Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Overall a lovely trip.

Certainly Bird Island was a highlight." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Seychelles holiday

"A very memorable trip. The Caprivi Strip is so different to the rest of Namibia. Delightful lodges. Expert Africa very good, as always.
Only two small comments:

1. there was a chap from Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek airport to meet & greet us. This has never happened before, so we walked straight past him. I hope he wasn't offended, but there was nothing from Expert Africa to say that we were being met at the airport. Bit of a surprise.

2. Wild Horizons transfers. Perfect and on-time for each occasion. The problem was communication. We we not given a pick-up time for the transfer to Livingstone Airport. Our previous driver said we would be contacted and informed 24 hours before pick-up. We were not contacted, and none of the telephone numbers given in Zimbabwe was contactable either from a mobile or the hotel's phones. I even tried sending a text, but there was no reply. In the end we had to ask the Avani concierge to phone Wild Horizons local office in Zambia. If Wild Horizons has a local office, why give travellers lots of numbers in Zimbabwe ? (none of which seem to work)." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We have been to Namibia before and it definitely did not disappoint this time, such a magical country.

It was our first time in Botswana and we loved it and would like to see more, as is always the case in Africa in my experience. The people were so friendly and the wildlife amazing.

Victoria Falls was also good and we were glad we took your advice about seeing the falls from the Zimbabwe side as there was plenty of water! It was also a nice little town to wander around with interesting history, a good end to our trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We had the most amazing time. We were a family of six adults who have all had a lot of experience in Africa.

We felt that Laikipia Wilderness Camp was truly special and suited us perfectly as we are all country people who adore the bush. We loved the amount of freedom and lack of routine which meant that every day was different. We could relax in a bush environment, seeing animals, birds, fishing etc. and feel that we were in 'proper' Africa.

This was balanced well with more luxury at Elsa's Kopje which we all enjoyed. Elsa's is in a fabulous location and there is always very good game and birding there. The managers, Philip and Charlie, run the camp extremely well and are very attentive to guests needs. We did a lot of driving on this trip, first to Laikipia and then between Laikipia and Elsa's. The drivers were good but each drive was a bit long and bumpy, although very interesting. This was not helped that on both occasions, the drivers were very late.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"Following a brilliant first safari last year to two camps in southern Tanzania we returned to explore northern Tanzania. We thought that this trip would not have the wow factor of a first safari but nevertheless Liz put together a fantastic itinerary and we had an amazing time yet again. The diversity of the parks and camps we visited made the trip so interesting.

We stayed at four camps all run by Asilia and all the flights and changeovers went like a dream, perfect.

At all four camps the service and attention we received was first class and the staff and guides were very friendly and courteous and committed to making our trip a memorable experience. I would certainly recommend Asilia camps.

Although it was nice to savour the facilities of the two luxury camps (Highlands and Sayari) we did prefer the character of the two more rustic camps (Oliver’s and Namiri Plains.

Many thanks to Expert Africa and Liz for another brilliant safari." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"The self-drive trip was very successful.

From Expert Africa's staff to those in the various lodges ... and to those in petrol stations, cafes and restaurants, thanks for your friendly, helpful approach." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. It really could not have been any better, and was without doubt the best holiday I have ever been on. Everything from the lodges, through to the scenery, wildlife, service and organisation was just fantastic. I don't think I could fault a single bit (apart from Immigration at Johannesburg airport). And the food, everywhere, was just brilliant.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not much to say here apart from the service we received from you was flawless, and very much the reason the trip was such a success was down to both your recommendations and hard work. So I really could not thank you enough. It was the trip of a lifetime!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"This was our second trip to Namibia and Etosha, this time we included the Caprivi Strip. We arrived in Windhoek and awaiting in arrivals was a representative from Wilderness Safaris who took control of our luggage and escorted us to their private lounge. He then proceeded to help us purchase that all important SIM card and sort our car hire. Once done he collected our luggage and took us over to collect our car hire. Thank you Wilderness Safaris. We were soon on our way to our first overnight stop in Windhoek. Next morning our journey was to Swakopmund, then onto the skeleton coast and the Cape Cross seal colony where we spent a whole afternoon photographing these small creatures.

Early next day we set off for Damaraland, then into Etosha NP. Having left temperatures of the mid 50 degree we were soon enduring the 40 degree heat of Etosha, it was extremely dusty giving us pictures of what the UK is like having had a severe overnight frost, everything looked magical. Animal sightings did not disappoint us. When we sat at Heathrow we discussed what it would be good to see and we though a good sighting of a Rhino would be good. We ended up and had 20 good sightings in Etosha, we were even lucky enough to witness courtship and almost mating of two at Okaukuejo Camp waterhole. Lions however avoided us on this trip. Elephants were in abundance, with lots of babies and juveniles which gave us lots of amusement.

The Caprivi Strip was a little disappointing with a clear lack of wildlife but we were told that due to it being so dry the animals had gone deep into the bush. Although disappointing did it spoil the last days of our holiday? Not at all, we were in Africa and at anytime any animal could come into view, that's what it is all about and this will always bring us back.

Thank you Expert Africa for all your help in planning this trip and making it another memorable holiday. We will be back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep on doing what you are doing. Always such a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful team of experts.

We will keep on recommending you." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"We enjoyed our Zambian safari, experiencing areas we hadn't visited before and seeing cheetah again! On reflection we could have done with 3 nights less, as the heat became quite debilitating but then we wouldn't have wanted to miss any of the camps as they were all so contrasting. Happily the tsetse flies in Kafue were not as bad as we had feared.

In hindsight we did seem to spend (waste) far too much time transferring between parks. The Kafue to Lusaka road transfer was a mistake and not worth the cost saving. The Jeki transfer got us to Lusaka far too early for the Emirates connection, although there wasn't a later alternative. In short, we saw far too much of Lusaka airport (a dire environment) - not the best use of time." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zambia safari

"Thanks to Maruska who organised a great trip for us at very short notice. We had previously visitied Namibia 9 years earlier so chose to visits areas we hadn't been to before, going down to the Fish River Canyon and up to Bushmanland.

The whole range and variety of scenery across the country continues to be massively impressive, with many places to relax in remote areas looking across vast expanses of land.

Self driving is very easy (provided you don't forget your driving licence as I did, needing to courier it out!). We took a 4x4 this time which realistically we only needed (but then certainly did) in 3 or 4 locations.

Tourism has clearly grown a lot in the last few years - we saw many more tourists driving on the roads compared to 9 years ago. The country still feels very safe (albeit there are now warnings in some major towns with regard to petty theft).

The Namibian people continue to be warm and friendly but we did notice a significant reduction in the interest of guides to ensure we had a great experience - many seemed to have lost some interest in the job. This may have been because we were in less visited areas or a dfference between the South and North of the country.

Still a fabulous country to visit.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No improvements - Maruska was fabulous (again)" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip