Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"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

"Our third trip with Expert Africa and the best yet. Gwynneth was very helpful and efficient and the arrangements were perfect. Locations and accommodation were just what we wanted and were all of a very high standard.

We hope to be travelling with you again soon.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Having visited Namibia twice previously, it is our favourite African holiday destination. On this our third trip we wanted to share the experience with our son & daughter-in-law. The trip was a huge success and we are four very satisfied customers.

Sabina at Expert Africa was really helpful & knowledgeable, nothing was too much trouble while we were putting the trip together. The information pack was really useful, all aspects of the tour ran exactly as planned, and lodges & activities specifically recommended by Sabina were first rate.

We will recommend Expert Africa without hesitation." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful holiday with exactly the type of camps and experiences we wanted." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"It was a wonderful holiday seeing all the game life.

Botswana appears to be dominated by lions and elephants. I was grateful to see the pack of wild dogs whilst staying at Lagoon as all other camps said that there were no wild dogs in their vicinity. I saw 39 different lions over the 2 weeks, 5 leopards, 3 Cheetahs, a pack of wild dogs and a good number of Hyena. I only saw leopards at Lagoon and Sandibe.

The trip was very well organised - thank you. All pick ups and transfers worked perfectly , there being no hitches. I would go back tomorrowm if I could afford it." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"Unfortunately our experience at Kanana with our guide rather spoilt our time there and we had to complain. The manager was going to sort out but it was too late for us.

It was good to be able to fly direct from the Cape to Maun and Air Botswana were good apart from one delay of over an hour, but that's air travel!" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari