Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"This is the first time I have ever arranged a trip using an agency. Although I have worked regularly in Tanzania over the last decade, I was not confident I knew enough about the holiday side and would be able to arrange the necessary transfers.

I was recommended the Bradt guide to Tanzania and noted that Chris acknowldeged his involvement with Expert Africa and sort of liked that. So got in touch and was very ably advised by Liz Wollen. I was late in doing the bookings but she guided me very competently through the available choices and I cannot fault her recommendations. I

n the event, on several of the bookings, she was able to get us better deals than we thought was possible at the outset. When she left on an assignment to Africa, Ellie seamlessly took over the arrangements. It was a pleasure working with the team and everything, without exception, went as planned.

Not a whinge but a suggestion. The pickup times on the transfers by road were not specified and it wasn't always easy to find a contact at the transfer company who was fully up to speed. Everyone now has mobiles in Africa - when I visit farmers in remote parts, I make the arrangements by mobile - so why not recommend that your clients buy a local sim card and send the details to you. You can then advise hotels, transfer companies etc so they can text collection times and other last minute info as needed.

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It may be me being thick but I lost a couple of versions of this form as I was completing it. You guys are doing a great job." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"A very good trip with first class lodges selected by Expert Africa spaced at "do-able" distances. Local knowledge in choosing the overnight stops was much appreciated. The vouchers worked well. All the staff at the lodges were very welcoming, "old fashioned service" perhaps resulting from a slower pace of life.

I prepared a set of detailed route instructions and took a basic handheld GPS that does not have maps. Before leaving UK I matched the paper map with Google Earth for latitude and longitude at road junctions. Preparation was time consuming but worth the effort for peace of mind to ensure we were at the correct junctions and going in the right direction to the next. This was important when road signs only show the road number.

We detoured off the route to Henties Bay for lunch from Uis Mine instead of going directly to Omaruru and Erongo Lodge, and to the dinosaur footprints near Kalkfeld. The road from the dinosaur footprints, D2414, goes through Erindi game reserve - sign in and out at gates, but no charge.

Total distance was planned at 2200 km but we drove a little over 2600 km. Definitely a "must do again" adventure.

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I can't think of anything at the moment" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"we were very pleased with how smoothly the entire trip went, especially as this was Africa and we were prepared for the unexpected.


We were surprised at the quality of the service with SA airlines and the only small criticism was that we were not met very efficiently at Lilongwe airport on our arrival from Mfui. I went chasing around the airport asking for Robin Popes representatives to be told by actual driver that someone should have told us where he was. But after this hiccough, he was very amenable and indeed drove us perfectly to Pumulani. So, perhaps, this was just a misunderstanding at the airport.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, thank you" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"This was our first experience of Africa - and we would definitely like to return. All four of us (including a 15 & 17 yr old) really enjoyed it, and felt we had got a flavour of what Namibia was about - the animals - and the people.

Some handy hints - tips will be expected in various places - from a voluntary 'departiing' tip for the staff box at lodges, to a tip for 'guarding your car' every time you stop at the supermarket or to have a meal, to a tip for washing your car overnight when you didn't expect it! It would be helpful for Expert Africa to tell travellers what is the going rate for tipping - we worked out our own ratio in the end - more for staff at lodges, smaller amount for car guards etc.

It was initially a shock to come across 'car guards', as not used to this concept in UK. We also ended up giving juice and pencils as well as some money to some young boys who helped us unsolicited to change a tyre in the middle of nowhere. Some people in the country areas have very little.

Timings - Think in advance about when you are likely to arrive at lodges - some of the distances you will travel between them are pretty big - and you can't rush on gravel roads. If you are going to arrive just before dusk, you may not be able to do that walk in that lodgeyou had planned - unless you are there for 2 nights - which we found would have been preferable in most lodges.

Temperature - We noticed the drop in night-time/morning temperatures in Western Etosha - may just have been a fluke of the weather at that time - but it can be PRETTY chilly eating your breakfast at 6.00 a.m. in an outside restaurant - if you are planning to go looking for animals early which most people do whilst in Etosha, so you do need a jumper or fleece." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"we have just returned from our trip to Africa and wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to Expert Africa for the brilliant advice and organisation that went into the trip. We had the most amazing time." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We have travelled with many holiday companies over the years and usually travel at least 3 times a year and we can honestly say that in all our experiences this ranks with the best of them, from our experience with Expert Afica who were always willing to help with any queries, and all of our destinatiions (except maybe a couple) it was a breathtaking experience for myself my wife and our 2 grandchildren, every single day was mind blowing.

Thank you so much Sabina for all your help in helping us arrange a lovely holiday.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Please believe me, your trips and service do not need to be improved" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was everything we had hoped for and then some.... Expert-Africa had listened well to our requests and without fail had covered all our needs. I was very impressed with Angela (and with Sabina too, she handled a last-minute request with amazing speed). We had a bit of a laugh in the preparations when we read we had to be at a certain place at a certain time. Timeliness, in Africa? With EA yes.

We are saving for our next trip already and we will come back to EA, what better compliment can we give? EA came recommended to us by a good friend and we will now recommend EA to others too.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Expand your offering while maintaining the high level of service. I will need you guys in the future to take me places again. Northern Mozambique for example." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"We loved it! and cant thank Maruska enought for putting this together on such short notice. besides the mix up on the accomodations. we were very satisfied! every place we stayed met or exceeded our expectations.

Maruska recommended Namibia and we agree.it is a great place! will come back." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Zambia was everything we had hoped for.

The walking was very good. The camps were all small and well run. The experience was unforgettable.

In addition to the superb wildlife viewing, we also enjoyed the atmosphere at the camps. All of the hosts were very friendly and helpful.

Maruska was a great help in planning the trip. We particularly enjoyed being in the bush rather then at a big lodge. It was the perfect experience for us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, you were extremely helpful." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari