Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Mark Hitchcock took on the task of organising this trip for us. He did a great job and says he could not have done it without Nick Hobbs input.

This was an outstanding trip and my first visit to Botswana. We knew we were taking a risk going towards the end of the rainy season but that we would also see more birds at that time. In the event we had great weather throughout and our drivers also coped with the consequence of the previous flooding. We never got stuck!
In my opinion, with Nick Hobbs input, Mark put together the perfect trip for us. We are very experienced travellers, with a keen and developed interest in the natural world, natural sciences, the environment and exploring new places. We were not there to see the "Big Five" (we did see four of them anyway). We had an unforgettable experience and many, many laughs along the way.

Having been on about 6 weeks of safaris in the past since 1991, i thought this off season trip was also good value for money.

When a problem arose, once we were able to contact you, Chris resolved our issues with an acceptable solution. You cannot ask for more. Well done to him and his team and organisation. I am happy to recommend Expert Africa to others." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Outstanding trip, fabulous experiences. Everything went smoothly with our reservations and activities.

Excellent planning by Claire Scott and other staff. The only problem we experienced was that the air conditioning in our private vehicle didn't work.

Neither we nor our guide realized it until we were already away from Windhoek so there was no opportunity to fix it.


We asked these travellers about their private guide, and they commented:

Johann was outstanding in every way. Knowledgeable, helpful, thoughtful, always pleasant and easy to be with. He has a great sense of humor.

He made sure we made the most of every activity and went out of his way to enhance our experiences.


Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions. We couldn't ask for a better trip." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"It was a good break. All safaris are different and wonderful. Learnt and saw lots. Would strongly recommend" Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"We were very taken with Namibia even though going in the wet season meant it wasn't the best time for wildlife viewing and there were some challenges in terms of driving through mud and crossing flowing water. The birdlife (122 species identified) and animal life (34 species) were excellent and we enjoyed the different landscapes - desert, mountains, coast and semi arid areas.

The accommodation was all of a very high standard and all the activities were good - though there was some variability which meant we haven't rated all of them as excellent.

We hope that we will have the opportunity to go back to Namibia to revisit most of the locations we covered and to see more of the country." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"This was by far the most amazing, awe-inspiring trip of our lives.

Expert Africa & Maruska did SUCH a wonderful job helping us arrange this journey and answer questions along the way. Namibia is a beautiful, diverse, visually spectacular place that will stay with us forever.

We really wouldn't change a thing about this trip except we wish we had a 4-4 vehicle due to some roads we would have loved to explore in Etosha but had to go around. Thank you for recommending Turnstone Tours for the Sandwich Harbor tour- this was a highlight of our trip because of how interesting & knowledgable our guides were.

Self driving through Etosha was an incredible experience and we saw so much wildlife everywhere.

Our trip went by without any hiccups thanks to your excellent planning and we will definitely use Expert Africa again for our next booking.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Strongly recommend 4-4 vehicles in Namibia during the rainy season. Keep recommending Turnstone Tours - they were wonderful. We loved Naankuse Lodge as a special way to start our trip with the cheetah walk." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Efficiently organised with thoughtfulness." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a South Africa trip

"When booking a safari for the first time you really have to rely on a good travel service. We felt that Maruska understood our priorities and budget and prepared a good itinerary.

The choice of facilities was perfect. The ground transportation between airports and lodges all went smoothly and the rides were comfortable. The description of the itinerary from Victoria Falls to Botswana was slightly inaccurate but it was actually easier than described (no river crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana) so that was fine.

It was great how the drivers also helped navigate the exit and entry processes and we never felt unsure about what to do. The itinerary allowed for an independent visit but with the logistics all covered, which was just what we wanted.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
A more detailed brochure with photos of the properties and description of services would have been nice in advance, just to whet our appetite for the experience. I felt a little unsure about what it would really be like, but fortunately everything was great." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"It was a good trip, well organised and we enjoyed it. And as people who have lived in Kenya and travelled pretty extensively I accept that we were 'difficult' clients to please.

The over riding thing that went wrong was the weather. I knew it was the rainy season and had hoped that March would see something of a wind down. On the contrary, according to every single local that we met, we were at the very height of it. The outcomes varied from the inconvenient (cold showers and damp towels) to an inability to get off main roads/tracks, getting wet and cold, being sent off to Etosha at the peak of the rainy season so nothing was there, and looking at clouds instead of the sun.

I had expected Kenyan style clouds building in the afternoon, rain and then a clear sky again but everywhere north of Swakop and indeed at Windhoek as we left there was considerable and persistent cloud (but not all the time by any means), together with heavy rain.

I would have liked a MUCH clearer warning of this.

The second problem was the car which was not fit for purpose, in terms of suspension at least. A car is just a car until it doesn't work in which case it drags everything down.

With those two caveats we had a good time. The bookings that (for me) didn't cut the cake were the Strand Hotel (but I don't like hotels), Doro Nawas and Ongava. The other side of the coin was excellent visits to Hoodia, Etendeka, Mundelea and Okonjiwa." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent in many ways. In retrospect we made two errors. Firstly we should have driven eastwards through Etosha and gone to Mundulea from the north, even if we had arrived a little later than 3.00pm. This would have enabled us to see more of the National Park and avoided going both ways along the B1 to Otjiwaranga. Secondly we should have seen Twyfelfontein in the evening, as we passed the turning, and saved the morning for a game drive at Doro Nawas. This was our mistake.

The dreadful car made driving on rough roads no pleasure." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Given the extraordinary weather, just prior to arrival, life was made very difficult for the driver/guides, particularly at Nxai Pan, where the vans are required by park rules to stay on existing roads, even if they were so muddy they should not have been used. Ours { Mr T) coped very well. (And was Jessica sent to Nxai to smooth guest relations.?)

Having been to southern africa animal watching on numerous occasions over 30+ years, but always in the dry, a green season trip was very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable, but perhaps only once." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari