Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Despite the flight debacle with Kenya Airways, we had a good time in Africa.

We were very pleased with the itinerary and activities planned for us by Maruska, who was very professional and helpful. All the hotel recommendations were really nice, although more on the expensive side.

For overnight stay, we would have preferred to stay at a mid-scale property like Rivertrees Inn than upscale property like Arusha Coffee Lodge." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"A wonderful visit to a fascinating country. It was good to deal with someone who knew the camps, and I know Tracy made a particular effort to get us into Sossus Dune lodge which was much appreciated. The website is very appealing and I particularly like the use of google maps to show more about the locations. I was surprised by the lack of people everywhere and missed having any real interaction with local people. Overall the trip was excellent.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be very helpful to have average driving times between lodges or mileage at and early stage - we probably woudn't have gone so far every other day if we had known how long it would take. It might be worth advising people who eat fish but not meat that it's better to stick to vegetarian - when we were given fish it wasn't great." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We enjoyed our trip immensely. This was our first time in Namibia and we were so impressed by the country and its people. The variety of places to visit and things to do was great. The organisation from Expert Africa was second to none and ensured that everything went smoothly.

Overall the standard of accommodation far exceeded our expectations (with the exception of The Beach Hotel Swakopmund which was acceptable and Halali camp as outlined above). I know that because of the unexpectedly busy tourist season in Namibia we were a bit stuck for places to stay and this is understandable.

We took a kayaking trip with Jeanne in Walvis Bay as recommended in the guidebook and this was really excellent - she was a great guide.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were completely happy with the service provided and will have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa to friends and family." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We debated long and hard about the difference between Very and Fairly satisfactory. We chose the latter for the following reasons:

1) Bullsport was a good stopover, but not in the style of the other lodges. We knew it was a working farm and perhaps we should have chosen differently.

2) We are not convinced that visiting at the end of the dry season was a good choice. We were aware of the lack of rain, but did not realise that it would be so unusually hot. This was not the fault of Expert Africa.

3) Although happy with the 2 x 4 car, a more powerful diesel model would have been more suitable.

On a positive note, we were delighted with Expert Africa's response to our delayed arrival after we had difficulty contacting Wilderness Safaris. We also feel that the whole process from the initial enquiry to the actual holiday was well managed, with excellent advice and information. We would (and already have) recommend Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The guidebook does need updating. The wifi in most camps is better than described for example. Conny's restaurant (page 181) was very welcome, but there was only """"chicken"""" or a toasted sandwich. It was very clean and had some very interesting geological specimens.

Solitaire has a memorial to Moose who died in 2014, (page 265). The Kameldorn Garten restaurant in Otjiwarongo (page 405) closed some time ago.

We greatly appreciated camps with good wifi, bean to cup coffee machines and chilled water. Sounds trivial, especially when we have also greatly enjoyed the friendliness of staff and the beauty of the country that is Namibia.

Thank you." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing trip, there's no two ways about it - the knowledge of the Expert Africa team (Liz) was invaluable as having never visited there before (and not knowing anyone that had), we'd probably have got stuck on the planning side.

The itinerary was fantastic and enabled us to fit in everything that we had said we wanted to - the map and route planning incredibly useful and accurate. Plus everywhere we stayed was nigh on perfect - the organisation was faultless and made the whole experience very simple for us!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"If I had had any doubts or fears of taking this trip to Tanzania they were dispelled completely. I found Expert Africa as a company, by accident and would turn to them again for a future visit in a heartbeat.

There was no question however trivial that was not explained fully and my complicated itinerary ran like clockwork. Yes, it was an expensive trip but I was travelling alone and to some more remote parts of the Serengeti so my safety and health was important to me.

I have to thank Richard and the staff at Expert Africa whose current knowledge and expertise about my trip was exemplary. I was a complete stranger to them yet there was minute attention to all the details.

The experience will stay with me for a lifetime. So many thank you’s." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a really wonderful trip and the Expert Africa arrangements slotted in perfectly with the segment that we arranged on our own, the renting of a house on the outskirts of Lusaka.

What was especially impressive was the way Expert Africa arranged our various transfers to and from the airports. Our arrival at Lusaka where apparently there are often delays was lightened by the person who met us insisting that we join the queue for diplomats in the hope of hastening the the process.

A minor observation on our transfer from the Royal Livingstone to the the Livingstone airport. It may be an idea if Expert Africa used the hotel mini-buses rather than Wild Africa.

The Commissionaire was quite distressed when he could not contact Wild Africa's office by phone; he finally made contact with the driver by radio. There was no delay and we arrived at the airport in good time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We really do think that you have a wonderful product and will not hesitate it to our friends.

We were particularly impressed with how wel the segment that we arranged, the hiring of a house in Lusaka, slotted in with the rest of the holiday arranged by Expert Africa.

We would like to thank Expert Africa for sending us a copy of Bradt's Guide of Zambia which we enormously enjoyed reading.

Finally our especial thanks to Lucy Copson who was always at hand to help and who we had the pleasure of meeting at Kiango." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"I had a wonderful experience as did my friends.

It was well planned. I was worried we were moving to much but as we did it all made good sense.

We saw more then I could have imagined and the staff were beyond helpful." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Wonderful trip....so many highlights! No snafus, no illness, no travel issues. Wonderful guides, beautiful lodges, fabulous game viewing, delicious food." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa;

"We had a great time in Namibia. At the start of our holiday, our luggage was lost which caused us to lose some time. We had to buy necessary supplies, had to drive back to the airport, etc. After that, our experiences were fantastic.

Namibians are very friendly people, always willing to help & waving at the side of the road. The nature is beautiful and watching the wild animals is just amazing. The entire trip was perfectly organised. From the planning of our trip to when we arrived home. When we had questions, Maruska was always very fast in her replies.

We would also like to express special thanks to Wilderness Safaris for their support when our luggage was lost. They really did a great job." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip