Reviews of safaris to Central Kalahari Game Reserve

"Ultimately Expert Africa was helpful with two rebookings over the pandemic but they really made the first one troublesome, first telling me to pay balance and I would get a refund if I couldn't make it and then refusing to give me the refund!!!

Inevitably, when reviewing so many different things, one is bound to make some comparisons resulting in not everyone getting an “excellent” review. Plus, I completely lost track of any individual lodge’s pricing since I bought a package to start and then we had several years of adjustments. So, I wasn’t really rating based on “value”. For example, Otjimbondona really impressed us but it might have been crazy expensive!!

Overall, it was an excellent trip and I appreciated the variety of experience. The self drive portion was much easier than anticipated and it was great having that independence after the very prescribed Botswana portion. It was absolutely beautiful reaching the coast at Luderitz (and seafood!) after so much desert time." Read full review: 37 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Great experience, everything went according to plan.
Thank you for a wonderful holiday." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Our holiday is best summed up by a travel rep we met on Safari who looked at out itinerary and commented that it "was very clever indeed".

It yielded most of what Botswana can offer on the wild life front in varied locations each with their own characteristics of flora, faurna and animals in some of the best lodges that Botswana offers. We were a very lucky couple and many thanks to Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nearly 3 years in the making with changes and cancellations and a host of really helpful suggestions from Expert Africa who showed great patience with us..............is there anything more to suggest.... NO.

Thanks Expert Africa.............you are all stars." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"This has been our fifth trip to Southern Africa and the second that we booked with expertafrica. We spent three weeks self-driving in Namibia and then roughly two weeks on a fly-in safari in northern Botswana. Compared to our 2021 trip, this one featured much more landscape (as can be expected of Namibia) and more interactions with humans. That’s not to say that we didn’t see any less wildlife than on previous trips.

I would like to also emphasize that this trip was the first time that we visited this region at the end of the southern summer, i.e. at the very end of the rain season. Previously we had traveled here only in October (3 times) or July (once). We were pleasantly surprised by all the greenery, and we weren’t bothered by mosquitoes in any significant way. However, I should point out that my wife was often bitten by midges, whereas I wasn’t.

Virtually all guidebooks point out that the dry season is the best time to visit Africa in order to get the best wildlife sightings. I readily admit that the tall grass sometimes impedes tracking down predators, however, as my review of the camps in Botswana shows, we were not really short-changed of lion and cheetah sightings. Overall, except perhaps for leopards (only 2 encounters in 5 weeks) the wildlife sightings were as good as in the dry season, and in some aspects they were even better: To us, the animals appeared to be more relaxed or at least less stressed, due to the availability of food and water.

Everybody we talked to said that the region had a good rainy season. However, during our whole stay, we only had one brief shower (during siesta time in Etosha Heights) and one morning game drive in Nxai Pan, during which we had to wear rain gear and protect our cameras.

All ten safari camps are, in our minds, highly recommendable. And, as it turned out repeatedly, we saved the best (Kwara Camp) for last. This is not in any way to diminish the experiences we had at other camps. They all had their special appeal. However, if asked which are the places we are most likely to revisit again, they are Okonjima, NamibRand, Tau Pan and Kwara Camps.

I would like to add a comment about the flights to the various camps in Botswana. All of them took place on time and, most importantly, got us safely from point A to point B. However, I don’t quite understand why the departure times are only given to us the day before. I understand that for the airlines it can be challenging to come up with an economic way of handling these flights, but isn’t it true that virtually all of these trips are booked months in advance? For instance, on our way from Maun to Kwara Camp, we stopped in Xaranna and then Shinde Camps, whereas on our way back to Maun, it was a direct flight of 25 minutes.

Finally, a comment about Covid-19. Entry requirements with regards to corona changed during our trip: While we had to produce a negative PCR test for our first destination Namibia (to the tune of $250 per person) they lifted that requirement one week after we arrived, and Botswana lifted its requirement for the test before we crossed into Botswana. So did South Africa. The US, on the other hand, still requires a negative PCR test, so we did that in Maun one day before our departure back home. However, no one asked us to produce the paperwork!

I would also like to commend the way the camps in Zimbabwe last year handled the seating arrangements during the meals. They provided separate tables for each party rather than having everybody sit together at one or two tables along with the guides. I sense that this is a delicate issue and that it’s really up to company policy and not expertafrica to decide what’s best. With regards to guests sitting together I much prefer the separate tables arrangement, because in our five trips to Africa so far, our experience has been that the vast majority of conversations one has at these occasions amount to not much more than small talk: Where have you been, and where are going from here? Of course, there are exceptions. For instance, we got to know one couple from Switzerland and, on another trip, a couple from the UK that we really liked to talk to, and then we simply asked the camp staff to set up a table for four instead of two.

And with regards to the guides sharing the dinner: Of course, they deserve to have a gourmet dinner just like the guests, but I would say, they can have it in the quiet of the staff quarters, because in my mind, they deserve a well-earned break because they work hard enough already as it is. Again, in our experience, we had virtually all of the stimulating and significant conversations with them during the game drives, the coffee break and the sundowners, but not during dinner time." Read full review: 35 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Botswana was as amazing as we had imagined...in this ongoing pandemic it was like coming alive again.

Our return to 11 nights in a UK quarantine hotel somewhat detracted from the overall experience but this was no reflection on Botswana or ExpertAfrica.

Maruska's knowledge and patience in planning an itinerary that we would enjoy was invaluable. But her assistance in dealing with the difficulties presented by the Omicron variant, reorganising plans for our return and reassuring our family, was truly appreciated and demonstrated her care and concern.

Many thanks!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"My holiday of a lifetime - the best ever. Extremely well organised especially under exceptionally difficult circumstances with COVID to deal with. We had constant communication from Maruska on all the administration that COVID entailed.

Our only hiccup was filling in the UK locator form for our return journey to the UK as we had no WIFI access until J'burg airport. This must be completed before you check in for your flight. Johannesburg Airport is a shambles but we travelled in the early stages of COVID and luckily had plenty of time to sort things out.

We couldn't fault any of the lodges regarding the current situation - everywhere was meticulously clean with all the staff waring masks at all times.

We have been looked after so well by all the Africans, all with a smile on their faces mixed with plenty of singing and dancing!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We had high expectations for the trip as we usually organise our holidays ourselves. Maruska listened carefully to all our requests and made certain suggestions which definitely improved our journey.

This holiday exceeded those expectations - it will be a lasting memory filled with joy.

Thank you Expert Africa." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"An impressive journey in a strange period of time. Lots of hurdles to take, endless paperwork and testing but very worth it in the end.

The Botswana people were very happy to welcome us and thanked us multiple times for taking the effort to come to their country in these complicated times.

Once there everything ran smoothly; a well organized trip and a great combination of camps giving a complete picture of Botswana." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"Although it took a lot of perseverence at home with all the paperwork, it was well worth the effort. I was impressed by the organisation and very impressed by the warm and friendly nature of the Botswana people. Everywhere they were so happy to see us and welcome-ing and hospitable. Nature is overwhelmingly beautiful and serene and quiet.
My only negative point is the new Jack's Camp. All the camps had the tapestry and furniture like a camp signature, but Jack"s Camp was too big, too overdone and above all too dark! I am sure that I would have preferred the old camp." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"We enjoyed this trip, our thirteenth safari but our first during the green season. We particularly wanted to look for birds in the breeding season and so in breeding plumage and to see the desert 'in bloom'.

We did both, notably seeing weavers, whydahs and widowbirds- little brown jobs for most of the year but now in full plumage. The desert was indeed in flower and we would recommend the experience to all seasoned safari aficionados - not only for the green freshness and the ephemeral flowering plants but the huge range of flowering grasses and the huge numbers of beautiful butterflies, grasshoppers and so on. Sure the game is spread out and not gathered around the waterholes but we saw so many groups of animals fit and well fed and simply enjoying themselves- dogs, lions and elephants playing. A great trip.

The downside was the lack of water in the Delta. The rains failed last year and some areas had consequently been dry for over a year. Vumbura is situated on a permanent river so was less affected and there has been some recent rain this season so water levels there have gone up and we enjoyed good water activities there, however Jacana camp in the Jao concession was completely dried up and has been for over a year. Recent rains have barely touched them and they hope for water again later in the year when the floods from Angola arrive; there have been good rains in Angola apparently.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have used Expert Africa on several occasions and returned because you do offer an excellent service." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"In total, we spent a month in Africa birding in South Africa and Namibia before our last six nights in Botswana.

Our Botswana experience was a bit of a mixed bag. The two camps we visited - Nxai Pan and Tau Pan - are very nice camps with great staff but are a bit uncomfortable if crowded because of the communal approach to dining. (20 people at a large table shouting at each other.)

We missed one night in the middle of the trip altogether because weather prevented a landing at our second camp and forced us to spend the night at a hotel in Maun.

Overall, a nice but not great experience in Botswana compared to some of our many other African trips.

Overall, Expert Africa does seem to be an "expert" on Africa. This was the second trip that we taken with help from Maruska and we are very pleased with the advice as well as the actual organization of our trips.

Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari