Reviews of safaris to Kwando-Linyanti area

"Val and I live 70 miles apart and do not see each other regularly. She does not regularly use the computer and does not have the ability to print material, which I made clear on at least two occasions during the booking process, asking that everything sent to me should be duplicated to her and assumed that this had happened. However it did not happen until emails and phone calls from both of us tried to rectify the situation, which was frustrating and worrying, as it undermined our trust in the whole booking procedure. It angered Val considerably and you will have on record her various phone calls, We discovered on the journey that she still did not have the full itinerary as we had both requested. This is a shame, as it was an amazing experience meeting most of our wishes let down by inadequate administration and a lack of comprehension of our situation as travelling friends, rather than friends travelling!

We have both had experience of safaris and Botswana is a wonderful place with absolutely delightful people well trained staff, but I would not recommend it as a first safari due to long distances and well distributed animals, that is just my view." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"3 camps with the same activities got ‘samey’

The Botswana people are aim to please & were lovely to deal with." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Thanks for all help, suggestions and fast follow up, even when we had some challenges the night before we left Amsterdam due to flight changes the next day from Johannesburg to Windhoek.

Great you were thinking along how to beat that challenge and giving alternatives for accommodation if we could not make it to our first stop. Thanks Tracy!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Inform your guests esp if they are used to safaris in other countries than Botswana, eg South Africa that the experience can be different. Im not talking about the game viewing which is obvious off course but the experience in the lodges. In South Africa you often for the same amount of money get more value (luxury, guest experience)" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"We cannot thank Expert Africa enough for helping make this trip a wonderful success. From the beginning this was the only internet site we could find that provided detailed information about each camp, including cost. We tried using a travel agent but they would not book the camps we wanted because they had relationships with specific operators. Though we felt a bit nervous about sending money to an internet operator, we forged ahead and were well rewarded. They took care of everything, including arranging flights from Joberg toMaun to each of the camps. Thank you!" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Botswana was our first return to Africa after many years and we had high expectations. We have come back with great memories having seen some fantastic wildlife, met some lovely and interesting people and had a few adventures.

We feel we have had a good mix of camps and experienced the delta and other areas.

There is just the niggle that we were at Chitabe on the wrong days!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, we were pleased with the service. Lucy asked lots of questions and listened to the answers!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fantastic trip, i was expecting great things, but i was still surprised at how great the trip was .

i would go back tomorrow and the next day,...

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

the trip was wonderful, Im sorry but i do find you website a bit dull, i prefer to go onto other web sites for inspiration and pre-holiday excitement. however that is small and wouldn't stop me using expert africa. the knowledge of the team is phenomenal" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 17 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was amazing!

Lucy could not have done a better job of meeting our needs. Her knowledge of the camps allowed her to help us make choices that would be good for us.
If she didn't have the information, she would find a colleague who did.

Everything was seamless." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Expert Africa was great to work with and Ellie was on top of everything." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"I would really recommend this holiday. Away from all pressures and - as one of the other guests put it - you pay to see the animals and the vegetation on your own. This is a tailor-made experience, away from the crowds of people you find in other safari holidays. You can watch a leopard quietly feeding with no other truck around. This is impossible in most game reserves. In a word: outstanding." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had 7 amazing days at 3 camps in an around the delta in August (Gomoti, Machaba and Lebala). Compared to places like the Mara/Kruger/Serengeti, I'd say there was less volume of game (or the plains are less open, so it's harder to see) - sometimes you'd go a couple of days without seeing a lion - so you had to work a bit harder for the sightings. However, the fact that they're all private reserves (or private-ish) means that when you're driving around you are in total isolation, and your sightings can mostly be enjoyed without other vehicles for as long as you like.

Even though there are several reserves and concessions, nothing is fenced - that's great as it makes it truly wild, the downside being that animals can cross the dividing lines but people can't, so you need to go to a few different camps to minimize the probability that the animal you wanted to see crossed the border yesterday and so isn't accessible (this happens quite a bit).

We had great sightings of leopard and wild dogs, saw the big 5 in a single day, had some truly amazing night drives - lion hunts, wildcat, serval, civet, owls galore - and picked up over 100 species of birds in the week. We went on a motor boat trip once, which was very beautiful, really relaxing. We also tried the mokoro, which didn't do much for us (felt quite rickety, and didn't see anything).

In August, the temperature goes from 5 degrees in the morning to close to 30 in the afternoon - that contrast really enhanced the experience as it felt like you were moving from one place to another every day.

All in all, it was by far the most thrilling safari experience I've been on - the tranquility makes it seem so much more wild/natural - and so in future I think I'll be coming back to Botswana rather than Kenya or Tanzania.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - Megan was fantastic as always" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari