Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"Claire is a Rock Star. Attention to detail and trip planning was perfect.

Thanks again Claire!" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was my fourth trip to Africa, but my first to Botswana, and it was the most rewarding. Sightings in three of the five camps visited were incredible - cheetahs, leopards, pairs of mating lions, mating hippos, and fighting giraffes and impalas. As a solo and older traveler, I really appreciated the friendliness, hospitality and inclusiveness shown by the Botswana people.

Overall the accommodation was excellent, as was the food and service, and the guiding generally exceptional. Having had multiple hip surgeries, I was so grateful my agent Maruska Adye-Rowe had done an excellent job in securing accommodation close to the main lodges, and preferential seating on the game drives. Maruska not only rearranged my whole schedule due to the pandemic, but also remained on top of my itinerary noting the cancellation my British Airways homeward flight from Victoria Falls, and arranging and paying for a new flight from Livingstone. The flight arrangements from camp to camp, and the transfers by Wild Horizons between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia were absolutely seamless.

Sadly I did not see any wild dogs on this trip, and elephant sightings were few, even at Chobe Elephant Camp. However, I was compensated by many "up close and personal" encounters with other animals, and thrilled at the huge variety of birds.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Both Maruska and Chris McIntyre were always available to answer any questions or concerns I had about this trip, and could not have been more helpful.

In hindsight, I wish I had probed for more information in terms of the manner in which the various camps operated, and also about the weather conditions. Being overly concerned about my luggage weight, I did not pack adequately for the very cold morning drives and huge swings in temperature. The camp schedules were also quite grueling for me - starting at 5:00 a.m. and going until after supper with very minimal "siesta breaks" in the hottest part of the day. However, I took some downtime at Okuti, where I also found a heavy fleecy jacket, and got my second wind!

Many thanks to you both for making this trip so memorable!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"Excellent: it lived up to expectations, after the two year wait caused by Covid, we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday. Everything ran very smoothly, all of the lodges were good and we saw nearly all of what we hoped to see!

The food was generally very good but we did notice that when we went from one Wilderness Safaris Lodge to another the food options were rather similar because they seemed to work off the same menus!

In retrospect, we would have liked three nights somewhere. Perhaps at Ongava? If we were to have cut a destination it would probably have been one of Nxamaseri or Kazile Island Lodge where you are in both cases on the river, although we liked them both in their different ways.

The driving was generally OK but we did have three long days of driving early on almost wholly on untarred roads. Later on in Caprivi the roads were excellent. We got one puncture - caused by a screw and not the roads!

Whilst we were warned it would be cold at night it was more than that. In a lot of places it did not warm up until the afternoon, when it did become hot. We happened to encounter a lot of windy days which made it worse. On game drives you are perched up in an open sided vehicle and so the airspeed makes the cold seem much worse than the temperature would suggest. We took fleeces and gilets but a wind proof coat would have been better than a fleece. That said May still seemed a good time to go, however, because it was before the coldest time, and after the rainy season, and the lodges were not very busy and so there were no big crowds on the game drives.

Star attractions:
- Sesriem and the dunes
- Damaraland and the Daro Nawas lodge
- Ongava
- Muchenje" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Our thanks to Tom and the rest of the team at Expert Africa for helping us to arrange a memorable trip to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This was an excellent combination of camps in Hwange originally booked in 2020 but delayed by Covid. Expert Africa were very good at keeping me informed of restrictions and rebooking the trip. All elements of the trip ran like clockwork with the exception of a lost bag at the airport which Expert Africa and camp staff helped get returned.

The Hide is on the borders of the park and next to the rail line so you will see a reasonable number of other vehicles and occasionally hear the train. Accommodation is at the luxury end with roll top baths overlooking the waterhole, mains electricity and very solid 'tents' while maintaining the feeling of being out in the bush.

As it has its own concession separate night drives are available after dinner and well worth the time but if travelling in winter take plenty of warm clothes and wear the ponchos provided, not glamorous but effective.

Our guide was a Victoria Falls based contractor who exemplified the reputation Zimbabwe has for very high standards. In addition to masses of elephant and general game we saw two lion prides, one several times, sable and buffalo.

Two highlights were walking in a forested area getting close to elephant and a zebra herd, and the close up views of elephants afforded by the hide at the camp, just feet from where they were drinking. One curious young bull even put his trunk up to the viewing space to sniff us out.

We spent a night at The Dove's Nest sleep out treehouse. This was an amazing structure and a great experience even if time there was rather short. Be aware that the stairs, particularly to the sleeping platform, are rather steep.

Camp staff and management were friendly and efficient while the food was good and plentiful. While meals are generally taken together with other guests and staff there is some provision to eat separately if you have a special occasion like the honeymooning couple's first dinner. I also noted careful attention to the dietary requirements of some guests.

This is quite a high end comfortable camp within reasonably easy reach of the Main Camp transfer point. It's not quite as 'bush' as our next camp but a great place to start a safari and I bet the pool is really welcome in the heat of summer.

After 4 nights at The Hide our transfer to Camp Hwange went as planned delivering us in time for a great lunch.

Camp Hwange is also very comfortable while being a bit closer to a traditional tented camp, albeit with thatched roofs and running solar heated water.

Tents and the main area all look out over a waterhole with a moonscape near the bar for closer viewing of visiting game and birds.

The camp was very efficiently run by welcoming camp manager Shane and her staff who all managed to convey a real investment in making your stay as perfect as possible.

The guiding was excellent and we were fortunate to have both qualified guide Moses and trainee Savannah on our vehicle plus an additional tracker on occasion.

Moses was a fount of information and committed to getting good sightings in interesting places including sundowners with the hippo at Masuma Dam. As well as approaching elephant on foot we also encountered a herd of buffalo when Moses had us crawling up an elephant pathway to get within about 15 meters. a truly once on a lifetime experience. Moses took us walking for part of most drives, sometimes for a couple of hours and sometimes a short approach to game.

Even though she was in her first year of training Savannah was a great addition to the team and I'm sure will go on to make a very good guide. She's a wiz at spotting owls at night.

Overall Camp Hwange was everything I wanted from a safari, good food, comfortable accommodation, great staff and plenty to see. There were some drives when game was a bit thin on the ground, its a safari not Whipsnade, but Moses always seemed to find something interesting including African Rock Python, Wild Cat, a Porcupine and several Bat Eared Foxes.

The combination of The Hide and Camp Hwange worked well, thanks to Tom at Expert Africa for the suggestions, as they sit in somewhat different environments while also having access to a variety of different types of vegetation.

My last Expert Africa organised trip was more than a decade ago and it's good to see their high standards have been maintained despite the disruption of the last two years.

This was my fathers first safari shortly after his 80th birthday, he's already started planning for the next one." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Overall it was a wonderful experience.

Claire steered us well in picking Ilala and Davisons...we were welcomed everywhere, particularly after a tough couple of years. We heard from other travellers of their experiences at other areas, and certainly we would like to explore these in due course." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"I was really happy that finally I traveled to Mana Pools. I had to postpone this trip for 2 years and had to change my itinerary many times.

Covid-19 pandemic is going to be over soon and we are starting to get back our normal.

Thank you Claire, for being patient and supportive. I will plan my trip to African countries with Expert Africa again." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We could not be happier with our trip. The planning process went very smoothly. We received prompt and helpful replies to our email questions. Maruska was very informative and in addition to arranging most of out trip, she kindly and helpfully advised us on aspects of our trip that weren't booked by Expert Africa.

The camps all exceeded our expectations in every way, accommodations, food, activities. The transitions from one activity to another were flawless; there was always someone expecting us at the appropriate time and escorting us to the next flight or camp or activity.

We have travelled extensively in developing countries and this was the most stress free trip we have ever taken. It was pleasant, relaxing, and simply wonderful.

Though masks are not often used in Botswana, we never felt threatened by COVID. During our entire trip, we were almost never indoors with other people. During the one exception, our flights, the pilots wore masks and we were instructed do the same. Game drives were in open vehicles and all meals were served outdoors with the option of being nowhere near other diners.

We are confident that our risk was less on the trip than it would have been had we stayed home.

After a couple of days, we just stopped thinking about it." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"The entire trip was incredible, none of us wanted to go home. The planning was excellent and everything went flawlessly. The guides inNamibia and Botswana were excellent. It was wonderful being in these countries and meeting the people who are very happy to have tourists returning.

Maruska designed a trip for us that matched all of our goals. She was outstanding during the pandemic in rescheduling a couple of times and kept us informed of everything she was working on and changes. She is the best travel consultant we have ever worked with. She is timely and precise in her dealings with suppliers and companies in Africa. She was very responsive throughout the 3 years of planning. We highly recommend her. Thank you Maruska!" Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent" Read full review: 38 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari