Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We thought you might wish to hear from us now we have returned from Zambia and Botswana. We had the most wonderful time in both countries, we met some lovely people from all parts of the world and we were well looked after by the management and staff of all three camps.

Finally, thanks once again to you Chris, Expert Africa and Wilderness Safaris for organising and re-organising our trip which we much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed. Below, I will select you, Chris, who at the end of the day made things happen for us and went that extra mile to ensure we had a terrific experience under what were very difficult circumstances but I would also like to make a special mention to Maruska who helped us through the initial choices of camps and bookings - she was very professional, knowledgeable and helpful.

It goes without saying that you and your collective help and service will be recommended by us to others. Please pass on our comments to those you think would like to hear from us.

These travellers commented about their flights:

All Sefofane flights were a fantastic experience. They were great fun, exhilarating and provided superb views of the landscape and the Okavango Delta. The pilots were skilled,helpful and very informative. The flight schedules were punctual and safety procedures made passengers feel at ease.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I have none at this stage." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This truly was the trip of a lifetime and as it had been booked for 3 years; was so eagerly anticipated. It exceeded all our hopes.

The driving was [mostly] easy and at every turn the sheer diversity of the scenery was breath-taking. The lodge staff and guides were fantastic and we spent much time learning more about their actual ethnicity and home lives; which they were happy to share with us. That was such a special element of our trip. We were somewhat uncomfortable to realise there still seems to be much of a 'hierarchical system' with the ethnic tribal Namibians; but accept that this is part of the Culture. The trips Expert Africa organised for us prioir to going were amazing - especially the balloon trip which was a quite 'surreal' event.

The only problem with the whole trip was that a month went by so quickly and never seemed long enough! Thank you so much to Tracy for putting up with our constant questions and changing the dates of travel without complaint. Thanks too, for Chris's book which became our 'bible' both before during and even now- after this amazing experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all - this was excellent down to every detail. You have thought of everything and there was nothing to disappoint us.
Thank you all." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful trip apart from the scorpion. Tracy is a great asset! Please thank her again for all her help.......does she cover Botswana ( our next African trip)?" Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 26 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous and unforgetable

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It would be hard to design a better trip. The only suggestion I could make to do differently would be to select automatic transmission. We spent a fair bit of time driving getting places and after I ground the gears a few times David decided he'd better do all the driving. On the other hand, maybe this might be a strategy for some." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"We had a real nightmare with the Volcano Ash and had to cancel the first part of our trip to SA. Ann worked tirelessly to sort out options if ourre-scheduled flights to Botswana fell through and I was very impressed tat Kwando agreed to let guests affected by the flight ban to re-book at not extra cost.

Thankfully we made our Botswana leg, but Anna really showed just how good Expert Africa are in a crisis and that is exactly what you want from an agent. Well done EA we will definitely choose you again!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Overall our trip surpassed our expectations. We have both travelled extensively and this is the first time we have ever gone through an agent. All the accommodation and food was excellent. The two wilderness safari camps activities were overpriced and there was a lack of passion with the guides we had.

I did feel that the itinerary could have been planned a little better in the middle. Most people were surprised we had 6 nights in Damarland as were we when we realised how close the camps were to eachother. We could have missed out Damaraland Camp and had 3 nights at Etosha and 2 nights at Okonjima or even 4 nights at Etosha. Despite the guide books saying you don't see much wildlife at the time of year we were there for us it was still incredible.

We definitely needed another night further to the west and had to run around for a day and a half. Obviously I am not an expert and only went by what I read. I would recommend at least 3 nights at different camps across Etosha if you have the amount of time we had. We had a fantastic time in Damaraland but had to double back on ourselves from Grootberg to Etendeka.

Again I think people should be discouraged from visiting the Terrace Bay Camp for one night - if I had understood what it was like I would never have wanted to go. We had a very long drive to get there, arrived late and then had to leave early - it was exhausting and not worth the detour. Our only disappointment was we didn't have enough time in Etosha.

We had a fantastic holiday and I would recommend Expert Africa to my friends and family.

Thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would have appreciated more information about the way certain camps were run in terms of activities and additional costs ie. Wilderness Safari's Camp. We felt pressured into doing all the activities and compared to every other camp the prices were very high and quality low.

I would have liked more information about certain places, especially the Skeleton Coast. I did say I wanted to go there but was going off what I'd read and I suppose lack of knowledge. Better guidance would have made me realise this side trip wasn't necessary. The same goes for Etosha - despite what the guide books say you really do need 3/4 nights to do it justice whatever time of year you are there. I was under the impression that we wouldn't see much so 2 nights was enough. This most definitely wasn't the case and most of the other travellers we met had seen elephants and rhino, lions and even cheetahs. Please make sure that people understand that they will see wildlife if they go at this time of year.

We were advised that there wasn't much to see in Luderitz. After visiting Klein Aus Vista I wouldn't agree with this. We would have preferred to stay one or even two nights in Luderitz. The Ghost mining town was fascinating and the drive around the peninsula fascinating. There was so much to see but we felt rushed as we had to get back up to Klein Aus Vista. Luderitz itself isn't the most beautiful place but everything to do is nearby where as Klein Aus Vista is perhaps good for hikers but for no other reason. It's only another 1hr 15mins to Luderitz and you seen the wild horses on the way there. It would have been nice to be able to choose a restaurant and go for a walk rather being limited to one choice.

Finally, we were on a half board basis at the Damaraland Camp and Kulala Lodge which we found very strange. There isn't anywhere else to go so this should really be included. Our final bill came to nearly 2,000 Namibian Dollars at Kulala Lodge and 3,000 at Damarland Camp when the activities and lunches plus drinks were added in which we thought was excessive having already paid for Half Board. At Grootberg lunch was included with the activities whereas at D Camp and Kulala we paid for the activity then had to come back and pay for lunch. We understood we had to pay for extras but with nowhere but the lodge to eat at lunch should be included." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia was everything that we'd hoped for plus some. The landscape was a lot more varied than I'd expected , the quality especially of accommodation and the food was fantastic and everyone we met was extremely friendly and helpful.

Although there are considerable distances to travel (we did over 3200 km's) the roads were very good, even the gravel and sand roads were well maintained we never found travelling to be daunting or a problem. The one thing to remember was to keep the petrol tank topped up, we adopted the policy of filling the tank whenever we had the opportunity if we were two thirds full or less as recommended by Expert Africa.

I'd recommend Namibia unreservedly to anyone interested in Africa.

Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.

One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent

We found everything in Namibia to be either reasonably priced or cheaper than expected with one exception which was books and newspapers which were very expensive.

Overall Namibia over excellent value for money especially when the quality of food and service was taken into consideration

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing that we were uncertain on was , as previously mentioned, whether the hire car should be cleaned prior to return. Adopting the policy of cleaning it anyway certainly served us well." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Everything worked as intended until the volcano caused our flight home to be cancelled. Advice from Susannah about which lodges to visit, and the order in which visit them, was good." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"outstanding trip - botswana has more than lived up to expectations and compares very favourably to other safari's i have been on (south africa/kenya)

the game is superb and the camps/staff outstanding

if going to victoria falls it is more than worthwhile upgrading to royal livingstone

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

as mentioned if staying over in joburg ensure stay is in an onsight airport hotel" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Wonderful experience from planning stage to returning home. The variety of lodges/accomadation suggested by Tracy were superb, possibly our best holiday ever !!.

Car hire; Tracy recommended a 4x4 when pushed, accepted it was possible in a 2 WD, as indeed all brouchers indicate, not just EX AF. I would happily tell anyone that I made a mistake, and a 4x4 is essential. The gravel roads are so variable in quality throughout Namibia some rutted so badly or loosely laid that grounding is unavoidable at 20Kph, the C14,C19, C27 for example, in Etosha water flooding the road -- how deep?, fortunatly we remained dry.
Thanks Tracy for a wonderful trip

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No --- keep up your high standard of good work." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip