South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"This was the most amazing trip. We saw so much wildlife the highlights being the cheetah the sable and the baby elephant giraffe hippo and lion cubs. We experienced being very close to lions and a little too close to elephants. My only disappointment was not seeing the wild dogs but they had moved out of the area and also not seeing a leopard. Our guides did everything they could to find the leopard and we did spend time tracking but if they don’t want to be found then no amount of searching will get that sighting." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Sabina was an excellent agent. Everything she recommended was excellent and just as described." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful 24-day road trip to Namibia in May / June 2024, followed by 5 days in Cape Town.

We really felt that we were listened too very carefully in the planning process.

I even got to see a pangolin which was top of my wish list.

We would highly recommend Expert Africa. Thank you Maruska!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
In the wildlife list leave a space to add wildlife which is not on the list." Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip

"Claire Scott helped us with this trip to Zimbabwe/South Africa. (She had previously organized a trip to Zambia/Malawi in 2015.)

Everyone in our group of 8 commented on how flawlessly and seamlessly this trip went, thanks to Claire!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We had a very enjoyable trip, focused mainly on seeing parts of Namibia that were new to us.

The diverse landscapes, varied accommodations, intermittent sightings of wildlife, even the experience of two punctures and the help we received….it was all wonderful.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service

I just wanted to mention how helpful the staff were at the Wilderness lounge, at the airport." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"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 had a magical trip to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe side), Okavango delta in Botswana and self-drive in Namibia.

We usually self-organise our trips around the globe, but having Expert Africa extensive, efficient and reliable support was a massive plus for our multi-country trip. It was extremely pleasant to feel really on holiday, with almost everything taken care of.

Locations and all accomodations but one were magical: beautifully set, very kind and helpful staff very often going an extra mile, extremely comfortable, quiet and relaxing, with amazing landscapes and/or wildlife to discover and admire.

A massive thank you to ExpertAfrica team and all partners involved!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"It felt like hard work this time, a combination of an uncomfortable vehicle and almost extreme temperatures probably caused this. Everyone said the park was quiet. As we only had a week there is no slack to catch up on missed sightings. This is the second time we have seen a leopard, but no cheetah at all this time. Lion sightings were very good. We saw nine lions in total, of which three were repeat sightings on another day or trip. We met someone who only saw 7 in two weeks. There is a lot of luck involved. Nossob was the least productive area no cat sightings and very sparse in general.

We enjoyed the trip and especially spending 1.75 hours with a pair of lions at Craig Lockhart, who then disappeared after that sighting.

Bird sightings were down, one owl, couple of bateleur eagles, but plenty of tawny and some vultures for the first time.

I mentioned queuing to get out into the park this seemed more time consuming. The roads were not well maintained on the Nossob side, which makes driving tiring.

I wonder whether the park is too full? They are supposed to be building more picnic sights which will break up journeys. This year Auchterlonie toilets was having a refurb so out of commission. The ones at Lijersdraai urgently need an overhaul, I forgot they had no sink, as not visited since 2022." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"Our overall experience of Expert Africa was excellent.

They listened very carefully to what we wanted to achieve and created a really good programme for us in terms of locations, drive times, variety of landscapes and things to do and see. This absolutely ticked the boxes in terms of history and culture which particularly interested us, while enabling us to enjoy the classic Cape food, wine and landscape experience.

In other words, our holiday was exactly what we wanted, delivered with care and attention to detail." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"Overall we all agree it was the best family trip we've ever done, we just loved it!

Tracy was very patient with the booking arrangements and all her suggestions were sensible. I think a conversation about how busy Cape Town would be in the New Year would have helped, although I suppose with hindsight it's obvious. Otherwise I really can't think of anything that could have been done better.

Thank you so much for helping us create the amazing memories we now have!

Just have to work out how we can do this all again!!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip