Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Overall the trip was excellent and will remain in memory for a long time. The overall organisation was very good and (Air Botswana notwithstanding) it all ran very smoothly. We had to rejuggle our trip and push it back one month due to passport issues - Wilderness and (especially) Expert Africa were extremely helpful in trying to accomodate our new dates and reshuffling everything - thank you very much to all.

The variety of game viewing exceeded our expectations. The accomodation was good though we preffered the styling of Duma Tau to the more modern Vumbura Plains.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The brochure is good but very big. Similarly this feedback for is quite long (though I understand you want detailed comments).

It could be highlighted which camps are actually owned by Wilderness as I understand for some of them Wilderness only does the booking. Guests could book a camp thinking it is Wilderness owned (and follows their eco credentials/service etc) but then find it is not - eg apparently Chitabe is not Wilderness owned.

Once again, thanks to Megan for working hard to salvage our trip after our passport problems!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Epic is a strong word, but when related to out holiday... we saw amazing things, SAVED A BABY ELEPHANTS, hung out with awesome people, and the hospitality of both camps and Ilala Lodge was beyond expectation.

Thank you for putting this trip together for us, we want to go back again!

Cant wait to book with you again.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nope, I have been recommending Expert Africa a lot since coming back, and will be putting it in my blog as well when I get around to finishing it.

Nick Hobbs went above and beyond to help us book our trip *high five*, you rock!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Primarily we wanted a varied experience of Botswana and to see the wild dogs, leopards and cheetahs and that is exactly what we got. It was a wonderful trip filled with many happy memories. In particular we were struck by the exceptional friendliness of all the people in Botswana - it was a real pleasure to be there. The guiding in the Kwando camps was of the highest order and nothing was too much trouble.

The only downside was the six people two tier vehicles used at Little Kwara and Nxai Pan. We were very fortunate not to be too affected by this but on another occasion we might not be so lucky. Some of the Kwando staff were apologetic about this situation which can be easily remedied by the senior management. We had little problem with six people in the three tier vehicles at Lagoon when the occasion arose. When you have paid a significant amount for such a holiday you don't want to be cramped into a vehicle for several hours.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. Nick Hobbs gave us all the information we needed about the flights, the camps and tipping. Thank you very much." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had an incredible trip." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Fabulous time. Great itinerary planned and customized, although we should have listened to Saskia's advice to stay an extra day or two. Nice to have our expectations not only met, but exceeded. Bravo. Thanks again for everything.

We will, definitely, recommend Expert Africa to others and keep you in mind for the future." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"Patrick was a great personable driver who added to the overall holiday with his knowledge of the country and willingness to engage in conversation.

Rwanda is a great country who have put the past behind them and are looking forward to a bright future (hopefully). The country is the cleanness I visited in Africa, the people are friendly and embrace all visitors. Children are keen to engage in conversation to practise their English. Food was surprisingly of very good quality. An up and coming country on the world stage and one I would recommend to visit.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A suggestion would be to offer a boat transfer on the lake for one leg of the journey rather than driving.

If I was to do it again, I would suggest doing the trip the other way round i.e. starting at the Forest and finishing with the gorillas as a highlight. I know that most trips are subject to getting the gorilla pass so this may not always be possible." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Rwanda safari

"We enjoyed it very much - very diverse. It was good to be self-drive.

The highlight was the flying safari.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A very comprehensive feedback website ! Hope my comments were useful." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"WONDERFUL. A really great holiday over three weeks, NWR will not spoil it, a blip on the trip.

We would recommend a larger car than a Toyota Aygo, even though everyone said it could and indeed it did see us through the journey, a 4X4 with higher ground clearance and sand road capability would have been very desirable. With a small car, we were scraping gravel a lot of the time.

Cape Town, Primi Royal Boutique at Camps Bay, highly recommended as an option.

We stayed at some lovely locations and met some wonderful people as chosen by Expert Africa, thank you and well done.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None, you're doing a great job, keep at it." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip and it lived up to its expectations and in many cases exceeded them. The standards of accommodation at the Sand Rivers were exceptionally high and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

We had one blip - the taxi at Dar to take us to the hotel did not turn up. A local tourist information official rang Eco Tours but they said there was a mechanical issue with the taxi and nobody would be coming! We negotiated with a local taxi driver to take us to the hotel for $50 and were told that they hotel would pay the bill. The driver had no idea where the hotel was and the hotel did NOT pay the bill but fortunately we had the cash to do so. Eco Tours did ring to apologise and the fare was re-imbursed when we left.

But overall excellent!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I found the information you sent us in advance of the trip to be very useful, especially as this was the first time we had been on a safari. However, I think it would have been good to have added just a short paragraph specifically on the places where we were actually staying, for example at Sand Rivers they provided for everything - sun cream, mosquito repellant, full set of toiletries, rain jackets. Had we known, we would have limited the amount of toiletries we took with us and fleeces which were just not required at this time of year. For Matemwe, it would have been good to have read about their work with the local community with a list of anything specific required. I also found parts of the Brandt guidebook to be out of date, referencing things that might open in 2009 and certainly a few more hotels in Matemwe (but I guess it's difficult to keep up with the pace!)." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Good mix of camps and localities. Staff at all levels generally well-trained, friendly, helpful. Food at dinner generally disappointing (with the exception of Batswana beef), although brunches and teas were usually very good, and wines and other drinks were good. We understand the problem of lighting versus insects, but we do like to see what we're eating; Lagoon seemed to have got it nearly right.

Wildlife varied from disappointing to wonderful. Guides/drivers/spotters usually informative and knowledgeable; vehicles varied in comfort and facilities.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Given my comments on the individual camps, it would have been helpful to know that it was sometimes a long (hot) walk to the furthest away rooms. Camp staff were helpful when this proved to be a problem." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari