Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"The whole trip was excellent. All arrangements worked like clockwork.

The camps, game vewing, quaility of guides met our expectations.

We met lots of interesting people along the way which enriched the experience and encouraged us to do even more safari travelling in the future!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"First we thought Nick advised us well to start at Victoria Falls then move on to the camps. The pre-holiday information sent by Expert Africa was extremely informative and useful and Nick was always prompt in answering our queries.

The three Kwando camps were uniformly excellent but different in their own ways. The common denominator was the positive and welcoming attitude of all the staff. No exceptions. We can't praise them too highly. All were extremely helpful, worked hard and really seemed to want to contribute to the enjoyment of your holiday.

We were apprehensive when setting out as to how we would cope as vegetarians but we enjoyed every meal. We have seen negative reviews about the food but literally everything is cooked or prepared from scratch and we found it extraordinary how such delicious things are prepared in the middle of nowhere.

A small point but we think Kwando are missing an opportunity in the camp shops where there is little choice of local crafts as mementoes. Indeed no-one seemed to know what if anything had been made in Botswana.

This was our first visit to Africa and would probably be difficult to beat. Everything went smoothly from the moment we landed at Victoria Falls to our return flight to Maun. We saw everything that we wanted to see and more and returned home with more than 1600 photographs and memories that will be with us for a long time. Kwando's policy of a maximum six people per jeep makes for memorable and intimate sightings. On a couple of occasions we were the only ones in the jeep. Being so close to the wildlife with no-one else about was magical." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We found that the trip was well organised and most enjoyable and we would have no hestitaion in recommending your company . Our only minor problem was that we had expected lower temperature than experienced. We booked for the Sept period because from information given the average temperature was quoted at 25 C Max (ref: notes for travellers page 13). As soon as we left Windhoek
we were in the high 30's and it then it got to 40+. Are the temperatures quoted for Windhoek? At Vic Falls we saw a weather report and it was 25C in Windhoek but it was 41C in VF.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank your team for all of the support given and we would hope to travel with you again." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall our trip was amazing. We'd chosen five different camps to give us variety and I think we achieved this.

We hadn't realised that it would be quite so hot in September despite studying temperature charts and if we were to return we would probably choose a cooler month.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I think the only change I would have made to the holiday was to use South African Airways rather than Botswana Air.

Our flight from Dum Tau to Little Kwara was rather long despite the small distance involved. We made two stops on the way to take on and let off passengers and the journey took over an hour and a half. Due to the heat it was very uncomfortable. I imagine this though is outside your control." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"We had been planning to go to Botswana for some years having been on safari to a number of other African countries and had high expectations for Botswana. We were not disappointed - we had a fantastic trip.

Botswana is a beautiful country and the combination of the terrain, the mix of desert and abundant water, the remoteness and unspoilt and uncrowded nature of the area, the universal friendliness of the people and the superb array of animals and birds makes for an unforgettable time. Everything on the trip went like clockwork. All the camps were excellent - all had great location, great tents, wonderful staff and good food.

We thought that the Kwando camps distinguished themselves with the quality of their guiding and their dedication to the task. Duma Tau (the Wilderness Camp) had a greater degree of luxury throughout and a real responsiveness in the staff to allow you to do whatever you wanted - although we felt that the guiding was not as good there. In addition we preferred the Land Cruiser vehicles at Kwando (which had more room) and preferred not having a canopy on the vehicles. We also valued the guide and tracker system that was used by Kwando.

Overall a fantastic trip - we are already talking about when to go back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I thought that the service from Expert Africa through Megan was excellent. I particularly valued the advice and input when we were putting the trip together and the views on the different strengths and weaknesses of camps and operators - which I think was borne about by our experience." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Every expectation I had about our trip to Africa was fulfilled, it was a truly magical experience that I will never forget.

I cannot thank Maruska enough for the itinerary she arranged for us. I loved the different terrain we experienced in the different camps and the camps themselves." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"fantastic" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"All in all a really fantastic trip pulled together relatively last minute by Tracy.

All the transfers were seamless, which is always really nice when they work.

Exceeded our expectations overall and would highly recommend Tracy and Expert Africa to anyone travelling to Namibia, Botswana. and Victoria Falls.

Her knowledge of the area and what to expect was invaluable.

Wish we had more time." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This was a marvellous trip, partly because we visited some amazing places which showed completely different aspects of Africa but partly because of the effort put into planning the holiday by Megan at Expert Africa. She was endlessly patient and wanted to get the trip absolutely right for us whilst staying within our budget. We were happy to take Megan's suggestions which proved to be absolutely spot on for us.

Many thanks for helping us to have such a great introduction to Africa. We will be back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perhaps you could explain the varied nature of some of the transfers more clearly. We were surprised by the number of different drivers we had going from Livingstone to Muchenje and the transfer to the small boat across the Zambesi seemed somewhat precarious, (and hilarious!) but having said that it did all work! It was not quite what we expected but certainly gave us a feeling of adventure and Africa from the start!

I think that the organisation is to be congratulated on such an efficient and personal service. Many thanks" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Fantastic. Level of driving was just right. The places we stayed were all quite different to one another which added to the overall experience. They were also quite small which was really good too. All the arrangements worked perfectly.

Tracy Lederer was the person who I dealt with. She was fantastic. Really pleasant, helpful, knowledgeable and quick to respond. Was really impressed.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I was really surprised it was originally suggested that a 'normal car' would suffice. We upgraded to a 2 wheel drive SUV and were glad that we did. While you could have probably done the trip in a 'car' but the chances of damaging it would be quite high due to its low ground clearance. Also, driving along the tracks would have been far from comfortable. I recommend that a 2 wheel drive SUV should be the standard car you suggest." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip