"I think my third trip with expert Africa was probably my best so far.

The South Luangwa in particular exceeded my expectations and was truly an unforgettable experience. I certainly hope to revisit this part of Zambia in the near future. All the arrangements and flight connections worked without a hitch.

On reflection I should probably have selected a stop over on my outward journey as I travelled continuously for more than 30 hours. I think it is worth mentioning that travelling between the lodges in Malawi does involve some lengthy road trips. In my case nearly 6 hours each time. This is not really a problem , but I think should be born in mind.

I learned a great deal about Malawi and the problems facing the country while I was there , and there is a programme of recovery and restocking of wildlife going on across the country in areas that suffered greatly from poaching and neglect in recent decades. African Parks are the main driving force , and are to be congratulated and supported. Therefore I encourage people to visit the parks and lodges in Malawi in support of this project , as well as to visit a very interesting country.

My thanks to Claire in particular at Expert Africa for arranging everything , and for helping me to Plan such a successful trip.

I certainly intend to use Expert Africa again in the future." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"The trip was everything we had hoped for! Very hot for much of the time (40-42C) but we coped with that." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Malawi trip

"Great holiday in that Pam knew what to expect.

The last two Lodges might have disappointed others who expected more and had researched less.

Malawi was disturbingly poverty stricken and food aid was obvious everywhere.

Lake Malawi is dropping alarmingly and one good rainy season will not be enough to restore the lake. What happens to the tourist business if the lake drops another metre from the September 2016 level does not bear thinking about." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Malawi trip

"The lodges were excellent. The transfers were acceptable apart from the last one from Mkulumadzi to Blantyre which was appalling." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip

"Fantastic.

Malawi and Zimbabwe proved to be two great countries to combine on this trip. There were many similarities. We found the staff in the camps and the people we met along the way to be very friendly, helpful and interested in us. The high standards of our guides impressed us, from Chris the manager at Mkulumadzi who personally took us on a walk and on a boat up the Shire River, to Richard Chamwala at Mvuu who delighted in sharing all things big and small with us. In our book you can always tell the best guides when they like finding the little birds and bugs to point out, not just the hippos fighting 30 feet away from the boat, both of which Richard did.

Our guide Nduduzi Ndlovu at Camp Amalinda in Matobo Hills was great at listening to us and discovering our interests, as evidenced by the wonderful day we spent with him driving through the park and the local communal lands, visiting a school, and hiking up to a cave with ancient paintings. He not only knows 7 languages but also knows where to find a zonkey!

Even our drivers that took us from one camp to another (or to an airport) were excellent, like Mike from Wilderness Safaris who stopped the car several times so we could see and talk to people and who also helped me buy a tchenge (those colorful traditional fabrics that woman wear as a wrap) in a roadside market.

We went to both countries in the hope that our visit would encourage and support the conservation of wildlife and wild areas. We also came to really appreciate the people of these two countries, where life has not been easy but there is a great determination to carry on and do better.

Claire at Expert Africa, with assistance from Chris, shared many insightful comments from personal experience so that we came up with this list of places to visit that really suited us. As usual, all details were handled and executed perfectly on the ground. This is really saying something because we gave quite short notice of our desire to travel.

And next time I will really believe you when you say that it gets cold in July at night!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"In addition to having a wonderful time at the various locations it is also worth commenting on the other staff, the drivers we had were fabulous - Sydney was with us for the main and was informative and helpful throughout the long trips between camps - he drove carefully and respectfully and was always attentive to our needs.

We also had one more driver for a short journey who was good, we were met at the airport and escorted through customs and on the way home looked after well also, we even received a call from Wilderness Safaris on our return to the airport to ask if everything was ok.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nothing major, we were dealt with at all levels in a professional manner, even when Claire was out of the office we had Ellie to cover who was equally knowledgeable about the trip.

I think the Heuglins Lodge info needs to be updated as the pictures are not representitive of the actual." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Malawi trip

"An excellent experience, the South Luangwa camps were excellent for hippo watching, which is what we had asked for." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari

"A great trip which exceeded our expectations.

We loved Malawi and the friendliness of the people. Also it was very interesting to see more of everyday life and the country on the transfers between lodges. Also the small numbers of tourists enhanced the experience.

Suggestions for improvements:

I think you deliver what you set out to; real expertise on Africa. Wilderness are very efficient and have excellent people, which makes the experience really special.

We will be travelling with you again; the question is where next?!." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 8 on a Malawi trip

"We would hav benfitted by staying longer in Country.

Wilderness safaris gave us excellent drivers and cosrructive help on arrival and departure.

Suggestions for improvements:

I hope to use your company again to revisit Malawi and possibly South Africa and Namibia.
We hope to be able to save enough cash and keep healthy enough to make further trips." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Malawi trip

"We are first and foremost independent travellers and this is the first time that, due to making a late in the day travel decision, we have had somebody arrange a trip for us. While we enjoyed the venues the lack of independence that we experienced by e.g. not having our own vehicle would put us off going down this route again. This was acutely felt when we arrived at Chintheche and discovered that we would be 'stuck' there for 6 nights. Again, had it not been for Briony and her staff we are likely to have shortened our time there and headed off to SA earlier.

I think EA should spend a bit of time really understanding what type of travellers they have in front of them. E.g. I fully expected that as we were being driven between locations we would have a person standing with board with our names on when we came through arrivals. What we did not expect - and did not appreciate - was having somebody standing with a board on the runway tarmac to meet us and guide us through customs, baggage relclaim, etc as though we were unable to do this for ourselves. Nothing like the looks from your fellow travellers to drive this home.

Before we left I raised concerns that 6 days at Chitheche was too long a time and we would ideally liked to have spent an extra day at Mvuu and/or Mumbo only to be told that this was not possible as they were full. On leaving Mvuu Lodge, which caters for at least 12 people, we asked them if they were full only to be told that they only had 2 couples that night (so we could have stayed an extra night). Similarly on the day that we checked out of Mumbo there was space available. Having arrived at Chintheche, with the accommodation clearly in need of investment, we found this 'availability' irksome.

While at Chintheche we mountain biked (which by the way also need some investment in repairs) to Makuzi Beach. Why is this venue not offered by yourselves as it is so much better in terms of accommodation and communal areas verses the Inn? It is also much better placed for snorkelling, etc and their kyaks, etc, etc all appeared to be working.

The above comments are not aimed to be critical but constructive and I have to emphasis that we definitely both enjoyed our time in Malawi around the lake.

I think that if you are the type of person that likes to have everything arranged for you then I would recommend using Expert Africa. Everything did what it said it would do on the lable - and we cannot fault that.

I am happy to discuss any of the above with EA if you wish to discuss/expand/clarify anything." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 14 on a Malawi trip