Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We enjoyed it" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall, very enjoyable. Really impressed by Sam from Primate Safaris. The national parks in Rwanda were really well-managed and appear to be valued as special places.

Our tracking of the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees was conducted very sensitively and as a result our experience was extraordinary and quite magical." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Rwanda safari

"We organized our own safari in Kenya staying at 'Topi House' in the Massi Mara as we have done on 2 previous occasions.

Claire organized all other parts of our trip around this, and she could not have done better. The flights and transfers left us the with the maximum possible time at Pole Pole so we had 6 nights 7 lunches! Where else do we want to be spending our time?! Thank you very much." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Amazing time to go to Africa, love the green season and we were lucky with the weather and sightings.

Did see leopard in two areas, cheetah, serval and lots of lion. Wildebeest migration as far as the eye could see was amazing. A great trip not too far distances between the different camps and areas.

Pole Pole was lovely just wished we could have taken longer here." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything worked out really well. We appreciated that the camp managers knew our itinerary, took personal interest in knowing us and remembering who we are. So each evening when discussing the next day, they knew our names, what tent we were in, what we'd done that day, what our options were for the next day, etc.

We would recommend that both camps encourage their guides and drivers to communicate a bit more with their passengers, especially after they stop and talk to drivers of other vehicles........they regularly stop and talk briefly with passing drivers, and we assume they ask what that driver has seen, etc - which is absolutely fine to do. But by far the majority of times they stopped, chatted, and moved on without telling us whether they'd gleaned any useful information from the other car. Of course they could have told us anything as we don't understand Swahili anyway!

But coming from a Customer Service background myself, I would consider it not very good practice to stop and talk with friends in a language that my customer can't understand, and then not explain anything to my customer afterwards.

Similarly one of our drivers seemed to use his mobile phone to make a lot of calls one day - I know the drivers talk between themselves by phone sometimes, but these were longer calls than just passing on information to another driver - and again is a bit disrespectful when you're 'on duty' and supposed to be concentrating on driving and looking for game for your customers.

Sometimes we felt that they were just shooting the breeze and a bit disinterested (which maybe they were!) - but we paid good money for the safaris, and the guys may need an occasional reminder about what good customer service means in the culture of their customers!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I mentioned in the camp reviews - both camps provided very adequate torches and bug spray, and some bug repellent too, so there was no need for us to have carried those ourselves. (I haven't kept the Expert Africa letter, but from memory I think these were things you recommended we carry).
The 15kg baggage allowance for the small planes, and "small baggage holds" was also not a problem......it was a lot more relaxed on all 3 flights than we imagined it would be from reading Expert Africa's letters!

The tipping policy is confusing. Obviously cultures are different, but we found that your advice of "$10 per person per day" doesn't adequately explain it.
Each camp had a general tip box for all staff at the camp (which staff at Mdonya reminded us about on the day we were leaving!), but then we were told the drivers and guides had chosen not to be part of that system.......and so the obvious hope/expectation is that we'll also tip the drivers and guides personally.
So does the suggested $10 per person per day mean we give $10 to the driver per day, plus $10 to the guide per day? And is that for each customer to give this, or just each group? (i.e. per couple/family)

Personally I wish that tip expectations were done away with altogether. It would be nice if we could be assured that each member of staff is paid a decent wage out of what guests pay for their stay, and that we truly feel no obligation to tip......and then we can tip people when we think they've done something really good.
It frustrates me that we pay a lot of money for a holiday, but there is a clear expectation that we'll actually pay more when we get there as well!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"This was certainly one of our best ever holidays and up there with New Zealand and Australia. We loved Namibia even though it was the rainy season. The combination of Cape Town and Namibia was perfect. Thank you Expert Africa !

We used Air France from Manchester to Cape Town via Paris and booked this ourselves as we got good deals.

A mention about Wilderness Safaris as they were always helpful when we contacted them. Again thank you." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful experience - quantity and quality of wildlife viewing exceeded expectations. Gained a good impression of the country, which was enhanced by the attitude of the staff in the camps. Seeing the vast, watery landscape from the low flying light aircraft was a revelation" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"A really wonderful trip - thank you for organising!

Only downer was the City Lodge - the rest was incredible" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"My trip was expertly organized, to say the very least and was a truly amazing experience.

I have already commented on all the camps, so I'll just comment on the overall organization. I think the selection of camps for me was just perfect. I had a river camp, a desert camp, a jungle camp and a combination river/bush camp. This allowed me to never get tired of what I was seeing and always experience something new. I also think Maruska gave me great advice in suggesting that I do 11 days rather than 7, because the game viewing is trickier in the rainy season, so you see less, so you need more time. So because of my timing, I traded off game viewing for privacy, but because I made a longer trip, I still saw all the game. The advantage to safaris in December is privacy. On 8 of my 20 game drives, I was the only person in my safari vehicle! For 24 hours at Tubu and 8 hours at Savuti, I was the only guest in camp!

But the most impressive thing for my were the transfers. My first day, I left Lusaka and flew to Livingstone where I was met at the airport and whisked away. At the border between Zambia and Botswana, I was met by a boat, which had been waiting for me, was zipped across the river and met by a safari vehicle. This vehicle then whisked to a rendez-vous with the safari camp's vehicle, with then met the afternoon game drive from Mucheje camp part way and I was on a game drive! So I left Lusaka and noon and 5 transfers later, all done seamlessly, and I was on a game drive at 4pm!

Another example is: at Tau Pan in the Kalahari, I went on a morning game drive, came back to camp to have brunch and pack and then had a one hour game drive to the air strip. 5 minutes after arriving, the plane landed and 5 minutes later we were airborne. After a 1 hour flight where I was co-pilot, I landed at Little Tubu and was on a game drive 10 minutes later! So, I was on a game drive in the Kalahari at 2pm and on another in the Okavango Delta at 4pm. What amazing logistics!

Really, really, really well organized trip all in all. It's a rare trip that I leave all the logistics to someone else, but I am very glad to have left it to Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing I can think of is for you to probe a little more into what exactly we are hoping to experience. For me, this was my first safari, so I really wanted to see big cats. I'm not sure the camps chosen for me were the absolute best for this (I'm not sure they were not either), but I would have benefitted from some more info as to why those particular camps were best for me in that particular area. I had no idea there were so many options to choose from.

All in all, you guys are awesome and I will certainly recommend you and use you again. I was referred to you by a good friend who has used you a couple of times." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"First class service. Cannot fault the trip or Expert Africa's organisation." Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Zimbabwe safari