Reviews of safaris to Kwando-Linyanti area

"Our trip was wonderful - we enjoyed it very much. The information Maruska provided when we were initially planning the trip helped to arrange a trip that suited our interests and desires. We believe the initial phone conversation was essential to the process, as Maruska was able to find out what we were hoping to do, and she knew the right questions to ask in order to better understand what we were looking for (both in terms of what we wanted to see and do, and what was most important to us.) Once she understood that seeing different habitats and wildlife, with good guides, were our priorities, she was able to suggest camps to fulfill these priorities.

Maruska also understood that luxury accommodation and gourmet food were not important to us; we just wanted comfortable, safe accommodation (though we found all our accommodations and food great). Our discussions with Maruska helped tremendouly, since we were not familiar with the camps in Botswana and how it all works (camps, activities, transport).

Also, her extensive knowledge of Namibia assisted us in deciding exactly what we wanted to do there and how we could do it. We really appreciated her knowlegde of both the regions and activities, and the practical knowledge of what was possible (e.g., roads, distances, driving times, etc.). Everything worked out extremely well.

I have one additional comment regarding the camps in Botswana. We really enjoyed Mapula Lodge, which was very relaxed and did not have so many guests. Our stay at Mapula was very special, even though we saw more game at the other two lodges. Although we enjoyed all three camps, the atmosphere at Mapula was most appealing to us, as we really like to take our time watching the wildlife, not rushing from one animal to another.

We realize every visit is probably different, and we were lucky to be at Mapula with only two other guests. But one thing we would definitely look for in the future (after having experienced the camps), is camps that have no more than four guests in a vehicle. It is just a much better experience to drive through the habitats and see the animals with only two or four guests in the vehicle. Luckily, we only had two game drives with six guests - but those two drives were not nearly as enjoyable as the others. With six guests, there was a lot more talking, and it was hard to appreciate the sounds of the animals and the land, sounds that enhanced the amazing things we saw.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I only have one suggestion. We never received our final documents (including map and luggage tags) by mail. Although this did not affect our trip, since Maruska e-mailed all the necessary documents, it might help to send the final document package by special post (with some sort of tracking) rather that just by regular mail. One other idea is that the final document package could have been sent again by fast post when we still had not received the package 10 days before departure. As I mentioned, it did not affect our satisfaction with the trip, and Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek airport had a map of Namibia ready for us when we arrived.

Thank you for a great trip!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We both loved Botswana and the people at each camp were exceptionally friendly and helpful. What a great country." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip to Botswana, after all of the research and planning, completely lived upto and exceeded our expectations. We met some wonderful people and saw amazing wildlife and scenery.

We cannot think of anything we would have done differently and the travel tips from Expert Africa and the Bradt guide were well informed and extremely useful, for example, take spare batteries, pack light and use the laundry facilities which we have not done on previous trips.

So a big thank you to Expert Africa, the camp staff of Little Kwara, Lagoon Camp, Chitabe Lediba and Duma Tau and of course to the Botswanan wildlife." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We went for the animals and the scenery which were wonderful and totally lived up to expectations but I hadnt expected to be so entranced by the people who looked after us. They were just amazing, genuine, dignified, informed, funny,. It was such a priviledge to have that experience and i will never forget ithem.

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Just keep doing what you are doing so well. Maruska was great, listened to us and was very knowledgeable which helped enormously.She was very good, answered our questions very promptly. We also met some other people whose trip she planned and they were also extremely happy with her." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Every thing ran like clockwork and came up to expectations. Thanks to Lucy for doing a great job.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa.

Hope to travel with you again

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Keep up the good work" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Expert Africa have lived up to their name, providing us with an exceptional, personalised trip and some wonderful memories.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would have thought that there was very little room for improvement!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and even though there was the odd misfortune we counted them as part of the experince. We enjoyed sharing the trip with our friends and have a wealth of photos and memories which will remain with us.

Our thanks for your good advice when we started plannig the trip. Your knowledge was invaluable and made a huge difference.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

You may wish to advise travellers about problems at Maun with luggage tampering. We had nothing of value in our luggage so merely suffered the inconvenience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"I look forward to another trip to Africa and would definitly recommend Expert Africa and Maruska Adye to my friends.

She is knowlegeable about the countries we visited, patinet with questions, and fast in her responses." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"In retrospect, it probably was a mistake to go at this time of year. Our timing was dictated by the fact that we were already in Africa.

However, the rainy season meant that the animals were widely dispersed, requiring long rides in the vehicles to see handfuls of animals. And areas of the concessions were inaccessible owing to high water. Also the tall grass meant that animals were hard to see. There were magic moments during our week, but not enough of them to justify the considerable expense.

Our dissatisfactions with the safari have nothing to do with Expert Africa itself." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful time. Our Expert Africa consultant, Maruska Adye, was excellent!!! Her initial response to our queries was the reason we choose this company to help plan our safari. Her advice was invaluable. I would highly recommend her, and Expert Africa, to anyone planning a safari.

Although there are several places that we would not return to, we had a great time experiencing them on this trip. Once you have visited some places, there is no reason to return. If we were fortunate enough to plan another safari I would certainly ask Maruska and Expert Africa for their help and guidance.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

[Ed: Referring to our electronic feedback form]

Like to be able to save the file to our PC or at least print it out as one document, including the full comments...not just the part visible on the form." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari