Reviews of safaris to Okavango Delta Safari Reserves
950 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Okavango Delta.
Dr B
Miami Beach
"Very satisfied"
I visited Botswana between 25 Apr 2014 and 4 May 2014
"Had a wonderful trip and would definitely do it again."
Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs O
Somerset
"Our Eighth Trip to the Okavango"
I visited Botswana between 23 Apr 2014 and 7 May 2014
"After a few self inflicted disappointments last year we returned to our well tried formula on this trip and had the most wonderful holiday. As usual the Expert Africa input was impeccable and the new Mrs Green, aka Megan, excelled. At no point were we left wondering where, what or when and knew that had anything gone wrong it would be sorted.
Almost without exception all the managers, staff, guides and boatmen who looked after us went out of their way to ensure that we had the best possible experience. It worked and we saw pretty much all that the Delta has to offer in relative comfort and with excellent food - even if it is delivered 8 times a day!
Another triumph for Expert Africa and Wilderness. Thank you.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No. It aint broke so don't fix it!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
Almost without exception all the managers, staff, guides and boatmen who looked after us went out of their way to ensure that we had the best possible experience. It worked and we saw pretty much all that the Delta has to offer in relative comfort and with excellent food - even if it is delivered 8 times a day!
Another triumph for Expert Africa and Wilderness. Thank you.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No. It aint broke so don't fix it!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr JF
NW London
"My Apr 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana between 20 Apr 2014 and 26 Apr 2014
"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The advice and information from Expert Africa about the camps was spot on."
Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
Hampshire
"My Apr 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana and 2 other countries between 13 Apr 2014 and 28 Apr 2014
"Superb advice from Nick in the UK office, no request or question too small. Wonderful trip put together for us, paying great attention to our wishes for animal sightings, our requirements as 6 people traveling together and our request for small groups and individual attention. Loved all the choices and had a really superb time.
Would travel with Expert Africa again and also recommend.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really.
A couple of issues came up for the friends we were traveling with (Mack Air) - but as Ian and I weren't on that plane we've left it to them to report what happened. As advised very clearly by you before we left, they reported what had happened straight away to the camp manager and the problem was dealt with right away and to everyone's satisfaction. Altogether a very clear process in booking and very clear guidelines for what to do if things aren't right along the way.
Many thanks indeed for a tremendous trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari
Would travel with Expert Africa again and also recommend.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really.
A couple of issues came up for the friends we were traveling with (Mack Air) - but as Ian and I weren't on that plane we've left it to them to report what happened. As advised very clearly by you before we left, they reported what had happened straight away to the camp manager and the problem was dealt with right away and to everyone's satisfaction. Altogether a very clear process in booking and very clear guidelines for what to do if things aren't right along the way.
Many thanks indeed for a tremendous trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms J & Ms B
Canada
"My Apr 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 13 Apr 2014 and 17 May 2014
"Overall, a fantastic trip.
Expert Africa did an excellent job in their seamless arrangements." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
Expert Africa did an excellent job in their seamless arrangements." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs SA
Norfolk
"My April 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 6 Apr 2014 and 20 Apr 2014
"Nick was straight back to us on the text when he knew we would be late and showed great forethought in reserving us a room at the Airport Hotel. The A380 had a lot of passengers who missed their flights and the hotel soon became fully booked.
As a comment if Expert Africa has customers who are "time rich" as we are [though not necessarily "cash rich" ] it might be a good idea to suggest a day's stopover after a long-haul flight. Because we had to stay over a day we started our holiday fit and refreshed and enjoyed it all. If we had arrived at Nxia Pan Camp as planned I think we would have been exhausted and it could have taken a few days to recover............the tourist schedule for retirees is pretty demanding !" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
As a comment if Expert Africa has customers who are "time rich" as we are [though not necessarily "cash rich" ] it might be a good idea to suggest a day's stopover after a long-haul flight. Because we had to stay over a day we started our holiday fit and refreshed and enjoyed it all. If we had arrived at Nxia Pan Camp as planned I think we would have been exhausted and it could have taken a few days to recover............the tourist schedule for retirees is pretty demanding !" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C
Dublin
"My Mar 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana between 16 Mar 2014 and 25 Mar 2014
"A favourable experience"
Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr C & Mrs H
Canada
"My Feb 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 27 Feb 2014 and 8 Mar 2014
"In a word, the trip was superb - and Maruska Adye had a lot to do with it.
It's important, we think, to compliment Maruska on every aspect of her work with us. From the time we first contacted Expert Africa by email, to the phone conversations we had, to the numerous questions we sent - Maruska's responses were quick (ridiculously quick in some cases - we couldn't believe how attentive she was) and always helpful. We felt all along - and our trip was two years in the making - that we were being treated not simply as faceless clients, but as individuals with preferences and ideas that were worthwhile and needed to be dealt with. Maruska's suggestions always seemed to relate directly to the information we'd forwarded to her. She actually seemed to be thinking about OUR TRIP, not her needs.
One of the things that was most helpful for us was that her description of each of the camps we stayed at in our email correspondence before we left was very accurate. So we had a sense both of what the accommodation and feel of the camp would be, and a good idea of what we were likely to see in each of the concessions.
The organization of flights, transfers, etc. was flawless. Every time somebody was supposed to be somewhere to pick us up they were there. Every time a plane was supposed to arrive for a flight (and there were four of those) it was there ready to go. The drivers and pilots were all friendly and helpful. The most complicated little maneuver, the drive from Kasane to Victoria Falls with the border crossing from Botswana to Zimbabwe, was handled expertly by the drivers on both sides." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
It's important, we think, to compliment Maruska on every aspect of her work with us. From the time we first contacted Expert Africa by email, to the phone conversations we had, to the numerous questions we sent - Maruska's responses were quick (ridiculously quick in some cases - we couldn't believe how attentive she was) and always helpful. We felt all along - and our trip was two years in the making - that we were being treated not simply as faceless clients, but as individuals with preferences and ideas that were worthwhile and needed to be dealt with. Maruska's suggestions always seemed to relate directly to the information we'd forwarded to her. She actually seemed to be thinking about OUR TRIP, not her needs.
One of the things that was most helpful for us was that her description of each of the camps we stayed at in our email correspondence before we left was very accurate. So we had a sense both of what the accommodation and feel of the camp would be, and a good idea of what we were likely to see in each of the concessions.
The organization of flights, transfers, etc. was flawless. Every time somebody was supposed to be somewhere to pick us up they were there. Every time a plane was supposed to arrive for a flight (and there were four of those) it was there ready to go. The drivers and pilots were all friendly and helpful. The most complicated little maneuver, the drive from Kasane to Victoria Falls with the border crossing from Botswana to Zimbabwe, was handled expertly by the drivers on both sides." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs & Mr G
Cape Town
"Feb 2014 Botswana trip"
I visited Botswana between 27 Feb 2014 and 6 Mar 2014
"An experience of a lifetime. Felt thoroughly looked after and catered to.
We saw the most amazing game and were privileged with the vast bush knowledge of our guides, and the love of the Batswana for their land and country.
Only one real downside of staying in the camps as a party of 6: we literally never had a moment of just being able to hang out or enjoy a meal on our own - because of the nature of long-tables with all guests eating together and guides playing host and conversation-partners during meals. With the strict rules around not walking about at night without a guide present, it created an awkwardness in us about staying around later into the evening and having to keep our guides up. So over the 8 days of the trip we actually had almost no time to interact with our own party on our own.
Lagoon and Kwara camps seemed to offer a reasonable balance between attentiveness and respect for guests' autonomy. Kanana, however, was a bit over-hosted and over-attentive (even though our hosts were truly wonderful) - it got a bit much to be hovered over ALL the time.
Everyone, everywhere, was so genuinely radiant and generous, and we are in love with the Batswana people!
Thanks to Expert Africa for good guidance and organising! And for the wonderful book on Botswana.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Is there any way to include more physical exercise?! It's an extremely sedentary experience with too much food :-) and an understandably restricted environment because of the wildlife.
Somehow though, we would have loved to engage in some kind of more robust activity/exercise over the 8 days." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
We saw the most amazing game and were privileged with the vast bush knowledge of our guides, and the love of the Batswana for their land and country.
Only one real downside of staying in the camps as a party of 6: we literally never had a moment of just being able to hang out or enjoy a meal on our own - because of the nature of long-tables with all guests eating together and guides playing host and conversation-partners during meals. With the strict rules around not walking about at night without a guide present, it created an awkwardness in us about staying around later into the evening and having to keep our guides up. So over the 8 days of the trip we actually had almost no time to interact with our own party on our own.
Lagoon and Kwara camps seemed to offer a reasonable balance between attentiveness and respect for guests' autonomy. Kanana, however, was a bit over-hosted and over-attentive (even though our hosts were truly wonderful) - it got a bit much to be hovered over ALL the time.
Everyone, everywhere, was so genuinely radiant and generous, and we are in love with the Batswana people!
Thanks to Expert Africa for good guidance and organising! And for the wonderful book on Botswana.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Is there any way to include more physical exercise?! It's an extremely sedentary experience with too much food :-) and an understandably restricted environment because of the wildlife.
Somehow though, we would have loved to engage in some kind of more robust activity/exercise over the 8 days." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr B & Ms C
Vancouver
"My Feb 2014 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 27 Feb 2014 and 8 Mar 2014
"Overall we had a great trip. Camps were well run. Staff were sensitive to our needs and preferences. They were also flexible enough to divide our group into different activities to match the preferences within our party. For example, on one occasion four of us went out on the boat fishing while two were taken on a guided walk to study the medicinal uses of the flora.
There was sometimes the sense of being over programmed and not given enough time to ourselves.
We very much enjoyed our walking safaris and could have done more of those.
In conclusion the trip was excellent and no small thanks to Expert Africa and Maruska in particular for helping to organize this trip. Maruska was extremely patient, diligent and made sure that she understood what we were looking for. Nothing was too much for her. She is also very personable and pleasant. Thank you Maruska and Expert Africa" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
There was sometimes the sense of being over programmed and not given enough time to ourselves.
We very much enjoyed our walking safaris and could have done more of those.
In conclusion the trip was excellent and no small thanks to Expert Africa and Maruska in particular for helping to organize this trip. Maruska was extremely patient, diligent and made sure that she understood what we were looking for. Nothing was too much for her. She is also very personable and pleasant. Thank you Maruska and Expert Africa" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
950
reviews of Okavango Delta by travellers since August 2007
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