Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Totally excellent!" Read full review: 6 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

"The trip went beyond our expectations for adventure, learning, excitement and fun. I believe Expert Africa made the trip a big success because they are a full service safari planning company. The website and staff provided all that was needed for making decisions and getting the right arrangement. We spent three weeks on the trip that involved 11 accommodations, three airline flights, driving 2800 km on the left side of the road and numerous guides, staff and assistants. That it all went well and left us wishing for more meant they must be doing something right." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"This was truly the trip of a lifetime!

Megan was great to deal with. She had wonderful ideas about where we should go; we really liked the camps and the private mobile safari was a once in a lifetime wonderful experience. Because of Covid and an unexpected shoulder surgery, she had to schedule and reschedule everything 3 times, which she did without complaint.

She suggested that we spend the night in Johannesburg at City Lodge Tambo both on the way there and back which was a great suggestion. (We were also able to leave one piece of luggage there while we went on safari).

We would heartily recommend using Expert Africa for a trip to Botswana." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Really good trip overall. The transport issue mentioned in Namibia did not set the best tone and I admit to being worried about how the rest of the trip would go after that happened.

Everything was great from there on out, except until the very end when two persons in my traveling party tested positive for COVID at Splash Camp, Botswana. There were a lot of details that needed help and attention for these two persons when they were told they had to stay in Botswana an extra five days, at a camp with zero internet availability. The camp does have a satellite phone for emergencies. They reached out to Expert Africa to request help in making alternative travel arrangements and important notifications to people at home and received zero assistance.

This lack of helpful response did not set well with us as a group of five travelers having spent a combined (approximate) $50k between us on this once in a lifetime type of travel experience. So the beginning and end of the trip were not the most shining examples of Expert Africa’s service. But the majority of our trip was great. So take that information any way you wish. Just sharing our true experiences." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Absolutely fantastic holiday.

Twice postponed due to covid it did not disappoint when we finally got there.

Everything went extremely smoothly, it was both exciting and relaxing at the same time and we cannot wait to go back.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, I think the service is well above and beyond what can be expected and so was our trip" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"My memory is that I asked Sabina to get us the perfect experience when I very first spoke to her. She did! This was our third visit to Namibia (the only one booked through Expert Africa) and it was the best of the lot. Absolutely every detail was better than we had expected. Everything went completely according to plan. That this happened while the planning was mostly done in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, when nothing seemed to stay the same week to week, is astonishing. I can’t imagine the amount of work that was going on in the background.

Every question (no matter how daft) was answered in full. Documents etc were sent out in a timely manner and were of good quality. There were handy little extras included too - such as a credit-sized card detailing all phone numbers that could be required in an emergency and a booklet giving information about hire car return, tipping and all the other things that are better to know than not.

The only critique I would have is that it would be helpful to offer a sat nav with the hire cars, or perhaps to give more detailed driving directions. The tourist map provided (seemingly to all tourists, whoever they booked through) was not completely accurate and, therefore, was the subject of many conversations with other travellers. It was also old, so did not cover the new roads around Windhoek which made the journey to the airport, um, “interesting”. Fortunately, we had given ourselves plenty of time and had a vague memory of the roads around Windhoek but could have got completely lost. In fairness though, Google maps was of no greater help.

All in all an amazing holiday. Thank you Sabina (and Expert Africa generally). We will be back," Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana 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

"As usual with Expert Africa every thing went like clockwork. We recommend you every time!

Only place I was not that happy with was Latitude 13 but not sure what other options there were to get a PCR test done even though we did not need it in the end." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Malawi trip