Reviews of safaris to Central Kalahari Game Reserve

"Fantastic!

In the following section, the team member who put our trip together was actually Nick Hobbs; Lucy Copson took over from Nick after he left Expert Africa. My ratings below refer to Nick. Lucy was very helpful and professional in transacting the safari and in dealing with an issue encountered while in Botswana.

Thanks Lucy!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Thank you again, Maruska. Everything went absolutely perfectly, exactly according to plan. We just could not have asked for more, truly a trip of a lifetime. We especially loved Primate Safaris in Rwanda and our guide Sura." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"A great trip. All the arrangements worked well.

Namibia and Botswana are beautiful countries.

We hope to go again and would certainly use Expert Africa." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"I had a wonderful experience as did my friends.

It was well planned. I was worried we were moving to much but as we did it all made good sense.

We saw more then I could have imagined and the staff were beyond helpful." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"When I arrived in Johannesburg from Heathrow, London I was given assistance and found myself in a smallish room with television and noise blaring out and about 8 assistants doing nothing. Eventually I asked to be taken to the Gate for Kasane.

When I arrived in Johannesburg Airport from Maun it took nearly 2 hours to get through passport control and I had to re-enter, departures because baggage cannot go direct from Maun to Heathrow. A man who had an identity pass insisted that he gave me guidance ( which I said I did not want) because he knew where I should go.

He wanted $10 for the privilege,, which he did not get, and showed me to the wrong place anyway. After several attempts to get help a lady official opened a barrier and took me through in front of the queue and made sure I had assistance. The 'assistance' said if I wanted to give him "something" I was not to give it to him in front of anyone.(he did not get anything either!). ..Is there no other route to Botswana?

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I was very satisfied with Lucy's assistance in arranging my visit to Botswana and will definitely consider Expert Africa's assistance if I need any help in the future.

Lucy partly remembered arranging my trip to Botswana six years ago and from that trip we planned this one. Through our Emails I found Lucy friendly, lucid and easy to communicate with and within a few days at short notice My Botswana itinerary was in place. Each stage of the plan went smoothly and there were no hold-ups or my being left stranded. Even at Maun airport I received unexpected assistance to make sure I was where I was expected to be.

My experience of a very enjoyable and well-planned trip leaves me without any suggestions for improving Expert Africa's service - except for, perhaps, including within this form a feature that prevents automatic deletion when accidentally pressing a wrong key or Back to previous page..........

VERY MANY THANKS, LUCY, FOR ARRANGING MY TRIP SO EFFICIENTLY, FROM, JEAN." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fabulous trip with no disappointments at every stage. The trip was very varied with a range of different excellent game viewing in different environments. The staff everywhere were welcoming with the best trained being the And Beyond staff. The quality of the game viewing ( e.g. three separate lion kills!) was exceptional. In addition to game drives the most memorable and instructive activities were the photographic safari on the Chobe, bush walk and star gazing in the Kalahari.

I do think that the flora aspect of these places are a resource to be developed as their was little information on them unless one asked questions. Premises should label plants important to the animals and the community as it is part of the narrative of the environment.

We would like to thank Lucy Copson for the time and trouble she took to tailor a Safari that met our needs which resulted in two very happy travelers!

We would be happy to recommend Expert Africa to anyone wanting to visit Botswana." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"I have no criticisms. I thought everything worked beautiful and I had a great time. I didn't see everything I would have liked, but I understand you see what you see.

Incidentally, the ex-staff member who dealt with all the arrangements for my trip was NICK HOBBS (not listed below). All my comments on the overall service apply to him, and NOT to a random team member I had to pick, otherwise the form wouldn't be accepted." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"As usual, Expert Africa provided us with all we required - a great holiday and experience!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"The highlights in some sort of order :
Hoanib Camp *****

Edo's Camp ****
Ongava Tented Camp****
andBeyond Soussusvlei Desert Lodge ****
Mack Air ****
Desert Air ****

Okonjima Bush Camp ***
Olive Grove Guest House ***

Wilderness Air **
Damaraland Camp *

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Tracy organised my/our safari really well. She had to blend in two different itineraries and there was a fair bit of juggling to be sorted through and she did it well.

The only arrangement that I found a bit frustrating was to find out that Wilderness Air did fly direct from Sousessvlei through to Hoanib, albeit from an airstrip a bit of a drive from Soussusvlei Desert Lodge. I felt that it should have been feasible to organise a transfer (perhaps at extra cost) to fly direct from Soussusvlei and avoid an overnight at Olive Grove in Windhoek which was really a """"wasted"""" travel day which might have been better spent at Hoanib.

And I think Expert Africa need to talk closely with Wilderness Air - the latter seems to have some problems." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"The combination of the friendly staffs and spirit of Africa and just being in the safari mode was wonderful and trumps all the small quibbles.

Seeing a leopard mother and her cub playing a small distance away and seeing a cheetah close up in the wild are hard experiences to match. Thus, we had a fabulous experience overall.

If the ceiling fans can be added at Little Kwara and the flights can be adjusted to take vacationers directly to their spots (instead of flying them more than 90 minutes out of the way), the review could have been even more positive." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari