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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs R from Aberdeen

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

6

Countries visited

6

Lodges stayed in

45

Excursions taken

2

Expert Africa lived up to their name again

Namibia between 8 Sep 2018 and 4 Oct 2018

Trip rating: Excellent
"We enjoyed everything about our long Namibia trip.

All logistics worked efficiently and all our accommodation was excellent. We always seemed to be in the best rooms at the best lodges and again we were lucky with our game viewing.

Yet again Expert Africa exceeded our expectations. Thanks to Tracy

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A warning about the problems that people with UK mobile phones with service suspended on outgoing calls.

A lot of people are having this problem"

Arranged By Tracy Lederer


Hilltop Guesthouse

Hilltop Guesthouse

"Hilltop Guesthouse review"

1 night Arrived 9 Sep 2018
"This was our second visit to the Hilltop Guesthouse. We got a warm welcome and had the working of the room explained to us.

The rooms were all we needed for a one night stopover with a very comfortable bed. The breakfast on the terrace outside our room was very good with a great view across Windhoek. The pool area was nicely laid out but water very cold following a cold spell.

The owner was very helpful in advising us of how to resolve the common issue of UK phones not being able to make calls in Namibia. He advised us where to get a cheap phone and sim card with credit for less than £20"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"

1 night Arrived 10 Sep 2018
"The lodge was conveniently located to break the journey from Windhoek to the Fish River Canyon. Check in was different as the staff were arguing in front of us.
The room was excellent with a great view across the desert. Only problem was for some reason our dune room 4 had not had its path completed which meant our shoes and socks were continually covered in red sand.

We took the combo activity that consisted of a game drive which the guide worked hard to make enjoyable even with limited animals. This was followed by the cheetah feeding which we thought would be zoo like but was actually circus like as the keeper hand fed them. Good to see the cheetah before and after. Very full jeeps to see the sunset.

The food was good once you picked the best from the buffet arrangements for the main course.

Pool area was pleasant though water was again very cold."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Fish River Lodge

Fish River Lodge

"Fish River Lodge right on edge of canyon"

2 nights Arrived 11 Sep 2018
"An amazing location on edge of canyon. Great room with exceptional view.

The welcome and service were very good. Food was outstanding. We had a sunset trip to east side of camp on arrival day with Bob who was very informative and gave us an understanding of geology and our bearings. Day trip to bottom of canyon again with Bob was like a white knuckle ride at times but great fun.

Lunch by rock pool was relaxing if a little too cold to swim."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

"We loved staying at mountain view,Eagles nest"

2 nights Arrived 13 Sep 2018
"Our stone bungalow aptly called the Mountain View had the mountains at the back and the desert plains at the front. Check in was very helpful and we collected our breakfast and Braii packs. These packs were enormous with enough good food to feed 4 easily.

We decided on the packs as restaurant was a 7 km drive each way in the dark. we enjoyed our barbecue and then sitting outside by the fire. The bungalow was very comfortable with every amenity for self catering.

The reception on check in advised of times and driving instructions for Luderitz, Kolmanskop Ghost Town and the feral horses. which we did the day after arrival. On day of arrival we went on a short hike in the Klein aus Vista reserve using a trail map provided by reception"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Hoodia Desert Lodge

Hoodia Desert Lodge

"Hoodia Desert lodge. Excellent and friendly "

2 nights Arrived 15 Sep 2018
"We thought this lodge was the most professional of all the lodges we stayed at on this trip. It was also very friendly with great food and a comfortable room in a great location.

We enjoyed a romantic sunset sun downer trip on day of arrival.

We also took the lodges Sossusvlei excursion which managed to keep us away from the crowds. An example of this is we were arriving at dead vlei as the crowds were leaving."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Hoodia Sossusvlei excursion

Hoodia Sossusvlei excursion

"Hoodia Sossusvlei excursion review"

16 Sep 2018 • All-day excursion

This was a great day. We left early to be at gate to Sossusvlei as they opened. Sossusvlei was very busy but our guide knew when how to avoid the crowds so we were relatively quiet. For example we walked to Deadvlei on a different route to other people and arrived as the crowds were leaving.

We learnt about the formation of the sand dunes and also our guide found a scorpion and a trapdoor spider which were both fascinating. We then had a very good lunch in a quite area under a thorn tree for shade. The trip ended in a walk down Seisriem canyon.
Excellent
Cornerstone Guesthouse

Cornerstone Guesthouse

"Cornerstone Guesthouse review"

2 nights Arrived 17 Sep 2018
"We were very impressed with the Cornerstone Guest house.

We arrived with a cracked windscreen in our hire car. The friendly receptionist on hearing this arranged for a representative from the car hire company to come to the guesthouse and take it away to fix it. In a couple of minutes she solved my problem.

The room was good in beautiful gardens. The guest house was in a central location and convenient for the Tug and Jetty restaurants recommended by the guest house. Both were excellent. Breakfast was very good"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Coast and Sandwich Harbour

Coast and Sandwich Harbour

"Coast and Sandwich Harbour review"

18 Sep 2018 • All-day excursion

The excursion to the Coast and Sandwich harbour was the only disappointment on our whole Namibian trip. We had been on the same excursion previously and enjoyed it even though then the sand dunes stopped us getting all the way to Sandwich harbour.

The main reason was the land rover truck, as well as being old, was not suitable for four clients. Another client was already in the front seat. The three seats in the back were not suitable for 3 people in comfort with no real viewing for person in middle seat. I am tall and only just managed to fit in and needed to get out frequently to stretch my legs.

The driver guide said there was nothing he could do as this was only vehicle available. Our hire car was being repaired that morning so our options were limited. The trip besides the lack of space was interesting with some good bird sightings. The guide was not as good as guide on our previous trip.
Average
Camp Kipwe

Camp Kipwe

"Camp Kipwe Food let it down"

1 night Arrived 19 Sep 2018
"The best thing about Camp KIpwe was the location and the amazing room built into the rocks.

The bar at the top of the hill was a great place to watch the sunset from. the food let the camp down compared to everywhere else we stayed at in Namibia. Dinner was mediocre with a poor starter and fairly tough steak. At the breakfast the fruit at the buffet was not replenished for example.

We did not take part in their activities"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

"Hoanib was a highlight of our Namibian trip"

3 nights Arrived 20 Sep 2018
"We could not fault Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp.The flights too and from where great. Very friendly staff All activities were in a comfortable vehicle with just one other couple. Our tent which was very luxurious and food was really good food, Harunga was a very pleasant and knowledgeable guide.

Our day trip drive to the coast was amazing as you went along the river bed to the marshes, then the sand dunes with the oasis coming out to the coast with its ship wreck, museum and seal colony. this was followed by a good lunch before a low level flight back to the camp.

The game viewing was far better than expected with desert lion, desert elephant, numerous giraffes (Including two fighting) and lots of jackals made better by having Harunga with us who was a great guide"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp

Okaukuejo Camp

"Okaukuejo great waterhole let down by camp."

2 nights Arrived 23 Sep 2018
"The waterhole is the only draw of this camp. the number of animals and birds visiting was amazing. Three Rhinos each night was a highlight.

Our room was a bush chalet with a braii. The chalet was quite roomy and had all we required and everything worked but it lacked maintenance. We cooked our evening meals on the braii with food we bought on the way to the camp. We also brought all plates etc that you need for a barbecue as none supplied.

The chalet was fairly near the waterhole. we had a light lunch and a breakfast in the camp restaurant which were OK. The staff were fine if you treated them with respect which unfortunately not all guests did."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Mushara Bush Camp

Mushara Bush Camp

"Mushara bush camp exceeded expectations"

2 nights Arrived 25 Sep 2018
"We arrived at 5pm after a long day game viewing in the park The temperature was 34 degrees Celsius and we were given a friendly welcome by Victoria who showed us around the Camp and our tent.

The secluded tent while hot soon cooled down with the fan on and side and front vents open. The tent was well thought out, as was the camp.The pool was cool and refreshing with plenty of sun beds and shade. The first evening we had a barbecue in the boma which was excellent. The second night we ate in the restaurant that always managed to catch the breeze and again had an excellent meal.

We had some reservations about staying outside the park but the morning game drive with the lodge was very good despite the other couple on the vehicle turning up 25 minutes late. The delay was well managed by an embarrassed camp manager. The guide still managed to to find us the big 4 in the park ending with an excellent siting of a leopard in a tree.

All the staff at the camp were very efficient, competent and friendly"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Shametu River Lodge

Shametu River Lodge

"Strange welcome at Shametu River lodge"

2 nights Arrived 27 Sep 2018
"We arrived at the gate to the camp to a very strange security man. We eventually just drove past him into the camp. The welcome was friendly but it would have helped if someone had showed us around the lodge and our room. For example our safe did not work as per the instructions. We went back to reception to be told safe did not work electronically and we should use the safe key.

Our tent had a great position on the river with a family of water otters living just in front of the tent. To give privacy from other tent and chalets at the side of the tent, our tent windows had their flaps nearly and partly closed. this meant their was little natural ventilation. However this issue was solved as tent had a fan and air conditioning. The tent was made by its location by the river.

The food was good and service pleasant. The bar area by the the river was nicely located but would have benefitted with more comfy chairs in place of the benches. the pool was refreshing but needed more sun loungers and shade.

We went on a game drive to the Mahango National Park on the first morning and the game viewing was good with a lot of birds. A lunch time mokoro trip was relaxing but also involved visiting the small islands by the Popa Falls with the chance to swim in rock pools. The sun-downer boat trip on the Kavango River was also enjoyable with close encounters with crocodiles and hippos, then a chance to watch the sunset over the Popa Falls.

The game trip to the " buffalo" area of the Bwabwata National Park took a forty minute drive to get in the park. Game viewing was quieter than the Mahango National Park but people said it was normally better"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Lianshulu Lodge

Lianshulu Lodge

"Lianshula great lodge with great activivities"

2 nights Arrived 29 Sep 2018
"We were given a warm welcome to Lianshulu Lodge on a hot day. We liked the layout of the lodge on the river and the reception bar and restaurant area.

Our room was in a great location on the river with birds and monkeys. outside. the room had all we needed except a fan . It was hot in room but we new that we could open the windows and door to our patio and move the insect screens across. Other guests did not and hence the need for guests to be shown around their rooms which we were not here. Also when you cannot drink the tap water we expected some free bottle water to be available in room. This was the only lodge on our holiday in Namibia that did not supply this. Also there was a storm on first night with thunder and lightening and high winds, so when we returned to our room after dinner we saw the insect mesh was damaged and the mesh door of its runner at floor level. We asked for this to be repaired twice but even though we were assured it would be, nothing was done

The food was excellent and the service efficient and friendly. The communal areas were very comfortable with great views of the river. The pool was refreshing with plenty of sun loungers and shade. Breakfast was only served from 7.30 but they supplied an excellent breakfast pack for our early departure.

We took a boat trip on the first evening with excellent game and bird viewing the highlight was a large group of elephant making a river crossing right in front of the boat. Kennedy was our excellent guide on the boat and on a great game drive the next morning when we had more great game viewing including very photogenic lions who kept posing for us in different locations. The game drive in the afternoon with a different guide was not as good."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Chobe Princesses

Chobe Princesses

" Chobe Princess was a highlight of our trip"

2 nights Arrived 1 Oct 2018
"We could not fault our time on the four room Chobe Princess house boat which was a very relaxing way to end thee and a half weeks in Namibia. We had cabin one with the balcony and it was very spacey and luxurious with everything we needed. The other cabins looked pleasant as well.

The food and drink were excellent an we always seemed to be eating. All the staff were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble. The two top decks were very comfortable and gave great views over the Chobe and river and park and communal lands on each side.

Our itinerary was after going on board we had a drink, were shown around our cabin then had a leisurely lunch as we cruised slowly up river to our mooring location. We then went for a pleasant sunset cruise on the small tender boat and saw a lot of the elephants that Chobe is famous for. The next morning we had a sunrise cruise again in one of the small boats with one other couple. After breakfast we went on our own on a birding boat trip while the other passengers went on a game viewing trip on the other small boat. Back for lunch as we cruised slowly further up the Chobe river. After lunch there was another game viewing sunset trip that included a spectacular viewing of a leopard drinking at the waters edge. A wonderful day during which we were accompanied by Raymond, a great guide with a passion for birds.

The next morning as we cruised back to Kasane we were sad to leave our houseboat."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

My Aug 2017 trip

Tanzania and 2 other countries between 30 Aug 2017 and 17 Sep 2017

Trip rating: Excellent
"Yet again Expert Africa lived up to their name by setting us up with a great trip.

We enjoyed every part of it and frequently thought the next day could not be as good as the last. However it always was. Thanks to Ellie for developing the itinerary for us and thanks to James setting it up."

Eka Hotel

Eka Hotel

" Convenient overnight stay"

1 night Arrived 30 Aug 2017
"Stay was short as British Airways flight was late and luggage took forever to arrive.

Location was near airport and travel only took 15 mins each way.

Staff at reception friendly and helpful. Room comfortable and quiet."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Kigelia Camp

Kigelia Camp

"Great stay and game viewing at Kigelia camp"

4 nights Arrived 31 Aug 2017
"We enjoyed our return to Ruaha and much preferred Kigelia camp to where we stayed last time. Kigelia camp was well run by Ken, very friendly with good service and the tents were comfortable and cool under a thatched roof, The meals were very good and varied.

We did not have the exceptional game viewing of our previous visit to Ruaha as this time the park was very very dry and the river had stopped flowing with little water remaining. However our guide Eliasat was very knowledgeable and worked very hard to give us really good sightings which included leopard, more than one pride of lions and wild dog. We also saw big herds of buffalo, amazing birds a python and numerous other good animal sightings. We had a good night drive seeing lions in love, hyena, jackal and civet. We also had a lovely walk along side the Great Ruaha River bed which had ponds full of hippo and crocodile catching fish.

We hope that the the Great Ruaha River water flow is managed and the park gets lots of rain in the next rainy seasons"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Chada Camp

Chada Camp

"Amazing stay at Chada our favorite camp"

3 nights Arrived 4 Sep 2017
"We loved Chada Camp, Katavi National Park and our morning in Paradise.

The camp was expertly run by Hansa, The staff were wonderful and service great. The food was excellent and our tent was very pleasant cool and always had plenty to view from our tents veranda. We had close encounters with a family group of elephants who drank from our bucket shower and from the bird bath in front of the tent. The bathroom and toilet were en suite and a fan was effective in keeping the tent cool in evenings

Our Guide Joe was excellent and always had something interesting to show us.He found us lion and leopard but the stars of the show were the hundreds of hippo and crocodiles trying to fit in the remaining water. Hippo pool was amazing with the storks using the backs of hippos to fish from. We had a great night drive with sightings of hyena, genets ,white tailed mongoose and owls. Joe was thrilled to see bush pig on one drive. We spent a morning in Paradise which was a beautiful experience"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Greystoke Mahale

Greystoke Mahale

"Magical chimp encounters"

4 nights Arrived 7 Sep 2017
"When we saw Greystoke, after a pleasant boat trip with an enjoyable picnic, we were delighted. The main rustic banda on a large sandy beach is definitely a show stopper. Our room was very pleasant again in a similar Robinson Crusoe fashion but there was a long walk to the en suite bathroom. The staff were all pleasant and the service good.

We preferred the one night when we had pre- dinner drinks around a fire on the beach to having them in the very dark bar at the side of the beach. This bar was pleasant during daylight but in our opinion was to dark with no view for pre dinner drinks, The stars of these occasions were the two excellent guides Mwiga and Butati who told hilarious stories about the chimps and previous encounters.

The meals in the restaurant where great where the star of this show was the camp Manager Julian who held center stage with his stories and experiences. These were amusing if slightly over the top, but it was not the normal guests chatting and sharing their experiences.

The afternoon boat trips were great fun with deep water swimming in the warm lake and fishing. Marcia again showed her fishing expertise as she caught four times as many fish as Mike. We had the fish as sashimi for a bar snack prior to dinner.

The real magic of our stay at Mahali were the chimps. We were in a party of four guests, the excellent guide Mwiga and a very pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable park ranger Hussain. We had great chimp sightings on the first two days and watched a big group playing, grooming and fighting on our first two treks. The hour we were allowed to view them each day flew past.One of the amusing highlights was when one of the chimps decided to sit with us when we were watching a group of other chimps playing. The treks were quire challenging especially the second day when we went right off path to be with the chimps and we were grateful to Hussain who helped Mike on the steeper bits .

On the third day the trackers struggled to find the chimps but we went on a less challenging trek and were rewarded with a sighting of a red tail monkey, excellent sightings of red Colubus monkeys plus numerous birds and other small species

Mahali was not an easy place to get to but it was definitely worth the travel to have a magical experience"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Kuro Tarangire

Kuro Tarangire

"Great game viewing at Kuro"

3 nights Arrived 11 Sep 2017
"We arrived at Tarangire after a long journey from Mahali. we were taken straight to camp for an excellent late lunch. Our large tent was the best on our trip, cool, furnished in a boutique hotel style and had a great veranda were there was always something to watch. The camp was very well run by the very pleasant Mollel, all staff were friendly and service excellent. Food was very plentiful and to a high standard.

Our game viewing with Raj was exceptional, we saw lion on every excusion who were either sleeping, eating, thinking about hunting, climbing trees or fighting. We saw cheetah walking, sitting, eating and mistakenly trying to hunt a lion. We saw large herds of buffalo, elephants and wildebeest. The antelope viewing was also great with everything from dikdik to Eland. Special mention must be made to Molell who took us out on our last morning and found us a leopard walking and another in a tree

We stayed three nights at Kuro while most guests stay two and we were on our fourth camp while the others were on their first. There are also a lot of Tsetse fly."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Pongwe Beach Hotel

Pongwe Beach Hotel

"Another great stay at Pongwe Beach"

3 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2017
"This was our second visit to Pongwe Beach hotel. We were apprehensive about whether we would enjoy it as much as our first stay.

Our apprehensions disappeared when we were welcomed home and recognized from our first visit by reception. Our stay this time was in one of the hotels new sea-view suites that we really liked. We initially thought the suite's plunge pool was too cold until we learnt to appreciate it during the heat of the day.

The hotels location, beach and infinity pool were all still stunning. the staff were amazingly friendly and service excellent. We could not fault the standard of food and had an wonderful seafood platter on the beach on our last night
.
We will go again as this beach hotel really suits us"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

Yet again Expert Africa proved EXPERTS

Zambia between 6 Jun 2015 and 28 Jun 2015

Trip rating: Excellent
"We must congratulate Ellie and Freddie on putting together and organising our fabulous trip to Zambia. We really enjoyed every day and all logistics went like clockwork.

The itinerary was fantastic with great new places and excellent revisits.

We still don't know how they organise our wonderful animal sightings but we appreciate the fact they do!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Marcia still wants to see a Pangolin"

Waterberry Zambezi Lodge

Waterberry Zambezi Lodge

"A pleasant stay at Waterberry Zambezi Lodge"

3 nights Arrived 7 Jun 2015
"The location on the river is great. It is however quite far out from Livingston and the journey in takes a while on partly bumpy road.

The room was located on the river with a great view, cold so appreciated the electric blanket. Bedroom was quite small with just enough room for bed and mosquito net. Bathroom great with a big bath.

Service was friendly welcoming and efficient. Food was plentiful and too good.

The activities were well organised with great guides. Good advice on using new Zim/Zam visa to also visit the Zimbabwe side of falls and have afternoon tea at Victoria Falls Hotel. Great river cruises and other excursions.

The gardens and pool were pleasant and well maintained"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Shoebill Island Camp

Shoebill Island Camp

"Shoebill Island Camp exceeded expectations"

3 nights Arrived 10 Jun 2015
"Shoebill Island Camp exceeded our expectations and we saw three Shoebills.

We expected the camp to be basic but the tent we had was new, adequately fitted out with a cold but fun bathroom area.

The service we had could not be faulted due to the Boyd. the man with a plan and his welcoming team. we arrived to find the camp was full. There were four very charming and friendly South Koreans film makers and us. We thought that as the Koreans were making a documentary on Zambia we may be overlooked. But the South Koreans were good company and Boyd went out of his way to ensure we got all the activities we wanted.

The food was exceptional home cooking.

The highlight of the activities were the two trips by canoe to find the Shoebills with thousands of birds as a great bonus. Then after spotting Spoonbill locations by climbing trees. we canoed in to the swamps to see them. We saw three, two at ground level and one that took off as we approached. We also enjoyed the drive among the thousands of black lechwe and saw other animals including a sitaunga. The birding walk through the fishing areas was also an amazing experience.

The facilities at the camp were adequate and more than met our expectations but could benefit from a little more investment."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Shiwa Ng'andu

Shiwa Ng'andu

"Shiwa Ng'andu was the highlight of our trip"

3 nights Arrived 13 Jun 2015
"We wished we had stayed more than three nights as this was the highlight of our three week Zambia trip. The little bit of Surrey located in the Zambian countryside was even better than we imagined from reading "The Africa House"

Our hosts Jo and Charlie could not have been more welcoming and friendly and the dogs soon became our best friends, when it suited them. The house was amazing with the likely hood of finding zebra or horses on the front lawn.

The tours of the house and farm, visiting neighbors for afternoon tea, game drives and walks (we saw four blue duikers) and history lessons in the library were all great fun We enjoyed our meals both for the excellent food and the great company.

The fire in our room brought it to life. The plumbing for the shower was very efficient unlike the plumbing for the bath but we would not change a thing. We admired how Jo and Charlie run a large farm, maintain and renovate a large manor house while taking in guests. What a challenge.

We really wished we had stayed longer as we felt we were coming part of the family especially when we had to chase zebras off the runway to allow our plane to take off"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Mfuwe Lodge

Mfuwe Lodge

"Mfuwe Lodge was a pleasant surprise"

1 night Arrived 16 Jun 2015
"We stayed at Mfuwe Lodge for one night to allow us to meet someone in Mfuwe village. We were pleasantly surprised at how good it was.

We were met at the airport and taken for a surprise bush brunch in a great location on the way to the lodge. After our meeting in Mfuwe we went on a game drive where we saw 14 wild dog giving a hard time to a hyena. we saw a lot of other game to and had a good guide. Our breakfast was interrupted the next morning to enable us to see the 14 dogs on a hunt again.

The service and food were very good with all the staff being very friendly. The room was quite luxurious compared to the bush camps we normally stay at.

The lodges location near the park entrance means it is in a busy area of the park but we really enjoyed our stay."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Tafika

Tafika

"We saw why so many people return to TafiKa"

3 nights Arrived 17 Jun 2015
"We were in the minority at Tafica as the majority of guests were on return visits. We soon saw why people returned as we had a great time and enjoyed the facilities. The game drives and walks were guided to a high standard and we had some great sightings. These included leopard, the yellow bill stork colony and lions at a kill being joined by a crocodile.

All of the Tafika team were friendly and the facilities great with our tent overlooking the river. The food was good but dinner was a little late from our point of view. John and Carol have a great team"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Chikoko Tree Camp

Chikoko Tree Camp

"Great walking at Chikoko Tree Camp"

2 nights Arrived 20 Jun 2015
"We had a really good time at Chikoko Tree Camp We had great walks with Isaac and were well looked after by the Chikoko team. Having seen their oven we were amazed how good the food was.

the location was in the bush and we liked the rooms in the trees."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Big Lagoon Camp

Big Lagoon Camp

"Very close to lions and elephant at Crocodile"

2 nights Arrived 22 Jun 2015
"We had close encounters with the Hollywood pride of lions and some grumpy elephants on our first morning walk at Crocodile Bush Camp. We were tracking the lions when 12 adults stood up in the grass very close to us. They made an exit but where chased back towards us by a grumpy herd of elephant. We then made a quick exit.

We saw a lot of other animals, birds plants and insects.

We again were well looked after this time by Brian and the Crocodile team and liked our room and its view."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Old Mondoro Bushcamp

Old Mondoro Bushcamp

"Mondoro is still our favourite camp in Zambia"

4 nights Arrived 24 Jun 2015
"This was our third visit to Old Mondoro and it lived up to our very high expectations. We travelled in June on this trip and expected to see less animals but we still saw a lot including lion with young cubs and leopard.

The guiding (Sebastian, Joseph, Johan and Reuben) was excellent on drives and walks. We enjoyed our boat and canoe activities as much as ever.

We were well looked after by Pam and Ryan

We will return"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

My Sep 2013 trip

Zambia between 14 Sep 2013 and 30 Sep 2013

Trip rating: Excellent
"Ellie yet again organised a great holiday, everything went like clockwork. The camps were all fantastic and met our requirements perfectly. We are not sure how she managed to organise three different Aardvark sitings but we are glad she did. The title Expert Africa justified comletely.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Pangolin sightings next time"

Kaingo Camp

Kaingo Camp

"Great game viewing at Kaingo"

3 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2013
"Our excellent game viewing started on the journey from the airport. It continued right through our trip and reached a pinnacle on the last evening when after watching lion, we then had two good leopard sightings before we peaked by seeing an aardvark. Guiding from Sly, Patrick and others was of a high standard. We liked the hippo, elephant and bee-eater hides

The room was great and we loved our private deck overlooking the river from which we watched birds,hippos and crocks. We had daily visits from bush buck and the monkeys loved our hammock. Food was of a high standard, but never ending in its supply, we seemed to move from one meal or snack to the next, all day long

Service was very friendly, professional and we got all the activities we asked for. A lot of keen photographers were in camp and if photography is your interest then this camp is for you.

What impressed us most was the help, support and concern shown when one of us became ill during the night at the elephant hide. You could not fault Maxwell's and other's response. Forunately next morning there was a full recovery"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Kaingo Camp

Kaingo Camp

"Out of Africa experience at the elephant hide"

1 night Arrived 17 Sep 2013
"When we saw the Kaingo elephant hide during the day we wondered about our night there. However we relaxed when after dinner we went to spend a night there.

It was a beautiful night just before full moon. The bed had been made up beautifully and the whole area was covered in a great big mosquito net. Old suitcases were used for storage and the whole effect was fantastic, The bottle of Amarula was a nice touch, together with coffe, tea and water. A wonderful night"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Mwamba Bushcamp

Mwamba Bushcamp

"Animals and birds loved the Mwamba Hide"

4 nights Arrived 18 Sep 2013
"We had great game viewing at Mwamba both on walking and vehicle safaris. Our guide from Kaingo came with us and continued to excel. A highlight was the hide in the Mwamba camp. Great birds every morning and and an amazing afternoon when 300 buffalo arrived just before a heard of elephants. Pushing, shoving ,trumpeting till the elephants won, the hippo slept though it while the fish eagle just continued catching fish. We also saw very young Hyena and lion cubs on drives

The location of the tents were great and we loved the en suite facilities. the rooms were good but ours got hot in the middle of the day. We loved a shared lunch watching the animals especially the elephant visitors to camp.

The food like Kaingo was great and just came coming. Its a good job we were doing a daily working safari. Dinners around the the table at night were always enjoyable The camp was very friendly and well run."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Mwaleshi Camp

Mwaleshi Camp

"Buffalo delayed all our Mwaleshi walks"

4 nights Arrived 22 Sep 2013
"We had a great time at Mwaleshi walking up to 8 hours a day. We did not always intend to walk for so long, but if there is a large herd of buffalo always getting between you and the camp, then you have to take diversions.

We saw lion every day and watched 6 adults on a wildebeest kill. We thought we had crept up on them unnoticed, but we were wrong as when we peeked out from behind a tree there were six pairs of eyes looking at us. The animals were all more skittish and aggressive than in South Luangwa but it made seeing them more rewarding. We saw lots of game from small snakes to large pythons, from squirrels to elephants and a couple of aardvarks!!

the camp was friendly and well run by our hosts David and Karen. The food was great from bush lunches, sundowners on the river and an excellant barbecue. Our room had a great view over the river and was comfortable. We slept well possibly helped by the sundowners and long walks. It was hot during the day but you could cool off in the river. At night it cooled down. All the staff and scouts were pleasant and very good at what they did"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Old Mondoro Bushcamp

Old Mondoro Bushcamp

"We were glad we returned to Old Mondoro."

4 nights Arrived 26 Sep 2013
"We do not normally pay return visits to places we visit on holiday. However we so enjoyed Old Mondoro last time we made an exception. We were very glad we did as everything was excellent again. Great game viewing on foot, vehicle and boat. The canoe trip down the discovery channel was really relaxing despite the best efforts of the hippos and elephants to add excitement.

The hosts Jason and Michaela were excellent and the whole Old Mondoro team first class. W had a private dinner on our veranda when the camp was quiet which we appreciated.

Great Food, location and tent. A cold bath on the veranda and wet kikoys kept us cool when it was very hot in the middle of the day. Great animal viewing from bath and shower.

We will go back again"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

one of our best trips to Africa

Tanzania and 1 other country between 11 Sep 2012 and 30 Sep 2012

Trip rating: Excellent
"We cannot thank Ellie enough for this great holiday
We had great guiding and game viewing.
We really liked all our accommodation and especially liked the nomad camp in Serengeti

The holiday was everything we wanted it to be"

Lake Manze Adventure Camp

Lake Manze Adventure Camp

"great start that got better and at Lake Manze"

4 nights Arrived 12 Sep 2012
"We saw wild dog and lion on our way to camp from airstrip. This was the start of great game viewing during our 4 day stay.
The camp had very friendly staff, a great location for our tent and good food.

The guides both on land and water were very good and made sure our activities were great fun."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Kwihala Camp

Kwihala Camp

"Great guiding and game viewing at Kwihala"

3 nights Arrived 16 Sep 2012
"After a slightly confusing arrival we enjoyed our stay at Kwihala camp.

We enjoyed being out with the guides, Petro, Festo, Lorenzo and Tony (Tonio). We were very lucky and saw numerous leopard and cheetah. Numerous other animals and birds were seen including being up close to three separate lots of elephants during a walking safari.

The food was very good and one night when we were only guests in the camp we enjoyed a romantic dinner for two in the open by the log fire.

The tents were good but got hot during the day but pleasantly cool at night."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Plantation Lodge

Plantation Lodge

"A cool restful haven at Plantation Lodge"

3 nights Arrived 19 Sep 2012
"We enjoyed our stay from the warm welcome to our departure.
Friendly staff, pleasant. bar and great food
Comfortable accommodation in a beautiful garden setting. We enjoyed our garden tour with the head gardener.

We had a knowledgeable guide, Festo, from Nomad tours who ensured we got the best out of our trips to Lake Manyara and the Ngorororo crater. we enjoyed both trips and were glad we got to both locations early.
Not as many birds as expected at Lake Manyara. Good game viewing at the crater with a good bonnet breakfast"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Nomad Serengeti Safari Camp

Nomad Serengeti Safari Camp

"Sleeping with wilderbeest at serengeti camp"

3 nights Arrived 22 Sep 2012
"We loved our well furnished tent with every convenience and its fantastic bucket showers. Spent one night surrounded by very noisy wildebeest. Saw lots of other game from our tent.

The camp staff were very friendly, looked after us well and produced amazing food.

Our guide Chediel (Chedi) was great and always managed to find us amazing sights from eight cheetah in the last fifteen minutes of an evening safari to a blue breasted Roller eating a lizard. He looked after us well even in the rain."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Pongwe Beach Hotel

Pongwe Beach Hotel

"relaxing with great beach and food at Pongwe"

4 nights Arrived 25 Sep 2012
"Our room was right on the beach and we could lie in our creaky bed and watch the sunrise. Our room was basic but comfortable.

We wanted a laid back hotel with great beach and food and we got it.

Pleasant staff who looked after us well and we enjoyed the board games in the bar before our excellent dinners. Great romantic dinner on the beach."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Serena Inn

Serena Inn

"Serena Inn showed it is the best in Stonetown"

1 night Arrived 29 Sep 2012
"Having had a few problems at the Serena Inn in the past we were apprehensive on arrival.
However everything was great with an upgrade to a suite, great location good swimming pool and a memorable dinner over looking the sea (and Dhows) in the Terrace restaurant

A great end to our holiday"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent

A great trip overall

Rwanda and 3 other countries between 9 Sep 2011 and 27 Sep 2011

Trip rating: Average
"We had expected an itinerary which we only got from our guide on arrival in Ruanda.
We found we had a very long and bumpy trip from Kigali to Nyungwe and from Nyungwe to Kibuye. These were unexpected and not pleasant.
We wondered why we had 4 nights in mountain view lodge rather than 3 nights and last night in Kigali> Most others seemed to do this.

THE PERSON WHO MADE OUR TRIP SPECIAL WAS OUR DRIVER IN RWANDA, AIMABLE. He broke our long journey to Nyungwe with a stop at the National museum. He made our last day in Rwanda special as he suggested we left very early so we could spend time at the Genocide museum before we caught our flight to Zanzibar. He shared his own experiences of the politics of Rwanda and the Genocide. He really looked after us

Overall the trip was great we enjoyed all the primates, Rwanda. Zanzibar and Mafia"

Macushla House

Macushla House

"Macushla house not ideal for a transit stay"

1 night Arrived 9 Sep 2011
"Too far from airport from an overnight stay bearing in mind we were in Kenya [from landing to take off ] for less than 12 hours and at hotel for less than 7 hours

In addition there was confusion over whether I had to pay for the transfer to the hotel and who needed to book and pay for the return transfer. There was no advice on what time to have the transfer for in the morning.

The hotel seemed good and other guests rated it. Staff were friendly."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Poor
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Nyungwe House

Nyungwe House

"Nyungwe Lodge is wonderful once you get there"

4 nights Arrived 10 Sep 2011
"The journey to lodge consisted of 6 hours driving the last three on a very bad bumpy road. Once there we realised we were at a special lodge. The service was very good and attentive and the staff from manager down were incredibly helpful and friendly.

The hikes to colobus monkeys, chimps and waterfall were fantastic. Watching monkeys in forest from our room every afternoon was magical.
Food was good and well served.

The only negative was the heated pool was not heated. A shame as the pool was fantastic.

We did not do the Canopy sky walk as it involved a 45 minute drive each way on bad roads and was not operational if raining."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Moriah Hill Resort

Moriah Hill Resort

"Moriah resort great location terrible hotel"

2 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2011
"We had another unexpected long journey on a very bumpy, muddy and bad road. The 90 kilometers took nearly 6 hours with only stops to stretch and take pictures. my wife was exhausted after it.

Check in was completely unprofessional. They did not seem to be expecting us.

Room had great view but was strange ,TV and Fridge but you could only use one at a time as only one socket. Bath was cracked. Shower was at navel hight as under a window. No fan

We were not sure which was worse the food or service. Soups salty, fried food had strange taste. breakfast buffet was so unattractive it made my wife feel ill In evening from placing order to receiving food was over 50 mins on each evening. A long wait for poor food.
Check out was even less professional than check in.

The activities we took part in in Kibuye were great, genocide church, walk to village/market and especially boat trip to Napoleon Island (Bats )and one bar island. The hotel boat was not working but driver arranged boat for us. Birds were great"
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor

Location
Excellent
Service
Terrible
Activities
Good
Rooms
Poor
Food
Terrible
Facilities
Average
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

"A great expereience at Gorilla mountain view"

4 nights Arrived 16 Sep 2011
"We really enjoyed our time at Gorilla Mountain View Lodge. The staff were very friendly and attentive, led by a visible and communative manager. The food was simple but with great soups and stews was what was needed with the cold. The rooms were spacious and needed the fire and hot water bottles. A heated towel rail in the bathroom and better lighting would have been welcome.

The boot cleaning service after our muddy trips to Gorillas and Golden monkeys was really appreciated.

The lounges were pleasant but would have been more welcoming with fires in the afternoon.

The gorrila trekking was fantastic."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Serena Inn

Serena Inn

"Serena Inn review"

2 nights Arrived 20 Sep 2011
"The Serena Inn was a mixture of fantastic and poor

Check in was late but while the desk formalities were fine the person who showed us to our room kept putting his hand out for a tip rather than showing us how to switch the lighting or aircon on. we had no turn down service the first night.

The room (5) was small had an overlooked balcony,was noisy from reception and had maitenance issues (plug did not work in basin,air con leaked continually on to floor and one bedside light had a faulty socket.)

Check out was a farce as receptionists kept leaving us during our check out to deal with''regulars''.

However the pool, bar,food were first class. Our seafood meal on the roof overlooking the ocean was as good as it gets with great food, staff and musicians. Overall a shame as location was also fantastic"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Excellent
Pole Pole

Pole Pole

"polepole in mafia is a fantastic place"

4 nights Arrived 22 Sep 2011
"We thought PolePole was excellant starting from the warm welcome from Robyn and Zenny. The room was fantastic,the food excellant and plentiful. All the staff were very friendly. The location made it very special.

We are not peole who are happy to spend the day sitting on the beach so we appreciated the trips to the sanbank, the excellant snorkelling and trips to villages. All were great fun The weather was not perfect and we had a low tide at lunch time.This meant that sea swimming was not really on and highlighted the need for a pool which is being built.

The only confusing issue was to do with the availability and pricing of excursions. The clarification on what was included, which I had asked for from Expert Africa, differed from what was detailed in the room brochure and this differed from the information given by the person from the Diving Center Tiago, who took the bookings. his rules were not consistent either."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Serena Hotel Dar

Serena Hotel Dar

"Royal Palm hotel was fine for overnight stop"

1 night Arrived 26 Sep 2011
"It is conveniently located for an overnight stay. Rooms pleasant, sevice competent and friendly. we had a barbecue dinner on the lawn which was OK ."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Average

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