Reviews of safaris to Caprivi Strip

"Given this is Africa and I'm used to setting expectations on organisation accordingly, the fact that this trip was flawless in its organiasation is even more incredible.

Almost all the hotels were fabulous and we invariably had the best rooms - not sure if that's because we booked early or wheather its Expert Africa's influence but definately no complaints here.

The trip was exactly what we asked for and although it was a year in the planning, Sabina took time to understand our needs and organised a trip that met them and worked well. Things like picking up the car in Namibia and organising a taxi across the Botswana border worked well and saved us money.

Being able to explain what we were after and then for her to make suggestions and evolve the trip accordingly definately worked well and we now have some ideas for our next trip. Will definatley look to use Expert Africa again if possible.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Very impressed with everything - just wish you did Uganda and Angola as these are two countries I'm keen to visit." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was fantastic! Our adviser Maruska Adye really understood the experiences we wanted and our budget. Spending time in both countries was wonderful." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Lucy was a great resource and very helpful in providing detailed information on the different parks and areas. We had a couple of zoom session and we worked together on setting up an itinerary.

Excellent trip from start to finish. Everything went like clockwork with no issues. We had our best sightings on this trip and managed to see wild dogs which was a lot of fun.

Very happy with the experience." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari

"An amazing trip and we are already trying to book a similar trip again next year.

We also met another couple who also booked with Expert Africa (Lucy) and had nothing but praise.

Overall, everything worked out fantastic.

Only negative is cost of BA airfare buying through Expert Africa, to get the ABTA cover. And then BA wanting quite a bit extra to book seats." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We had a great time in Botswana, again!!

Despite us leaving the decision until almost too late (September 2023 for a June 2024 trip), Lucy Copson managed to arrange a wonderful range of camps in the Okavango for us. She managed to book the last available accommodation at the camps despite recovering from a major operation, for which we are immensely grateful.

Lucy has been unfailingly helpful and effective in arranging and communicating with us, despite her illness in the leadup to this 2024 trip. She was equally helpful and effective during the rapidly-changing Covid requirements in the planning and leadup to the 2022 trip.

Our travel documents arrived on time, both times, and had a lot of reassuring details about managing health, travel and other possible difficulties while on safari. We have never needed them, but were very glad to have the details and know that backup plans were in place.

The Expert Africa website is an excellent resource, especially for those of us who like to read about where we are going in great detail. The toll-free number has been a great resource for urgent questions when email is inadequate.

We would recommend Expert Africa and Lucy Copson without hesitation to our friends, and are dreaming already of another safari somewhere in Africa!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"The whole trip ran very smoothly.
Sometimes pre-trip communication could have been more prompt." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"This was the BEST trip of our lives.

It was everything we had hoped for and more. So many memories and new experiences.

Maruska met and exceeded our brief, and we can't thank her enough for her time, suggestions and recommendations." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip which was 3 weeks in Namibia with a few days each in Botswana and Victoria Falls at the end.

Namibia was really surprising. We knew the landscapes would be impressive but needed to experience them to fully understand just how impressive they are plus we hadn't expected the wildlife to amount to much but saw a lot more wildlife than we could have imagined.

We started out a little worried about the idea of a self-drive but our concerns were largely unfounded. Europcar were very helpful, helping with buying a local SIM card then how to connect the phone to the car and so be able to use Googles SatNav. The 4WD vehicle was rugged and had plenty of space. There was no problem obtaining petrol, with plenty of petrol stations at important stages of the drive. Most petrol stations had good toilet facilities but charged a few Namibian dollars to use them. Diesel was invariably dispensed by one employee while another employee cleaned the windscreen and we found ourselves tipping little and often.

We had taken a lot of cash in SA Rand and some Namibian dollars as we had read that credit cards were not widely used. However, we found that very few shops, restaurants etc did not accept credit cards and in fact they were preferred to cash.

The roads during the first half our trip were a bit rougher than expected but we stuck to the speed limits recommended by the vehicle hire company for gravel roads and had no problems with the vehicle and not one puncture. This did mean allowing longer for the drives than the Sat Nav said but we built that into our time-lines on travel days. The second half of our trip, ie once past Etosha and up to the north, was mostly on long, straight, tarmac roads and there were regular, sign-posted stopping places with picnic benches and shade along all the main roads where we could stretch our legs and have a drink and a snack which we had brought with us.

Navigation also proved to be easier than expected thanks to a combination of the SatNav (Google maps using a phone connnected to the vehicle) and the directions supplied by Expert Africa.

Highlights for us were the general scenery around Sossusvlei and particularly the balloon trip over the dunes, the coastal area around Swakopmund, sleeping under the stars in Damaraland, the wildlife in the Etosha area and particularly the waterhole at Okaukeujo and the wetlands in Bwabwata National Park. However, the quality of the various lodges, their staff, guides and food in 12 out of the 13 places we stayed are what really made our holiday special.

We will remember this trip for a long time and took so many great photographs that making the photobook of this holiday is proving daunting - there won't be space for everything we want to include.

Thanks so much to Chris McIntyre who insisted we needed to visit Okaukeujo and to Sabina who suggested the balloon trip over the dunes, for all the other recommendations and for putting the whole trip together.

This was our second Expert Africa trip and we are already looking forward to contacting them about our next African adventure in a couple of years." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"We cannot praise the organisation of this trip highly enough. It was excellent from beginning to end.

It provided everything we wanted. The choice of accommodation for our budget was spot on, and some how we seemed on almost every occasion to be in one of the best rooms. Hard to believe that was by chance!

We experienced only two very minor 'hiccups' and both were resolved by the Namibian representative almost instantly - itself perhaps as good a recommendation as one can give.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our experience of the availability of internet across Namibia was considerably better than the Notes to Travellers indicated we should expect.

We found every fuel station and lodge we visited expected us to pay by credit card, and in the end we were left with a large amount of SA currency which we were only able to use after a friendly SA lodge manager agreed to accept it in payment of our final account at the end of the trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We enjoyed our trip very much, mainly because we hadn't experienced this part of Botswana and Namibia before and that sense of anticipation of what to expect next was always something to look forward to.

The lodges/camps we chose were somewhat remote and transfers between them were actually quite long and a bit tiring. Botswana and Namibia border crossings and immigration were numerous and also tedious in some instances- long queues etc.

Wildlife sightings throughout the trip, apart from Elephants at Camp Kuzuma waterhole, were limited and hence a little disappointing. A visit to the Delta may be on the cards in the future but we would not return to this area." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip