Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had an amazing adventure through SA, Namibia and Botswana. Being independent Kiwis, we were keen on arranging our own itinerary and travelling under our own steam, preferably off the beaten tourist track. Namibia appealed, and once I found your amazing website I was hooked. In a former life I was a travel agent here in NZ, but most trips were packaged and rigid, and that was not what we wanted. Having worked out roughly where we wanted to go, I emailed your office, who then referred me to your Namibian expert who (unbelievably!) actually lived in NZ.

Maruska's in depth knowledge of Namibia and her recommendations really made the trip work. Travelling distances were good, and although we travelled over 7,500 km in 5 weeks, it was very do-able. Maruska listened to our preferences and we were delighted with her choice of accom. We enjoyed having the freedom of travelling in the 4WDs to suit ourselves. I fully expected the odd hiccup when we finished with the vehicles and then were reliant on a complicated series of transfers, boats, small planes with no set schedule, more transfers etc, but it all went according to plan and worked like clockwork.

Full marks to Maruska and your agents in Namibia and Botswana for attention to detail and for putting it all together.

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Just keep doing what you do so well. Your website is just fantastic, great to read other peoples reviews, which is why I've spent all day putting up all this feedback (Sorry it took so long!).

The Brandt guides to Namibia and Botswana are actually in our local library, and it was from there I picked up the website in the first place. Our copies are well worn from the trip, and there was a bit of a bun fight over who kept them. Maybe one per couple would be good, or at least one per vehicle? The Namibia maps were great and Maruska had highlighted each of our stops which was also great attention to detail. We were very happy with the service we received from Maruska - she's a gem - look after her!" Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"In retrospect, it probably was a mistake to go at this time of year. Our timing was dictated by the fact that we were already in Africa.

However, the rainy season meant that the animals were widely dispersed, requiring long rides in the vehicles to see handfuls of animals. And areas of the concessions were inaccessible owing to high water. Also the tall grass meant that animals were hard to see. There were magic moments during our week, but not enough of them to justify the considerable expense.

Our dissatisfactions with the safari have nothing to do with Expert Africa itself." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We enjoyed this trip thoroughly, Namibia is an amazing country.

Overall, we were also very happy with the itinerary, which was largely advised by Tracy: it gave us a good view of the diversity but kept distances reasonable so that it would suit a 2-year old.

We were unlucky that our flight out was cancelled so we arrived late and exhausted at Intu Afrika, meaning we missed out on the game drive where we would have seen lions.
Highlights of the trip:
- the overall experience at Wolwedans
- climbing Dune 45 and Dead Vlei, and climbing Dune 45 again the following day, with no one else around
- Sandfields and generally our time in Swakopmund, relaxing and eating at the Jetty" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"I am so pleased to have chanced upon Expert Africa in organising this trip.

Namibia proved to be an absolute delight with its ever changing landscape and genuinely friendly people. We were not too much affected by the incredibly wet weather Namibia has experienced, although we soon came to realise that whereas our particular landscape might have been basking in glorious sunshine a sudden river crossing would present turbulent waters from heavy rains which might have fallen many miles away. This added to the sense of excitement experienced along the way & made us realise how wise we had been to hire a 4WD with a trusty diff. lock!!

Thank you Expert Africa until the next time to Fish River Canyon, Kolmanscop & Luderitz et al !!

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Just carry on the great work!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"All in all it was a wonderful holiday and (having said that it would be a one-off) we can't wait to return next year.
I cannot recommend RPS highly enough (and I'm usually pretty difficult to please!).

Expert Africa arranged everything smoothly and efficiently and we would be pleased to use them again.

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It's hard to improve on flawless!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"We had a very good time, although it started badly with a delayed long-haul flight, missed connection which we had to sort out ourselves, then a call from the Game Lodge to say they were flooded out so don't come this evening. EA found us a hotel in PE which turned out to be really great and a relief to have found somewhere after a difficult journey. Next day we had a blown tyre - felt like trip was fated. But thereafter all went well.

We loved Samara and had a good time in Plettenburg area, although we felt the Plettenburg hotel was not quite us. Weather wasn't great but hey, we were away from home/work in March somewhere warm and beautiful.

And, most importantly, we had a great sighting of Aadvark that really made the whole trip a success." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a South Africa trip

"Another fantastic trip, our third one with Expert Africa, thanks Ellie!

This was a longer trip (2 weeks) visiting two Countries and several places. This involved a lot of organization and we are once again impressed by how well every little details is sorted in advance. We spent a lot of time asking Ellie a million questions and debating about options and she never ever gets tired of answering my emails...and usually in a matter of hours if not minutes! Every suggestion she gives us is great.

Having been to Tanzania previously in June, we wanted to see different places and the green season. The landscape is fantastic and as expected it is a bit harder to see animals, but we still saw a lot. Of course this is not the best season for walks, as it is a bit hot (at least for us) and some roads and area are not accessible or not safe for walking but we did enjoy morning walks. The bonus is there are very few people and you have the places for yourself.

The game behaviour is very different in South Luangwa and Hwange: in SL they are almost tame, for example impala are in the middle of the road and do not move away from you, while in Hwange they are more skittish. On the other hand Hwange feels a lot wilder (even if they created artificial waterholes). It is good to see different places and landscapes and their contrasts.

We got the biggest safari bug and we are already dreaming about another trip, with Expert Africa of course!

As a last comment I would like to add that everywhere we went everyone (including a couple of tour operator from Australia) spoke highly of the Expert Africa team, not surprisingly!

Thanks a million!

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No matter how hard I think I cannot find any suggestion- no need to improve!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Everything worked smoothly and we really enjoyed our visit.

The itinerary planned by Lucy perfectly met our requirements and the Norman Carr team looked after our every need.

We will definitely travel again with Expert Africa.

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Keep it just as it is!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Expert Africa understood exactly what I was looking for and over delivered .......thank you!

i have already given your details to several of my friends and colleagues" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 3 on a Tanzania safari