Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"It was a special trip - not the cheapest, but something we'd always wanted to do, and it didn't disappoint." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our itinerary was so well thought out. Driving times in the Self -Drive part were manageable. Definitely a key point. The folder with notes for travellers was priceless. It really contributed to the success of our excellent holiday. It was most appreciated to have all the bases covered in such exacting detail.

Maruska really helped walk us through the initial planning stages, pointing out practicalities in her most diplomatic way. Her suggestions always held true, yet she listened to our ideas as well. She showed great patience and carefully dealt with our concerns. Her knowledge and expertise enabled us to experience a great adventure.

It was truly a unique experience. We were so very fortunate to have had Maruska as our contact.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

At this time, I can't think of any way our experience could be improved upon." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This was the second time we had visited Zambia. We liked our first trip two years ago so much that we returned to exactly the same camps, changing only the order in which we visited them. In all our travels this is the first time that we have ever done that, and we were not disappointed.

Of course we saw many of the same animals as before, but every encounter is different, and we now have even more precious memories and photographs." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"As you will have gathered we had a fantastic trip thanks to Expert Africa and NCS.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It's probably worth clarifying to clients about the seating in the jeeps so they know what to expect ie. if someone has to sit in the middle or not. Also we requested that the canopy be removed on one of the jeeps at Mchenja so that we could have a better upward view of birds and leopards in trees! This they did for us quite happily. It is worth people being aware of the option of an 'open' jeep which we managed to have throughout.

Just to mention re your staff - Ellie Dunkels was very helpful when Claire was not available. NCS seemed to think highly of Chris, Claire and Ellie." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"I can't say enough about how well this trip was arranged. Everything came off without a hitch.

No delays, no misunderstandings, no confusion about anything.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

This was a comprehensive, professional job from start to finish. Megan understood exactly what we were looking for in a trip and delivered exactly what we hoped for on all fronts.

I travel for a living and know how things can sometimes go wrong. But everything was simply perfect." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We talked to a number of travel agencies when we decided to go to Namibia and Botswana. Expert Africa was clearly the most knowledgeable and helpful so it was easy for us to choose to use your services. We spoke to Maruska a number of times and she was able to answer all of our questions and help us make informed decisions. The materials she sent and your website resources were extremely informative and helpful.

This was a great trip and exceeded our expectations, especially the wildlife viewing opportunities. All of the lodges were very good and more luxurious than we are used to. We only gave a few "Excellent" ratings on our survey responses so we could single out the truly outstanding lodges and activities.

When we started planning this trip, we realized that it was going to be an expensive holiday: certainly more expensive than any of our other vacations. After returning home from a wonderful 3 weeks in Namibia and Botswana, we feel that it was money well spent.

Thank you for helping us to have the trip of a lifetime.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

There's nothing that you can do about this, but you might want to warn other travellers about the long wait time when arriving at Windhoek airport. It took well over an hour to clear Customs and Immigration. It would have been even longer but they moved a few of the older passengers (including us) to the front of the line. The staff were generally unwelcoming and unhelpful - not sure if this was an isolated incident or general practice. This was such a contrast to everyone else we met during our stay in Namibia." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Everything went smoothly, the itinerary worked well, and the stay in each of the stop-overs was most enjoyable.

The holiday experience was truly memorable and we would recommend others interested in visiting Namibia to approach Expert Africa." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was a very memorable and one that generally exceeded expectations. We had been planning to do a trip to Namibia for years and this was worth the wait.

The trip was well planned to get a very good 'flavour' of Namibia in the time period chosen, with a good cross-section of 'experiences' etc" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful country to explore - vast, scenic, unique terrain, fantastic flora and fauna, friendly people. Our group of 8 was unanimous in praise for the trip." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was executed exactly as planned, with no hitches or delays so that we had nothing to worry about as the days went by.

It was extremely well organised and we enjoyed it immensely" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari