Zambia: reviews from our travellers

"This was our 9th safari and 4th trip to Zambia and we enjoyed it just as much as always. The juxtaposition of staying in luxurious accommodation and eating superb food alongside the feeling of being 'away from it all' in the remote African bush never fails to captivate us!

Although the amount of game we saw was rather less than in the South Luangwa national park, being able to do canoe, river and fishing activities as well as walking in the bush and enjoying day and night game drives made a pleasant change.

The level of guiding was, as always in Zambia, very high and enhanced our overall experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"This was the trip of a lifetime. With our children, aged 20 & 19, we were looking for a holiday the whole family could enjoy and we certainly got it. Everything went off perfectly. The planning of the trip with Sabina and her advice was of the highest standard. Everything was exactly as described.

There were representatives to welcome us on arrival at Windhoek, there were no booking misunderstandings at any lodges, the transfer from Kasane in Botswana to Livingstone in Zambia went smoothly and lastly the transfer to Livingstone airport, all on time and according to plan. We dropped our car off in Kasane, were collected by safari vehicle and transferred to the river where we were taken across by boat into Zambia and collected on the other side with the driver helping us get through the 'interesting' Zambian border checkpoint (the Zambian officials were rude and unhelpful well below the standard in Botswana or Namibia).

The border official, despite having a water dispenser in her office, sent our driver back to the car to get her a bottle of water! Bearing in mind that we had driven about 4 hours from our last lodge in the Caprivi and arrived early, the logistics of this transfer was impressive. (Just for info there are trucks queuing at this crossing as they move between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana for as far as the eye can see with it taking them on average 2 to 3 weeks to get across - per the local taxi driver - so I could imagine the transfer potentially going horribly wrong!).

Just a tip, when arriving in Botswana we needed to dip ALL our shoes (foot and mouth prevention) so make sure you have all shoes handy so you don't have to unpack suitcases at the border.

The design of the three week trip, balancing the length of drives, stop-overs and rest days while still trying to see as much as possible was brilliant and could not have been done without the expert advice of Sabina and her patience in the early days while she tried to understand what we wanted to get out of the holiday.

We travelled during June and July and the weather was fabulous. Warm sunny days and mostly cool nights. We certainly needed warm jackets for the evenings whereas during the day we needed shorts and t-shirts.

Tips that worked for us:
(1) in the U.K. we purchased a tracks4africa map of Namibia (£10) online and transferred it onto our Garmin SatNav which we took with us and this made navigating stress free.
(2) Covering our suitcases in bin bags to keep them dust free was essential as the canopy definitely was not dust proof.
(3) We purchased a cooler box locally and this allowed us to keep our picnic food fresh and drinks cool for the long drives. You can buy ice for the cooler box at any service station;
(4) an upgrade to a 4x4 gave us extra flexibility and comfort on long drives.

We were surprised at how expensive most of the lodges were so this was, for us, a particularly expensive holiday but in the end worth every penny.

I would not hesitate to recommend Expert Africa and would use them again." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"I want to thank Expert Africa and especially Lucy Copson for organizing our (me, my wife, and two teenage children) trip to Zambia, Africa. This was our first trip to Africa and we knew little about the continent.

I must say that the website for Expert Africa really helped our understanding of what each country has to offer in the way of safaris and you can start to narrow down your options according to your wants and needs. But it wasn't until chatting with Lucy that everything really came into focus. After one phone conversation she really grasped what the family and I were looking for and organized our unforgettable trip to Zambia.

With first hand knowledge of the bush camps in South Luangwa National Park, Lucy choose two that were an absolute fit for us. We went on drive safaris, walking safaris, night drives, and even an overnight camp out and learned about all the animals, birds, and plants of the park.

Lucy also chose for us our excursion to Livingstone which was an excellent way to end our stay in Zambia.

Once again, thank you Expert Africa and Lucy for putting together an unforgettable bucket list trip for the family and I." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Second time to Namibia, but managed to surpass previous visit with animals seen, and got some memorable images. Good to self drive providing so much flexibility as to how long you spend at a waterhole, we had well over 1 hour at one observing in the main bull elephants, only two other cars there.

First time in Botswana great time on the Chobe river viewing elephants crossing , and the birds. Spoilt with the number of lions with kills, and the first cubs I had seen albeit bit hidden in the trees.

Zambia provided a fitting finale something completely different, namely Victoria Falls, seen from the air and on foot, fantastic noise of the the water roaring.

The challenge is how to beat this trip?" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was excellent and blessed by the best game viewing I've experienced.

The mood in Zimbabwe was understandably rather sombre, that in Zambia much more upbeat.

All the locations were uniformly helpful and happy to accommodate individual requests, be it food intolerances or special preferences concerning game drives.

A memorable experience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"We had a wonderful stay in Zambia, only wished it could have lasted longer... We had only one problem and that was due to the delayed KLM flight from Oslo to Amsterdam which made us miss our connecting flight to Johannesburg. Consequently we lost an entire day of our safari. Fortunately, we got very efficient and professional help from Megan at Expert Africa; she did the necessart re-bookings and informed Musekese Camp of our one day delay.

We were very pleased with both of the camps we were staying, indeed, at Tafika we had stayed before and knew its high standard. All the transfers went without problems, we were met by representatives of the camps at the airports and transported safely to the camps. Everything was well organized.

Of course, quite a few hours were spent travelling from one camp to the other, but that is only what has to be expected when you like to visit places that are really remote. The good thing about all our hours on the road, was that we felt we saw a lot of the country, which is interesting in itself." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"AMAZING !!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"Our first African holiday couldn't have been better. Thanks Expert Africa for arranging it all for us, responding to our myriad of questions, and being willing to change aspects of our itinerary." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"We have visited Africa several times and enjoyed these visits immensely, but this trip was really exceptional.

The way that we were looked after, the game viewing and other activities provided a holiday that we will never forget.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We use Expert Africa because of their Knowledge and efficiency, nothing is ever too much trouble, they know what we want and design a holiday to suit.

As always very impressed indeed." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"On this trip I traveled with one other person to Botswana, Livingstone, South Luangwa and Malawi from May 17-June 4,2017.
Everything went smoothly-no delays or cancellations.

Highlights: New sightings that included: meerkats, brown hyena, porcupines, genet cat and wild dogs.

This was our third trip to Africa and first to South Luangwa and Malawi. Loved Malawi. It is a beautiful country with beautiful, happy people altho quite poor. The highlights here were the village walk and beautiful relaxing stay at Pumalani. Also loved the staff and surroundings at Mkulumadzi.

Was somewhat disappointed in the lack of wildlife at South Luangwa since we had read about the abundance of wildlife. Also -didn't realize there were no cheetahs(my favorite). However seeing the pack of wild dogs made up for everything.
Botswana-seems to be getting more and more expensive so will probably be my last trip there." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Malawi trip