Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"This was our fifth visit to the area spanning sixteen years and, sadly, the least satisfying - a mixed bag of excellence and disappointment.

Let's start with the positives.

For thirty years now we have been making almost annual trips to Africa to see and photograph wildlife visiting many different countries. Of all those visited there is no question in our opinion that the Tanzanians are the very best people when it comes to friendliness and the provision of hospitality and service.

The next major plus point is the service provided by Expert Africa's agents in Tanzania. You really felt looked after by their staff - staffing levels are excellent. As an example, we needed some medical advice which resulted in the need for some antibiotic medicine. No problem - they just flew it up from Arusha on the next flight.

Other ways they provided satisfaction was in the way little changes to the daily plan were taken on board and executed.

We choose to go to these areas in Tanzania to enable us to see cheetah. This is where our first disappointment happened. There seem to be fewer sightings compared with many years ago (we readily accept that no animal sighting can be guaranteed anywhere).

Years ago we would see two or even three separate cheetah sightings on any one day. On this trip we saw only six sightings over an eight day visit to the area.
In this same period over the years there has been a gradual increase in the number of lion sightings and total lion numbers. This puts greater pressure on the cheetah who are often killed by lions. Also this means that when a cheetah is found it is immediately surrounded by vehicles and this pressure may be driving them away.

We witnessed one outrageous situation where three cheetah on a kill were corralled by twenty vehicles in three concentric circles with a clear area of no more than 10 to 12 meters diameter. The stress levels shown on the poor animal's faces was clear to see. This behaviour by tourists has got to be controlled! But the commercial interests rule. Years ago there were some four or five operating companies, now it seems there are forty five - you see a new name on a vehicle numerous times a day." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Our entire trip was spectacular! Everything was arranged perfectly and everything went smoothly without any problems. We would absolutely recommend Expert Africa to our friends and family and we will definitely use them again in the future!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions. Everything was perfect! Just a side note that your website with its very in-depth and honest reviews of lodges, locations and animals is superb! I am very detail oriented and I love that I can look up any lodge and your website will answer any questions I have." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"Yet another great safari organised by Expert Africa.

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of my trip and, to put the wildlife sightings into context, my visit was at the end of the season so the recent rains created very thick vegetation which made big cat sightings unlikely.

The sightings of Wild dogs (now Painted Wolves) are always special and I had fantastic bird sightings from both camps.

As always Expert Africa have excelled in organising a fantastic trip, tailored to my requirements and providing complete satisfaction. I am always happy to recommend Expert Africa and I hope they will continue making my safari arrangements for many years to come.

Full marks too, for Sean and Millie at Lake Manze and Malcolm at Mdonya and their respective teams for providing me with such enjoyable stays at their wonderful camps and such great company." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"very helpful indeed and extremely knowledgable." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"How could anyone fail to safari as we did without feeling completely content!

The trip was well organised. the camps and destinations were fabulous, everyone strove to satisfy our desires and the food was delicious." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall this was a disappointing trip, partly made up for by the excellent last camp.

I did not enjoy the two middle camps, and apart from the last camp the volume of plains and other game was sparse. We have been to many countries in the area through your company, and others. We have also been to Mara and other Kenya areas many years ago.

This was not our best trip with you." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Kenya safari

"We had never been to Zambia in the emerald season before, it was very different in terms of bird sightings and seeing how green the park was" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Our first visit to Kenya and we were not disappointed at all.

We couldn't fault any aspects of our trip, the service, or our overall experience.

Not having spotted a leopard, we have every incentive to come back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. Having used other agents in Africa, we rated Expert Africa the best we have used." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"The entire trip was fantastic.

We were taken care of from the moment we arrived to the moment we departed.

Did not have to worry about a thing and the logistics of the trip were executed fantastically, even with the hiccup of a broken down vehicle.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:,/b>
The entire trip was brilliant and Richard was very helpful in answering any questions that we had." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"A truly magical honeymoon which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

The only slight negative was our experience with Fisherman travel in Zanzibar. On arrival at the airport noone was waiting with a board to greet us but a guy with a Breezes sign for another company helped us find them. The rep was then half an hour late to meet with us on our first day which would have put us off booking experiences with them.

For our transfer back we got told two different times and when we queried it with Yusuf via WhatsApp the time he told us ended up being the incorrect one, however we got to the airport fine. None of them were big issues but it is the only part of our trip we could have improved.

Just a thank you for all the help and advice in booking our trip. I was incredibly nervous about it but having all the comprehensive back ups in place through you really helped. I've already recommend you to a couple of colleagues.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Just a thank you for all the help and advice in booking our trip. I was incredibly nervous about it but having all the comprehensive back ups in place through you really helped. I've already recommend you to a couple of colleagues." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari