Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Any limitations with this trip were entirely of our own making. We have been travelling to Botswana for long enough to know what works and what is less to our liking. The planning done for us by Megan was exemplary. It worked like a dream and we were confident that had anything gone wrong it would be 'sorted'.

Overall we had yet another magnificent holiday marred only by a guide who has probably been in situ for too long. The pity is that he is the 'best friend' of our guide at Savuti who was first class. Similar seasonal difficulties but very different outcomes.

We have 4 observations that may help future planning:

a. Wilderness red meat. At the prices they charge they simply cannot continue to serve guests meat that cannot be cut let alone chewed. Can expert Africa please ask them what is going on?

b. Approaching 73 I am the last person to make ageist remarks but at Sandibe we were teamed in the vehicle with a Belgian man accompanied by his 88 year old mother. She was remarkable but had severe mobility problems, especially entering and leaving the vehicle. Perhaps camps should make special arrangements for such guests? I hope so, as I might be using them in the future!

c. Newsletters. We like to browse the Wilderness web site before travel to see what is going on in the camps we are to visit and get a flavour of the state of the annual flood etc. This year, up, to the time we left in mid April, there was not a single Savuti their news reports but unless they are recent they are useless.

d. Room Increases. There have been one or two reports of camps increasing the number of rooms. As old Okavango hands we have been willing to pay premium prices as we have been assured of very low guest numbers and the exclusivity that goes with it. If the Delta is to become as crowded as some other safari destinations it will be difficult to maintain exclusive prices. A number of fellow travellers expressed just this sentiment this time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nothing further to add. We will be contacting you for 2014 very soon!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We were very happy that we came to Little Kwara, they more than make up what frustrations we had with Air Botswana flight Maun-Gabs. Well Done, Little Kwara ! Ke aleboga .." Read full review: 2 nights in Africa; 2 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed every minute! Organisation was perfect, thank you Megan!

As we particularly enjoyed our walking safari, we will definitely plan more walking and boat trips for our next safari. Leaving Africa was, again, very hard. But we're already dreaming about going back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be great to be informed whether camps accept children." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Botswana safari

"Although I was nervous about the trip, it was perfect. Each place we stayed was different and offered us different viewing perspectives.

Saskia was patient about answering all my questions and responding to all my concerns. She really worked hard to understand what we were hoping for and to give us a variety of reasonable options from which to choose. Her advice and guidance turned out to be perfect. The trip was everything I hoped for and more." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"First visit to Namibia, full of lovely friendly people, stunning landscapes and one startled honey badger.

The vast skies of day and night were breathtaking and we have returned with great memories and four personalised carved nut key rings.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Some of the travelling times between rest camps were longer than we anticipated. We stumbled on a couple of good places to stop for lunch / breaks but if these had been pointed out beforehand it would have made the journey a little smoother." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We had a brilliant time - none of us wanted to come home!

It was really easy to travel around, all the hotels were good or brilliant and easy to find and we managed to do everything but Table Mountain (long queue on Easter Monday that the children couldn't have handled).

We found everyone we met really helpful and friendly and can't wait to go back. 12 out of 10 for a holiday (and we have had some pretty great ones in the past).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - its all be great. Thanks for all your help!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Outstanding in all respects. We have been to most of the world and certainly rank this trip among our favorites.

The assistance and guidance we received from Saskia Adye was fantastic, accurate and honest!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
If I were to go on safari and was assigned to a vehicle with nine people crowded together, not even mentioning the roads - I would end my trip then and there! This did not happen to us and usually it was either my wife and self on one other couple with two couples only once for a short period. Obviously, I prefer the two bench vehicles with a top (although I fully realize this is not always possible for a number of reasons. We are 77 and in good shape, I seriously doubt if anyone our age or approaching our age not in a reasonalbly good physical and mental condition would enjoy the trip we took. However, there are certainly many alternatives for any situation whereby almost anyone could be accomodated as long as they realize it is not a trip to New York City." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"We loved it.

The first couple of flights we were muttering about being told not to have wheeled luggage and luggage sizes as others were obviously ignoring this but then we got to the really small planes from Baines onwards and the need for small bags became obvious. However, we had also been told facilities to charge cameras would be limited and there were no problems in charging batteries between game drives so perhaps this advice could be amended.

Megan was very informative about availability in Botswana and we would recommend ExpertAfrica to our friends.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Can't think of anything." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Overall we had a wonderful time and felt thoroughly spoilt.

All the places we stayed were excellent and we would certainly consider returning in the future." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"Apart from Budgets 4*4 which was rubbish (I have detailed it separately) it was a smooth, easy and enjoyable trip. We drove ourselves from Windhoek to Fish River, then back up through all the places one needs to see to Etosha, then along the Caprivi Strip, dropping car off at Kasene in Botswana, crossing the border by boat into Zambia and flying back from Zambia

My rating of "fairly satisfactory" reflects our problems with Budget - but Expert Africa did recommend Budet, rather than me asking for it. The rest of the trip wa better than "very satisfactory" and I was impressed by Expert Africa's knowledge and help, nudging me to avoid driving to far if we were likely to have to drive after dark, and offering help when hotels were wanted were book (remember you are dealing with hotels of 10 to 20 rooms on most of our trip)

In short I can recommend this sort of trip to anyone, it is doable, safe, instructive and enjoyable." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip