Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"This trip was a great introduction to Africa! The amount of preparation and information provided by Expert Africa meant that there was very little that we had to worry about, but still felt that we were in control of our own adventure.

Overall our highlights were exploring the sand dunes at Sossusvlei, our day trip out of Swakopmund to Sandwich Harbour, the wildlife at Etosha NP, the village life and waterways of the Caprivi Strip and the up close and personal experience of Camp Hwange.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were incredibly impressed with the service we got from Maruska, she put together our trip at very short notice, was always quick to respond to emails, and seemed incredibly knowledgeable when we spoke to her on the phone. We would happily recommend her and Expert Africa to anyone wanting to book a trip to Africa." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"It had been about nine years since we were last in Southern Africa and we had the pleasurable task of introducing some members of my family to this wonderful part of the world for the first time. It was a bit of a challenge to chart a course of safaris and 'chill-out' in the Cape when you have a combination of first-timers and a couple of 'old lags' to keep happy.

With the patient and knowledgeable Tracy at Expert Africa to help with suggestions and alternatives, I found the task was not as daunting as it might have been even when some members threw a bit of a curve ball at the end of the process, an eventuality that Tracy handled with professional grace and efficiency.

My partner and I have been clients of Expert Africa since Sunvil brought Chris in to broaden its product range. This he has delivered with peerless professionalism and has built a knowledgeable and very competent team over the years who, in this client's opinion, provide the best service available in the UK. Well done all and thanks to Tracy again." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We used two new camps which we had not visited previously and one where we have been regular visitors.

The two new camps exceeded our expectations and will feature for certain on any future visit to the areas." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Incredible.

Attention to every detail from the first conversation with Megan to our departure from Victoria Falls.
We could not have asked for better service. Expert Africa knows what it is doing.

Very Satisfactory would be excellent if that were a choice.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I really can't think of anything to change.

Megan was responsive, knowledgable, and open to discussion." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"The trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana with a hotel and two game lodges was well-organised with a good range of activities. Megan at Expert Africa gave good advice about the selection of game lodges and after a few iterations of the itinerary a satisfactory plan was produced.

Our first stay was at the Victoria Falls Hotel on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. We were a bit dubious about visiting Zimbabwe following the long political unrest but our fears were unfounded as the people are friendly and the hotel was charming. On arrival at Victoria Falls Airport we were 6th off the 'plane but it still took about 30 minutes to get our visas. There is no particular hassle or unpleasantness at the airport - it is just a bureaucratic (and expensive) process.

Our one negative comment after getting our visas was the long, hot wait in the airport for a shared transfer with two other couples who were not even staying at the same hotel as us. Since the drive to the hotel is fairly short we thought that a private transfer would have been more sensible after a long and tiring journey rather than a wait of almost 1 hour for the slow immigration process.

The rest of the journeys were quite seamless with on-time pick up at the hotel and a drive to the Botswana border where the driver assisted with exit formalities while another vehicle was waiting to take us onwards to Muchenje, with a stop at Kasane Airport en route to change vehicles.

We had a great welcome at Muchenje Game Lodge. Transfer back to Kasane Airport was provided in the lodge's own vehicle where we were met at the door by the Wilderness Air representative who took good care of us and our bags. The flight to Vumbura air strip was a great experience, even if slightly sick-making!

At Vumbura everything was well organised with pick up and return by the guides. The home trip was quite tiring with flights to Maun and Johannesburg before the long-haul back to London.

In all the whole trip was well organised and the choice of lodges was excellent with a good contrast between Chobe National Park and Chobe River game viewing and Okavango Delta experience." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Great trip to Zimbabwe. Everyone raves about safari guides in Zimbabwe and they really are excellent." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The trip of a lifetime.

Credit to Claire for organising a fairly complicated trip with multiple border crossings, airport to lodge, lodge to hotel, hotel to airport transfers, which had perfect timing throughout our trip." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 2 on a Zambia safari

"All the arrangements worked, as we expected them to.

I asked Tracy to upgrade our car from a group C to a group K shortly before we traveled, based on my own research, and friends' comments. I'm very glad I did, because we drove over 3000km, and a standard saloon would have been too small, our luggage would not all have fitted in the boot, and it would have required extremely careful driving on some of the gravel roads. I think it should have been suggested to us in the first place, given the amount of time we spent in the car. (In fact we were supplied with a Nissan X-trail 2/4WD, which I think is a group O car).

We were a little concerned that staying for one night in 3 lodges in a row (around the Etosha area) would be difficult, with no time to rest, but in fact it suited us. We were able to cross Etosha in a leisurely fashion, knowing we wouldn't have to retrace our steps at the end of the day." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent.

Interesting variety of activities and (nearly) all logistics worked to plan." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"From the early booking stage our trip was superbly managed by Expert Africa and the service and organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe was generally very good.

The excellent hospitality and superb guiding, together with the warm welcome extended by the local people, made this an unforgettable experience and we would not hesitate to return to Zimbabwe. Of the 3 camps we stayed in, the 2 run by Wilderness Safaris provided a good level of overall comfort, despite their somewhat corporate feel, and still retained a genuine bush feel.

Rhino Safari Camp was somewhat disappointing and seemed to reflect the current run down situation in Matusadona.

We were approached several times, by fellow travellers, concerning the matter of "tips" and as we have found on previous safaris this remains a contentious issue. What is too much and what is too little?? Your guidelines suggest one thing and the camps have their own suggestions........

Overall we felt that we had a good value holiday." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari