Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"I bought this trip for my wife's 60th birthday and it was an inspired choice. We usually back-pack so this was exceptionally easy - especially the transfer at the Botswana - Zambia border. Note that the driver told me that I couldn't get a KAZA visa at this border crossing, mentioned in the very good Bradt guide you provided. This was not correct and we were issued one when I enquired. Great choice of lodgings and really loved Okajima, River Dance and Garden Lodge.

Josh clearly explained to me the type of trip we were booked on, particularly that we were not including some of the major game parks, so we were very clear on what we would be experiencing and he sent me a new map free of charge when we found a minor mistake on the first one.

I'm impressed with the service by both Expert Africa and your local agents. Your instructions/information are excellent.

Minor points are raised where applicable in the accommodation reviews, but they in no way spoilt our trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Other than the points raised above, no." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Well planned and good preliminaries by Lucy Copson..
We have already recommended you!!!!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We were very pleased with the structure of the trip: 6 very busy days on safari followed by 3 days R+R at a superb location.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This trip has been incredible - one of the highlights of my life.

It was by the most expensive holiday we ever had, but in view of the experiences we had and the quality of the service provided, we would say that it was excellent value for money." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Very enjoyable we would like to return to Botswana." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Four years age we went to similar camps (also at the end of March) and the wildlife was extraodinary. This year the wildlife was more touch-and-go. At all camps we could drive for several hours and see few animals, and then we would encounter many animals, similar to our 2014 experience. What we were did not realize was that the 2014 trip coincided with exceptional early water, and our 2018 trip was the normal dry period. Kanana was so dry that we could not use the boat, and were able to mokoro only in a single channel. Our 'satisfactory' ranking simply reflects picking the wrong time to visit. If this was our first visit we would have ranked the trip much higher.

Thank you for ensuring that all camps were aware of our food preferences. All camps worked to accomodate them. With the exception of Little Tubu, all camps served vegetarian rather than vegan meals. The meals at Little Tubu were incredibly delicious, and the chef is fantastic.

With the exception of Savute Safari Lodge, we enjoyed the diversity of lodges and experiences. Savute was a poor choice for us for five reasons: disregard for acceptable viewing of wildlife; excessive crowding of vehicles (we knew this was a national park, and anticipated seeing other cars, but not so many and so constantly); so-so guide (our guide sometimes made comments that indicated he was a knowledgeable guide, but he generally said little and rarely shared this knowledge); rodents in our rooms (which were otherwise very nice, and had wonderful porches); and overall a lower quality in food, service, and facilities, compared to our other camps." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"Amazing holiday and everything ran smoothly from beginning to end.

We saw magnificent wildlife, stayed in some fabulous places but the memory that will stay with us for a lifetime will be the wonderful people we met along the way.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really.

Everything was amazing and would have no hesitation in recommending your agency - in fact we already have!

Rich was great, the fact that he had worked in Southern Africa gave us information we couldn't have accessed easily anywhere else.

Extremely happy with our choice of Expert Africa x" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Our safari adventure was part of a longer trip to Africa and was the highlight.

Having been fortunate enough to go on safari before staying in lodges I wanted an experience to bring me closer to the whole environment and maybe harking back to the original type of safari! The comfortable camping option was perfect! Real beds, a shower, a comfortable toilet ,good food and wine plus lions and hyenas in the camp!

Great!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 2 on a Botswana safari

"More than that satisfactory." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had the best time in spite of some hiccups. We went previously in the dry season so it was quite interesting going in the "green" season. We are so glad we did! It was fantastic seeing so many new born animal babies and so many of the birds were in mating plumage which can be so different from regular plumage. We really like the green season best of all!

As for the camps, Wilderness Camps are so well run and maintained. So far we have not seen any camps who can hold a candle to their standard. If we go back a 3rd time to Botswana or any of the other countries that have Wilderness camps...........we will go with Expert Africa and Wilderness Safari Camps.

It was wonderful working with Maruska Adye in New Zealand. We used her 5 years ago and were so delighted to work with her again. We truly appreciate Expert Africa's approach of good common sense when planning a trip and listening to what a customer thinks (ha!) they want versus what is realistic. All documents were spot on and we knew that all details were addressed. It was wonderful to be met by various individuals at the airports as one is never sure where to go in a new airport.

Thank you for a great trip!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perhaps letting folks know what kind of power plug can be found in the camps. What is stated on a general query about plugs on the internet does not translate to what the camps have (ie. Bristish plug in Nkwali!)" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari