Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Our trip with Expert Africa was a honeymoon, and our aim when deciding what to do was to try to find a holiday which would be extra special. From start to finish Expert Africa were a pleasure to deal with, and thanks to their insight and advice we ended up with exactly what we wanted.

The clue is in the name - both Liz and Lyndsey were able to tell us exactly what we could expect from each different camp in Tanzania, and each resort in Zanzibar. Their expertise made it very easy to make decisions, when otherwise you mind spend days pouring over reviews, second guessing yourself at every turn.

What we appreciated the most was at no point did we ever felt like we were being 'sold to'. They were extremely honest about every single detail, allowing us to piece together a trip which would suit the kind of people we are.

For example, Ruaha in Tanzania is a staggeringly beautiful place, perfectly combining our desire to see a good degree of game, but without being surrounded by dozens of other vehicles viewing the same things as us at the same time. Yet once there we appreciated it wouldn't suit everyone, as some people may want a higher density of game at their fingertips every moment of every day. That's exactly how Liz described it to us in our very first conversation, even if the place itself exceeded our already lofty expectations.

I'd also add Lyndsey was extremely helpful answering each and every question we had in advance, no matter how small a detail it was. If, like us, you've never done a safari before, it's surprisingly easy to make assumptions about what you'll need, which will probably be completely wrong in reality. Therefore that level of assistance, expertise and detail was really appreciated.

Thanks guys, it was a brilliant trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Lucy organized our trip for us. She is so easy to work with & very responsive to emails. The trip went flawlessly. We used Expert Africa to organize a trip to Zambia/Malawi for us 2 yrs ago & will be asking them to help us with a possible trip to Namibia next year!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Malawi trip

"An excellent trip, when I asked my grandson [age 10] what was the best part of the trip, without hesitation, he said "James the guide". I would not hesitate to recommend him." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"Our trip to Rwanda was a dream come true.

We were really glad to have gone to the expense to book 3 gorilla treks -- an extraordinary experience I will never forget." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Rwanda safari

"This was our first safari, initially there are so many options it's difficult to know where to go, for how many days and which camps to go for. Lyndsey was our travel coordinator and guided us through a twin location of Selous and Ruaha. It's hard not to have high expectations for a holiday like this but we were both blown away with the whole trip. The first camp was super friendly, we had really personal service a fabulous guide and great food, we had such a good time we were worried that the second camp wouldn't be able to match our experience. But there was no need, Ruaha was just as special. Having the two locations, one camp on a river and the other on top of hill made for a winning combination with a diverse range of terrains and animals.

We loved every aspect of our trip and have so many memories that will live with us forever I don't know if we will ever be able to top this." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was great! At the time I first contacted Expert Africa I was in a panic because the previous tour company we had contracted with had failed to confirm our accommodations with Virunga Lodge while telling us that our accommodations were all arranged. Meanwhile we had already purchased our flights to fit those dates.

Maruska worked through all the possible options with us. We were looking at more high end places like Virunga Lodge to make it special for our traveling companion but finding matches between hotel availability and possible new flight dates was difficult and proving to be wildly expensive. Maruska then suggested that she check with Mountain Gorilla Lodge to see if they had availability for the dates that fit our original flights. I hadn't been impressed with the descriptions I had read of Mountain Gorilla Lodge (they should work on that), but Maruska assured us that the accommodations, though simple, were quite clean and comfortable. This worked out.

We kept our original flights, stayed at Mountain Gorilla Lodge (which was way nicer than expected!) and saved tons of money on our trip. So thank you Maruska for your patience and your smart thinking!

Expert Africa arranged a private guide and vehicle for these travellers, and they commented:

Jeremiah was a wonderful guide. He was a very safe driver and very accommodating to our requests. He was charming and knowledgeable, a pleasure to spend time with. We hope to bring other friends next year so hope we can get him as our driver again." Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Rwanda safari

"Justin Huff helped us plan two weeks in Namibia. We travelled with our six and seven year old daughters. We flew via Scenic Air up to Etosha from Windhoek and then self-drove back with stops at Huab and Ai Aiba. Everything went perfectly according to plan with no hiccups. When we had one question to clarify our itinerary we were very happy that Expert Africa had a responsive 24 hour team on call. The trip was every bit the wonderful adventure we hoped it would be. The wildlife surpassed our highest expectations and driving in Namibia is a very do-able experience.

Justin answered every question/concern we had and we felt very well prepared to make our trip even with two young kids in tow.

We will happily use Expert Africa if and when our family returns to Africa someday." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was wonderful overall, we enjoyed the lodges and the safari, there was relaxation, variety. Accommodation was comfortable, food great and service personal and helpful. Thanks to everyone." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 13 on a Mozambique holiday

"Overall a fantastic trip, lots to see and take in. Missed the great migration but will go back some other time. Almost sensory overload and after 6 days of continuous safari driving we took a half day off just chilling and taking in the view from the veranda.

Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Serengeti was an excellent combo with diverse landscapes and different scenery. Zanzibar is a very nice resort location and Stonetown was an interesting surprise with the slave museum well worth at least an hour.

Tarangire was originally our "backup option" but turned out to be our favorite of the trips as we love elephants and the local staff and walking guides offered a fantastic experience, not only in the jeeps but also on foot walking which is well worth promoting as not all parks do guided walks." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip as a whole was: very well prepared and perfectly organized, the mere fact that we had not one serious problem on such a long journey, is amazing !

Thanks to the way Expert Africa helped us to choose among the various possible destinations, we could benefit from an itinerary that led us to variable parts of Tansania and we enjoyed entirely different landscapes and surroundings. Each of the camps and lodges we stayed at had their own charm and asset. Obviously James Denny was able to empathize our wishes and preferences so well that we really got what we wanted.

There is only one small critical item we would like to mention:

What we did not know beforehand (and what we could have been told when planning) was the distance from Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha, which is a car drive of about three hours, not really very much longer than the flight together with the time for waiting and transfer to and from the airport. In addition to this we flew to Kilimanjaro Airport instead of Arusha AIrport, which would have been much nearer to the hotel, although the plane did actually got to Arusha Airport." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari