Reviews of safaris to Northern Zambia

"This trip was all we had hoped for.

Although we understand most people visit Shiwa N'gandu last, we appreciated the relaxed atmosphere there first after our long trip out - no getting up at 5.30 here but a leisurely breakfast at 8.30. We also appreciated the luxury of Anabezi at the end. Three very different camps - all quite remote meaning not much other camp traffic about. we also had different experiences at each with excellent guiding throughout whether in vehicles, in a boat or on foot (an activity we had not experienced before which we really enjoyed}; the guides all worked hard to give us varied and illuminating experiences." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Loved Zambia. Very friendly and excellent safari drives." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Zambia safari

"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" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 21 on a Zambia safari

"As a whole it was an excellent trip. It wouldn't be everyone's idea of a good time. To see the shoebills required a slog for about a mile through a papyrus swamp which entailed sometimes sinking knee deep in the mire but the guides were excellent at trying to show us where we should step and very good at pulling us out when we didn't. The Kapani game drives were amazing. Just about the only game not seen was rhino. The fruit bats at Wasa were unbelievable.

We have a warning about Jo'berg airport that you may want to pass on to others.

Needing to re-check in on SA Airlines, it proved not at all easy to find the appropriate check in desk. Having just arrived from an over night flight and finally locating Terminal B we were pounced upon by a porter (in uniform) as soon as we walked through the door offering to help. This he duly did - it can be done via check in terminals arranged around the stair way. Having done so he then 'demanded' a tip of disproportionate size which being in an unprepared state ( due to the early hour and previous confusion) we proffered. Later calculations, of course, revealed that we'd been 'done'. We felt, upon reflection, that he had positioned himself in readiness to target expectedly confused travellers entering through that route from terminal A." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Our trip was excellent. The itinerary that we Maruska and I put together after much thought and many discussions and emails turned out to be perfect. It would be nice if you could get around more directly from one place to the next, instead of having to continuously go back to the starting airport to go the next place (like Shiwa to Mfuwe - that was good), as the one downside was that there was a LOT of time and energy taken up with travel. And on vacation, time is precious! But regardless, we loved each location we had chosen. The representatives were there to meet us without fail, and were very friendly, competent, and helpful. This was a really big help and allowed me to relax and not have to worry about how to navigate each step in the process.

One guy, who met us in Lusaka, was mixed up about where we were going the next day and caused a bit of angst as I don't think he'd done his homework and didn't know our itinerary like he should have. But it was resolved the next morning with no harm done. Also I should have mentioned that at Luangwa River Camp I requested to not do a game drive with six people, and Yona was incredibly responsive and organized an additional vehicle to keep the numbers down to 2 or 4 per vehicle (and actually ours turned out to be 2 on each drive, which was wonderful). And the only other thing I'd consider mentioning is that when Maruska went on leave, I felt that the ball got dropped a bit. We didn't receive our final package in the mail, didn't receive our guide book to read before leaving, etc. Didn't really end up impacting anything other than the last few days before the trip not being quite as smooth and pleasant as they could have been.

But overall, very very happy with the trip. Thank you Maruska and team!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Once again expert Africa delivered all that they promised. Our holiday was varied and exciting. Everyone we met made us feel welcome and ensured that our trip was comfortable and safe.

Maruska is excellent. She has great listening skills and an ability to match our desired trip with the Expert Africa offering superbly. Her advice was essential in helping us plan our holiday and the selection she recommended worked well.

Thanks also to Ellie and Chris for their advice on photography and to Ellie for handling our final arrangements.

Primate Safaris - especially Simba - was great in Rwanda. The agent in Kenya was not good and left us waiting at Nairobi airport for a long time when he was due to meet us. Remote Africa run a fabulous, family operation. And Shiwa N'gandu is a quite extraordinary and memorable experience.

The wildlife and experience lived up to all our expectations. The guides and hosts we met as we went around made the holiday for us, providing us with real insights to life in Rwanda and Zambia." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"A wonderful holiday. Very well organised by Expert Africa" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"As you will understand from my comments, we were very satisfied with our trip. However there are a couple of minor issues that I would like to mention. First, in our voucher for the River Club, you write that a visit to Livingstone museum is included in the price. However, the lady responsible for our activities at the River Club simply said that It was not, that Expert Africa had made a mistake, and consequently charged the sum to our account. It was not a big sum, but it irritated me at the time.

Then there was an inaccuracy concerning our transfer from Shiwa to Tafika. We were supposed to go via Mfuwe, but we realized that there had to be a misunderstanding and we could go direct by air to Tafika. This was however, easily cleared up.

Finally, as you will know, I have to mention the delayed arrival of our travel documents. As you know they arrived only a week before departure. How that can be avoided, I don't know." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"It was an amazing trip, organised very well by Claire. She was very helpful when we found we had a 2 hr delay in leaving Heathrow. She contacted Skytrails so they knew we were probably going to be late and made sure I had the right phone numbers to call them once we had reached Johannes burg. This ensured we got back on track and reached our final destination without to much trouble. Thank you, Claire, for all your help" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Very interesting and everything worked like clockwork with times and diet requirements all perfect. Tours Africa in Lusaka were excellent as well when we arrived early from Shiwa Ngandu.

Temperatures were a challenge at times but the itinerary worked better than I ever expected and ticked every box!

Thank you." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari