Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Absolutely wonderful! Botswana feels so much wilder than the other places we have been to on safari in South Africa. For me, the sense of remoteness and being so far away and cut off from every-day life, was a refreshing experience. Everyone we met in the camps was warm, friendly and very helpful. We were very pleased with all the Kwando Camps we visited and the following general comments apply to all the camps.

I was interested to know about policies on waste, water supply and energy use and it seems that the camps are keen to do all they can to minimise their impact. The solar water heaters are Lebala and Lagoon were particularly good. Considering how remote the camps are, the facilities are fantastic. There are no electric points in any rooms for charging camera batteries, etc., but this is not a problem as the staff will charge any batteries or gadgets during the day. You just need to make sure you have spare batteries, and since there are many chargers and batteries from other guests, (especially for Canon and Nikon), I took a waterproof pen and marked our initials on our chargers and batteries.

Since all camps follow a similar daily routine, it's very easy to get used to. All the camps are very flexible on the duration of game drives. If game viewing was going well, then vehicles tended to stay out longer, rather than sticking to fixed meal times. The food in general was good and the home baked breads, cakes, quiches and pies for afternoon tea were excellent.

It was difficult to separate out any individuals who were particularly good or helpful as all guides, trackers and camp staff were so pleasant, helpful and informative. All of our guides were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It was great to sit and talk to staff who had grown up in the delta and were to talk about their old way of life, before their families were moved to villages.

The weather in June can be very cold, so it's best to take lots of layers. Thermals would be very good. I was really glad that we took our warm duvet jackets, which are very light and compressible to pack in the luggage and many other guests commented that they wished they had similar! It was beautiful and warm during the middle of the day, but the temperatures soon dropped after sunset. It was particularly cold first thing in the morning and some camps provided a hot water bottle (as well as the usual blankets), which made things much more comfortable.

It may have taken four flights just to get to the first camp, but it was certainly worth the long journey and we'd love to go back as soon as we can.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I'm always paranoid about our luggage not arriving with us, especially when on a trip with a complicated itinery. The last few times we have been away on such a trip, I have made special luggage labels, which hopefully would give it chance to catch up with us, if it was delayed. I typed up a very small version of our itinery, with passenger surname name, dates and flight numbers, destinations, names of camps, with Kwando Safaris contact number in Botswana and my mobile number. (It is possible to get all this in). I printed all this onto a credit card size piece of paper and laminated them with some special luggage labels I found on the internet. They were really durable and a least gave me some confidence that we may see it again ! The format is quite simple to copy. I thought that it would be a valuable service (although very cheap and easy to do), if Expert Africa could provide such labels for customers. You could put the Expert Africa logo on the back. Please let me know if you would like to see an example of the label I did for our trip." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"The trip overall was quite good. There were a few bumps, but they were resolved without too much trouble. I think the camps in South Luangwa were uniformly excellent, and I got good value for the time of year that I went (June). Lower Zambezi was excellent - I think this is a truly beautiful area for safari. Unfortunately, my game viewing was as good as I would hope, but I can't fault the camp or the guides for that. The river activities provide an great change of pace.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

My only suggestion would be to perhaps provide an alternate way of contacting Expert Africa while traveling. Perhaps, a skype number? I mention this because I had to use my mobile phone to contact Expert Africa during my travel due to a misconnect at JNB, and the roaming charges and long distance charges can add up rather quickly. My mobile phone contract in the US charges me whether I send or receive unlike many European contracts, so I had to pay for every minute used. In retrospect, I probably should have asked to correspond via e-mail since I had free internet access in the South African Airways business class lounge.

Also, it was great that you provided me the contact information in your packet, but it would also be a good idea to provide instructions on who to call and when if anything should go wrong during the trip. It seems like you've got representatives covering all the time zones, but it would be good to identify particular numbers to call for problems." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"We had a wonderful time. Each of Livingstone/Victoria Falls, Tafika lodge and Lusaka had their own different charms.

Tafika lodge is a gem; somewhat expensive but worth it. Zambia is a great place to go and in our experience preferable to better known destinations such as Kenya.

Expert Africa put together a good trip to meet our requirements and in which everything worked out well and hassle-free.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Everything was fine with the service." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Our trip which combined visits to safari camps in Zambia and Zimbabwe was excellent!

This was our second trip to Africa using Expert Africa and we will not hesitate to use them again. Maruska was very helpful, and if she could not answer a specific question, she referred us to Chris. The Expert Africa team really tries to determine your interests and then suggests camps and experiences that will provide you with the best holiday possible!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I really can't think of anything. You guys know the countries and the camps. I especially appreciate that you are careful about trying to match a camp with a client, since we all bring slightly different expectations along with us." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We normally never go twice to the same places.

So visiting South Luangwa in November 2010, and going back in June , was quite a risk.

Burt we are now looking for some friends to come with us for our third visit.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Develop for each group of travellers a dedicated webpage ( strictly private : login + password ) with all the essentials of the journey ( Copy of tickets, departure times, where and when booked, local contacts, emergency contacts, phone numbers, mail addresses, reliable clinics etc ) accessible for a period starting from two weeks before until one week after the journey.

Give the possibility for the travellers to add photocopy of passports, visas, driving license, vaccination cards, bankreferences etc .

If in need, It can function as a handy backup - wherever you are - as long as you can get on the internet.

( I dón't know of any travel organisation offering this facility, but for some years now I put my travel plans on the internet.
Only friends, family and myself can consult it if necessary )" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"great i would go back anytime everything worked out perfectly from transfer to camp to getting back

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

none" Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We have been lucky enough to travel with expert Africa on four occasions and the service we have received has always been exceptional.

We enjoyed the trip to Malawi and Zambia even more than our previous trips and think the two countries combine very well. A great factor in the success of the holiday was the choice of lodges/camps. The thing that we particularly appreciate is the fact that you can typically deal with one person in the organisation to discuss and plan a trip. The personal knowledge of all the various camps and lodges that the Expert Africa staff have is essential. This was very much the case for this holiday where we were unsure where to stay in the Lower Zambezi and were given specific advice which led us to change the choice of camp to Old Mondoro and we were delighted we did that.

Likewise we were unsure about whether Pumulani was right for us but again specific knowledge of the Lodge within the Expert Africa team reassured us and again this was spot on. As a consequence we stayed in 4 different camps all of which were excellent and complemented each other perfectly.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

As before the connections, pick ups etc all worked perfectly and the only minor difficulty we had was connecting to the flight to Jeki in Lusaka airport as the flight was not on the Proflight list or display board as it was a charter and they did not seem to know exactly where we should go but this was resolved very quickly by another member of staff. I am afraid I cannot add anything more constructive as all went so well - thanks for another excellent trip.

Particular thanks to Maruska who was great." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"We would go back to Tena Rena and Nsefu.

We were delighted with the unexpected support during our flight transfers and were looked after very well." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"na" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had the most wonderful time, it was a very special trip and did not disappoint.

We loved being on safari, the choice of camps was inspired and I would definitely choose similar camps next time. The Zanzibar beach lodge is a real gem, another excellent suggestion.

The only disappointment was the Zanzibar Palace Hotel which I would most definitely not recommend.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The service was excellent and I have already recommended Expert Africa to friends. I will certainly use you again.

Many thanks for a wonderful trip!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari