Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Lucy did a great job setting up our honeymoon. She made excellent recommendations and we were happy with the cost.

I would highly recommend Expert Africa to anyone who wants a customized African vacation without having to do the legwork. Things went smoothly" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"It turned out that Maduska very very knowledgeable about Namibia and basically did a great job in organizing our trip.

My only complian is that we had to drive about 450 klms on the last drive to get from sossusvlei Lodge to Engingu Guest lodge and I was cursing the last 100 klms. Fortunately the place was quite magical and made it worth it, but the drive was very long for 2 60 + folk

We have traveled extensively and found that Namibia is unexpectedly a wonderful gem............I am truly sorry to not have spent more time there" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Namibia trip

"We spent 6 nights in Kruger National Park, 6 nights in Sabi Sand and 6 nights in Namibia obtaining images for a book on Africa we are writing. We could travel anywhere in the world for the next 10 years and not have a better trip than this, despite the problems with missing luggage etc. No 3 week trip is going to be perfect but this was very close.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Can't think of anything." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Apart from the route between Doro Nawas and Hobatere, and our last full day, the information and advice was thorough and very useful.

I think the instructions need to more consistent i.e. if comments are made about some bad roads, then ALL bad roads in the itinerary should be mentioned. Time or distance from the main road to the actual camps would be very useful.

We are not used to package holidays and it is easy to be complacent and think everything has been arranged in advance, all the maps perfect etc when using someone else.! I would have phoned ahead to all the places first to let them know when to expect us and check on directions. I am not sure what would have happened if we had a problem on route and not arrived which left me somewhat anxious especially as the phone did not always connect.

I bought a Namibian phone card which was good value - nb all internal text messages are free - you just pay for the calls.

The Bradt guide book was excellent - we almost left it behind and would have been stuck without it. We met other people using it.

The guide book had a few corrections to be made :

1) no walking tours included at Doro Nawas
2) Otavi - Rugger club was clearly not serving any meals
3) the Meteor Hotel in Otavi is called the Travel Inn on the main road so easy to miss it. A good recommendation and we had tasty pizzas.
4) In Etosha you talk about parking uder a tree in midday but we saw no trees where this can be done - suggest you delete this in next editions.
5) No garden centre restaurant in Okandja
6) Rhinos in Okandja was a simple restaurant run by a friendly family from Madeira and a good stop for a quick lunch.
7) In Okandja one lot of stalls has been burt down recently - only one lot of stalls now at the far end of the town.
8) Uis - beware of people selling crystals quite aggressively at the petrol station
9) If you want to go to the Tug Restaurant at Swakopmund you need to book it well in advance. In the end we got a late cancellation. Considered a touristy place by the locals but quite fun!
10) No ATMs in the Etosha Park - would have been useful to know this.
11) Petrol pump at Windhoek airport is not for the public. Only certain car hire companies can use it - Budget is one of them. Might be a good idea to fill up in Windhoek first to play safe.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We felt that driving times as described were not always realistic for a small car. As mentioned before, it would be useful to know in advance how long it takes to drive up the private roads or how long they are. 5 or 7 kms is a long way when you think you have arrived!

We are not convinced that Doro Nawas was the best stop for 2 nights and that we could have spent the time doing something else more interesting such as visiting the cheetah or lion conservancies.

Rating the accommodation is difficult as a tent cannot be called excellent and there fore I have given a consistent good throughout the form. ~They were all spacious and airy with comfortable beds." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We are indeed home safely after a wonderful holiday. Logistically, it was perfect; flights on time, terminal guides appeared when required and performed as necessary. The four lodges could not be faulted for accommodation, food and hospitality and all contributed to the holiday which was advertised.

Let me finish by re-iterating that Jeanne and I have had a wonderful holiday and would like to thank you for your efforts which made it happen." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"From the research we had done beforehand, we had high expectations of both Shenton Safaris and Chiawa camp. Both exceeded our expectations.

The locations were spectacular, the wildlife encounters outstanding and the standard of accommodation, service and hospitality first class.

The abiding memory of this holiday will, of course, be the wildlife. We were fortunate enough to see many memorable things including: several successful hunts by lions, 2 prides of lions disputing territory and a kill, leopards, large herds of buffalo and elephants at (very) close quarters, etc, etc. Due to the locations of the camps being deep within the National Park(s), none of these sightings were shared with large numbers of tourists. At no time were the lions outnumbered by the tourists and on the vast majority of occasions ours, with 6 guests, was the only vehicle present; there were never more than 2 vehicles at any sighting at the same time.
This was a truly memorable experience, our thanks go to all who made it possible.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We really can't fault it, many thanks for your help." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"A really great trip which takes you away from normal life so that you completely relax.

Looking foward to going back in future.


Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

- We think two days at a camp is too short, you just get there and have to leave. I would recommend minimun stay of 3 nigjhts.

- Try and keep the same airline for the flight, we nearly missed our connection due to SA Airways delay and did not get out luggage for 24 hours. We also met a number of people who lost theirs for up to five days due to issues with Air Botswana/South Africa.

- Linyati, mention the bugs as they were really bad!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Overall, we had a wonderful holiday, so thank you all very much. We will return and will recommend Namibia and you guys to others without hesitation.

One more note for your book, Chris: the R200 note is now in common use in Namibia!

One final thought: We do think things are getting rather expensive in Southern Africa. I spent about £2000 while in Namibia in addition to the base cost of the trip (more than I had anticipated) - and I could have spent much more. Apparently there are people willing to pay £600 for a bottle of wine (see the Mushara wine list.) If people are not careful, they will price themselves out of the market!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just do what you can to impress on the operators out there that they have a wonderful product, and it would be a real mistake to get greedy. Geese and golden eggs come to mind!!!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Overall our trip was marred by the fact that we had an ordinary car. This was totally unsuitable. You have already received comments on the especially bad roads. This made travelling stressful, uncomfortable and tiring. We would often only reach our destination at dusk as we had to travel so slowly.We could not enjoy the journey or stop because of the stress of the hours of daylight left to get to our destination. Once at our destinations we were exhausted and shaken which marred our enjoyment of the lodge, location, wildlife.
Etosha, one of our planned highlights was especially disappoiting due to the fact we only had a car (see earlier comments).

We saw almost no other 2WD vehicles throughout the trip and everyone we spoke to, either locals or in the tourism business could not believe we had been advised that a car would be ok for the journey we were undertaking.

We advise that under no circumstances future guests are infomred that a 2WD vechilce is acceptable.

One final recommnendation....provide some advice on tipping and especailly advise on the car park security attendants. The first time we parked the car and saw someone coming towards us with a cosh we thought we were going to be attacked and not that he was coming to offer to look after the car.!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

see comments throughout questionnaire.

I reiterate again DO NOT recommend 2WD vehicles... the stress, discomfort, seeemingly endless punctures/tyre problems overroad any real enjoyment of the holiday." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We had never visited sub saharan africa before and had real concerns about safety especially taking the whole family in one group to celebrate my husbands 60th.

We can only summarise by saying it was fantastic and will be planning something again - this time they will all have to pay their own way though. The mix of freedom, planning and excitement made the experience unforgettable.

Chris and Claire were very helpful and knowledgeable and gave us great reassurance personally speaking to several of the party individually.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Make it clear in your advisory pamphlets that it is serious hot in October and make sure you do read all the emails customers send so all the details get included right at the beginning. The short time scales we set you were incredibly tight and the schedule you created was faultless - thank you" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari