Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Great trip, well planned and executed." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Our departure from Windhoek was not as smooth as it should have been. A very good car and driver (Sam) were provided by Wilderness to take us to River Crossing. Sam had not been told what time to collect us to go to the airport on the following morning. He and I agreed that 10.30 would be a good time and that he would get Wilderness to confirm by phone later, that didn't happen. At 8 am on the Saturday morning still nothing had been heard from Wilderness. At 9 the hotel manageress phoned Wilderness only to told that they'd have to look it up and phone back, Just after 10 am they phoned to say the car would come at 10.50. Surely something as simple as fixing a time should have been handled far better and we should have known the departure time on the Friday evening. The second trouble was at the airport. Sam had been instructed that we had to go the Wilderness office so that they could assist our check in. The office was deserted and Sam went in search of any Wilderness employees. This was wasting our time and we didn't need assistance anyway. Eventually someone from Wilderness did turn up. "Good morning, you are checking in for the KLM". He looked surprised to be told we were Qatar passengers and didn't need assistance. This performance didn't give us any confidence in Wilderness's management, perhaps it was just their weekend shift. Despite this poor finish the trip had been a great success. The itinerary worked and we saw virtually all the animals and birds we were after. With the full advantage of hindsight I think we should have stayed one more night at Bullsport. But it was great to see Namibia again after 26 years and the huge changes that have happened in that time." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Our second trip with Expert Africa did not disappoint.

James organised everything from the UK brilliantly, and was superbly patient with our changes of ideas and plans!

The one area of the trip was the quality of accommodation at Gorilla Mountain View lodge as I think that the review enhanced our expectations.

However overall an incredible experience to be recommended to anyone." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Rwanda safari

"The best recommendation I can give is that I would use Expert Africa again, and I would recommend them to anyone going to Africa.

I would also recommend Nomad Tanzania to anyone going to Tanzania. Expert (Eleanor and Olivia) did a great job during the lengthy period of planning the trip, answering questions, responding by email in a timely fashion, alerting me to details that I needed to complete, nudging where appropriate, offering unbiased advice.

In short, our two week trip to Arusha, Gibbs Farm, the Ngorongoro Crater, Southern Serengeti, Northern Serengeti (Lamai), Stone Town and Zanzibar beaches was terrific and I would do it again. Especially the Serengeti. And no question that Serengeti Lamai was the highlight of the trip. A unique spot. I found it very moving to contemplate the origins of our species a million years ago arising from the very same surroundings, surviving the challenges of hunter and prey, and literally standing up on two feet and becoming the dominant species of the planet. Really powerful.

Well done, Expert Africa!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"It was everything we hoped for. There were no glitches and no disappointments.

Kwandwe was even better than expected.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

You can't change a winning formula - you know exactly what you are doing. Trustworthy comes to mind. As soon as we decided to return to Namibia and S. Africa we contacted Tracy who had helped us the first time.

I hope we will do it again in the not too distant future.

Thank you for a wonderful trip." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"Fantastic!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We had been looking forward to this trip for ages, so the expectation levels were very high.

And we needn't have worried as the whole trip was all we could have possibly hoped it would be from the very beginning on arrival at the Avani in Zambia.

It was all organised so well with the smallest of detail included that would prove useful as we went along.

i.e. Knowing beforehand that we could buy a UniVisa in $ on arrival in Zambia & useful info on what to tip the parking attendants, etc
Tracy's idea of us not collecting the hire car on our arrival at night for what was our first time in Cape Town was an insightful choice.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None I can think of" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 3 on a Zambia safari

"Interesting and varied- the combination of flying and self-driving was the perfect choice for us. However, one does need to be prepared to drive long distances - often hours in endlessly flat, unchanging country.( A good, detailed map is essential - the Tracks Africa map is excellent)

Rather disappointing that Hoanib was the only camp that provided any educational/informative element- a very good film on the desert lions and a lecture by a visiting bat researcher!

More of that sort of thing would have much appreciated- especially where we stayed three nights in one place, (Most camps seem to be geared to two-night stays) Would have very much liked to know more about the different tribes etc- which we finally did on our last day at the National Museum in Windoek , which has seen better days, but is still very interesting.

We loved the ability to get away into some unspoilt and spectacular county -and avoid crowds of tourists. The exception to that was Sossusvlie, where there were far too many people and traffic .... a bit of a shock after the tranquility of Etendenka!

We worry that Namibia is about to OD on tourism and lose its unique appeal....." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Once again, Tracy came up trumps! We had been spoiled on our previous trip, to Zambia and Namibia, and weren't expecting to be quite so blown away this time - but we were, thanks to the sheer variety of the package that Tracy put together for us. From our safari experience at Kwandwe, to the opulence of the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town, we were stunned by the quality of accommodation and service we encountered throughout our trip. Thank you so much, Tracy!

We loved South Africa, and very much look forward to returning there in the near future.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service

None at all - our experience with Expert Africa has been just what we wanted, and we know we can trust you to put together the ideal holiday experience to suit our requirements. We look forward to our next trip with you!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 21 on a South Africa trip

"We felt that the London Expert Africa people were following our trip in order to ensure satisfaction.

This included making arrangements for a helicopter lift out of one camp in order not to miss connecting flights (flooded runway).

Fortunately, Mack Air was able to make a short distance landing and takeoff with a regular plane. I'll be back.

Sarah offered two contrasting trip plans which allowed us to choose well in terms of budget and overall comfort. Well done." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari