Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"We had a wonderful trip.

We are seasoned travellers to Botswana and Zimbabwe and possibly hard to please. But we loved absolutely everything on this trip which went like clockwork.

We met some great people with whom to share our experiences and can recommend this to anyone seeking wildlife and wilderness with excellent service and very high standards." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Expert Africa advice & arrangements excellent.

Light aircraft transfer was probably not necessary, provided no real advantage & caused restrictions on luggage.

Although there was a snafu in our transfer from Hwange Camp back to Vic Falls, the situation was satisfactorily remedied and the tour operator compensated us with free river cruise and Vic Falls walking tour. Essentially the pick-up was missed but with the help of staff from The Hide and a volunteer from a friend of the transfer company (?Wild Horizons) we were eventually (2.75 hrs late) driven back to VF & met about half-way by the tour company driver." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Excellent trip" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Wonderful

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have found your company to be excellent." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 2 on a Botswana safari

"On our 3 week stay in Hwange our wish was to spend the maximum time game viewing. And this was what we got, from the moment we stepped off the aircraft at Manga airstrip until the time we left. Absolutely brilliant!

Expert Africa is very efficient and Tom took into account everything we wanted from the outset, spending some time to juggle things around to fit in with timings, availability and budget.

We were looking for small basic bush camps and the 4 camps we stayed in ranged from the more basic to those with slightly more comfort. Each provided their own unique experience, and even the more basic camps were extremely comfortable.

In a country that is currently experiencing a food and fuel shortage, it is unbelievable how these camps still manage to keep providing such an excellent service. And how they manage to provide such good food and in such quantities. We have both come back several pounds heavier!!

In all the camps, the staff were efficient and friendly and the guiding was exceptional. It was great to see that people living and working in that environment all the time are still so passionate about the wildlife around them. The available activities such as game drives, walks, and using the hides, gave a good variety, and made for an excellent experience with some extremely close encounters with the wildlife!

With all wildlife you can never guarantee what you will see, and it is very much dependent on time of year and weather conditions. Overall we had an abundant and excellent wildlife experience to make for a really great safari, and one we will never forget!

Apart from the wildlife survey list of species, we did see several other species that we would count as notable ‘sightings’, such as: some magnificent kudu, tortoise, honey badger, reedbuck, tsessebe, waterbuck, bat-eared fox, wild cat." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 21 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was my third African safari adventure and – aside from the fact that I still have not crossed the Aardvark, Pangolin or Pel's Fishing Owl off my "must see" list – the trip exceeded my expectations in many ways. I liked the wide range and variety of camps and the mixture of air and road transfers, even if two of the latter were, to put it mildly, arduous. I don't regret having experienced the long drive from Amalinda to Somalisa or the one from Mkulumadzi to Pumulani, but I wouldn't want to do either of them again.

I'm happy I returned to Zimbabwe and Zambia – two outstanding wildlife countries with exceptionally skilled guides – and I very much enjoyed my introduction to Malawi. The Majete Wildlife Reserve is still in its infancy but holds great promise, and I found Lake Malawi breathtaking to look at and fascinating to explore.

Working with the Expert Africa team – and particularly with Freddie Sutton – to plan my month-long itinerary was great fun and very rewarding. Freddie is experienced, knowledgeable, patient and, above all, flexible. He responded quickly to all of my requests for changes and updates, and he always found an attractive alternative where one was needed. Even when a slight glitch arose during my time away, he immediately resolved it and all went well." Read full review: 38 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Val and I live 70 miles apart and do not see each other regularly. She does not regularly use the computer and does not have the ability to print material, which I made clear on at least two occasions during the booking process, asking that everything sent to me should be duplicated to her and assumed that this had happened. However it did not happen until emails and phone calls from both of us tried to rectify the situation, which was frustrating and worrying, as it undermined our trust in the whole booking procedure. It angered Val considerably and you will have on record her various phone calls, We discovered on the journey that she still did not have the full itinerary as we had both requested. This is a shame, as it was an amazing experience meeting most of our wishes let down by inadequate administration and a lack of comprehension of our situation as travelling friends, rather than friends travelling!

We have both had experience of safaris and Botswana is a wonderful place with absolutely delightful people well trained staff, but I would not recommend it as a first safari due to long distances and well distributed animals, that is just my view." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We travelled with EA before and had high expectations. These were all met, no shortcomings. They selected the right places for us and arranged the required transportation adequately. Preperation for the trip was very pleasant with always a travel agent available for questions or a sudden change of plans. Professionals at every level and very pleasant in communication. We've already started preperations for our next trip with EA." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Thanks for all help, suggestions and fast follow up, even when we had some challenges the night before we left Amsterdam due to flight changes the next day from Johannesburg to Windhoek.

Great you were thinking along how to beat that challenge and giving alternatives for accommodation if we could not make it to our first stop. Thanks Tracy!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Inform your guests esp if they are used to safaris in other countries than Botswana, eg South Africa that the experience can be different. Im not talking about the game viewing which is obvious off course but the experience in the lodges. In South Africa you often for the same amount of money get more value (luxury, guest experience)" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"We loved the trip (we knew we would because my sister and her husband enjoyed it so much two years ago) Good variety of experiences.

Wonderful country, lovely people, excellent guides" Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip