Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Had a fabulous trip , enjoyed the country and it's people. A great experience we will delight in reliving it with our friends and relations through the 3000 photographs we have taken.

." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"The whole trip was fantastic. I have severely shortened my comments as this is the third time I have had to type this page! Please see comment at the end.**

Team member was Gwyneth who I believe is no longer with you. All comments refer to her.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Although the feedback form is well set out, I have had to type some pages several times as the pages kept disappearing.!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent itinerary which, after discussion with the very knowledgeable staff at Expert Africa, we tailored to fit our interests. The only thing they got wrong was the pick up point for Entendeka Camp but that did not cause any problems.

The quality of accommodation was very good value.

Driving was very easy with so little traffic. Wherever we stopped people were friendly and helpful.

One of our best trips." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We had the most wonderful trip and saw so much more than we ever expected. We particularly enjoyed living in the tented accommodation being surrounded by nature and learning so much about the wildlife. This was largely due to the skill of the guides, notably Silvanus who drove us around and acted as our guide for several days in different locations of Tarangire, Lake Manyara and The Ngorongoro crater. His knowledge was amazing and his patience with two novices was truly boundless.

We like to mention how impressed we were with the safari outfit used by Expert Africa and would highly recommend this company to anyone. Their operations were run smoothly and efficiently with a constant desire to improve their services and environmentally friendly camps even further. Their training policy and opportunity for further development seemed to be very much appreciated by their employees. All their staff were happy and proud working for them which we felt speaks for itself.

The balloon trip over the Serengeti at dawn was an unforgettable experience, which we would highly recommend. The pilot was very experienced and his expert handling of the balloon allowed us to fly extremely low. Gliding across the Mara River and seeing the sun rising over this amazing landscape was truly magical.

Zanzibar offered a completely different type of holiday. We were especially interested in the history and culture of the island. The 'Princess Salme' tour was particularly fascinating and took in several different experiences: a very informative visit around the Mtoni Palace given by the project manager of the restoration project, followed by a Dhow trip, a coffee ceremony as well as a fascinating spice tour led by a guide with real knowledge of the subject and finally a delicious meal provided by the plantation owner. We would highly recommend it as it is designed for very small groups and provides a real insight into what made the island what it is.

A special mention should also go to Nick at Unguja Lodge who is a very competent and professional diving instructor who enabled me to fulfil my long held wish to complete my diving certificate.

Expert Arfrica did deliver exactly what we had asked for in our original brief and more. They enabled us to choose companies and lodges, etc which benefit their local communities and this had been one of our priorities. It also allowed us to see some very well run local projects during our travels which are all equally worth while supporting in the future.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A suggestion might be that while on safari, to consider having a day in camp to digest what had been experienced. This could take the form of a walk with guides followed later by an evening drive. Having some time to just sit in front of our tent for a few hours and to watch the wildlife from there or reading a book was rather enjoyable especially after several days of non stop action. We think people should be made aware of this option." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Until our flights home, we had a magnificent holiday and would recommend all the places. We have one minor and one major complaint about the trip ( I should however say at this stage that Ellie was hugely helpful from the beginning to the actual holiday.

Minor:- having spent £15k on the holiday, I felt that,unlike other travel agents we have dealt with, the lack of a personal call on our return and the failure to send us this form until I requested it was not very good PR for Expert Africa.

Major:- on our return, our flight itinerary expected us to sit for five hours at Dar airport ( outside on the roadside on uncomfortable chairs) while we waited for our connecting flight with Kenya Airways to Nairobi. As we were flying business class from Nairobi to London, why were we not on the earlier Kenyan Airways flight so that we could at least wait in a comfortable lounge?

For some reason I had a fever with temperature of 103 and insisted on taking the earlier flight ( they nearly would not let me fly and wanted me to go to the hospital to see a doctor) Because we were flying economy, we had to pay 130 dollars to change flights. On this flight were many of the guests we had met during our holiday that were also on the London BA flight.

As your client it is not up to us to check all the flight times as we have already made it clear that we would want all the most sensible connections. Also,the earlier flights were not new as one guest we had spoken to had booked a long time ago like us and because BA cancelled their Wednesday flights out to a nairobi just before we were going, necessitating a change in flights all round, you could have rechecked then. We do expect to hear from you on this matter as it is not satisfactory and left a bitter taste after such a wonderful holiday up until then." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"See first page for comments.

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We couldn't stop taking about Expert Africa throughout our 4 month trip to Africa and the Seychelles, saying how wonderful you were every chance we got. However, we were surprised that no one had ever heard of you , especially people we spoke to from Britain. A suggestion is to somehow get your name better out there. Your company excellent, we could not think of one other improvement except to let the world know about you!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Seychelles holiday

"All arrangements worked as clockwork (except one seat reservation of one leg of the flights but that was soon sorted out).

Lovely to be met at all stages of the journey, and thank you Ellie and Martha for all your help." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"I literally feel like crying every time I think about it - because I just want to be back there." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"Our holiday was superbly planned to allow us the opportunity to include a wide range of activities, landscapes and wildlife. We particularly enjoyed the opportunities to stretch our legs both independently and guided. We had a framework of ideas at the planning stage but Sabina, expanded and improved them. Her idea to go to 2 centres in Damarland, in particular Etendeka, was inspired and suited our love of wild scenery.

The other suggestion which worked very well was to include the Dolomite Camp which allowed us to do our own self drive the whole way across Etosha from west to east.

We were very lucky as we both had never been to Africa before and we saw so much wildlife at very close range.

We also enjoyed the variety in style and location of the lodges, and the distances between lodges was such that we never arrived too late to have the chance to relax a little in the afternoon. It was nice that the longer transfers were usually interspersed with a shorter transfer.

If or when we decide to return to Africa, we will be back in touch! Thank you so much." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first time in Africa and Namibia was fantastic. We didn't know much about the country but told Tracey what we wanted to see - dunes, Skeleton Coast, Etosha - and she put together an itinerary which covered everything and more e.g. she suggested Okonjima which we loved. And I think she gauged our accommodation preferences really well - we loved most places we stayed at.

The food was much better than we thought - plenty of fresh fruit & vegetables and vegetarian options at the majority of places, and a cold beer or nice wine could always be found.

Namibia felt safe and welcoming. So much to see - varied scenery, great experiences (kayaking) and of course some of the most unforgettable wildlife viewing, more than we expected. A photographer's delight!

We took 3 weeks and the pace felt good, and I'm glad we did in the order we did.

We will definitely go back to Namibia, we'd love to go back to Etosha and also visit the north Caprivi Strip.

The Bradt guide provided was way better than the DK one I had also bought - it was a great source of current info, facts and generally good reading - thanks!

An excellent holiday, wonderful memories.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I wish we had upgraded the car - the saloon car we had was fine and coped with every road, but it was much slower to get around - I'd recommend to others that it would be worth it." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip