Zambia: reviews from our travellers
Unedited reviews written by our most recent Zambia travellers
"A wonderful holiday"
"My Sep 2013 trip"
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
It's probably worth clarifying to clients about the seating in the jeeps so they know what to expect ie. if someone has to sit in the middle or not. Also we requested that the canopy be removed on one of the jeeps at Mchenja so that we could have a better upward view of birds and leopards in trees! This they did for us quite happily. It is worth people being aware of the option of an 'open' jeep which we managed to have throughout.
Just to mention re your staff - Ellie Dunkels was very helpful when Claire was not available. NCS seemed to think highly of Chris, Claire and Ellie." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
"South Luangwa re-visited"
Of course we saw many of the same animals as before, but every encounter is different, and we now have even more precious memories and photographs." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari
"My Sep 2013 trip"
"My Sep 2013 trip"
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Pangolin sightings next time" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Zambia safari
"Goodfellow/Williams Trip Sep 2013"
From initial contact with Expert Africa to the conclusion, all details were well and timely arranged and we were kept informed along the way of all matters. At each "choke point" where things might have gone wrong i.e. flights with Proflight, the arrangements worked without a hitch. Transfers between camps occurred seamlessly, and we were expected at each venue.
Congratulations, therefore, to the Expert Africa team for putting together the trip.
The business of tipping we found irksome. At some stages guides and game guards changed and were missed. At others, notably Chongwe, there were so many for the different activities that we lost count. We ended by giving a sum of money to one of the staff at Chongwe and asked that it be distributed fairly among the guides, while also putting money in the tip box. However fair one tries to be, there is always the nagging doubt that some deserving soul has been missed. You ask for money for a donation of £20 to offset carbon emissions from the flights ( for which we have already contributed over £400 for our flights from London , grr), so perhaps there could be a donation similarly for the staff ?.
Throughout the trip the staff were most helpful, courteous, obliging, and knowledgeable and could not be faulted.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Perhaps see comment above re tipping, but otherwise no, we think you are a good organisation with whom we would travel again and which we would recommend to friends.
Thank you." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari
"Superb holiday!"
Fantastic service and stunning animals." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari
"Dick and Dianne Sallis"
The only negative points were the transfer from Kasane airport to Chobe Game Lodge, our stay at Lianshulu, and the stopover at Ghanzi, which we felt was unnecessary and not particularly enjoyable (though we did get to see another side of Botswana!)" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip
"Mary's Birthday safari"
Claire Scott listened to my wishlist and produced an itinerary which allowed us to see more than we thought possible in the limited time we had available.
One of the reasons I chose Expert Africa was I wanted someone else to do the organising this time, so as not to have to worry about connections bookings etc. Well, it certainly was properly organised. We even had someone meet us BEFORE passport control in Lusaka who organised our visas for us, and we didn't have a raise a finger on our own behalf for the whole trip.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really, but thanks to Claire for not laughing when I told her how much I expected to pay for the trip! ;)" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
"wonderful experiences enhanced by Expert Afr"
For us Premium Economy was an advantage, though others may well find economy is satisfactory.
Each of the arrivals, transfers and departures was eased by the reps involved, looking out for us, and aware of our plan ahead.
The choice of game parks was excellent for us and staff were outstanding. Good value for money compared with our experience of two hotels. The small numbers at Lodges made a better holiday of it, and contact with staff was informal, informative and careful attention was given to individuals. So often a hotel visit is a commercial exercise, Lodges at once suggest they are there for us.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I do not recall seeing a brochure, wish I had one, but might have passed it to another member of our party of four, but we could not find it. The Bradt guide was an excellent companion in advance, and will be a fine reference book.
I could have done with more detail in breakdown in price. After an estimate we were shown minor differences, as adjustments were made. If I had done everything myself I may have saved some money, but your price gave us the confidence of expertise and back up that was essential for a trip of this complexity not least since our combined age is over 320! We were at no time anxious about planning or arrangements as they happened without problems, and with the assistance we anticipated at every stage." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari