Blue Crane Safaris Namibia
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- NTB & TOSCO
- Tour Types:
- Mid-range & luxury tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $138 to $1,103 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
SG
Email Wan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caring, Reliable, Friendly and Professional
We had an amazing 19days self drive trip in Namibia. Whole trip was very well planned and organised. Derek and his team provided notes from the route to take , how long the journey/ drive would take and any stops along the way which are worth dropping by. They tracked our journey to ensure our safety and are always on hand to response to any queries we had along the way as well giving. We would definitely be using Blue Safari again and would recommend Derek and his team to anyone who is planning a trip to the wilderness
Varied highlights of Namibia
We booked this tour last minute. Blue Crane Safaris was great, from the communication to the planning to arrival and departure. And the pricing was fair. I can't say enough great things about John, our tour guide. He went out of his way to check that we were enjoying our safari. He was knowledgeable, professional, fun, and friendly. While some unexpected, minor complications arose out of his control, he was quick and resourceful to get us back on track. The food was repetitive at times, and this has more to do with the lodges than Blue Crane. In late January/early February (wet season) the animals are apparently not as visible, but we still got to see many. This safari was an excellent way to see the highlights of Namibia with little planning on our part. I wish we had more time to spend at the lodges just relaxing. Highly recommended!
Email David Findley | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
First time trip to Namibia
We were a party of two couples travelling to Namibia for the first time and wanted to take a 19-day self-drive trip throughout Namibia utilising a number of lodges along the journey. After a lot of research and good references, we selected BLUE CRANE SAFARIS. They are a small independent company based based in the capital, Windhoek. We initially interacted with their owner, Derek James who was always informative and responsive to our questions, enabling us to plan an itinerary and route which would meet our budget and moreover provide a wide impression of this stunning country along with its incredible wildlife.
The overall service and support of BLUE CRANE was superb.... we were met at the airport and spent our first evening in Windhoek, where we met the team including Jamie, Petrina and Eperfrans. Jamie diligently went over the itinerary and logistics of our new adventure, all very efficient and reassuring before we went to the vehicle. We used a Toyota HILUX 4x4 vehicle with two spare tyres. Eperfrans went over the spare removal and replacement plus showed us the jack operations as well as the air pressure (required for inflating/deflating tyres on occasion dependant upon terrain). Jamie explained the vehicle was fitted with a tracking device so that they could see where we were on our journey. Must admit that provides a level of reassurance as the country is pretty large and unpopulated in places so it was nice to know they were keeping an eye on us, so to speak. Jamie had also preloaded all of our lodges into the Garmin SatNav...
We also had both Jamie and Dereks numbers and were connected with them on WhatsApp. Quite a useful feature in hindsight and we interacted with them on occasions when we needed to for advice or pre-booking of forthcoming events which they did without issue and were extremely efficient. Their goal was definitely to ensure we had a great holiday!
At the end of the trip we finally got to meet Derek in person, whowanted to know our highlights and of course any recommendations or improvements we could suggest. Our party all agreed that we were hugely impressed with them and thanked them all. A great team and I would hugely recommend them. We are actually already planning a return to Africa next year and working with BLUE CRANE to visit Botswana, another territory that they also cover....
Thanks again to Derek and his team for helping us have one of the most enjoyable and memorable holidays
David & Cheng
Email John Hensher | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Derek was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and very easy to deal with.
After visiting 16 game park reserves over the years in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania we were looking for a different experience in Africa.
After searching the web, we came across Blue Crane Safaris which offered a 15-day safari tour of Namibia which suited us right down to the ground especially as it was more of an adventure holiday for both of us in a different environment for game viewing, fantastic scenery and culture.
Derek from Blue Crane Safaris was extremely helpful in regard to all of our arrangements. We were very lucky to have been just ourselves and the guide/driver (Me-Gusto) on the trip. Me-Gusto was an extremely knowledgeable young man in every aspect of the history of Namibia, game, birds, flora and fauna, geology and culture as he is very proud of his country. Me-Gusto made our trip a wonderful and truly memorable one, it was such an emotional time when we had to say goodbye as he has become a very special friend to us both.
Me-Gusto was brilliant in looking after my wife as she suffers from major food allergies. He made sure all the meals on the trip were safe for her to eat which took away from us both the worry we might have had. The accommodation was excellent and Me-Gusto’s driving was exemplary. We hope to return in the near future to see the rest of Namibia’s wonderful countryside with Me-Gusto.
US
Email Mandy K | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A top-notch tour operator
I recommend Blue Crane Safaris, Namibia without reservation. Derek and his staff were excellent from beginning to end.
They were knowledgeable, responsive and caring.
At the beginning, to organize the tour, I emailed back and forth with Derek. His responses were always prompt and informative. I found him very easy to work with.
When we had to make a minor change to the itinerary mid-trip Derek and Jamie at the office handled it seamlessly. The office was always contactable and responsive.
Ours was a two part trip. A week of self-drive (for myself and my husband) followed by a two and a half week guided tour ( mainly for my friend and me, two middle aged women, with my husband joining us in the last few days)
Both were very well organized and very well supported.
The self-drive vehicle was equipped with everything needed and was in very good condition. The GPS devise was preset with all the needed driving directions. We felt very comfortable driving on our own.
John was our guide for the second leg of the trip. He was a knowledgeable, caring guide. Also fun.
He made sure we had the best trip. We did.
DE
Email Timo | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
v ery good organized and operated
Blue Crane Safaris organized me a private tailored tour about for two weeks and managed to give me a very good total image of Namibia and its people. Everything worked as I had expected. The tour was value of the money I paid. My guide/driver had a very wide knowledge of history of the country, as well as of all animals, plants etc, even over the look of night sky and stars. At the same time he was always ready to assist me if I needed any help and ready to answer all my questions. I had very enjoyable days on the tour of about 4500 km. The car was in a goog condition and his drive skills were excellent. If I am ever going to make a new tour in Namibia, I'll surely contact again Blue Crane Safaris.
Email Nicola | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Quite probably our best holiday ever
We had an amazing 11 day tour of Namibia that totally exceeded our expectations.
We loved the tour itinerary and everywhere we stopped. Namibia is a beautiful country with such varied landscape. The abundance of wildlife was fantastic. The quality of the lodges was top notch.
Markus was an exceptional guide, very knowledgeable and easy to get along with. He had so much enthusiasm and nothing was ever a problem for him.
Derek was very easy to communicate with in order to plan the tour, and keen for feedback at the end.
We will be raving about Namibia and Blue Crane to all of our friends when we get back to Australia.
US
Email Steve | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic 3-day tour of Etosha
Highly recommend Blue Crane for a Namibia safari.
I booked a three-day/two-night private tour of Etosha (Namibia) with Blue Crane and had a fantastic experience. I think Etosha provides a typical "Safari experience" and am glad I chose it over seeing the Namibian coast and dunes (although I hear those are amazing too and would tour them if I visit again).
By way of background, I was in Namibia for work and booked this tour at the last minute (i.e., about 7 days before the tour). (Note: This was during the off-season and they may not be as accommodating during peak tour months.) I solicited proposals from 4 tour operators; Blue Crane may have been a little more expensive than the others, but I think it included more meals and the online reviews were strong.
The guide picked me up on time at my hotel in Windhoek (8 am). We then drove to Etosha, stopping for lunch at a nice spot. We arrived at Etosha in the afternoon and ended up seeing 50+ giraffes, 2 elephants, hundreds of zebras, and countless other animals. I spent one night at Mushara Bush Camp and the other night at Okaukuejo Resort lodge (which has an amazing watering hall that borders the property). Blue Crane took care of all the details - the meals were great (and included in the price) and the lodging reservations were in order. Some visitors may not want to stay at the bush camp because it's very hot (you are "glamping" in nice tents) and loud (with jungle noises) at night, but it's a great experience for those who can handle the heat. There were a lot of bugs in the Okaukuejo Resort room, but hey, it's Africa...
My guide was Markus, who was very friendly, easy to understand, and had 15 years of experience and a lot of training. He had an amazing eye for animals and could spot them from a great distance. For example, by the end of day 2, we had almost given up on seeing a lion during my visit when at dusk he spotted a silhouette on a distant ridgeline - sure enough, it was a lioness. On the morning of day 3, we did one last drive through the park and he spotted two white rhino deep in the bush. It was fun to see him get excited about seeing some of the lesser known animals (e.g., African wildcat). He was very focused on making sure I had a great experience and was able to answer a host of questions that I posed about different animals and Namibia generally.
We were in the cab of a 4-door truck with air conditioning. I previously thought it might be fun to be in a traditional safari jeep sitting outside of the cab, but I think the dust on the roads would be very unpleasant and it could get very hot and unpleasant.
I strongly recommend bringing binoculars. Some animals are quite close to the car/road, but for the full experience, you'll want to bring binoculars.
My only barely negative comment on Blue Crane is that it usually took a full day for us to exchange emails. I'm in the United States (eastern time) and, unlike some of the other tour operators that I was talking to, I don't think Blue Crane checked emails in the evening (i.e., during my business day). But it wasn't really a problem.
I would hire them again without hesitation.
US
Email Ester | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Blue Crane is an outstanding tour company that put together the perfect trip we just took to Namibia
We cannot say enough good things about Blue Crane - Derek Jacobs was totally responsive every step of the way and put together exactly the trip my husband and I were looking for to Namibia at a reasonable cost. The itinerary was excellent and, most importantly, we had an incredible guide/driver who took care of every little detail of the trip. Me-Gusto was a great driver, an expert guide, an amazing tracker, an incredible font of information about animals, flora and fauna, birds, geology and history, he knew what we were interested in and planned accordingly and helped make this one of the best trips we have ever taken (and we travel extensively). We did not have to worry about anything - he made sure we had reservations for meals at good tables wherever we went, breakfast packs were ready during early morning starts, he would check out every room before we settled in, our comfortable 4x4 was clean and filled with cold water every morning. I highly recommend Blue Crane if you are looking for an amazing trip to Namibia.
PT
Email Tiago Fernandes | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect Weekend Break in Sussusvlei!
The 2-days programme organised by Blue Crane Safaris is a perfect option for those who come to Namibia for work and still wish to enjoy what this beautiful country has to offer. We particularly liked climbing to the sand dunes and the amazing views and changing colors of the desert, as well as the apolalyptic environment of the Dead Valley (Deadvlei).