Nature Travel Namibia
Nature Travel Namibia
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- TASA & Namibia Tourism Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $1,581 to $15,814 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
_774_5c10b301bc706.gif "Nature Travel Namibia"){kind=logo}
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Uganda Birding and Gorilla Trekking Trip with Nature Travel Birding
We are very pleased with our trip August 2017 to Uganda with Nick Buys of Nature Travel Birding. Our pre-trip expectations were high and Nick delivered! Logistically Uganda is not an "easy" trip but Nick handled the challenges on the ground with ease and expertise. Lodging and food were adequate although WIFI was very spotty. The main focus of the trip was birding and gorilla trekking. Nick is very astute of quickly assessing your bird list and pursuing additions to the list as well as focusing on endemics species. Many daily excursions were conducted with the assistance of local guides with great knowledge of local birding hotspots. The net effect was a very focused search of species with minimal down time. Nick never loses sight of his clients needs and has the expertise and experience to assist in the location of the bird. Gorilla and Chimp trekking was as advertised; wonderful and astonishing!
This trip was primarily forest birding with a lots of time spent looking up at the canopy. Usual days were up before sunrise and back at sunset. Roads are not the best, mostly gravel, and we drove many kms to maximize out experience. Our 14 day trip brought a closeness to trip participants (including locals) which proved to be fun and rewarding.
We saw upwards of 400 species of birds, probably over 50% new additions to our bird list. We had three sightings of the shoebill, one for 20 minutes within 10 meters of us. Other birding highlights included spectacular visuals of the Green Breasted Pitta and African Green Broadbill. Our gorilla trekking had us spend over 1 hour with a family again meters away from us. Chimps were high in the forest canopy but provided entertainment by raining down projectiles at us!
Overall a great trip and wonderful experience. Nick is passionate about his guiding and love of birding and mammals. We are already in discussion with Nick on our next trip.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Lots of Birds - and Animals, too
We had a great trip with Nature Travel Namibia over New Year 2015, seeing a huge number of birds as well as lots of antelope, cats, and other animals in only one week.
Three years ago, we took a group tour with a different company to the other, more famous leg of Namibia - the Namib Desert, the coast at Swakopmund, Damaraland and one day at Okakuejo in Etosha - and had such a good time we wanted to do the other leg which, as we hoped, is quite different.
We had only seven and a half days, and we wanted to fit a lot in. After discussion with Nick and Janeke, we worked out a stripped-down backwards version of the '10-Day Etosha, Caprivi, Chobe And Victoria Falls' trip which they offer. We flew in to Victoria Falls at noon and did a three-hour tour. This short visit was great as the falls are more spectacular than any photo can show, and it completely revived us after thirty hours of travel from our home. Then we went straight to Chobe in Botswana (2 nights), after which we crossed into Namibia and went along the Zambesi/Caprivi Strip via Camp Kwando (1 night), Mahangu (2). We stayed at Mushara (1) on the east of Etosha followed by a full day crossing Etosha to Okakuejo (1), then a final couple of hours in the park before driving down to Windhoek for the last night before flying out. This worked very well. Of course, the extra days of the full trip would have been even better, especially for some birds that we heard or saw briefly but didn't have the time to follow up on.
The accomodation was well-chosen and of high quality, and all the places had all the facilities you could want, and good food (and wine).
We arranged a private trip for just the two of us because we had been to East Africa four times, as well as our previous Namibia visit, and we had seen a lot of the basic birds and animals already - not that we didn't want to see them again, but we also wanted to spend time looking for some things, birds especially, that Africa beginners in a group might not be so interested in. It wasn't cheap, but in our opinion it was great value for money, everything went smoothly, and we were completely satisfied. (And, obviously, the price per person comes down if there are more of you.)
The trip had a great balance between land and river, birds and animals. We did three boat trips on the rivers (and all three were quite different). And we also saw lots of the spectacular Namibian skyscapes and sunsets. It was the rainy season in theory, but actually there was some cloud but little rain (nice for us, not so good for the local farmers).
Nick wasn't available, but we had another specialist bird guide who was very knowledgeable, and also great company. We saw over 220 species of bird in the week, of which 60 were new for us, and about 50 more were 'first decent photos'. Given our time constraint, we were very happy with this. Highlights for us on the river were great close-up views of Slaty Egret, Black Egret, Purple Heron amd Pygmy Duck. Our guide knew a spot where we got good sightings of Souza's Shrike and Tinkling Cisticola. He also had a spot for Little Jacana, which was a bird we especially wanted to see, and Sharp-tailed Starling. We saw Blue Crane in Etosha. On the trip we also got 23 accipiters and falcons, mostly with decent views.
We also wanted to find the local antelopes, and we got beautiful views of Sable, as well as Puku, Red Lechwe, Southern Reedbuck and Greater Kudu, as well as Common Duiker, which were all new for us. We saw seventeen antelope species in total, and I think we would have got Roan if we had an extra day at Mahangu.
We had seen Hippos before, of course, and Elephants, but we were surprised by how moved and impressed we were by the large groups of both that we saw. And the other regulars were there of course - Giraffe, Zebra, and so on. We also saw Lion and Cheetah, and our eagle-eyed guide found a well-hidden Leopard.
One special highlight was the huge Black Mamba that we saw clearly (and photographed) moving through the trees, and which our guide found because of the alarm calls of birds which had spotted it.
All in all, this was a great trip, organised and run by professionals, and which we happily recommend. And if you want to shorten or lengthen it, or do more in one place and less in another, or add a side-trip to somewhere not on the main plan, just ask!
And if you can time it to fit in with the great riverside New Year party with live music at Mahangu Safari Lodge, as we did, then go for it. Just avoid the Jägermeister!
Email Sue Mc | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fabulous adventure
Thanks to Nick for the most amazing adventure. Nick was fabulous, entertaining and a wonderful source of knowledge. He organised the most epic adventure that saw us travel over 3000 kms through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. We climbed ‘Big Daddy’ the tallest dune in Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert, went on an amazing desert adventure with Tommy, safari’ed through Etosha & Chobe viewing the rich diversity of wildlife, in fact we saw over 46 mammals interacting in their natural environment not to mention the wonderful bird life, sipped cocktails on the banks of the magic Kwondo River, meandered through the Okavango Delta watching hippos, swam in the Devils Pools at Victoria Falls and so much more. We stayed in a variety of accommodation from glam camping to pole huts and a luxury lodge just outside Etosha National Park. The three weeks went so quickly it now seems a blur. Nick is a vet and a conservationist, plus a really nice person. We were two families with 8 in total. We learnt so much and saw so much because of his incredible knowledge and understanding of the wildlife.
Email Sue | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fabulous, accommodating, and on the ball, Nature Travel Namibia handled every detail.
So I found Nature Travel Namibia through an acquaintance in my hometown. Obviously, it’s less expensive to go through a local company than through American tour operators, but without the recommendation, I don’t know that I would have chosen a local company like NTN. I’m so glad I found them!! I worked with a lovely woman via email who planned the private trip with me. We wanted to see Sossesvlei in Namibia and go on Safari, and we wanted to see South African culture. Our tour operator gave us both, and dealt with our dietary needs (2 vegetarians and a GF kid.) To say we ate well is an understatement. I gave a short list of what we were looking for and she provided. My girls and I had studied Apartheid, and we wanted to see Soweto and Constitutional Hill; my husband is a photographer and wanted to see leopards and rhinos. We moved around a lot, and there was someone waiting for us at every stop. My anxiety levels were low after we met our first guide: the whole thing was almost too easy for us! It was a wonderful trip, and when I asked to be tour guide-free in Cape Town at the end, NTN set us up at a convenient location for walking and left tickets at the hotel for Robben Island. Honestly, I cannot stress this enough: NTN took care of us! I was in contact with them only once during the trip, and that was just to say thanks. The guides they gave us were not only competent, but fun to be around. They stuck to our budget, and found ways to stretch it. Seriously, don’t hesitate to use them. They really know what they’re doing. It was a trip of a lifetime for us, and we met some really wonderful people. I feel enormous gratitude for Nature Travel Namibia, and I am already planning to use them again to see Vic Falls and the Okavango Delta: we just need a few years to make that happen. 🤗
AE
Email Louise | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable experience
We had an amazing time in Namibia thanks to our coordinator Amber Lynn and our guide Lucky. From the first contact with Nature Travel and Amber Lynn until the end, everything was handled professionally and on point. Requests were met and accommodated perfectly, and it was very easy to reach Nature Travel and the communication was always very quick and professional.
The stay in Namibia itself was wonderful! We had such a great time, and Lucky was an amazing guide. From the first moment when he picked us up, until when he dropped us off at the airport, he had a huge smile and was always very friendly, approachable, accommodating, knowledgable and positive. You can tell that he loves what he does and that he has great knowledge about, I would say, everything. There were some long days driving, but Lucky always kept the spirit up and did a great job and always made us feel safe on the roads. Furthermore, he knew the behaviours of the animals, and the perfect spots for the wildlife which made sure we got to experience some amazing moments with amazing views of the action. However, he always respected the animals, and made sure we did not interfere in their lives.
Talking about Namibia, it was such a wonderful country to explore, with so many diverse sites we got to visit. I think we were both blown away by the diversity of the Namibian nature and wildlife. From the sand dunes, to the roughness of the coast, and the inland of Damarland and then moving on to the safari seeing all the different animals, it was just amazing to see all that Namibia has to offer. The people were always very friendly, and the hotels were just amazing! It was definitely worth the money and we want to come back one day for sure!
Thank you Nature Travel, Amber Lynn and last but not least Lucky for this amazing trip! It is one we will always remember!
CA
Email Sylvie & Andre | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Private tour in Namibia: A trip of a lifetime
Our Birds and Mammals private tour has been planned by Petra, our travel consultant for nature Travel Namibia. She did a fantastic job, gave us different suggestions before we decided to book. Finally, she prepared a travel plan with 11 differents lodges for 15 days, all amazing. They were clean, confortable, the meals were good and the staff was nice. Every places offered excellent opportunities to observe birds. We did a list of 176 differents birds species.
Our excellent guide, Buzzy Joell, worked very hard from the beginning to the end, to give us satisfaction, beyond our expectations. He's a very good driver, we always felt safe despite the 3800 kms we covered with him on Namibian roads and tracks. He's passionate and extremely competent, both in ornithology, mammals, reptiles, insects and plants. He gave us informations with skill and professionnalism. We spent 2 wonderful weeks together, sharing our meals and our excursions. He was a very pleasant travel companion. He made us discover the nature of Namibia.
NL
Email Mirna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect match, fulfills all your wishes
Our experience with Nature Travel Namibia was absolutely incredible. Petra, the travel planner, truly made our dream trip come to life. She listened carefully to all of our preferences and made sure to incorporate every single one into our itinerary. Petra was always quick to respond to emails and proactively suggested a variety of options that perfectly matched our travel style.
During our trip, we even had the pleasure of meeting Petra in person, and we were struck by how enthusiastic and passionate she was about ensuring that everything went smoothly. Her dedication and energy really added a personal touch to our adventure.
What really stood out was how affordable the entire trip was, without any compromise on quality. We couldn't have asked for a better experience, and we would absolutely plan our next adventure with Nature Travel Namibia again. Highly recommended!
SE
Email Katie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, exceptionally organized and a friendly tour operator. Highly recommended!
We booked a private 9 days travel through Namibia and it was exceptionally good. Everything was perfectly organized. Started with the planning of the trip. Amber Lynn was amazing. The communication was very smooth and friendly. She always answered very quickly to all our questions, requests, etc. She planned the perfect trip for us according to our budget and wishes. It was a real pleasure to plan with her. Thank you Amber Lynn!
The whole trip was very well organized, from the pick up from the airport, the lodges and excursions to the drop off at the airport. You don’t need to worry about anything, just enjoy the trip. We had our private car with our private driver/tour guide Lucky who was amazing. He has such a great knowledge, (about wildlife, Namibia, Africa. You could ask him everything about everything), happy personality, is an excellent safe driver and always went the extra mile to make sure our special requests we had during the trip were taken care of. He made everything possible for us which we appreciated a lot. We couldn’t wish for a better guide and travel companion. It was truly an amazing and unforgettable trip for us. We will come back for sure and of course will book the next trip with NTN!
Email D Dimi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Prompt, efficient and well organised.
Amber from Nature Travel was very responsive and organised our intense agenda to perfection. Delano was a great driver, we felt very comfortable and entertained throughout the entire journey. The properties we stayed were beautiful, with great food and excellent customer service. We truly enjoyed our vacation in Namibia.
IT
Email Luca & Federica | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect organization
Me and my wife asked Nature Travel Nambia to organize our 5 days Safari in Nambia and we receieved prompt assistance from Amber. She was very kind since the beginning answering all our questions and requests.
She quickly offered us a satisfying intenerary around Etosha natural park with very well chosen lodges to stay. Everything was perfectly detailed and organized. This organization made us very comfortable ready to enjoy our safari
Arrived in Nambia, we met our tour guide Delano who is a very passionate about nature, animals and his country; we appreciated his passion.
We spent great days "gaming" with him enjoying wild life and chatting about many different subjects. He was super kind with us (and we're sure he is with anyone) .
Based on our experience I'd certainly reccomend Nature Travel Namibia to anyone who needs a perfect organization and prefers to live the experience together with someone local
