1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The whole holiday was extremely memorable - the landscape is stunning especially the sand dunes at Sosossflei at dawn and the stark barrenness of the Namib desert in the drive to Swakopmund. Etosha National park gave great opportunities for game viewing without the overcrowding of vehicles often experienced in East Africa. The AFrikat Foundation gave us real oppurtunities to see cheetahs and leopards at close quarters. The kids absolutely loved the sand boarding, quad biking in the sand dunes as did most of the adults!

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Tips for forthcoming travellers would be to take more long warm trousers than I did ( one pair!) and a jumper as well as a fleece. One member of our group wore a ski hat and gloves and was very superior - it was VERY cold at night and we were outside round the camp fire on almost all evenings so a few really warm garments would have been very useful. Luckily we were supplied with a blanket each. Our group had 12 - 17 year olds and this was ideal - I think maybe the long days in the bus might be hard for kids as young as 5. Take something like a blow up pillow or acquire a small pillow from the Air Namibia flight if you dare. A roll of loo paper would be a good idea as in some camp sites the loo paper was only replenished once a day and could run out by early evening. Also a plug proved useful. We were amazingly well fed by our group leader who cooked great meals on the wood fire every evening.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

I was pleased with the responsible aspect of the trip as this had been one of my criteria for choosing it. Wild dog Safaris who run the safari have a large number of Namibian staff - our leader was knowledgeable, very aware of environmental issues and also incredibly patriotic. The camp sites were making efforts to recycle etc and we were encouraged to dispose of water bottles etc sensibly. The AFrikat foundation are doing great work in the conservation of cheetah and leopard and it was good to see that and to know that some of the cost of the trip would benefit their work. Our trip to the Himba village is hopefully assisting these wonderful independent tribal people to continue their way of life for at least a little longer.

4. Any other comments?

Overall 4 or 5 stars for this holiday - lots of memories, great company, extremely well organised, never a dull moment and it managed to please both the kids and the adults.

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Seeing the wildlife in the game parks.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Be prepared for cold weather in J'burg at this time of year. Warn any children going that there are several early starts i.e. getting up at 5.30am and the game drives and journeys to the next stop can be very long-we took teenagers but I don't think very young children would cope well with it.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Not really. No recycling facilities anywhere we stayed.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Very enjoyable-would do a similar tour again.

Read the operator's response here:

It can be cold during the winter time in Johannesburg and we recommend you take plenty layers so that you are prepared for the drops in temperature. The game drives usually involve early starts as the wildlife is more active just after dawn before daytime temperatures rise. The upside of this is that you can rest up during the heat of the day having seen the early morning action. We always use local guides and source supplies locally thus providing employment for the local population. With regards to recycling facilities, these are varied and we do our best to utilize these where we can.