Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Overall, this trip fulfilled our wishes.

We got to see a lot of leopards and we returned to one of the best places we've stayed at in Africa - Chiawa." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"We had sought to cover more than most in a 16 day trip, and the combination of road & flights worked really well, so thank you Maruska for putting together such a workable itinerary. It helped that A loves driving and so was more than happy to cover 450km in a day when needed - and the roads were quite okay. Worst bit was a patch on the C12 to Fish River canyon (very bumpy) but other than that we had some fantastic drives, particularly the C13 from Fish River canyon up to Aus - stunning!

Our route was Windhoek-Bagatelle-Fish River Canyon-Aus-Luderitz-Wolwedans-Little Kulala (by car) and then Doro Nawas-Ongava Lodge-Windhoek by plane. It was a throughly enjoyable mixture of hikes, wildlife, dunes, scenic drives and flights. We consider ourselves immensely privileged to have seen Namibia's nature when it wished to reveal itself - be it lion cub, hyena, scorpion, desert elephant, rainbow, lightening... fabulous!

Suggestions for improvements:

Only thing I would have appreciated was a simple guide to birds & wildlife - just a basic booklet of the most likely suspects. I picked up a check-list (no pictures) at Little Kulala, and bought the Etosha guide booklet - but that was our last stop so it was tricky remembering what we'd seen. Couldn't find anything suitable in any of the lodge shops en route and didn't want or need individual books on birds, mammals, reptiles etc" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Unbelievable! This trip exceeded our expectations by a long way, and we can't wait to go back.

One tiny comment: As a keen photographer making maximum use of the "sweet" light a couple of hours after sunrise, and an hour or two before sunset, is crucial to getting good photos. If there was any way in which the guides could be given basic training in this, and how to best position the vehicle for the best light angle, this would make a difference between an "excellent" and a "superb" drive.

For us, it's not so much seeing the big cats on every drive, but the opportunity to take those "once in a lifetime" photos, even if it is"just" a family of baboons doing what baboons do but in the superb early morning or late afternoon light. Some guides were superb at this - both Patrick and Freya at Kaingo and Mwamba, for example, and Alex and Bryan at Tafika, and all guides were more than willing to try to get the best position when requetsed.

We didn't quite feel that the guide at Sausage Tree had the same intrinsic sensitivity, although this is a minor comment on a truly expert and experienced guide. We appreciate it can be difficult when there are several couples on the same vehicle, and compromises may need to be made to meet the objectives and expectations of everybody involved. This feedback is given in a psotive spirit with the objective of making a superb experience even better.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nothing specific. Everything was extremely well organised and went superbly smoothly. Claire was incredibly helpful in arranging our preferences, with excellent communications all round." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"My trip was really fantastic and huge thanks to Claire for all her recommendations and ideas - it was definitely a holiday to remember!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Truly cannot think of anything that Expert Africa could have done to improve the service and advice provided." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Best safari we have ever had.

Suggestions for mprovements:

You probably need to put more emphasis on the point you made about ensuring that US Dollars are post 2001. I ordered mine from my bank via the internet, and although I specified that they nwere needed for Tanzania i was give two $50 Dollar bills which were not accepted. I am taking up the matter with my bank's foreign exchange department. They should know better." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Great holiday overall and we were awe struck by the landscape. There are a few things we would do differently such as:

Skip Windhoek
Stay closer to Etosha
Do Twyfelfontein from a different lodge
Do half day tour at Swakopmund

But these are details; it was a great great holiday and we hope to do Fish River Canyon and The Caprivi Strip on our next visit." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Having been born in Africa and not visited it for over 14 years this trip has been a truly wonderful opportunity to rekindle my passion for this continent and has left me very homesick for the place where my heart with forever truly lie.

One Africa is in your blood or gets under your skin you will never cease to hanker for the open space, simplicity and true honest friendly welcome of the local people. The terrain and landscape is breathtaking, so variable and truely magical.

Suggestions for improvement:

Keep up the amazing work- it has been terrific to deal with a company that truely understands and is willing to advise and put together an itinerary hat is so perfectly suited to a clients requirements and desires. Thanks so much for making this trip everything | had hoped for and more!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Namibia trip

"A great trip which exceeded our expectations.

We loved Malawi and the friendliness of the people. Also it was very interesting to see more of everyday life and the country on the transfers between lodges. Also the small numbers of tourists enhanced the experience.

Suggestions for improvements:

I think you deliver what you set out to; real expertise on Africa. Wilderness are very efficient and have excellent people, which makes the experience really special.

We will be travelling with you again; the question is where next?!." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 8 on a Malawi trip

"The animals at Etosha were inevitably he highlight of our trip but this doe not take away anything from the rst of our holiday. We stayed at some exceptional places and had some wonderful experiences. Namibia is a stunning country and we enjoyed every aspect to it.

This is the second time we have used Expert Africa and the Bradt guide and are sure to use them both again. Sabina was always helpful and responded well to all my quirky requests.

Suggestions for improvement:

This not an improvement but is something I would like EXpert to consider taking up.

This is that I think that the quality of the experience offered by NWR at, especially, Etosha is deteriorating. Although the individual staff are generally courteous and helpful I think they need to improve their service as they no longer offer a value for money experience compared with that offered by the lodges with which they are in competition. This is an issue for them but my main concern lies with their management of the Park.

Firstly, I was extrememly concerned by their seeming lack of an effective response to a fire in the Park when I was there at the beginning of October. I first noticed the fire in the morning as a very small column of smoke which by the end of the day had extended on at least a 5km front from the western edge of the park right up to the Pan. I was told this was not the first big fire recently and would like to be assured that the NWR was learning from its recent experiences in this regard.

Secondly, the absence of rangers on patrol within the Park meant that there was little policing going on. It suggested to me that the aminals of secondary importance and this might be symptomatic of a neglect of the environmental conservation aspect of managing the park and that sadly it is increasingly looked upon by government as solely a cash cow." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Officialdom
With one exception, officialdom was always courteous and polite, if often annoyingly slow.

At the vet fence north of Sehitwa in Botswana, we pulled slowly up to the white stop line on the road in front of the barrier as there were no vehicles in front. A policeman appeared and without explanation demanded a "fine" of 200 pula. He said we should have stopped at a stop sign which was propped up on bricks just a few feet earlier. After a polite stand-off, we left without paying. On discussing this incident at our next lodge, we were told that whilst on the spot fines are legal in Botswana, the amount demanded had been irregular. The consensus of opinion was that this had been a try on.

Suggestions for improvements:

We have been very satisfied, hence our repeat business. Off the cuff, we haven't any suggestions.

Overall
There were occasions when a 4WD vehicle could have been useful (but we don't know the cost).
This was our annual treatment for the 'Africa virus' and it worked very well (actually our eleventh trip to sub-Sahara Africa). Where next?" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip