Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"We had a wonderful trip and loved being back in the bush. We had some great sightings, some new animals and birds and really enjoyed being back in the middle of nowhere. No phone, no TV, no email, great wildlife, masses of fresh air, good food - bliss!

October is known to be hot but we were told they were having a particularly hot few weeks and temperatures were into the early 40s by midday. That was the only negative for us as it made siesta time a challenge and guests and staff alike found it very sapping.

In terms of planning, Megan came up with a lot of really good suggestions and did a great job of helping us narrow down what we wanted to do. Her thoughts on particular camps were welcome and insightful. Thanks (again!) Megan

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"As a regular client of Expert Africa we received the normal high level of attention to our needs." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Please see our comments on the individual lodges / camps.

We would be interested to know whether other travellers have given similar negative feedback on Little Kwara. The guide in question has been there for many years.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Very pleased with the overall service." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was truly amazing, we were all delighted with all aspects of this trip, Megan was extremely helpful and her advise invaluable.
The trip exceeded our expectations and thank you." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"It was a fabulous experience and, as honeymoons should be, unforgettable. We felt really spoilt and didn't have to think about anything which was great after weeks of detailed wedding planning. Although we only had 8 nights in total; it felt much longer.

We were wined, dined and given a wealth of memorable experiences to recount to friends. Although most of these are about the animals (such as being stuck between a leopard, her baby and a pack of hungry wild dogs), we were also charmed by many of the local people we met.

We also felt the combination of our 3 camps was good - the intimate rustic charm of the Kwando-run Little Kwara, the outstanding quality of Wilderness-run Duma Tau and the Wilderness marketed 'franchised' Tubu Tree which probably had the best balance in terms of intimacy and quality but sadly lacked animals.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We are very happy with the service we got from Expert Africa and Megan in particular. Can't be faulted. In a good way, there were no real surprises to our trip - the picture was as she had painted it. We appreciated this. Thanks Megan.

On this feedback form when I pressed 'back to previous page' for the first time (when I was on page 3) I lost all of the comments on page 3. I may be wrong but I don't think I was warned about this. Perhaps below the 'back to previous page' button you could say please save first." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"As long-time travellers to Southern Africa, we are amazed that each trip seems to be more incredible than the last and keep thinking that our good fortune must end at some time.

Not yet - this was our most enjoyable safari in every way.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nothing - our experience with Expert Africa is always excellent" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Out trip was great and met all our overall expectations. The wildlife everywhere was abundant.

The only thing I would ahve changed was not to stay at Muchenji. It was my preference that we stay away from Kasane in a more remote environment but I hadn't fully appreciated the distances and the amount of travel time involved to visit the NP and river.

It was fortunate that we had fleeces with us and I would certainly recommend that all visitors take warm clothing with them for the morning and evening game drives. In my view this should be emphasised more strongly.

Please warn guests that the G&T's served are really, really strong" Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"This was another excellent trip to Southern Africa organised for us by Expert Africa. Thank you Gwynneth. The advice from EA concerning 2WD versus 4WD vehicles for this trip was appropriate. The lodges were of a standard equal to or better than our expectations, especially the Garden Lodge in Kasane where our guides John and Innocent provided expert advice and guidance. The section of the trip after leaving the hire car in Kasane progessed smoothly and the cross border transfer into Zambia was effected efficiently. The transport arrived on time in Kasane as did the transfer from the Zambezi Sun to Livingstone airport., As noted earlier, at no stage were we asked for the Yellow Fever Certificates." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Altogether we had a wonderful trip and generally loved every moment of it (some minor exceptions, will be forgotten).

In spite of (in our opinion) generally less animals and smaller herds, we had many good sightings, very good photography.

Many thanks for organising it and the camps we asked for in spite of rather short notice.

Thank you again for a great safari vacation!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Your trips, service and help are excellent (we got used to that).

One minor thing - maybe update your Botswana brochure re.: tips. We took US cash as per recommendation, found that the local (camp) brochures raised tips to $15/day. Your brochure is the same as 6 years ago." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Hard work. Not as rewarding as our first trip to Namibia but still fun.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Advice on where to buy pulas was not good. Windhoek airport does not stock pulas in any of the three exchanges. Bank in Namibia (4 tried) also don't sell pulas. Finally bought them in Botswana at Barclays. Other point is that Windhoek airport exhanges do not take travellers cheques." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip