Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs W from Croydon

"The whole trip was very well organised by Lucy, went very smoothly in Africa and was very much enjoyed. Unfortunately, our outward BA flight was delayed by over three hours and so we missed our Airlink connecting flight from Johannesburg to Maun but fortunately we were rebooked onto a later flight. Thanks to Lucy for reacting so quickly to our email, warning Airlink of the situation and ensuring Mack Air and our first camp at Lagoon were also aware. The service on the flights to and from Maun on Airlink was very good.

We stayed at four Kwando camps: Lagoon, Lebala, Mma Dinare and Splash. All provided very good and comfortable accommodation, food and facilities, friendly, welcoming and helpful staff; and, most importantly, excellent guiding and tracking, with plenty of time to view what was going on. It was good to be able to drive off road at all the camps which added immeasurably to the sightings; and it was rare for there to be more than one or two vehicles in one place at the same time.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip, our fourth with Expert Africa, and it met our objectives in terms of the animals we particularly wanted to see this time (cheetah and wild dogs) although we saw a very broad range of animals and birds."

"This was a very enjoyable holiday involving an overnight stay in Lusaka, three camps, three internal flights and a boat transfer between two camps. All the arrangements worked out well with no problems. It was helpful to be met at Lusaka airport on two arrivals and departures, and guided through procedures there (including on best passport/visa queue). The advice in the Expert Africa Zambia booklet about checking the correct number of days on the Visa was pertinent as the officer misheard and initially gave us too short a period - but it was quickly corrected when we pointed out the error.

The camps were all excellent and well run by friendly staff. Overall, we had a good variety of types of game watching trips (drives, boat, canoe, walking and hides) with knowledgeable guides who put a lot of effort in to searching for animals while spending plenty of time to observe animal behaviour. Although the variety of mammals was not as great as on previous safaris in other countries we had a number of very memorable wildlife experiences.

Many thanks to Megan for her advice and for organizing the holiday which was our third with Expert Africa."

"Our holiday as a whole was excellent and extremely enjoyable.

We saw a great variety of wildlife including some particular animals that we had hoped to see. The guides were all excellent and knowledgeable, and were keen to meet our expectations. We never felt rushed and were able to spend plenty of time at different sightings.

Accommodation was generally excellent and well run with good food. The camps were all open so that animals could wander through but we always felt safe with the camps' security arrangements.

The arrangements for travel between airports/airstrips and camps generally worked well. Camp guides were always at airstrips to meet us and took us to meet planes on time. The transfer between two internal flights at Dar was not as smooth as it could have been (see comments) but was sorted out without too much difficulty.

The first part of the holiday at Ngorogoro and Dunia was arranged by Asilia. Overall, we were impressed by what we learnt of the company and its community support, as well as the quality of its safaris.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

This is the second time we have arranged a holiday with Expert Africa and again we have been very impressed from original discussions to the trip itself. Liz was very helpful and knowledgeable in setting up the itinerary. The holiday more than met out expectations.

There is just one suggestion relating to internal flights. We had expected that we would find out about any plane changes as we took each internal flights which is what happened. However, you will see that we have commented on a bit of confusion in changing at Dar on our trip from Seronera to Selous. This was essentially because the pilot who took over our incoming plane said he was going to Selous and we did not realise at that time that Coastal planes do not call at all the Selous airstrips. We think it would be worth having a note in your Tanzania guidance notes to warn about this and the need to check-in at Dar (with luggage)."

"Overall, we had an extremely enjoyable holiday. The variety of wildlife experiences exceeded our expectations. Accommodation was all very good or excellent. All the arrangements within the control of Expert Africa, whether for accommodation or transfers, worked out fine, without any problems.

The holiday wasn't one of Expert Africa's standard holidays. We spent some time working out the itinerary with them. That was time well spent and their expert advice was invaluable. Thanks very much to Gwynneth and also Nick for his advice on Botswana early on.


A couple of specific comments which don't fit in elsewhere:

1. We had two flights with Mack Air and had a good experience with them both times: friendly pilots and good flights. In addition, we had arranged for suitcases to be flown on separately from Maun to Kasane. This was handled efficiently and there was no difficulty retreiving the suitcases at Kasane airport.

2. We had a transfer with Wilderness Safaris from Kasane airport to Victorial Falls. This was handled efficiently so that we were able to complete the border formalities on entering Zimbabwe without a hitch.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - well organised holiday, plenty of helpful information."