South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"This feedback is far too long and not what you want to receive on your return from holiday when you have a million other things to do!! This is why it has taken me so long to complete after the end of the holiday. Why bother to ask about S A Airways and B A?

I have travelled with your company on several occasions and remain a great fan of the effort you take to make a holiday, to what could be a difficult area, run as smoothly as possible. This time was no exception and the following comments are for your guidance / information and in no way a criticism.

As you suggested we collected our baggage in Jo'burg and checked in again. On both occasions that we passed through Jo'burg the airport was EXCEEDINGLY busy and it was a good job that we had a 3 hour wait (as you had intimated) otherwise we would have missed the connecting flight. Anyone who was nervous of crowds and queues and delays may have felt concerned especially as a dangerous situation occurred as there was no room for passengers to alight from an escalator to join a massive queue through passport control.

Please see comments on the car at Mundulea.

When we arrived to check in at the Taj Pamodzi they asked for credit card details (which is usual in a hotel) and then asked how we were paying for the accommodation. It took over 10 minutes to convince them that we had already paid our travel agent. They had the audacity to say 'has it cleared through your bank account'. Eventually someone agreed that Expert Africa would be paying for the accommodation BUT THEY HAVE NOT YET PAID. Who was correct? At one time they wanted us to contact you before they would let us stay.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Whilst I can appreciate that you want as many good comments as possible I feel that you may miss out on the odd nugget of criticism / feedback because some like me considered giving up and are put off by the length of this feedback form.

The availability of a paper form would have been appreciated." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"We had a brilliant time - none of us wanted to come home!

It was really easy to travel around, all the hotels were good or brilliant and easy to find and we managed to do everything but Table Mountain (long queue on Easter Monday that the children couldn't have handled).

We found everyone we met really helpful and friendly and can't wait to go back. 12 out of 10 for a holiday (and we have had some pretty great ones in the past).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - its all be great. Thanks for all your help!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Outstanding in all respects. We have been to most of the world and certainly rank this trip among our favorites.

The assistance and guidance we received from Saskia Adye was fantastic, accurate and honest!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
If I were to go on safari and was assigned to a vehicle with nine people crowded together, not even mentioning the roads - I would end my trip then and there! This did not happen to us and usually it was either my wife and self on one other couple with two couples only once for a short period. Obviously, I prefer the two bench vehicles with a top (although I fully realize this is not always possible for a number of reasons. We are 77 and in good shape, I seriously doubt if anyone our age or approaching our age not in a reasonalbly good physical and mental condition would enjoy the trip we took. However, there are certainly many alternatives for any situation whereby almost anyone could be accomodated as long as they realize it is not a trip to New York City." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Overall we had a wonderful time and felt thoroughly spoilt.

All the places we stayed were excellent and we would certainly consider returning in the future." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"Our trip was brilliant. We were really pleased with the accommodation choices that Expert Africa suggested and the trip all went extremely smoothly. We'd love to go back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perhaps in the informatino you provide before the trip, you could provide a bit more detail about restaurant and activity ideas in each area." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"A most enjoyable holiday. The highlights were Rovos, Vic Falls in full flow and the Chobe National Park." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"Re car hire with Budget; they no longer require copy passport or drivers licence. In addition the CT office is not familiar with the form at at the back of your handbook to be signed by them on the return of the car. I think it is essential and they need to be encouraged to get used to this practise.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No thanks unless you can persuade B.A to let you use your client,s air miles!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"The standard of attention to detail, notes, directions, maps etc. second to none.

Saskia was exceptional form her phone manner, follow up and attention to detail and providing advice and support. Nothing but brilliant. We loved the whole experience and will certainly be in touch with you guys again for another African experience. Thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No! Is that OK?" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"We had a brilliant trip - we and Allan and Ruth, all thought that it was our best trip to S. Africa ever so Megan our thanks for absolutely everything and your unfailing patience in getting us organised. It gives us so much confidence and increases our enjoyment 100% to know that everything goes according to plan e.g. transfers are waiting for us, as arranged, and are professional, helpful and friendly.

Reg wants to make Rorke's Drift and the Great Migration his next trip !" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 2 on a South Africa trip

"We are very happy with most of the services and suggestions provided by Expert Africa. The lodge choices were excellent overall. We were also very happy that we decided to follow the recommendation of renting a 4x4. It made the driving much more comfortable and worry-free. Gwynn was a pleasure to work with. She is obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about her home country. The map provided was perfect! We had no problems at all driving ourselves.

I do have to mention two small bumps throughout the process. The first was a problem with the bank transfer from the US. Even though it is clearly explained in the instructions, I wish someone would have made it stand out. There are pages and pages of instructions to read and things are easily overlooked. It would be great if you could have a small list of highlights, including payment instructions. We ended spending over USD$300 to correct the bank transaction problem.

I was also disappointed about our lodging arrangements in the Kalahari. When we first discussed the lodging we were told that we were going to have to stay each one of the three nights at different places because everything was booked. To our surprise, when we arrived in Mata Mata and called !Xaus we were told that they had plenty of rooms available. They told us that they had availability when Expert Africa made our reservations. We ended up losing our entire payment for our night at Mata Mata Rest Camp which was not pleasant." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip