Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We enjoyed the whole trip, everything went well, food and accommodation were extremely good and everyone we met was very kind and helpful.

Maybe it would have been good to see a cheetah and a lion but you can't have everything!!!!

Suggestions for improvement:

This is our second trip with Expert Africa (we went to Namibia last year), we have been very impressed with your services, we particularly appreciated having someone who took us right the way through from first enquiry to the ticketing and that you have 'experts' on each country who know 'their' countries so well.

Susannah was so helpful and answered my e mails immediately. I am sure that when we return to Africa we will be using you again." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and hope to repat it again before too long. All was a s expected and even better !

Suggestions for improvements:

Hard to think of improvements." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Ellie was fantastic from beginning to end. I knew from my first conversation with her (having spoken to a number of different agents at other companies) that she had summed up exactly what we wanted from our trip and the type of people we were. There was no other choice than to go with Expert Africa. She hit the nail on the head with both the camps and the beach and it was this expert understanding of our characters, and knowledge of the camps etc themselves that made the trip so perfect for my whole family.

Without Ellie, the trip would not have been the resounding success it was for everyone involved - first time safari goers, previous safari and Africa travellers and a Kenya ex-pat. Fundamentally, this was a trip to celebrate my father's 70th birthday so we did everything with him in mind. Having grown up in Africa himself, it was so important that we get the trip right which we did so perfectly with Ellie's assistance.

Ellie had to deal with my indecision (!) and a variety of questions from a number of my family members. She did so with patience and professionalism at all times which was very much appreciated - a service not replicated by your competitors.

Suggestions for improvements:

I don't think so. We were so lucky to have someone understand what we wanted, deliver it and then it being followed by a very lucky trip seeing everything we could have wanted and more. Truely awesome. Asanti sana." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"As we said before, perfect!!

All the transports were perfectly organized. The 3 places we stayed at were as we expected them (or better) and the choice was made with the help of Ellie, who spent a long time talking to us, explaining every detail and giving her gentle suggestions. She was always ready to answer anything at any time of the day. Thanks a lot Ellie!!

The best part of our trip was the waling safari at Impala. The days on the beach were really relaxing. We were a bit disappointed by Stone Town, but this is due to our expectations rather than any problem. We were expecting something different. Maybe the problem was that nothing could compare with the safari for us.

We will keep this part short in order to avoid repeating what we said for the prvious parts.

Best holiday we ever had!! The problem is we already want to go back..." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an absolutely brilliant safari - we saw loads of animals, more than I had expected. Our guide Halifa was fantastic - he was an amazing spotter, I don't know how he found all the animals but he did it somehow. He was also really helpful and would help out with any problem or enquiry. We also really liked him - very easy to get along with. I would recommend him to anyone going to Tanzania. All the camps we stayed in were excellent, again I'd have no problem recommending any of them. Staff were always helpful and friendly. All the people we met in the camps were very happy and very pleased with the guides and the camps.

The Shooting Star in Zanzibar was very nice, and again the staff very helpful. I think we enjoyed the safari part of the trip more, though - Zanzibar was more a place to relax and do nothing and we're not very good at that! Four nights was enough.

Ellie helped us with the booking and she has been great - she didn't mind any of us ringing up with lots of questions, and could always give you a sensible answer. She really knew her stuff!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an amazing experience which went all too quickly (except Swakopmund) and we will definitely return and explore the north. All the people we met were so friendly and helpful. We went south for the photography which was fantastic and we couldn't top clicking the shutter - so we have hundreds of momentos.

The top experiences for us were the Kalahari desert Sundowner Drive from Anib and the desert horses near Klein Aus Vista. The walking for me was excellent, especially from Canon Roadhouse and Rostock Ritz and I felt perfectly safe on my own.

Well done Gwynneth for helping to chose the accommodation and making it as easy as possible for John to access." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"It was absolutely fabulous!! Thank you all so much!

We have travelled worldwide over a number of years and I have dealt with probably hundreds of travel agents. Maruska was definitely one of the best agents I have ever worked with anywhere.

Thanks you, Maruska, for a fantastic job!!!

Suggestions to help improve service:

Expand your service into other countries in Africa and we will definitely book with you again!!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"First of all, we would like to mention two issues:
1. the distances from one to another place does not seem very long if you see the distance in kilometer on paper, but in reality it can take you quite a long time, especially when a big part of your trip is on gravel roads. Some travel days were in that sense quite tough for us.
2. our bank card has been skimmed in Tsumeb. Looking back, we probably know that it happened when some 'very helpful' guy wanted us to help with our transaction at an ATM. Of course, we have not been careful enough, but please be aware, these guys seem to be experienced and it all goes very fast, without any violence whatsoever.

Okay, those are the only two (minor) complaints, but overall our two weeks in Namibia were great! We have seen a lot of different things and have done a lot of things. All the lodges we have stayed in were unforgettable in their own way, however Desert Homestead, Doro Nawas, Etosha Aoba Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge stand out. We really like the lay-down sandboarding near Swakopmund and also enjoyed the surrealistic landscape of the Sossusvlei. The most unforgettable thing of our holiday was, however, the Etosha National Park or more in general the game watching in Namibia. It is at times breathtaking to see wild animals at very close distance. We would like to recommend a trip to this beautiful country in all its elements to everyone!

Suggestions for improvements:

We experienced your service as very helpful and useful. We cannot think of anything to improve it." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a rewarding experience, we only saw one solitary male lion in etosha although we heard the roars each night (my wife was convinced
that these were actually recordings played for our benefit)!!

The directions for Frans Indongo on your map were not correct, the D2804 is really a 4wd road. the correct route would be to carry on the
B1 road to the D2433, the lodge manager confirmed this. Not a compaint just a point of interest." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was a very good experience." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zambia safari