Malawi: reviews from our travellers
Original reviews written by our most recent travellers to Malawi
"Holiday of a lifetime"
We were also very impressed with Robin Pope Safaris - each of their lodges was very different tin feel but shared the same ethos and attention to detail. The guiding was particularly good in all the camps." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari
"A safari in Malawi"
"Malawi 2016"
How fortunate to see three leopards while visiting Chelinda, the trip was made!! A challenging first week walking the Livingstonia Trail. Great fun, wilderness & sense of achievement. Cannot praise the staff enough.
My heart is lost in Tongole a very special place. Enjoyed all our other accommodations too. A real comfort to see Abasie our driver from our previous trip, we were right at home! All in all another very successful trip. Thank you." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Malawi trip
"My Sep 2015 trip"
"Better than expected!"
Expert Africa offered a personalised service and thorough knowledge of the areas we visited. All the arrangements went smoothly and the recommendation we were given turned out to be very suitable. The game viewing more than met our expectations, and we surprised ourselves by how much insight we gained into the lives of the locals in both Zambia and Malawi.
This will NOT be our last visit to Africa!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari
"Flawless"
Our trip was everything we expected...and more. This trip was for my husband's 40th birthday & she must have let all the lodges know because they all did something special for him. It really made the whole experience extra special for him.
Our entire trip was flawless - from the pickup at Livingstone airport to drop off at Likoma's tiny airport for our journey back to the States. Thank you so much, Claire & Expert Africa, for putting together a trip we will remember forever.
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We have zero criticism or constructive feedback - everything was flawless from beginning to end!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
"Sambia and Malawi July 2015"
It is amazing how all the pieces nicely worked together without us having to inquire." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari
"Historical Malawi Adventure"
A very great big thanks goes to Claire Scott, my contact who took on board what I thought was a massive ask & querie into what I was aiming to achieve. Having explained four of five main locations I wanted to visit in Malawi & why, Claire set about making & suggesting a plan for me. My quest was to visit locations in Malawi that my great grandfather had pursued over a hundred & thirty years ago in the late eighteen hundreds.
In 1888 William Murray had set out as a young man of 22, from the Highlands of Scotland, to pursue a vocation of working in the Mission field in Central Africa. The first location that I was aware he worked at was Bandawe. Others included Livingstonia, Kota Kota, Kasunga & Mombera to name a few.
Claire set about making a plan suggesting flights, airports, accommodation and transportation. Within a few days she returned to me with a plan that certainly encompassed as much as I could fit in with the time available.
The trip was set in motion! As we reached nearer our departure date Claire contacted me regarding seeking information from Malawiean sources. Sources in Malawi had offered to help me find information on the Hisotrical Missions, if I was interested. I was over the moon. This proved very worth while. I met with Dora & Mike from Mandala House, in Blantyre (the Society of Malawi) I spent a morning with them and shared photos & information. This was a positive start to our Mission adventure.
All our accommodation on our trip was unique to their locations and varied in style & facilities. Frank & I enjoy meeting people and try to accommodate all activities where possible when we travel. Was it luck or what?? Everywhere we visited we met new & interesting people - staff & guests. Had fun, enjoyment and companionship in all activities.
Our driver from Central African Wilderness Safaris - Abassie was a real gentleman. Patient, attentive to our needs & wishes. He delivered us to all locations on the schedule & squeezed a few more in, while en route to destinations. We valued his local knowledge & connections with people. Although we learned loads from him, I do believe he also learned from the 'journey' & information we had taken along.
Our 'journey' took in all the locations we aimed to cover. Arriving in Livingstonia was the end of our journey but also the most important to me. We met with the librarian & estate manager of Livingstonia Mission(arranged by Abassie I asume). Both provided us with a guided tour, history lesson & a hilariously enjoyable morning. Finding a photo of my Great grandfather with Dr Robert Laws in one of the museum displays in the Stone House was the height of happiness for me. The rounding up of a long, searching journey. Ah!
Now, I have a lot of correspondence to catch up with everyone in Malawi who assisted with my search.
Our trip also provided some holiday time too. The treat part was to visit Tongole Wilderness Lodge and what a treat. Aswel as enjoying the visit from the local elephants, everyone & everything about Tongole was just brilliant.
Expert Africa provided well organised travel information, assistance with my specific reason to travel & a very caring, helpful Claire Scott - thank you so much!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Malawi trip
"My Oct 2014 trip"
We were pleased that our trip turned out to be very well balanced as we had hoped. South Luangwa obviously has greater game density than our other locations but the Lower Zambezi and Malawi gave different perspectives. The boat trips on the Zambezi were special and the friendliness and birding at Mkulumadzi were a great variation.
It was pleasing to feel that we not only visited an established camp in Zambia but also a brand new luxury camp in its first season. In addition we went to a reserve in Malawi that is trying hard to re-establish itself and really needs and deserves our support.
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The only point relates to photographic equipment. We did not have any problems but the weight issues could be a problem for other travellers or ourselves in future. It is almost impossible to stay within the 5 kgs hand luggage limit on the internal flights - it would be better if the airlines specified a maximum total weight including hold luggage. It is never really an issue on the flights as the hand luggage is stowed in the back of the plane." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari
"Great safari/lakeside chill combination"
In game viewing terms we saw everything that we could have hoped for, and RPS are an efficient organisation with excellent guides. The 3 camps had very similar game and terrain - the contasts on our last trip between Selous and Ruaha in Tanzania were much greater. Nkwali and Tena Tena we would recommend, but Nsefu was spoilt by mosquito problems.
Kaya Mawa/Likoma Island is not for everyone (e.g.fussy N.Americans) but suited us perfectly with its laid back warm welcome, lack of commercialism, peaceful location and delightful staff - a great stress buster." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari