Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Fantastic, amazing.

Nearly all UK travellers we met had arranged their trips via Expert Africa - what more needs to be said? We've travelled with you 3 times now and we wouldn't even contemplate looking elsewhere." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Everywhere we went our expectations were surpassed. The people of all colours and backgrounds were so kind and gentle. We never felt unsafe. We enjoyed driving ourselves around - the landscape of Namibia is so unspoilt and pristine and so open. The space is amazing.

Our Expert Africa team _ Maruska and latterly Gwyneth - were wonderful. Maruska - you organised it all with such thought. It was wonderful to be back in Africa and in a part I didn't know at all. Our three sons, 11, 13 and 15, will never forget this holiday. They proved such keen bird and animal watchers that they put me to shame. Their enthusiasm never faded. They, like my husband and I, were enchanted by talking to the locals. I wanted the boys to meet local people where possible. We talked to waiters and guides and cleaners wherever we could as well as to owners. Each has his tale to tell. OUr guides were so well spoken in English and so keen to get tourism going in the right direction. I pray that it will not become a spoilt country - it has so much to offer. How meals of such delicacy were prepared in such remote locations I will never know - topclass food in back of beyond locatiions with views to die for.

Once back in Windhoek, I would strongly recommend a visit to the Craft Centre. We had our final lunch there and bought things there before driving to the airport. Safe parking there too. The art and crafts are just wonderful - better than anywhere else and all under one roof - you need at least two hours there.

Re Tipping - we found it hard to know how much to give at each lodge intot the Tip Box. Could be that we were overgenerous! Also, it is often hard as one doesn't have any small notes to hand to porters etc. Need to advise travellers to try and change big notes in towns prior to driving out to the back of beyond as we sometimes ended up giving far too much to people as we had nothing small to offer and we didn't want to leave them empty handed. Car guards - good to warn people of them and the need to hand them something each time. Extra advice on the phone would be helfpul prior to departure re this.

Good walking shoes essential!No need to take swimming towels as every lodge had them and just bulks up luggage. Would not take a child younger than our youngest as a lot of driving and he was fine but anyone younger no good. Binoculars essential for each member of the family - we had enough and it made such a difference as there is so much to see at the side of road eg ostriches, oryx, springbok, baboons all seen from normal driving.

It was the most wonderful trip and the selection of lodges were fantastic and we wish we could go back there. Thank-you so much. Expert Africa went beyond all our expectations. We have given our three sons an introduction to Africa, one part of it: Namibia, and we all succumbed to its beauty and we were lucky to travel with Expert Africa." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"As a whole my trip was great. I particuarly enjoyed the contrasting nature of the physical environment.

I think you are doing a great job!

Suggestions for improvement:

I think you are doing a great job!" Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fantastic time in this beautiful country. Would definately think of returning in the future." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"The trip exceeded our expectations - partly because we did not think our trip to Mala Mala in 1992 could be bettered.

The problem is to combine the reality of searching for wildlife in an uncertain environment with the requirements of people used to very high standards of accommodation etc. It seemed to us that an appropriate balance between the two was achieved. A huge bonus is the friendliness and humour of the Batswana. But the deciding factor for people who are intensely interested in wildlife is the professionalism and knowledge of the guides.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate our Silver wedding anniversary." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Our holiday was fabulous! It all went very smoothly, and exceeded all our expectations.

It was all tremendous fun - we saw amazing things and met lovely people.

We have lots of wonderful memories and enough stories to last us years!

Suggestions for improvement:

No - you did a fantastic job for us!" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"The goriallas surpassed our expectations and this 4 day trip was a trip of a life time with 3 trecking days, the first day to see the golden monkeys and then 2 days of trecking to see the gorillas. Please be aware that with the animals each day you only get 1 hour of viewing time maximum.

South Luangwa lived up to our usual expections and the guys at Tafika base camp and the bush camps of Chikoko and Crocodile are some of the best in the area making a very good safari experience. My only comments here is they have to be careful when veting people to go on the bush camp trips as the make up of a group may affect the pleasure others get in this trip, i.e. mixing families with children with others on such a trip can be a downer. But certainly bush camps are for those who wish the real safari experience.

Toko Laya Safari Camp is an ideal place to finish yoru safari and catch the sights of Livingstone and the falls, a very well run and organsied camp despite having been only open since May 2008. A tribute to some of the good staff they have. The only issue that being in the game park next Livingstone it is not really a big game experince with no cats and not masses of wildlife. But a good place to relax and cover various experinces offered by the lodge.

Suggestions for improvement:

None
we were very well dealt with by Expert Africa and appreciated the opportunities to disucss fully when we wished to review/modify the itinerary." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"An excelent trip.

Suggestions for improvement:

I found Expert Africa's assistance really useful in planning the trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"As a whole, despite the negative aspects of the holiday, the overall feeling we have come back with really relates back to the Safari section of our holiday. In hindsight, I would have spent longer on Safari and just a few days in Zanzibar. We've realised that we're really not lying around and chilling type people. We like to be doing things and experiencing exciting adventures! It has been a dream of mine to go on Safari since I was a child and Selous Impala Camp enabled all my dreams to come true! It truly was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget. What I saw of Africa was exactly how I had always imagined it - wild and beautiful and the wildlife we experienced was incredible. It was inspired me to want to visit other African countries to experience different safaris and cultures now!

Zanzibar was nice but it really has not made a huge impression on me. It could be that we did not go to the right resort for us? I don't know. It could just be that the Safari experience was so amazing, Zanzibar was always going to have alot to live up to?" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"The holiday was everything that we could have wished for, and we loved every minute of it. Anna and Expert Africa are quite clearly highly regarded by the guides.

The one thing that did cause me some confusion were the various vouchers issued to us by Expert Africa, though ultimately it made no difference to our trip. One voucher stated that it was for a transfer from Lufupa Lodge to Lusaka, but in fact it was from Lunga River Lodge airstrip to Lusaka. The transfer vouchers for the second week while in North and South Luangwa were completely wrong. Though this caused me a lot of confusion, Remote Africa had worked it all out correctly, ignoring the vouchers, and everything was fine.

The issue of Tipping was a bit difficult for us, and definitely an area that I feel needs to be addressed in greater detail by Expert Africa. I had read somewhere that tipping is discretionary but that an amount of $5 - $8 per day per guest would be appropriate to pay to the guide. However, it is not only the guide that often deserves a tip, but also the staff at the various bush camps. I have no idea as to whether we were being mean or generous, but on average we were tipping our guides the equivalent of $40 - $50 for each day that we had with them, and a further $30 or so to the remainder of the staff at each camp per day (remembering that we are a family of five, and that we were usually the only guests at each camp).

Our guide for the whole of the first week was Brad from Wilderness Safaris. He was absolutely fantastic, extraordinarily knowledgeable about virtually anything that we wished to discuss, and seemed to possess a sixth sense when it came to spotting wildlife. He is such a nice person, and our 17,15 and 13 year old children all got on very well with him. He works tremendously hard and deserves a medal.

Would it have been possible for Expert Africa to give us advance notice of the identity of who we would be having as our guide? It would have been nice for us to have known his name in advance so that when we first met him we could have immediately realised what his role was.

Before we left the UK, I spoke with Anna and asked if it would be an idea for us to take out some spare clothing for the local villagers. She responded very enthusiastically and gave me a long list of suggestions as to what we could take, including any old clothes, shoes, toys, childrens books etc. When packing our bags we chose mostly old clothes that we did not wish to bring back to the UK at the end of our trip, and any spare room in our bags were then filled with other bits and pieces to give away.

At each camp that we stayed at we asked the camp manager whether it would be appropriate to give him some clothes and toys to distribute to his staff, and each time we received a very positive response. The staff may look well fed and clothed but their familes back in their home villages often own virtually nothing and we were assured that our meagre gifts would be gratefully received. Consequently we left quite a large volume of things behind in Zambia, and feel good that we have done our little bit to assist these people. Maybe Expert Africa could include some sort of guidance and suggestions in this area for any future like-minded travellers." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari