Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"A success from start to finish.

Everything was completely seamless, everything ran according to plan, we had everything we needed and couldn't have asked for more." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent experience. I felt Angela had given me all the information and advice I needed and it meant the distances travelled weren't too far in one go, the description of all the accomodation had been accurate and we felt we had back up if needed. The emails to let us know about flight times etc made us feel someone was looking after us all through the holiday.The tyre insurance worked perfectly and it was good to have a form to be signed to check the hire car back in with.

We loved all the places you recommended, Turnstone tours were perfect, all the arrangements were in place. We would not hesitate in using Expert Africa again.

Thank you for a wonderful experience in which we feel we learnt a lot about Namibia and ourselves." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We are very happy with most of the services and suggestions provided by Expert Africa. The lodge choices were excellent overall. We were also very happy that we decided to follow the recommendation of renting a 4x4. It made the driving much more comfortable and worry-free. Gwynn was a pleasure to work with. She is obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about her home country. The map provided was perfect! We had no problems at all driving ourselves.

I do have to mention two small bumps throughout the process. The first was a problem with the bank transfer from the US. Even though it is clearly explained in the instructions, I wish someone would have made it stand out. There are pages and pages of instructions to read and things are easily overlooked. It would be great if you could have a small list of highlights, including payment instructions. We ended spending over USD$300 to correct the bank transaction problem.

I was also disappointed about our lodging arrangements in the Kalahari. When we first discussed the lodging we were told that we were going to have to stay each one of the three nights at different places because everything was booked. To our surprise, when we arrived in Mata Mata and called !Xaus we were told that they had plenty of rooms available. They told us that they had availability when Expert Africa made our reservations. We ended up losing our entire payment for our night at Mata Mata Rest Camp which was not pleasant." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"This was one of the best wildlife holidays we have ever had. Certainly some of the places we stayed at were better than others, but overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip.

Some of our experiences - tracking rhinos at Desert Rhino Camp, dinner in the Boma at Damaraland Camp, finding elephant shrews at Erongo and tracking leopard and cheetah at Okonjima - have left us with everlasting memories !" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"The planning and execution of the holiday was very well organized. We were well prepared and had very few problems that could not be solved.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No,your services were very good.

Will you be opening another similar service for Asia or South America? I would be interested!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We really enjoyed our first trip to S Africa and would really recommend it.

Wonderful scenery and lots to do. We stayed in lovely hotels and had great food and wine. We also saw some of the problems the country has, and learned much more about its recent political evolution and past history. We also enjoyed the wildlife with whales, dolphins, seals and penguins. The Fynbos was really amazing to see with incredible flowers wherever you looked whilst the remnants of indiginous forest were remarkable.

Our abiding memory will be of the kindness and good humour of the people we met, often living in such difficult circumstances surrounded by such affluence; unsettling and inspiring at the same time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have travelled twice with you now and been impressed. You get what you pay for. We will be back." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip

"Memorable." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Thoroughly enjoyable, if tiring.

This trip was planned some 18 months ago and was programmed for May 2012, but medical problems arose and it had to be deferred to Nov. Throughout this process we were encouraged by the patience and consideration of Nick who is a great ambassador for your organization

The bulk of the time was spent in Kwando camps, with whom we have stayed before. They have a quality product, but it is not a good look when their guides have to borrow guests binoculars/reference books to identify a particular bird.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

As long as your staff show the same consideration as Nick when problems arise your customer service satisfaction levels should be high." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"If you want a stunning park with lots of animals and very few people, Ruaha may well be for you.

I do recommend trying to stay both at Jongomero and at one of the camps in the north is you can: the landscapes (and weather patterns) are different, and it's a wonderful way to get a good sense for the sheer vastness of this wonderful place. Highly recommended." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip to Namibia was everything we hoped for and more, the country was spectacular and the people were very friendly and willing to share their knowledge. The hotels we chose were excellent and we feel that the advice that we were given on these by Expert Africa helped us to make the best of our limited time in the country. Namibia was a fantastic self drive destination - we really enjoyed being able to do everything under our own steam at our own pace.

When we go again (which I've no doubt we will) we would probably go a month or so earlier, as we were definitely getting in to the rainy season with some rather overcast and even cool days and the absence of concentrated game in Etosha. However we were aware of this when booking and chose our dates to coincide with my wife's birthday. The upside was that it was even quieter than we expected, enabling us to appreciate the solitude of the landscape and get the exclusive treatment from guides and other staff.

We would definitely book with Expert Africa again and would like to pass on our thanks for a wonderfully advised and arranged trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip