Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"This was an excellent trip - a great way to celebrate Peter's 75th birthday. We were away for almost 5 weeks, visiting Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. We enjoyed every bit of the trip - The Hide and Hwange Bush Camp in Hwange; the mobile safari with David Carson in Botswana and our self-drive through Etosha in Namibia.

As usual the organisation from Expert Africa was perfect - with seamless transfers and bookings etc., all the arrangements spot on throughout the trip. And there were some unexpected and pleasant surprises - like finding that Andrew Dalzell was our guide again in Hwange and the unexpected upgrade to a luxury tent on the Botswana mobile safari.

Our thanks to Claire and all the team at Expert Africa for making this such a fantastic trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It is hard to think of anything." Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Despite Bidvest problems, v well organised." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 4 on a Namibia trip

"It was great. We had a fabulous time.

Loads of super memories and missing the blue skies and heat." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"The combination of PGC and Lodge put together by Tracy at very short notice exceeded our expectations - we enjoyed a superb trip - our second to the Okavango Delta with EA" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"I applied for a job in Tanzania some time ago so i bought the guide book and book on safaris just in case I got the job. Well i didn't get the job but the book really got me excited about Africa. When i found a travel partner, some years later, while re reading my books i was inspired by the fact that the authors had travelled to this area frequently and consequently I was drawn to contact the affiliated company regarding trip planning.

Lyndsey was excellent. She started off by asking what kind of trip we wanted and from there guided us through planning a trip that would meet our needs and expectations. She answered our questions, wasn't pushy and was open to my suggestions of things i wanted to work into our trip, like visiting fish markets and seeing some of Dar es Salem. The adventure was exactly what we wanted and more.

Travelling as two older women it was important to feel safe and at the same time experience the opportunity of adventure. Keeping the costs down and not going to high end camps was important as well as avoiding the crowds. We met other travellers who had been further north and when they showed up at an animal sighting there where 50 jeeps already there, everyone lined up. We knew we didn't want that nor travel in an enclosed vehicle so again great direction from Lyndsey.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were not charged the $30 fee to leave Tanzania and I'm not sure if this is because we left from Zanzibar or not.

The Stone Town Airport does not open until midnight for a 2am flight so there is no point going out there early. If u do the toilet outside the airport building costs money and the one inside is free. You need TZ shillings.

The booklet is confusing on tipping in the camps and we received different information from the different camp managers. If two people are travelling together do they pay their guide as one person or do they people double the recommended amount? We paid our driver, the guide, the boat guide all separate from each of us and then half that amount at the second camp. Other people we talked to seemed confused as well.

I brought a black head net and was really glad I did as the flies at the second camp were fierce in some areas. Burning elephant dung helped somewhat. Green head nets interfere with your vision clarity but the black ones work great.

Thanks Lyndsey for all your help in planning our wonderful adventure!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Great trip. We loved Zim and will surely visit again" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zimbabwe safari

"I found Expert Africa online, and thought the website was very good, and Amanda was very responsive and helpful - but I was still a little nervous about how the holiday would turn out, having never used them before. But my worry turned to delight as everything went off without a hitch and the places we stayed were even better than expected.

The transfers all went fine, with helpful guys to get us through the airports - very nice!

Thank you, I would 100% recommend you to others.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - really everything was great." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 3 on a Zambia safari

"My trip as a whole was better than I could have hoped for. It was actually James Denny that organised the trip but he is off on his own adventure now. The service I got from him and Richard was excellent. Very helpful in understanding my requirements and organised a wonderful trip. Next time I'm in Africa I will not hesitate to use you again and would highly recommend you to anybody looking to do the same. Thank you for such a memorable experience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Kenya safari

"A fantastic trip which we both thoroughly enjoyed - it completely exceeded our expectations.

Very well organised and great lodges. Highlights were Wolwedans, Safarihoek and the Scenic Air flights - but everything else was very very good. We were pleased with our route - we met some people who had done Etosha first (so seen all the animals) and where as we were so excited to see the desert elephants they were rather blasé having seen so much wildlife already.

We found the countryside amazing, in particular the desert, and in most case the guides were extremely knowledgeable, friendly and good to be with. It was good that most of the our "drives" were just us and a guide and not a jeep full of people.

The service everywhere was excellent - and staff were lovely and very very welcoming.

Thanks to Sabina for organising a great trip to a fantastic country - we are already saying that we need to go back…..

I would happily recommend Expert Africa to friends" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We had an excellent time - even with a twisted ankle (and I note the camps could not have been more helpful). The game we saw was so extensive, we had better list what we *didn't* see! We saw brown hyena, pangolin, so many antelope we only missed sable for a full house! If you want the 'big five', we only missed rhino. Every cat except serval and caracal. What can I say? We saw blister beetles hatching!

We saw many birds for the first time , and many we have seen before very close-up (e.g. pearl-spotted owlet 6' away)

We slept out under the stars (and the stars in the Kalahari are awesome).

Every trip brings new things to see and learn. We are very happy to have these moments to remember." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari