South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"South African Airways was a disappointment. O.R.Tambo needed more time on the outward journey due to long queues at immigration.

Hotel, Lodges and Guesthouses were on the whole excellent. Meals were of a good standard.

Some of the driving was not for the fainthearted! Road surfaces varied from excellent tar roads to poor dirt roads, none impassable! As expected!

We had a wonderful time for our second visit to Namibia, very friendly people. South Africa is equally friendly." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Tracy helped us to organize the last part of a longer trip to SA.

She was helpful, knowledgable and resourceful, and made it possible for us to go to Kwandwe. She was slick and reliable on admin and the materials and support that Expert Africa provided was really useful.

Thank you so much.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - could not improve on this." Read full review: 2 nights in Africa; 2 on a South Africa trip

"We loved every place we visited. We even enjoyed the 2 long drives we had.

It was one of the best holidays we have had.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have no suggestions we have used Expert Africa 3 times." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"Thanks to Claire for selecting such wonderful hotels for us, The scenery is stunning. The fynbos fascinating. There can't be a better country for a road trip.

And returning to such lovely welcoming hotels each night made the whole holiday a real treat." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 21 on a South Africa trip

"A really extraordinary adventure. An excellent itinerary in Rwanda, capped by the priceless experience of tracking gorillas and other primates.

A beautiful week in the Quirimbas Archipelago, including a visit to a hidden gem of southeast Africa, historic Ibo Island.

Just a wonderful experience all around.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Many thanks to Tracy Lederer for another round of assistance in arranging and assembling an African adventure (our third in three years through Expert Africa). An excellent initial recommendation for an itinerary and extremely helpful advise in refining our ideas. The arrangements came together quickly and worked almost flawlessly.

Thank you again Tracy and Expert Africa." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 12 on a Rwanda safari

"This was an amazing vacation! The camps/food/game viewing were excellent.

Thanks again Maruska for all your help in putting this trip together.

You are always a pleasure to work with.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Passport check for Chris took three hours in Johannesburg. I'm not sure if Expert Africa arranged the representative for us in Lusaka, but it made our arrival/departure a breeze. Thank You! We checked our bags to our destination on the departure as to avoid the nightmare in Johannesburg.

I hoped to visit the shops at the main entrance to the park on the way to the airport. Unfortunately, due to our early flight they were not open. Had I known, we could have made arrangements at the start of the trip. Not a big deal --- there's always next time ... just mentioned it in case other guests had the same idea." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"This was our first time in the Western Cape, the scenery is stunning and it was a special holiday.

We saw what we hoped for during a September/October trip: Southern Right Whales African penguins, and fabulous spring flora generally and in the Postberg Reserve. The opportunity to walk unguided in all of the reserves we visited is a bit special (West Coast, Bontebok, De Hoop, Chapman's Peak, Cape Point)

We had not expected the weather to be so cold with persistent bitter winds; but it was mostly dry.

Some of the driving directions were out of date and some ignored more obvious, shorter routes.

We were correctly warned that driving standards in SA are poor. We saw the aftermath of 2 serious accidents; were overtaken while driving single file through road works and generally felt we were lucky to escape alive!

Overall, accommodation standards were high, but someone should have warned us (and Expert Africa?) that De Hoop is still undergoing redevelopment and our beautiful room was adjacent to a noisy building site.

We discovered the penguin colony at Betty's Bay by accident: much larger than at Boulders on the Cape peninsular, and worth highlighting for anyone visiting the Hermanus area, as is the Harold Porter botanical garden." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Fabulous trip.

Great itinerary from Expert Africa - good variety of camps and length of stays were perfect.

Our main Expert Africa contact was actually Megan, not Tracy, but she is not in the pick list.

It would have been nice to have received a phone call on returning from the trip to ask us how it had been.

Our guide Theo was excellent and negotiated two fabulous groups for our gorilla treks." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"The best safari we have ever had. Great accommodation. Planning our 2018 trip now.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. Keep doing what you are doing and I will be back" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"As always with EA you know what you get: Expert Service! This time around it's no different.

Our long awaited and thoroughly planned first trip to Kalagadi Transfontier all looked good until British Airways threw the spanner in by rescheduling our flight to depart 14hrs later than the original time. However Tracy expertly resolved the problem by booking us to SAA and we were on our way to KTP!

We had an excellent trip and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of the Kalahari.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Website a bit too complicated - lots to digest" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 6 on a South Africa trip