Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"A really fantastic experience, our first visit to Botswana, lovely country, friendly proud people, so much wildlife, excellent travel company . Would highly recommend.

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Would never have recieved this feedback form had I not chased it up and I was keen to give feedback because it helps other travellers etc. Very easy to fill in.

Think I would like to make a comment about all the various vouchers that are issued. Nobody asked for them at all except the Illala lodge and even then we only had one between us because one had been lost,but it didnt seem to matter. It all seems a bit of a waste of paper and something else for the client to carry (or loose!)." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"My trip to Botswana and South Africa far exceeded my expectations and was certainly a trip of a lifetime. All travel arrangements handled by Expert Africa was perfect.

Please give feedback to the camps: I would highly recommend an on-site nurse. There was one day when I arrived to Duma Tua where I suffered from heat exhaustion. It happened to be the hottest day of the trip and we left Vumbura at high heat and landed in high heat so the plane was extremely hot. Upon arrival to the camp after driving about 45 minutes also in high heat, my body literally shut down. I was unable to go to the night drive and the next morning drive. Although the staff was more than accomodating and worried for me, they were unable to get a hold of the nurse.

Luckily, I was prepared with re-hydration salts which allowed me to recover in less than 24 hours. It will give Visitors a good peace of mind and I did feel that Duma Tau was overstaffed with Managers so I don't think it would have been noticed that there was one less Manager but certainly would make a considerable impact with a Nurse on site. If this is not an option, I do recommend that all camps do keep re-hydration salts as part of their first aid kits.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the Wildnerness Camps and staff and I would 200% recommend them. I have so many irreplaceable memories and I look forward to the next trip." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Overall - a great trip. Highlights for us were the country and the animials. It was great to be back in Africa and the bush!

We loved the size, space and sheer amount of unspoilt and pristine wilderness in Botswana. The sightings of animals were very good and we got physically closer to the animals (about 10 feet away) in Botswana than on previous trips to Namibia and Tanzania. It was a pleasant surprise to see so much water (we were around the Delta area) in the dry season.

Sightings included 4 packs of wild dog - 2 at Little Kwara, where we saw 1 pack hunt and kill 2 impala. 2 other packs at Lebala including a sighting on foot - amazing. Also 2 unsuccessful attempts to hunt impala - the dogs chased the impala into the lake! Other hightlights were seeing large herd of elephant (30 - 40) at Lagoon and Lebala), cheetah (2 sets of 3 brothers at Little Kwara and Lagoon) and leopard (1 female at Lagoon and 1 female at Lebala). Lions at Little Kwara and Lagoon. Plus a lot of antelope, including sable, impala, birds, bufalo and wildebeest.

The animals were well fed (end of the dry season) and relaxed. The guides all gave the animals space and respect, which gave us great sightings without disturbing the animals. Having been on safari in other countries where the guides give the animals less space and respect, we appreciated the African style of guiding more on this trip." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our holiday was the experience of a lifetime. We would go back to both camps in a heartbeat and sincerely thank Expert Africa, and especially Maruska Adye, for organizing such a wonderful experience for us.

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No - everything was perfect!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had a really great safari, only let down by the lack of almost promised buffaloes in Duba Plains. Maybe it's time to see how often the buffalo are on the island and not rely on information from 5/6 years ago. For this reason alone, we've given a "not very" to the "knowledgeable" question as the interraction is now rare." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and greatly enjoyed Botswana and its people.

Expert Africa organised everything very well. The cancelled canoe trip partly happened and was a real highlight, so we are glad we stayed on at Selinda" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fabulous time.

We saw more wildlife than we have seen on previous safaris. We particulary enjoyed our walking and canoeing.
We felt that the standard of the guides and camps was excellent.

We will certainly use Expert Africa when we go to Africa again.

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Prefer to complete a feedback on paper rather than on-line" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Botswana which is a wonderful country.

We would recommend it to others." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Efficient and knowledgeable." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, we had an extremely enjoyable holiday. The variety of wildlife experiences exceeded our expectations. Accommodation was all very good or excellent. All the arrangements within the control of Expert Africa, whether for accommodation or transfers, worked out fine, without any problems.

The holiday wasn't one of Expert Africa's standard holidays. We spent some time working out the itinerary with them. That was time well spent and their expert advice was invaluable. Thanks very much to Gwynneth and also Nick for his advice on Botswana early on.


A couple of specific comments which don't fit in elsewhere:

1. We had two flights with Mack Air and had a good experience with them both times: friendly pilots and good flights. In addition, we had arranged for suitcases to be flown on separately from Maun to Kasane. This was handled efficiently and there was no difficulty retreiving the suitcases at Kasane airport.

2. We had a transfer with Wilderness Safaris from Kasane airport to Victorial Falls. This was handled efficiently so that we were able to complete the border formalities on entering Zimbabwe without a hitch.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - well organised holiday, plenty of helpful information." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip