Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had an absolutely fabulous trip. It met all our expectations and we will be planning a return trip to Africa sometime in the future.

We would definitely use Expert Africa again as you were very helpful, knowledgeable and provided the most competitive quote for our trip. Well done and thank you." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Angela made our trip very special. I had researched our itinerary in great detail, but she added the cherries on the top of the cake. MEGA THANKS ANGELA!

Our tour was first rate. Namibia sets very high standards for itself and mostly achieves them. As our group travelled in June and July we knew the nights would be cold, but this wasn't a problem except we didn't linger in the outdoor showers!!!

We were glad to have the extra spare-wheel and also pleased to have paid a little more to upgrade to a Nissan Xtrail. We saw people in ordinary saloon cars having some problems here & there. The Bradt Guide and marked map were in constant use. Thanks for providing these.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only one small initial blip, on arrival at Daan Viljeon we had to pay 170 N$ for entry even though we had rooms booked there.
I knew it was included because Angela had written it in our very first quote, but the lady on the barrier would not let us in without first paying. We were tired after our flight and not knowing what to do. It would have helped if we had had a voucher to give her to satisfy her needs! Maybe you could include one next time in your very snazzy Expert Africa wallet?

All 4 of us voted this our best African holiday experience...so THANK YOU EXPERT AFRICA TEAM!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Thank you again for a brilliant honeymoon. We really enjoy our holiday from start to finish. You really took the stress out. Of organising a holiday where we stayed at several different places so we could just relax." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"The trip Nick Hobbs and I put together for our family with 3 adult children, far exceeded our expectations.

For me the night in Maun allowed me to be ready, not tired from travel, to appreciate every moment of our camps in the okavango delta.The combination of 3 camps over 8 nights was given the thumbs up by all, as being exactly the right amount of time at each camp and overall. It gave us time to enjoy the wonderful different aspects of 3 areas without a huge amount of travel between. We were able to capture sights of different animals in different surroundings, ie seeing the lions at Duba Plains swim. We were also able to appreciate the things they had in common, their care for the local environment and the future for the animals.

Finishing the trip, in Victoria Falls with an exhilarating Helicopter trip and an amazing time Walking with the Lions aided by Paul our wonderful guide , was perfect. Our extra day, then gave us the chance to wander around the views at the Falls National Park, go to Zambia, explore the town and markets and soak up the ambience on the hotel verandah.

Two travel hiccups, lost luggage and lost phone, were extremely well managed by Nick and the team at Expert Africa. I would highly recommend them to others. Thank you for a special holiday." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"The Zambia vacation was our first trip to Africa, and we couldn't have wished for a better experience.

The trip exceeded any expectations and the wildest imaginations we had about a trip to Africa. We have been married for almost a decade, but we had never gone on a honeymoon, and we decided to plan this trip as a belated version of it. It only took a few conversations with Claire Scott at Expert Africa to narrow down the endless list of choices to an itinerary that would fit our needs and our budget, and in retrospect we can only say that she scored perfect. Everything we had discussed during the planning phase matched what we experienced during the trip. Her experience and suggestions were invaluable, and we would definitely work with her again on another trip.

We picked Zambia as our destination because we wanted to visit the Victoria Falls, and we added a safari in South Luangwa after reading up on the various game parks in Southern Africa and upon recommendation by Claire Scott. Although we learned that it is one of the best known parks in Zambia it never felt crowded. Many times we felt like we had the park to ourselves. The wildlife is impressive, and with an open mind you'll be rewarded with amazing sightings. In conversations with Africa "veterans", many of which had visited several countries or were working in the travel business, we learned that South Luangwa is one of the best destinations in Africa to see wildlife.

We spent all of our time in South Luangwa in camps by the Robin Pope Safari company, and if we ever have the opportunity to return to South Luangwa we will definitely stay at their camps again. The level of organization and professionalism is remarkable, and, most importantly, the camp are located in beautiful areas of the park. All of the Robin Pope guides we met were very experienced and knowledgeable. We highly recommend them!

Seeing the Victoria Falls at the end of our trip was just amazing. The Falls were why we had traveled to Africa in the first place, and they did not disappoint. It is truly one of the natural wonders of the world, and it is definitely worth the trip." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"The trip was spectacular and worked out very well, perfect mix of places, good amount of time spent everywhere. Desert and rivers provided a good mix of wildlife and scenery, we were never bored looking for animals, always discovering new ones. We also enjoyed seeing the villages and a living museum. A bit more contact with locals would have been nice.

We loved the self drive and the ability to explore things on our own. While expecting a bit more adventure, it was surprisingly comfortable and easy, which was fine.

Maruska was wonderful in putting this together for us, she knew the places well, was very helpful and patient.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Looking up locations on a google map was important to me (especially off the path campgrounds), would be nice to have a google map that showed all places of interest (with lat/longs that one can use to enter in one's own google map search)

As much as we wished to get away, Wifi is becoming important for many travelers, and it would be good to collect that info (uptime and speed) and pass it on to the lodges. Elegant guest house and Mushara had good wifi. Ngepi was slow, Muchenje pretty spotty with several outages. Victoria Safari camp had expensive one, Victoria Falls Hotel had good ones for guests.

For guest support on the road, calling is often hard, it might be useful to have email addresses to contact local agents." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"The whole experience was very enjoyable.

On reflection we wouldn't have done as much driving, some of it was tedious and although there isn't much traffic driving on the gravel roads was quite tiring. Having said this it was our choice and we wouldn't have seen as much as we did without the driving" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"What an amazing trip!

From the moment we first contacted Expert Africa, when Chris personally responded to an inquiry about when to travel, we knew we were in good hands. Maruska planned our journey and was thorough, accesible, and accomodating, working with us to ensure that our itinerary was exactly what we wanted. As a result, the trip not only met, but far exceeded our expectations. We kept commenting that this was "the trip of a lifetime," and it was. Stunning scenery, luxurious accomodations, and excellent service all combined to make this an incredible journey.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We have just a few suggestions as you plan trips for future travelers:

(1) It might be useful to provide slightly more extensive driving notes. For example, instead of simply saying, "approximately 4 hours, mostly on gravel roads" you could add a few details, for example "you will pass through the charming town of Solitaire" or "you will cross the Tropic of Capricorn before hitting the tricky but beautiful Kuiseb Pass."

(2) The drive from Mowani Mountain Camp to Etosha is much longer than the estimated 3.5 hours; it actually takes about 5 hours given the poor road conditions of the gravel roads near Mowani. We still made it to Etosha before sundown, but it's worth advising future travelers of this.

(3) Although we enjoyed staying in Swakopmund, both of our excursions were in or south of Walvis Bay. It struck us that future travelers doing the same thing could stay in Walvis Bay and therefore cut out the drive time back and forth from Swakopmund." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fantastic trip to Namibia. We were very pleased with the help we received from Expert Africa in booking our car hire and accommodation (we booked our flights separately ourselves). Sabine was excellent in helping to advise us about our itinerary, with a detailed understanding of travel times etc.

Our favourite places to stay (in order) were Erongo Wilderness Lodge, Camp Kipwe and Hoodia Desert Lodge. We would also very much recommend visiting the western part of Etosha for some great safari in an area almost empty of tourists." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We spent one week in Zambia (last week of June) & one week in Botswana (the first week of July). The trip was good.

All transfers and reservations organized by Expert Africa went smoothly without any delays or issues. Thank you Maruska for arranging the logistacs of that trip!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari