Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers
Original reviews written by our most recent travellers to Zimbabwe
"Flavour of Zimbabwe"
Matopo has some fabulous scenery, history and was a place to track rhino on foot - tick to all three. Rhino with calf was a highlight. It also gave us our best ever sighting of Elephant Shrew at Rhodes Grave! The National Park, however, has little game and incursions from cattle and humans are common. Locals roam the whole park on foot cutting grass for sale. It is still worth a visit and arguable needs more visitors to recover, so I’d still include it if you can.
Hwange with its pumped water holes and huge elephant population delivered more classic sightings, and a pride of lions with 6 cubs provided entertainment on all our game drives. Good antelope including Sable and Roan with huge buffalo herd of 500 plus were also a highlight. The open areas and mixed forest gave good variety to habitats.
Mana Pools was in drought in June so maybe not at its best. We were surprised at the number of self drivers and campers, some of whom are clearly not controlled effectively by the NP staff (much to the frustration of guides). No off road but you can off walk so great encounter with lions on a kill on foot was the highlight. If this is the jewel in the crown for Zimbabwe then it’s a little disappointing - at times it felt like a safari park - particularly as the unique environment offers so much.
Versus other neighbouring safari destinations, Zimbabwe still has some catching up to do if it is to return to its previous premier ranking. The amazing teams at African Bush Camps certainly warrant a visit." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari
"Namibia road trip 2019"
All the locations were great but each had their own distinctive feel and character. The landscapes were more impressive than we had expected and it was a real thrill to get to see so many animals and birds up close.
The people throughout Namibia were very friendly and the staff in the lodges were all very welcoming and made us feel at home. Even things like car hire went very smoothly, with great service from the Bidvest staff.
We highly recommend Namibia as a fantastic destination and will definitely be using Expert Africa for any other African adventures which we may have.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The only thing I would change would be to hire a Toyota 4x4 or double cab next time.
The Nissan X Trail wasn't really robust enough for some of the rougher gravel roads." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip
"Our June 2019 trip to Zambia and Malawi"
Beguiling and awesome in equal measure. We loved watching the drama unfold everyday. Someone said, "you feel more alive living with lions”. I would add: "...particularly on a walking safari." Zambia appears to specialise in these and we found the guiding excellent, although thirty metres from a lion is plenty close enough for me.
The canoeing we loved too. A true escape from our provincial life where many of our friends only wish to be close to a crocodile if it were a handbag! I'm determined to get them to go on safari and spend their money more wisely. We are saving up for the next one!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really. I'll certainly choose to travel with you again." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari
"Overall pretty good experience"
We loved Anabezi, really enjoyed Somalisa Acacia, were disappointed by Lion Camp, and appalled by Splash Camp. We paid a lot of money for four nights at Splash and felt it was largely a waste of money, except for seeing painted dog pups.
While much information was supplied, some of it was unclear or inaccurate and I found myself doing research instead of asking Expert Africa again (i.e. WiFi at each camp; what kind of plugs were needed; what are the current baggage requirements). I would have liked more precision about logistics (i.e. there are multiple vehicles involved in some transfers). I also made myself a map of camps and airstrips that would be a nice touch from you.
The little gift of luggage tag and passport holder was thoughtful but not very well designed!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari
"Victoria Falls, Hwange and Mana Pools"
"My Jun 2019 trip"
The arrangements made by Maruska, for the trip, were excellent. Lots of thought went into the itinerary, and everything worked well. All the transfers, all the lodges were super. We are so impressed by Maruska and will use her again in a heartbeat!!
The highlight must be the eles at Stanleys, just wonderful being so close to them.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Oops, never been to your website. Your name given to us by a friend who used you, and had an excellent trip. Will use you again, when the bank balance has recovered!!!
Many thanks, and especially to Maruska." Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip
"My Jun 2019 trip"
The execution on the ground and air by the operators was flawless and any oddities that occurred were developments that could not be predicted by Expert Africa or their employees. Updates are required by direct observation and on site verification. We hope that we have provided them for you in this review in an objective manner that is factual without any bias or drama. Of course, there are always two sides to a story and after submission of our comments to any of the operators, if there is a discrepancy of the events that occurred, we are happy to respond or reply in kind. Our comments are also documented by photos of the elephants on the walkways and streets near the Vic Falls Hotel and in the case of the excessive call to prayer by the Imam near the Machweo hotel, we have a live, timed recording to document this annoyance.
Otherwise, it would be hard to improve upon the suggestion of camps recommended by Maruska in the Kalahari or Zambia for the quality of service and most importantly, for the wildlife that was observed.
We think we are seasoned travelers and it is not often that we would ever lavish such praise upon a an individual or company that helped us so much with the arrangements but Expert Africa and Maruska are to be commended. So please accept our sincerest thanks for an itinerary well planned and executed. If Maruska can put in the time and effort to plan this trip, we can certainly take the time and effort to evaluate in kind. Thank you.
Greg & Kathy
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: We never looked at brochures, website or general literature etc. from Expert Africa. Perhaps we missed something. I think we have already given our suggestions in this extensive evaluation process on how to improve such trips. Fortunately, there was not much need for that." Read full review: 36 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
"Welcome to Africa Trip"
I was surprised by the beauty of the landscape in Namibia despite its dryness. It was easy to travel around, the people were so helpful at our accommodation places and the camping was a great experience. It worked well interspersing a couple of days camping between the lodges and everything that your company organised went to plan.
The planning was meticulous with lots of essential and background information provided to ensure we had a successful trip.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: Adding the timing of the afternoon game drives/activities at the various lodges may be helpful as we missed some." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip
"Botswana safari"
It was much colder at night (between about 5.30 pm and 9.00 am) than we had expected. We just about had enough warm clothing, and the hot-water bottles were very welcome on both morning drives and for the night.
At Gomoti and Splash, we found the timing of evening drives, from 4.00 to 7.30, and dinner at 8.00 more difficult than at Shinde, where dinner was at 7.30. With the former, the wake--up call at 6.00 am seemed to come round too quickly.
Tipping: Your guidelines were clear and we followed them. But we were concerned that we did not see anyone else tipping their guides when they said their goodbyes. Perhaps they were very discreet, although we think not. Do some companies include the tipping in their prices, or are the guides not getting the tips which are an important part of their income?
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Megan was very helpful, including about aspects of our longer trip which were not her responsibility. We felt reassured that she was available to help as and when needed." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
"Wonderful people, exclusive experiences"
Always felt very safe and welcome. Met wonderful people in camps, cities and along the roads.
Felt like we got the privilege of experiencing the wilderness almost completely alone with our hosts. And got interesting openhearted stories about everyday life in the country." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari