Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"This was our first bush camp holiday and it was pure magic .

The camps the food, staff, everything was more than we expected we will never forget our wonderful time with Norman Carr safaris The only letdown was the quality of food at the Island of Sainkaba

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We are very happy with all you did for us, expensive but this was a holiday to remember thank you" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Our transfer from the Westcliff for a 10.20 flight was arranged for 06.30 which the hotel agreed was too early. They phoned our contact for the transfer to move it to 7.30 giving us time to have breakfast. This request was refused, so I phoned them. They flatly refused to move it saying we needed a 3 hour check in for Air Botswana. The other argument was that we would want a good seat.

As a result I had to incur the cost of a room service breakfast at 6am. We arrived at the airport at 07.05 only to find the check in desk didn't open until 08.00! When they did open they said it was a one and a half hour check in not 3 as we had been told.
When we got on the plane it was free seating! Why did the transfer company lie to us?" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Gorilla trekking exceeded expectations. The time and experience was made more enjoyable interesting and educational by our driver Patrick Tembo. Rwanda and its people who were all warm and friendly deserve all the help and advice we can give them.

Other travellers might like to visit the Ubushobozi. Org, this is a charitable project which helps teenage girls suffering from abuse HIV and exploitation. We purchased some very nice bags made by the girls and were entertained by them when they showed us their traditional dancing. A very pleasant afternoon in Musanze." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Rwanda safari

"Accommodation was good or excellent. Staff were attentive, cheerful and helpful. It was a truly memorable holiday

There was a lack of game in general which detracted from an otherwise excellent safari.

We were told there was a 14 day menu but we had same dinner on consecutive nights on two occasions which was disappointing. On one occasion the menu should have been fish and I suspect as my wife does not like fish the next days menu was prepared ather than making her a different dish. The last night was completely vegetarian, I wonder whether this was because some other guest(s) were vegetarians.

I bought with me two batteries and a charger with me for my camera. The limited time in which batteries could be re-charged during the middle of the day meant I could not leave the camera on during game drives and hence missed photo opportunties as the camera powered up and secondly I had insufficent power to review and delete photos between game drives. The solar power systems appear to be inadequate to service the charging to batteries and the rest of the camp.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

There was not enough emphasis on how sparse the game could be at this time of year by the Expert Africa staff. When we were there the guiding staff had a much more realistic view on what we might see." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"An excellent trip in an amazing country with very friendly people. Just don't forget to bring properly warm clothes if you travel during winter, as the nights can be very chilly.

We had a really great trip. Many thanks to Angela Griffin at Expert Africa - we had such a good time in Namibia. The high lights were the dunes at Sossusvlei, kayaking with Jeanne among seals at Walvis Bay and - according to our sons - when our host Bruno at Mundulea caught a puff adder (!). In addition we had our most enjoyable and relaxing afternoon in our lives at Grootberg Lodge, really. We would't mind staying there one more night. The rental car - a Nissan X-trail - was very comfortable but the trunk had no space for an extra spare tyre above our four suitcases, but that didn't matter because we had our only flat tyre on B1 (bad luck, probably a big nail on the tar road) just north of Windhoek on our way back home. It was a nightmare to swift tyres when big lorries past us in 100 km/h, but we kept calm. When the car was picked up by Budget we used the form Expert Africa recommends in their brochure, so there will be no problems, either with the flat tyre or anything else about the car. The Budget staff were very professional.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Maybe more information about spare tyres:

- If you go four persons in a Nissan X-trail there is no space for a second spare tyre.

- The spare tyre allows you to drive only at 80 km/h. We were lucky to have just 70 km left to Windhoek. Maybe you could order a fifth tyre instead of a normal spare tyre, so you can proceed at a higher speed?

And more information about warm clothes......." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"A truly excellent holiday. Thank you for helping us to plan and arrange it.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Organisation by all concerned - in the office in England and throughout our time in Africa - was first rate. Travel arrangements went seamlessly.

All the Kwando staff were excellent - we do not want to pick out any one of our guides, but must say that the personal service they gave, whether while on an activity or around camp, was exemplary. As intimated before, we would have enjoyed more sightings of cats in the first half of the trip, but our time at Kwara made up for this in many ways - overall, we had a "very satisfactory" safari, with a number of specific experiences/memories that will survive the years as highlights." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"My trip to Africa exceeded my dreams and expectations. Everything ran so smoothly, the hospitality and game viewing at the camps was fantastic, and the camps Maruska put us in were gorgeous and fit into our budget. There's only one problem--now I've been bitten by the safari bug and can't wait to go back!

Many thanks for all you did to make my dream trip to Africa a reality.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None--service was outstanding." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a tremendous trip which was very enjoyable.

Once again, Ellie and Expert Africa had organised everything very well which meant that we had no worries about the connections between the camps and everything went very smoothly.

In retrospect, everyone preferred Tafika to Mwamba and all thought they would go back. We were disappointed with the Camp Out and all felt that it was Patrick who made Mwamba. Perhaps Mwamba was a little too rustic.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We are very pleased with the high quality of service that you offer, and your personal knowledge of the camps." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Any concerns about a return trip not living up to expectations were ill founded. Every bit as good as last year but also different.
As ever a very warm welcome from everyone there in all the camps and this was much appreciated.

One note, just a day before we arrived the currency switched from dollars to kwachas only, this wasn't a problem as there was an ATM at Lusaka airport. This does mean that taxes etc must now be paid in Kwachas.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari