Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"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

"Excellent. We booked late but Claire did as well as ever with accommodating our traveling wishes. Thank you" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"The response, information and suggestions we received from Ellie Walkingshaw were great.

Initially I was operating under the delusion that I could self drive, while that is not a type of tour that Expert Africa helps with she was still quite helpful making some suggestions. As it became obvious that we would need more help with both the driving and the booking at Ndutu Lodge, she was able to step in and work with our available dates.

I would wholeheartedly recommend them based on our trip and experience with them.

These travellers commented about their guide:

John was incredible!

I could go on and on about John. He was punctual and courteous and all that. He was very well informed, very knowledgable and very personable. He was both a very skilled driver (and in certain circumstances with some very rainy weather this was tested) as well as a very knowledgable guide.

What my wife and I both felt that was after driving for an hour or two up from Arusha he was like an old friend. He had great insight into the local area, his knowledge of the flora and fauna in the parks were amazing, his ability to drive, spot animals and give us information on what we were seeing was superb." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was on our bucket list since a few years and finally it materialised. Travelling in the wet season gives you certain benefits, green, less people and good bird viewing. The wet season is "wet" thus whenever the weather showed it sunny side, it was and added benefit.

All preparation from the initial contact with Expert Africa to the return home worked flawlessly, especially good follow up before the trip from Expert Africa reminding us about insurances, overseas flight information etc.

What we missed to arrange upfront was the long wait at our last day, from arriving in Dar to our overseas flight. This we could sort out locally with the company who organised transfers at our arrival the first day - they supported us with transfer to Slipway (beachfront Dar), looking after our luggage and then taking us back to the airport in time for our flight back home." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic" Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Zambia safari

"See above

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None.
This was our 4th booking with ET, second in Kenya through Richard, and he and Tracey's arrangements were first rate so from our perspective no need to change a winning formula!
Note, ours was a non standard request as we travelled under our own steam (Avios) but Richard was happy to help with this booking as a stand alone." Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Kenya safari