Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had a great time. We had some really good experiences, had some great views and met some lovely people. Everyone was really helpful and pleased that we were visiting their country, both in South Africa and Namibia.

We had hoped to see the spring flowers in Namaqualand, but realised before we arrived that the drought would mean it unlikely. We saw a few, which was lovely but also did more walking than we might have done and found other things to do which we really enjoyed.

Highlights of the trip were Twee Rivieren at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Fish River Canyon, Kolmanskop (outside Luderitz), Augrabies Falls and the Eagle's Nest at Aus.

Thanks to Tracy for the original inspiration and Claire for making it happen." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Excellent will repeat." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Namibia is a country of striking beauty. We thoroughly enjoyed our adventure and we only wish that could have stayed longer.

The trip ran very smoothly and we thank Expert Africa, and particularly Tom Morris for his guidance.

A holiday full of memories that will last a lifetime." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"James did a fantastic job of organizing this trip for us. His suggestion of adding Kichaka to our plans was spot on, and we never would have known about them without his advice. Arrangements were all smooth, service everywhere was great, and the plan he shared was exactly what we got. I think if I could change anything about the trip, it would have been the Pongwe part. While the resort was fine, it wasn't totally our style. I think we would have been happier at one of the places with a stronger environmental orientation and better access to good snorkeling. That's on me, not James - I didn't share that this was a priority, and I was thinking too much about the expense.

I also wasn't prepared for the aggressiveness of some of the street hustlers in Stone Town. While in most places, they would respect a polite "Hapana, Asante," in the Forodhani Gardens area, they were so aggressive it made it unpleasant to walk over there - sometimes escalating to physical contact and insults from them although we stayed polite. This isn't something that Expert Africa controls of course! It would be something that it would be helpful to add to the next Bradt guide update.

I also need to note that at the beginning of our trip, things went off track due to a problem with Turkish Air. Because of their delays, we missed our Istanbul connection, and had to stay the night in Istanbul. This was clearly not Expert Africa's fault, but it was very frustrating that I couldn't get through to anyone on the 24 hour emergency number. I called four times. Each time, a recording would tell me that someone would be with me in a minute, and then the phone would start ringing. I would let it ring 100 times before I gave up. Maybe I should have had faith and let it ring longer?

I guess I'm used to hold music playing if I'm in a queue of calls, and then the ringing starting when I'm actually being connected. Is the ringing what happens when you're in queue on your line? Because all this happened during the 36 hour stretch that no one is on your office, folks at Lake Manze camp were quite concerned that we had disappeared without a word, and we were concerned that we wouldn't be able to reconnect with our trip. We spent a scary 4 hours sitting outside the Dar airport hoping we'd be able to figure everything out at sunrise, which we did with the help of a friendly cab driver and the staff at Coastal Aviation." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday

"As first time visitors to Namibia we enjoyed our trip overall and we would return but only to specific areas, ie the north Etosha, the central Erongo, and Okonjima areas. We would not bother going back to Swakapmond as we found it quite chilly and uninspiring. Although we enjoyed seeing the flocks of flamingos and we took a scenic flight over the namib desert rather than drive all the way down there. Highlights for us were Etosha, Erongo Mountains and Okonjima. We saw pretty much all the types of wildlife we hoped to see, and more. We enjoyed the challenge of driving on the harsh roads once we became accustomed to this - taking it in turns to take the wheel. We plan to return at some stage in the future and maybe next time spend a bit longer in Etosha. We would also recommend Expert Africa as trip planners." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"This trip was the most exciting, inspiring, rewarding trip of my life. Namibia is vast and spectacular, desolate and beautiful - and the people are warm and friendly. I'd been dreaming of visiting the Namib desert for some years, and the experience was more stimulating than I imagined - it is a captivatingly beautiful, otherworldly place, and my mind keeps wandering back to those huge, fluid honey-coloured sand dunes... The driving was tough at times, but the thrill of adventure and discovery was worth it. Overall, we found the lodges and camps to be very well-organised, with good food and great service.

I'd go back in a heartbeat (as soon as the bank balance allows).

Expert Africa exceeded my expectations of a travel agent - Tracy and Elizabeth helped create a bespoke trip for us that met our wishlist and our budget. Prior to our departure, Josh happily gave time to us, talking through our self-drive route in detail and advising on how to manage the long drives to help us plan and to allay our nerves (we'd never done anything like this before!).

They also went above and beyond to help resolve a last-minute glitch with the car hire company, which truly saved our trip!

Thank you!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing I can think of is clarity about the drivers of cost during the quotation process - I ended up going back and forth a bit early onto understand what was driving costs up - but overall, you guys were consistently professional, helpful and truly expert." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Returning to the country after 6 years, we hoped that it had changed and there was certainly evidence of more tourism. The camps have invested in staff and premises and the safari trade there (hopefully) looks to have a bright future

Excellent game and bird viewing. Hospitable and professional camps. Would return in a heartbeat...." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Visiting the mountain gorillas was a fantastic life time experience . We had chosen to do two treks. On our first trek we saw the gorillas within 45 minutes. We turned a corner, and there in all his glory was a silverback munching away six feet away from us.

Our second viewing of a different family took us 2 hours of trekking to find them.Although billed as an easy trek, this group were particularly active and were continually on the move going up the mountain. There had also been heavy rain overnight, making walking conditions difficult. Although this trek proved to be a challenge, we felt we experienced more the true environment, in which these mountain gorillas live. Also we were rewarded with a 10 second glimpse of a mother holding in her hand a 4 week old baby, before disappearing into the bush.

Mountain Gorilla trekking is a must do experience. Although expensive to do ,when you see the gorillas ,you feel you cannot put a price on what you have witnessed." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"Other than the reservations noted above regarding 3 of the camps, we were very pleased with the holiday.

We would however warn anyone with similar plans, that the drive through the Caprivi strip is long and rather boring. We would not chose to do that part of the trip again.

Mundulea was a new highlight . We only wish that we had visited there on earlier trips." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"My overall feeling about the trip is very positive, notwithstanding the occasional (probably inevitable) minor niggle, referred to in individual sections.

Everything was organised extremely well, with no problems of logistics, and the experience I obtained of Namibia was varied and consistently interesting. All the lodges were of a very good standard, with comfortable facilities and good quality food - as, indeed, I would have expected, given the overall cost.

The constant moving around was, inevitably, somewhat wearing by the latter stages, but this was an unavoidable element of this type of trip which attempts to cover a significant amount of ground. And, by the end, I felt I had acquired some satisfying insight into the country and its cultures, even if a trip of this nature can never hope to do much more than scratch the surface." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip