Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Wonderful trip.

It covered everything I mentioned on my wish list plus things I would never have thought of in my own." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"We have always wanted to visit the Okavango Delta and were not disappointed. The wildlife sightings were exceptional, even though we travelled during the green season which is supposed to reduce the amount of sightings.

This was certainly not the case as we were hoping to see Cheetah and Wild Dogs and achieved this dream on the first two days, seeing a pack of 27 Wild Dogs and 4 Cheetah brothers.

We would thoroughly recommend travelling to Botswana in March, the vegetation is beautifully green and lush, there are many birds and insects to watch and the wildlife experiences we had were incredible and way beyond our expectations.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have travelled with Expert Africa twice and have been delighted by service we have received from you." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Having been to the Delta a couple of times in August, our first objective on this trip was to better understand the difference between the seasons. It might have been clearer had we included a stop in the Delta but hindsight is a wonderful thing and the general feeling of green rather than yellow was very clear at Lagoon Camp as was the extra challenge of finding animals in a much lusher habitat.

The Pans were something different again with the feature being the Zebra, Wildebeest and, in Nxai Pan, Giraffe and Elephant rather than predators which were scarce and difficult to find. Our trip was towards the end of the rainy season and at Jack's Camp, in particular, there was a clear sense of the long migration north being not far away.

Although we were still in rainy season we had very little rain on a very enjoyable trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"The overall experience was excellent! Maruska was a wonderful partner in planning the trip and was very responsive to requests or needs we had. Everything works so smoothly: drivers were on time to pick us up; the quality of the guides was superb; the accommodations were good; and, the cars were in good condition.
A few recommendations for future travelers:

• If you have heat sensitivity, make sure you mention it and ask for tents in shaded areas, if it all possible.

• Bring extra money to tip at the lodges – not just drivers, guides and housekeepers – the entire lodge staff expects to be tipped.

• Luggage size and restrictions are not quite as limited as mentioned in the itinerary. As a note: Maruska was so very helpful in tracking down information directly from the airline providers… and, that helped to relieve the stress of restricted weight/size limits, especially, for a six week long trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I will be contacting Maruska in the near future to plan another trip to Africa, it was a fabulous experience!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had high expectations for this, our first trip, to Namibia and they were absolutely met and exceeded.

Namibia is a magical country and we had amazing, once in a lifetime experiences every day that couldn't fail to move us. This really was a trip that kept on giving in the most profound way.

The expanse, emptiness and beauty of the landscapes really must be seen to be believed and the warmth of the people (especially those we met at Doro Nawas) felt so sincere, it quickly felt like home.

Sabina put together a fantastic itinerary for us and we felt she really took on board and understood our preferences. It was a perfect balance of adventure and relaxation and ticked all our boxes (even some we didn't know we had).

We hope Namibia will welcome us again in the future and we wouldn't hesitate to use Expert Africa again and to recommend it to other travellers.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We're not sure how it could have been improved - everything was excellent, heartfelt thanks to all involved." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful experience and unique adventure unlike any other urban trip I've taken. The combination of Amboseli (elephants and Mt. Kilimanjaro) and Masai Mara (big cats and Masai natives) was perfect for me, and a 5 day duration was just right. I also liked the contrast of a national park (Amboseli) vs. a private conservancy (Naboisho.)

Planning of the trip was stress-free: Lyndsey was in contact with me by phone or email at each step. All of my questions and concerns were addressed within 24 hrs considering the time difference between L.A. and London. Even during my trip, Lyndsey was available to answer questions. This was not a cheap package, although the cost was in line with other companies I researched. Considering the top-notch accommodations and glitch-free experience, I consider it money well spent.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: You're doing a great job!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 5 on a Kenya safari

"Our trip was special. Everything exceeded expectations, travel was seamless and very well organized.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really. One thing we would have taken had we known was our gators for the walking safaris as `stuff` really gets into your shoes and socks." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"We can't thank Claire and the Expert Africa team enough for setting up the best trip we've ever made and the best first safari experience we could have hoped for. Everything was absolutely perfect and exactly how we would have done it if we had to again.

Not only did we feel that our wants and needs were truly heard and addressed, but the whole experience (from pick up at the airport to drop off) was seamless and stress free which really allowed us to enjoy the trip as a whole. This was the case even when considering the fact that we faced a major travel disruption on our way into Kenya, which the Expert Africa team swiftly and diligently helped us resolve, helping alleviate any added stress in an already difficult situation.

We will definitely be returning to Expert Africa for our all of our future Africa trips!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"We really enjoyed our trip overall.

We were paired with an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and who went above and beyond to ensure we had great mammal and bird sightings. Especially in the Ngorongoro crater and Ndutu area, the abundance of wildlife was mesmerizing.

We stayed mostly in the parks and we could really feel the proximity of the wildlife during our stay. Especially, one member of our party had a very close encounter with a lion one morning when going to breakfast (it was after sunrise and the night guards seemed to have finished their shift). We found out later that lions liked to use the path near our cabin very frequently.

More information on how to react and deal with this sort of encounter could have been helpful (not just saying there could be 'wildlife' passing by). Luckily, they managed to make it back to the cabin unharmed and live to tell the tale! Had something bad happened, our trip would have turned out very differently." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"A most enjoyable trip to Namibia, particularly to track black rhino on foot in the Palmwag concession.

Excellent organisation from Sabina at Expert Africa who put the trip together." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip