Travel reviews by TV & Family - Portugal

A marvellous experience

On this trip, I visited Tanzania between 28-Jan-2013 and 8-Feb-2013 and I travelled with 3 other people.

This trip definitely exceeded our already high expectations. We'd been to Tanzania once before but to the much quieter southern parks. I was expecting thee northern parks to be much more touristy and crowded than they actually were. This is my 9the trip on safari to Africa and thee 1st one that I've ever seen the great 5 on one trip! The bird spotting was excellent too.

What really made it for me though was the people we met. All the staff were incredible and especially so to my elderly mother, who they were just so kind and respectful to. Special thanks must go to our guide, Martin, who was both a fantastic driver as well as guide and just a really nice person. We spent a lot of time with him, so it was great to come away feeling that we'd parted as friends and if we ever go back would definitely request him again.

All of the camps were great and for different reasons - I'm glad we had a variety too as we had a different perspective at each place which were unique in their own ways.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all - you did an excellent job as usual!

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Tanzania 29-Jan-2013 review: We were totally spoilt	Excellent
Ubuntu Camp, Tanzania 31-Jan-2013 review: Wonderful location and fantastic cheetah view	Excellent
Dunia Camp, Tanzania 3-Feb-2013 review: Spacious airy tents surrounded by birdlife	Excellent
Sayari Mara Camp, Tanzania 5-Feb-2013 review: A very special place	Excellent

Varley Botswana Trip

On this trip, I visited Botswana & South Africa between 22-Dec-2008 and 8-Jan-2009 and I travelled with 4 other people.

I've put Gwynneth down as my main contact, although Maruska did most of the up-front planning of the trip. They were both excellent, and the comments for Gwynneth should also apply to Maruska.

We had a great holiday overall and will treasure the memories from it for years to come. We had some of the best bird and mammal sightings we've ever had.

The mettle of a company is how they cope when things go wrong, and we did have 2 hiccups in our trip. The 1st being when the inbound SAA flight was delayed so we missed our connection in Jo'burg and the 1st night on safari, and then when my mother fell ill at the last camp. On both occasions, we were more than happy with the support we got.

In Jo'burg, we phoned Expert Africa in London and told them of our problems. They put us in contact with a local representative from Wilderness safaris called Dave - he was fantastic and ensured we made our connection the following day. If you could pass on our thanks to him, that would be appreciated. I've already said in our feedback on Vumbura Plains how supportive and professional the staff were there.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Xigera, Botswana 23-Dec-2008 review: Xigera review	Excellent
Duba Plains Camp, Botswana 27-Dec-2008 review: Duba Plains review	Excellent
Vumbura Plains, Botswana 30-Dec-2008 review: Vumbura Plains review	Excellent
Constantia Uitsig, South Africa 3-Jan-2009 review: Constantia Uitsig review	Average