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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs L from Sweden

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

2

Countries visited

2

Lodges stayed in

7

Excursions taken

0

Zambia 2020

Zambia between 8 Mar 2020 and 20 Mar 2020

Trip rating: Good
"As mentioned, corona played in and we could not get the Malawi extension as planned - of course a disappointment.
The change of flights was costly and NO refund for not used flights were very disappointing.
The fact that things may change should be factored in when making bookings (Expert Africa feedback)

In total 11 night in South Luangwa is a few nights too many.
Game and bird viewing was better than expected - green season is nice, not to be underestimated.

Tour Africa support in Lusaka was excellent - especially upon our return to Lusaka airport."

Feedback response

This trip was in March 2020, just as borders were shutting down and flights were stopping across the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We were not sure how much news these travellers were aware of as safaris are often blissfully distant from the news headlines.

With little notice, their return flights from Lilongwe were cancelled. They had booked this for themselves, but Expert Africa stepped in to find an alternative via Lusaka and secure seats for them. Then we worked with our partners in Africa to change the the camps and the transfers in the final section of their trip to make it all fit seamlessly.

As these travellers enjoyed a relaxing trip, the world changed and we worked behind the scenes, securing new arrangements to get them out of Africa and back home safely with the minimum of fuss.

Given that these travellers booked their own flights, there was unfortunately nothing that Expert Africa could do to assist with their refund.

Arranged By Amanda Bond


Latitude 15

Latitude 15

"One night only"

1 night Arrived 8 Mar 2020
"Nice hotel and hotel room.
Excellent food.
Pool not cleaned.
Breakfast bag preordered was not ready at departure."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Average
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Nsefu

Nsefu

"Wet yet nice stay at Nsefu"

4 nights Arrived 9 Mar 2020
"Excellent guide (Berthram) and helpful scout (Esaias)
Fascinating boat trips into the lagoons
Yellow build stork breeding colony the highlight
Food experience average - well presented yet somewhat flat in taste
Walking safaris not easy due to areas being flooded, moody
Upfront information on how bar, coffee, water would be managed when staff was not around lacking"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Nkwali

Nkwali

"Unextected long stay at Nkwali "

3 nights Arrived 17 Mar 2020
"3 nights in the Nkwali camp (all this as Pumulani Malawi was cancelled due to Coronavirus)
Best room/house during our entire stay in Zambia
Food very well presented - mostly also very tasty

Guiding excellent (Nyambi) both walking and by road
Total 7 nights too many, seen the same roads and game too many times (not intended though due to Malawi cancelling)
Excellent support with rebooking trip
Night guard not always present (walked in the camp during evenings alone)"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good

Southwest Tanzania - Feb/Mar 2017

Tanzania between 19 Feb 2017 and 2 Mar 2017

Trip rating: Excellent
"This trip was on our bucket list since a few years and finally it materialised. Travelling in the wet season gives you certain benefits, green, less people and good bird viewing. The wet season is "wet" thus whenever the weather showed it sunny side, it was and added benefit.

All preparation from the initial contact with Expert Africa to the return home worked flawlessly, especially good follow up before the trip from Expert Africa reminding us about insurances, overseas flight information etc.

What we missed to arrange upfront was the long wait at our last day, from arriving in Dar to our overseas flight. This we could sort out locally with the company who organised transfers at our arrival the first day - they supported us with transfer to Slipway (beachfront Dar), looking after our luggage and then taking us back to the airport in time for our flight back home."

Southern Sun Dar

Southern Sun Dar

"Southern Sun Dar - Transfer Hotel"

1 night Arrived 19 Feb 2017
"As this was a transfer solution - arriving late from overseas and needed one night before the domestic flight early next morning, nothing special to mention, We have used this hotel before and meet and greet is very good, rooms are spacious and breakfast gives you what you need before the next step. Arriving late Sunday was fine as there was very little traffic, other times traffic from airport to downtown Dar can be congested - hopefully better when the fly over bridge from the harbour is completed."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Mdonya Old River Camp

Mdonya Old River Camp

"Bush experience at Mdonya Old River Camp"

3 nights Arrived 20 Feb 2017
"We stayed three nights and that was about the right duration, The game viewing was excellent, to the extent that we from arrival at the airstrip saw lions, leopards, wild dogs and tried to locate a lion kill (heard the noise) thus in the pursuit of finding the lion kill ignored (did not stop for) e.g. buffalo and eland herds. We only arrived at the camp site after dark and that was somewhat of a challenge as the kerosene lamps do not provide that much light for example in the tents and trying to find your stuff in your luggage.

The following days was also good yet - as known upfront - with the rainy season around the corner we did have our share off rain showers. The guide was pleasant and knowledgeable, making the game drives interesting beyond only looking for game and birds.

The camp manager (Andrea) was initially somewhat silent but opened up more and more and was all in all a very good host engaging with the guests and sharing his own experiences.

We did share some feedback with the camp manager, mainly around the food which was plentiful but somewhat strangely combined. Meat and warm vegetables together with some kind of pie makes may all taste fine but together a bit strange. Soups for starter was good, especially as the rain and lack of sun made you a bit chilly. Lunches for full day game drives could have been more attractive e.g. with adding bread, having a banana cake instead of a banana as a desert, etc."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Average
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Katavi Wildlife Camp

Katavi Wildlife Camp

"Wonderful Katavi"

4 nights Arrived 23 Feb 2017
"Katavi was an experience. Firstly we were the only guests in the only still open camp Katavi Wildlife Camp. Secondly we had an enormous luck with the weather, being the rainy season we had basically sun or some cloudy skies but no rain for 4 days. The roads were fine, yes you could not get everywhere because of the earlier rains but able to travel to Chada plains besides the Katsunga plains next to the lodge.

The game viewing was good, great to see elands and topi besides the more prevalent groups of elephants, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck , reedbuck, etc. and of course hippo and crocs. We knew that cats would be more difficult due to the high grass still we spotted leopard and hyena. Sable and roan antelope though was ought of sight. Our focus in Katavi was also birding which was fantastic, not being experienced at all yet fascinating and rewarding to see (and mostly be able to take some pics) of close to 100 birds in a few days.

The camp manager (Lewis) had all the time in the world for us being the only guests which was nice, chatting about anything over lunches and dinners. The staff was excellent, having both a guide as a driver and an "official" guide providing 2 pairs of excellent eyes spotting birds (and noting them duly in checklist). Food was really good, tasty and plentiful also in the light that the camp did close when we left thus the fridge was supposed to be empty when we left !"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Greystoke Mahale

Greystoke Mahale

"A dream location - Greystoke"

3 nights Arrived 27 Feb 2017
"We finally got to Mahale National Park and the lovely Greystoke Camp with lake Tanganyika at our footstep. The camp has been described as a dream location and to large extent it was. Isolated own bungalows overlooking the lake and with all you need for a very relaxing and enjoyable break.

The highlight was of course the chimp trekking which we did twice, both times reminding us that it is not always easy to find the chimps. The plan was at breakfast around 08.00, we would know from our guides where the chimps were and then we would head out. The practice was that on day one we went out after lunch and on day two around 10.30 only proving that chimps tend to be further away from the camp during the rainy season. Anyway we saw chimps both day, in the trees or on the ground. The walking took about an hour, mostly in rainy conditions.

The camp manager (Julian) was very entertaining and the staff was simply excellent in providing service and caring for the guests. Being at the lake we took a boat out and jumped in 25 degree crystal clear water and afterwards did some fishing (which we had for dinner the same evening). The sunset and evening skies, one day with a distant thunderstorm was magical.

The food was good, nothing to complain about but nothing to be overly positive about either."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Excellent

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