Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Our holiday was in two parts. The Kgalagadi in September will not be to everyone's taste as it is by no means a luxury holiday. It takes good advanced planning to make sure you are properly stocked up with water and other essentials before you set out from Upington. Your diet could be limited to red meat on the braai but don't let this put you off. This is a holiday for those who value the traditional south african safari experience.

From the Kgalagadi we travelled through Namakwaland at wildflower time. So lucky, as there are only a few weeks in the year when the desert blossoms. It is unforgettable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I value the fact that you allow me to book my own flights and my car hire." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"There were more administrative errors than in previous years Including send the final information and tickets to the wrong address.

Luckily they were passed onto us as the person you sent them to knew where we lived." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"This certainly has to be my best trip to Africa (It's my third, previous being to South Africa and Kenya).

All the bookings were handled efficiently and promptly. The camps were well chosen. I especially liked that the camp that was farthest from Mfuwe was booked as first and the closest one was booked as the last. This allowed more time for game viewing on the last day and there was no hurry to reach the airport!

The only thing that I would change in this trip was that I would have preferred to stay at 2 camps rather than 3. 3 nights at Bili followed by 4 nights at Kuyenda would have worked out better than 2 nights each at Bili and Kapamba followed by 3 nights at Kuyenda!

All in all a great trip!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"There really aren't any superlatives to fully describe the experience. It was awesome and something we will never forget.

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Just keep up the good work. We hope to use your services for a future trip and will definitely recommend you to our friends and associates.

Just want to mention that Chloe Henderson stepped in to help out with the finishing details of our trip when Maruska went on maternity leave. Sorry we missed meeting Chloe at Savuti by a few days, but we let them know she was coming. We really appreciate all the help she provided." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Our objective for this trip being our sixth safari was to get closer and more interactive with the animals for the purpose of photography. This was achieved with many good photographs taken, the camps we stayed at were all different and all had their positive points.

We are starting to plan our next trip and Zimbabwe is at the forefront. The only point for Expert Africa is if they are routing people from Zimbabwe to Zambia by road at the bridge please take time out to see the Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side, especially at this time of year, we didn't and this was a slight disappointment." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Everything organised by Expert Africa went smoothly but for the chaos of Arusha airport! The internal flights were "unpredicatable" in timing and carrier. Some had unexpected stops to pick up other passengers. This did not matter too much.

Unfortunately the flight from Seronera to kilamanjaro entailed a change of planes in Arusha. Our voucher did not tell us this, nor mentioned the carrier and no one seemed to know when the onward flight was expected to leave. As usual in Africa, all worked out well but worrying time wondering if we and our luggage would be reunited and arrive in Kilamanjaro on the same flight!

Nairobi airport is a disaster and I would suggest you warn future clients (even people like us who fixed this aspect of their travel themselves) to avoid Nairobi." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Thoroughly enjoyed holiday but might have been disappointed at lack of game viewing if had not seen so much in Etosha in previous trips." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"Our first and foremost comment is that Expert Africa is the best!

From helping us plan a dream trip (great job of listening to our needs and wants) to executing all the details without any flaws. The entire trip went very smoothly, allowing us to enjoy the adventure travel without worry.

Their knowledge of Namibia and Botswana is excellent and this allowed them to place us at the best properties and have a great time. I highly recommend Expert Africa to all that plan a to southern part of the Africa continent." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We enjoyed the diversity of the facilities, locations and animal viewing during the trip. Expert Africa was very helpful in the development of the itinerary and choose the camps to suit our interest and budget.

Coordination of our transfers went very well during the trip. We moved from one camp to the next seamlessly.

One point of communications that cause some confusing with our group as the ability to arrange trips to the crater floor from the Crater Lodge. We were told by Expert Africa that the lodge would make only one trip to the crater per day but we later found out the the Crater Lodge would accommodate any request that was made including morning, afternoon or all day trips to the crater floor. This simple clarification would have eliminated some anxiety by people in our group that wanted to maximize their time at the crater floor." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"We were expecting great scenery and lots of wildlife and we weren't disappointed.

Private lodges perform far better than NWR lodges but this is no doubt reflected in the price. NWR lodges do have the best locations however in relation to National Parks (particularly Sossus / Deadvlei).

Late for dinner one day as we didn't know the clocks had changed!

The one disappointment was the kayaking trip. Booked with Jeanne Meintjies who was much recommended but was dumped at the last moment with another provider (still awaiting explanation from Expert Africa). I believe it was because I was the only person booked that day.

Bradt guide states that 200 rand notes are not accepted in Namibia. We only read this after we had obtained our currency (largely in 200 rand notes) and a couple of days before we travelled. Managed to exchange some notes at Heathrow thanks to Covent Garden FX but found in practice this was not necessary and out of date information.

Feedback response:
We have looked in to issue regarding the kayaking and can confirm that both of Jeanne's vehicles had to be taken in for repairs unexpectedly, hence this traveller was switched to another operator who offers the same excursion." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip