"We did most of the planning for our trip to Tanzania ourselves. Lyndsey was our agent from Expert Africa. This is our second trip with Expert Africa and we are left disappointed by the service received.

Lyndsey's main role was to assist in stitching our itinerary together, liasing with both Nomad Tanzania on the ground, with accommodation providers and with safari charter companies. On a positive note, all our transfers, accommodation and transport were seamless. We appreciate the work Lyndsey did to make this happen as we are aware logistics in Tanzania can be complex.

However we dont feel Lyndsey or Expert Africa proactively discount or negotiate on behalf of clients. We were offered discounts with various accommodation providers for booking direct but we had to push for these to be made available for booking through Expert Africa. They were never proactively offered. In addition, we had to push to stay at Hatari Lodge. Lyndsey wrongly commented that Arusha National park is closed after 6pm and we would be unable to arrive into Hatari later. We had to contact the lodge ourselves directly and paste information on email from Hatari's website to challenge this as Hatari have an agreement with the park management to allow guests arrive post 6pm.

We were disappointed we never received a paper copy of our documentation from Expert Africa. We didnt purchase a travel guide as we were expecting to receive one from our agent. With only 2-3 days before our departure date, we were finally told no paper documents, luggage tags or guide book would be sent. It left us no time to purchase one online ourselves. Its a small thing but it left a poor impression. In addition, & despite agreeing accommodation choices, it took a long time to receive confirmation of reservations, some times up to 14 days.

Finally, we are currently disputing a fee we were told we must pay in order for a safari charter to operate. We paid 4 seats and were reassured by our agent that this would be refunded if other pax were subsequently onboard. When we sent an email from Tanzania that 4 pax were in fact on board and requesting a refund, we received an email from Lyndsey offering to refund only 1 seat and would we be happy with this? There was no offer to escalate this on our behalf. We werent happy.

We have responded with copies from two emails quoting Lyndsey reassuring us of a refund if we were not the sole pax on board. We have been told twice in the last week on email that the matter has been escalated and the agent is awaiting a response. We would have preferred if this had been done promptly and efficiently. Having paid almost £20000 for this trip, it leaves a poor impression of both the agent and Expert Africa. After almost two weeks, we still are none the wiser.

We have every intention of returning to both Tanzania and exploring other parts of Africa. Based on our latest experience, we're not so sure however we'll continue use Expert Africa to facilitate these trips in the future." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a great trip but the 3/4 months leading up to it were stressful and we had diffiulties getting final details sorted needing to chase for updates. We appreciate that this is in part due to recovering from the difficulties caused to the travel industry by covid. I am not sure that the situation was helped by the fact that you are not keen to do flight inclusive holidays.

Tanzania was again a great experience, Be Ho Be Ho being the highlight but it was good to see the contrast between southern and northern Tanzania. Southern Tanzania being remote africa, northern being busy, plenty of townships and easy game viewing.

Seychelles, pleased we went but a one off experience, it lacks a distinct culture and just seems to be a series of holiday resorts but the highlight was Denis Island." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 16 on a Tanzania safari

"We deferred from 2021 and it was well worth the wait.

Thank you to the team for their understanding and helping to handle the logistics during the pandemic and ever evolving red lists, etc... Always excellent service from Expert Africa!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Expert Africa was a great travel agency!

Maruska was a pleasure to work with and had great recommendations to create a customized itinerary. She was very knowledgeable about each camp, park, and area we would be visiting. Our trip would not have been as enjoyable without her recommendations.

The website was very easy to use and we enjoyed the animal sightings tracker to help us determine which camps and areas had the best wildlife.

Thanks Maruska and Expert Africa!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"This was a return trip, and a fairly similar itinerary to 5 years ago.

Aided by Expert Africa again, we stuck to what we knew had worked. All the camps continued to be oustanding and the wildlife experience was once again wonderful yet completely different than last time.

We fell in love with Tanzania the first time, and we love it even more now.

Simply magical.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Absolutely not, its been amazing from the outset, and even through the Covid nightmare you managed to keep us up beat and informed.

The only sadness this trip was the relocation of Olakira away from the river which was enforced by local authorities apparently. A great shame because the game experience and game drives were decidely poorer for the extra driving and diversions away from some riverside areas that this relocation requires. Can't be helped and of course if we'd not been there in 2017, we'd have no comparison.

We were only disappointed by the quality of the wine offered with meals. It really was at best average.. We had been spoiled by having Stellenbosch wines in 2017! And we do appreciate that economies may be necessary after the Covid pandemic." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Delayed two years but worth the wait, thanks to Jessica and Expert Africa for managing the covid chaos!

Our fourth visit to Tanzania as good as ever with two unique wilderness destinations and loved being truly off grid.

Qatar flights via Doha were the best route we’ve used." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"It was a very good planned trip. We always felt safe and everything (each transfer, each flight and also the lodges ) worked well. The drivers were only three times a little bit too late, but there were always people around who cared about us.
The ideal length of your stay should be 4 nights in one lodge. So you have the opportunity to see a lot of different animals. On some days we only saw birds and on the last day of our stay in the lodge we saw the lepard. If your budget will allow you 4 nights, we hardly recommend that.
We also loved the different parcs we visited. Every parc is different in landscape and animals which you can spot easy." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari

"I have already recommended Expert Africa (and Tanzanian ground partner) to friends. I love the bespoke approach to the planning and execution. Jessica, who organised it, was very helpful and knowledgable - and made us feel well taken care of. The whole trip was incredibly well organised every step of the way. We really enjoyed Tito's company, knowledge and driving skills in Rwanda and the same for Raj while we were in the mobile camp in the Serengeti! Even the PCR tests were handled well - hopefully they won't be necessary next time! In terms of what to bring and what to expect: not once were we asked to weigh our luggage (but do keep in mind that there's not a lot of storage room on the puddle-jumper planes); we also were not questioned re plastic bags; do minimise the clothing (pack your bag, then unpack half of what you thought you might want to bring - there are lots of laundry options - and no one really cares what you're wearing anyway!); bring a warm sweater/jacket and/or a waterproof windbreaker. Invest in really good binoculars - even if they are heavy - we didn't and regretted it.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - it was terrific! As regards the mobile camp in the Serengeti, I was glad we stayed at the camp where we were - we visited the more "upscale" non-mobile camp nearby and were glad we were at the mobile one! Many thanks to Jessica - I've already passed her name onto friends of mine!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic.

The trip was put together over a series of calls and discussions, met all our criteria and was a great success.

We had one slight hitch with charges for a walking and night safari which Lyndsey sorted immediately, the wonders of e mail.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Maybe make it clear that you will be guided through the many flight changes by Coastal, it was a bit daunting but they made it easy" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari

"This was a fabulous trip. We stayed in Arusha (pleasant overnight), and visited the Ngorongoro Crater (lots of game), Ruaha (fabulous lodge, sparser game, but still very enjoyable) and the Serengeti for the migration - awe-inspiring and spectacular river crossings.

The lodges were of very high standards, and the trip was comfortable, well-run and hugely enjoyable.

A special word must be reserved for the friendliness of the Tanzanian people - gentle, helpful, kind, considerate and well-mannered, extremely eager to do their best for you. It’s wonderful for veteran travellers like us to see how far the country has developed in so many ways since we were last here, and in particular to see how the Tanzanians themselves now occupy all the senior positions in camp management, guiding, and flying, doing so with their customary charm, efficiency and commitment to customer service." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari