled but by then we had already paid KimKim a substantial deposit. Thankfully, KimKim are an extremely honest company and they kept our deposit against a future booking. We tried again in 2021 but again that trip was cancelled.
We skipped 2022 and instead tried to book a Namibia trip for 2023. By then our requirements had changed and instead of preparing a bespoke trip for us, KimKim recommended a group tour through Ultimate Safaris Namibia which enjoyed great reviews but did not deal directly with the public.
The following is the review of our Ultimate Safaris Namibia experience as prepared by my wife.

Ultimate. What does it mean? Being the best or most optimal example of its kind.
Well that’s the best definition of the Ultimate Safaris Namibia experience that we have just enjoyed with our lead guide, Uzco.
Firstly the organisation, from being met by Uzco at our hotel all the way through to our return to our hotel Windhoek at the end of the trip was seamless and the attention to every detail was sublime.
At the outset we were joined by the two other couples on the Ultimate Safaris trip who were interested in all things safari, but, as well as wanting to enjoy seeing the animals, they loved birds as well. We had previously bought a pair of binoculars for the trip but really didn’t know which way round they needed to be used!! But, believe me, not long into our safari experience with the one and only Uzco, we very soon completely understood how to use the binoculars and were spotting birds with the others in our group.
Uzco made the trip memorable for us. It was such a wonderful wonderful experience. He was completely dedicated to the six of us, embracing our enjoyment, our well-being, and wanting to allow us the freedom to enjoy the trip at its best. He was the ultimate guide with a wealth of knowledge, both in the animal world, the bird and insect world as well as his knowledge of geography and geology. All of this knowledge that he gave to us added to the wonderful tapestry of what we were seeing unfolding before our eyes.
Can we also praise the various lodges selected by Ultimate Safaris Namibia for this group trip? All four lodges were outstanding in every way. The rooms were spacious and comfortable, the food was of an exceptionally high standard and staff extremely attentive and helpful.
Uzco is a dedicated professional guide who deserves all the praise and gratitude. We thank you so much for the experience, and of course the memories.

The Namibia travel experience was amazing. All places visited and stays overnight were special in one way or the other. Onguma was out of this world whereas Madisa was a lot more down to earth. I might change make some changes if I did it again, but that is the benefit of hindsight. Anyway, thank you for setting it up Lize.

We had a bad experience with a substandard lodge suggested by kimkim. Our concerns and criticisms were brushed aside rather than addressed. I would not entrust kimkim with my travel plans again.

Organization was excellent - quality of lodges and activities. All superb

Our guide Pietrus was the best. Loved the lodge. It went smooth all the way around

Arrangeywere very goid. Suggestion: west Etosha park- would have loved Etosha village lodge by the gate.

Namibian Adventure

To Lize Enderstein and Cindy Botha, a huge THANK YOU !!

We have just returned from a 33 day, Namibia self drive, which was initially scheduled for 2020. Cindy and Lize you have had to contend with postponing our trip by, first one, then two years. You have always been informative, accomodating, courteous and prompt with all our correspondence. Your Kimkim appointed travel consultant Pepe, who met us at the airport to send us off, was also very helpful and informative.

Although we provided the skeleton of the trip from Windhoek via, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein, Etosha, Caprivi, Waterberg, Erindi and finally Witvlei, your choices of accomodation and the comprehensive itinerary booklet, with suggested activities were excellent. You left nothing to chance, so there were no unpleasant surprises. On the contrary, our accomodation was, without fail perfectly matched to our budget and in all cases exceeded our expectation.

Our trip has so many highlights, however, two need special mention, our first night at Namibgrens Guest Farm with their quirky accomodation and friendliness and Fishermans Guesthouse for their kind hospitality and a truly delicious meal. We come away from Namibia with such a positive impression of the place and its people. All our hosts, staff and the public have been helpful and fun to deal with. It is difficult to imagine an improvement to what has been a wonderful Namibian adventure.

To Lize, Cindy and Kimkim, thank you again,
Peter, Wendy, Jon and Jan Lorentz.

We just returned from one of the best trips of our life. An amazing trip plan was put together by Lize and team to navigate us through 3 weeks of Safari, wildlife viewing, amazing accomidation and so much more. I had been working with Lize for the better part of a year initially to get this trip planned and everything went off without a hitch. Truly thankful for this expirence and the people that all made it happen. Would not hesitate to use again or reccomend this service to any of our friends. Thanks again for everything!

We had an amazing trip in Namibia. Everything was set up and scheduled perfectly. They went above and beyond in so many ways. A good example is scheduling dinner to be placed in our rooms when we were running too late to catch dinner at the restaurant.
We highly recommend them and Carlos was thorough, personable and incredibly responsive. I wish we had scheduled our trip longer, a week is not long enough to enjoy this gorgeous diverse country.

As someone who usually prefers to make all of my own travel arrangements, I was hesitant to use Kimkim for my recent trip to Namibia. The Kimkim team and Petru in particular quickly proved that all of my biases against travel agencies were wrong. Petru was extremely knowledgeable about the lodges, parks and related travel information in Namibia, and was able to help me successfully navigate the difficulties of COVID-era travel. The lodgings and travel arrangements Petru selected were exactly what I requested, a perfect mix of luxury and adventure. Transfers to and from the airport in Namibia were seamless, and the team on the ground in Namibia was also extremely helpful. Whether you are a family looking for a luxury safari or a single traveler looking to get off the beaten path, Petru and the Kimkim team will find the itinerary for you.

A big thank you to the KimKim team for the planning, organisation and great communication that went into making our 5 weeks in Namibia a truly memorable trip. From the first contact, throughout our requests for changes and alternate itineraries, nothing seemed like it was too much trouble for Tara and Deborah.

Everything around our self drive Safari/Tour was exceedingly well planned and co-ordinated with a perfectly suited vehicle, that was ideal for the conditions and well equipped. Their local representatives were both very friendly, helpful and informative, which added to the overall sense of confidence in the planning and the enjoyment of the tour.