Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"It was a great experience and one which will stay with us for a long time.

It was worth spending time on the organisation of our itinerary which was about as good as it could have been providing variety and excitement all the way. All in all a brilliant trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"We enjoyed a brilliant trip during which we saw a huge variety of wildlife both in game parks/concessions and as we travelled between destinations.

In hindsight (and ignorance of the quality of some of the roads) we could have allowed either for a longer trip or less travelling on a daily basis - but, of course, funding also comes into the equation!

The people are friendly and welcoming, made easier for us because English is widely spoken. Even better for holiday makers from the UK is the fact that you also drive on the left!

We felt comfortable travelling with our daughter (12) and the maps provided were fine for enabling us to travel easily between stops. A nice touch was the marking of our route by Maruska.

Although it is clear, through speaking to a variety of people, that Namibia has come a long way since independence, there is still a marked contrast between rich and poor which served as a salutory lesson.

All in all, this has been a trip we will remember (aided by hundreds of photos) for a very long time." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous !!!

We couldn't fault any of the locations, nor accommodation.

The service was excellent throughout. The arrangements and schedule worked really well.

Each of the 4 locations offered something different - we wouldn't have changed anything !" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip was well planned around the bookings in Kwara and Lebala.

Thanks to Lucy and Chris (from Expert Africa) whose professional help and planning ensured the success of our trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Namibia was Fantastic!! We felt safe, were overwhelmed by its beauty and diversity and were looked after brilliantly in many of the places we visited.

The wildlife was more abundant than we expected and varied hugely from place to place.

Each lodge had different character and environment. Overall , in retrospect, we wouldn't have changed a thing apart from the vehicle, and maybe 2 nights at Grootberg instead of going to Palmwag." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"This is the full yext of an email sent without prompting.

We are back from our hols and I wanted to say thanks for your help and guidance.

The holiday was fantastic and we even managed to hold onto our luggage, which many people didn't.

The camps which you recommended at Kwara and Lebala were both fantastic. Exactly as you described as ''lacking the chic of CCAfrica'' but very comfortable with good food and very high standards of game viewing. We had a great time at both camps with great staff and great game viewing. Our guides (Steve at Kwara and Vundi at Lebala) were first class in all respects.

The 'tents' at Kwara are new and very smart, whilst at Lebala they are older and a bit tatty in comparison.

The only slight hesitation with Kwando is that all camps seem to serve the same meals on the same day each week. so anyone doing 3 or 4 Kwando camps would spot this. The food was always good and more than enough, so it is a very minor issue meant to be constructive.

The transit arrangements at Jo'burg worked very well, though the transit lounge only has one scanner and so there is a large line to get through.

Now the negative! Luckily it was the single element of the holiday that we insisted upon so you are totally in the clear.

We returned to Nexabega because we enjoyed it so much last time. The camp was largely unchanged from 5 years ago and the food and accommodation is superior to Kwando in small details such as style and the quality of the cuisine. However with water levels in the Delta very high this year the game viewing at Nexabega was very poor. The staff admitted that some 5 weeks back they considered closing the camp because of water levels and the lack of game. The range of area available for game viewing was limited due to the water depth. There were loads of Elephants, Giraffe and great bird sightings. No big cats at all (no Lion for the last 4 months), though there is a Leopard in the area which we did not see..

It is a bit like going skiing when the hotel has failed to mention there is virtually no snow! I would be very careful of sending other customers to this location. It is still pretty scenic with all the water but so is Kwara ( with Boat and mocorro trips) and Lebala (no water based activities) but lots of lagoons to drive around, and there was massive animal populations with daily Lion and Leopard sightings. We also saw large herds of Zebra and Buffalo. We saw 4 big cat kills with Kwando and Lebala which had daily sightings of Lion prides and Leopards at both camps, Nexabega was very sparse in comparison." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Carefree driving, plenty to see.

There was something different every day, and we never quite knew what was coming next, but we were never disappointed." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Great family holiday

Walking trip misunderstanding with Chada should not have been allowed to happen but was very competently solved when it did" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Great guidance on choosing camps from Maruska. They suited us ideally in terms of standard of accommodation, variety in environments, game viewing, fellow guests.

All arrangements worked out well - the few minor comments are in the individual sheets but given more as constructive feedback than complaints.

Quilalea a great add on but it will be better when there are better flight connections." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"This was a well planned holiday, that was enjoyable in every sense of the word. we will be returning to Zambia and to the same places- and we will book with Expert Africa - there can be no greater accolade.

keep up the good work. speaking to someone who has been to the camps gave a great sense of security to our decisions.

i would recommned that continuing the policy of personal visits be continued. your accurate knowledge was a great selling point" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari