Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs B from Essex

A dream holiday!

On this trip, I visited Botswana, South Africa & Zimbabwe between 5-Sep-2017 and 22-Sep-2017 and I travelled with 1 other person.

Our whole trip was magnificent. Cape Town was busy with so much to see and do; we visited District Six Museum, the Planetarium, Slave Lodge, Heart of Cape Town museum [home to Dr Christian Barnard's first heart transplant]; the Cape Peninsula -Cape Point, Boulders Beach, did the Chapmans Peak Drive, V and A Waterfront and of course Robben Island, Table Mountain, Signal Hill and the stunning Kirstenbosch Gardens. We also spent a day driving to the West Coast National Park to see the wild spring flowers- truly incredible scenery.

At our time in Franschoek we visited Paarl, the motor museum and the very pretty town of Stellenbosch visiting the village museum. En route to Hermanus, we stopped at the beautiful Vergelden Winery with lovely grounds and buildings and enjoyed an incredible lunch in the sunshine. We saw whales on our walking tour in Hermanus and visited three lovely wineries each with a different character.

We saw an incredible array of wildlife in Bostwana and our stay at Muchenje was truly a dream come true.

At Victoria Falls, we did a falls tour, had a helicopter flight over the area and did a bridge history tour. On our last afternoon we took 'high tea' at the Victoria Falls Hotel and admired the stunning view and interiors of the hotel. This was coupled with bonus wildlife sightings at our hotel the Victoria Fallls Safari Lodge.

Thank you to Tracy Lederer who worked so hard to tailor the holiday to our requirements - it was truly a trip of a lifetime and one we shall always remember - along with our month long trip to Namibia [also organised by Tracy] back in 2010!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
None; everything was wonderful - thank you.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Four Rosmead, South Africa 6-Sep-2017 review: Fantastic!	Excellent
The Last Word Franschhoek, South Africa 11-Sep-2017 review: Amazing pool suite!	Good
Ocean Eleven, South Africa 13-Sep-2017 review: Truly lovely!	Excellent
Hotel Verde, South Africa 15-Sep-2017 review: Wonderful surprise!	Excellent
Muchenje Safari Lodge, Botswana 16-Sep-2017 review: Just amazing, but two nights was not enough!	Excellent
Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe 18-Sep-2017 review: Great hotel given it's size.	Excellent

TRIP OF A LIFETIME!

On this trip, I visited Namibia between 1-May-2010 and 28-May-2010 and I travelled with 1 other person.

This truly was the trip of a lifetime and as it had been booked for 3 years; was so eagerly anticipated. It exceeded all our hopes.

The driving was [mostly] easy and at every turn the sheer diversity of the scenery was breath-taking. The lodge staff and guides were fantastic and we spent much time learning more about their actual ethnicity and home lives; which they were happy to share with us. That was such a special element of our trip. We were somewhat uncomfortable to realise there still seems to be much of a 'hierarchical system' with the ethnic tribal Namibians; but accept that this is part of the Culture. The trips Expert Africa organised for us prioir to going were amazing - especially the balloon trip which was a quite 'surreal' event.

The only problem with the whole trip was that a month went by so quickly and never seemed long enough! Thank you so much to Tracy for putting up with our constant questions and changing the dates of travel without complaint. Thanks too, for Chris's book which became our 'bible' both before during and even now- after this amazing experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None at all - this was excellent down to every detail. You have thought of everything and there was nothing to disappoint us.
Thank you all.

I stayed at and have reviewed:

Place	Overall rating
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch, Namibia 2-May-2010 review: Great game drive with Pedro	Excellent
Canyon Lodge, Namibia 4-May-2010 review: Great guides	Good
Nest Hotel, Namibia 6-May-2010 review: MIXED EXPERIENCES	Good
Eagle's Nest, Namibia 8-May-2010 review: The best place to chill out	Excellent
Desert Homestead, Namibia 10-May-2010 review: Most disappointing	Good
Bullsport Guest Farm, Namibia 12-May-2010 review: Great place to stay	Excellent
Sam's Giardino, Namibia 14-May-2010 review: Nothing too much trouble	Good
Grootberg Lodge, Namibia 17-May-2010 review: Fantastic location	Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp, Namibia 19-May-2010 review: A surprise!	Excellent
Mushara Outpost, Namibia 21-May-2010 review: Wonderful place	Excellent
Okonjima Bush Camp, Namibia 23-May-2010 review: Brilliant!	Excellent
Erongo Wilderness Lodge, Namibia 25-May-2010 review: wonderful views	Excellent

Excursion	Overall rating
Sperrgebiet tour, Namibia 7-May-2010 review: Atmospheric and spiritual experience.	Excellent
Halifax Island boat trip, Namibia 8-May-2010 review: UNEXPECTED BONUS	Excellent
Coast and Sandwich Harbour, Namibia 15-May-2010 review: GREAT DAY OUT	Excellent
Kayaking with seals, Namibia 16-May-2010 review: Good fun with a great Instructor	Good