Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Excellent. Everything we asked for. This is the third journey that Maruska has arranged for us. We can’t fault her work or the company.

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Expert Africa to anyone." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent trip!

Expert Africa (Sabina) were very responsive, attentive, and did a great job preparing us for the trip." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 4 on a Namibia trip

"We had been saving for this trip for 5yrs and booked it almost a year ago so the anticipation was palpable. The trip to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary was truly wonderful. Everywhere you go, you feel looked after and even the blip in the service level at Mkulumadzi lodge was quickly sorted out.

We met lots of lovely people and saw loads of animals - 164 species recorded in my notebook! Our guides were all extremely eagle eyed and did their utmost to get you in the best position for taking photos. In 3 of the 4 camps, we were lucky enough to not have to share a jeep which really helps build up a good relationship with your guide.

We only put on 3lb in weight each which is astonishing when all the camps feed you every 2-3hrs with tempting food. Each park we stayed in offered different scenery and new animals and birds to see. Whilst some animals such as cheetahs and rhino remained elusive, we have some amazing memories and photos to remind of us this fabulous trip. Roll on the next safari!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really - Lucy was incredibly helpful and patient with my endless questions.

Occasionally there was a bit of a delay getting a response but it was never a major issue." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"The Safari exceeded our expectations entirely.

It was an incredible experience with our 3 young children (9,7,4). The 7 day itinerary was perfect, and glad we got to spend 3 days in the Serengeti (our favourite of the 4 parks). We didn't feel rushed at all, or pressured to see animals.

Our driver was fantastic. He drove safely and was knowledgeable, and passionate about his job. He was patient and great with the kids. Also the vehicle was in great condition (better than almost all others we saw) which helped make it comfortable.

The lodges were great, really comfortable without being over the top luxurious." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"The whole trip was well organised from start to finish.

The information supplied covered everything we needed to know, and the whole itinerary worked like clockwork" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zambia safari

"We totally enjoyed the trip overall. This was a terrific agenda, thank you to Tracy at Expert Africa for all her hard work and our many changes.

Johann, our private guide, was absolutely super. We could not have asked for a better person to manage our way and maximize our stay in Namibia. Highlights were numerous, and we would not have missed any. Outstanding for all of us was our stay at Huab under Canvas, Driving the Dunes at Sandwich Harbour, Sossusvlei & Deadvlei and Kolmannskuppe.

Elephant and Rhino tracking were once in a lifetime experiences, and we appreciate all the efforts involved to allow us those opportunities. We would highly recommend the trip, and both the care & service provided by Tracy before we got there, and by Johann once we were in country." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Very satisfactory is not even close to describing our satisfaction with our experience with Expert Africa. Maruska did a superb job in communicating with us whether over the phone or by email. She answered all our questions promptly, stuck to our budget, fulfilled our request for a self guided tour and the areas we wanted to visit and provided many more useful suggestions. We followed her itinerary to a T and was never disappointed. Still there was plenty of opportunity to use the Bradt guide and add extra excursions when we wanted. I think that was only possible because of her careful, knowledgeable planning. Our group of three visited from Oct 5 - Nov 1, 2019

If we know of anyone going to Africa we would not hesitate to point out the excellent service that Expert Africa provided us.

Thank You Expert Africa and especially Maruska! You made our vacation hassle free and memorable." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"A fantastic experience.

Enjoyed our days driving in Namibia, seeing the very dry terrain which was so different from when we last visited in April 2018. The lodges where we stayed were very good, the wildlife we saw exceptionally varied, and the people we met were a delight.

Cape Town was crazy busy, fun, very different to when we last visited 22 years ago and the whale watching in Hermanus was well worth a day trip. Our favourite activity was visiting Kirstenbosch and seeing the proteas.
The Okavango Delta in Botswana and Shinde in particular was the icing on the cake and probably the best African experience we have ever had, and we’ve had 7 trips to Africa over the years, so that’s praise indeed!

First time we've used Expert Africa and we are well-impressed. Thank you Megan for listening to what we wanted and helping us to make the choices, it was a perfect holiday - no, a perfect ADVENTURE!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Namibia and definitely want to go back.

We deliberately only covered a relatively small area so we didn’t have to drive more than 4.5 hours a day and are glad we did this to ensure we had the time to properly see what we wanted.

Will definitely use you again for our next trip!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We had an excellent trip. But, like a previous reviewer, we would have enjoyed it more with a better vehicle. EA recommend a Renault Duster as being 4-wheel drive and adequate for the Namibian roads. While 4-wheel drive is occasionally useful, the Duster has standard tyres and in some places more rubber is definitely needed. The roads round Sesriem and in Damaraland are considerably worse than in other parts we visited and we would recommend anyone visiting these areas to pick a Toyota hi-lux. See our comments on Bidvest for more details.

Our second disappointment was the amount of electric light we experienced. Nearly every lodge had path lights which stayed on all night, ruining the view of the sky, and in some cases our sleep. We were used to little light and Tilley lamps on previous visits to Africa and this came as a shock. Tok Tokkie and Mundulea were a relief from this. In some places the lights were behind the tent/room but at Erongo we had to resort to removing lightbulbs from the path outside to allow us to sleep. At Ongava, the waterhole light shone directly into our room. We are very saddened that lodges feel this amount of light is necessary.

EA often states that when on half board “drinks are extra”. Most of the lodges we stayed on half board included 2 large glasses of house wine per person each night. Sundowners were extra.

We stayed at 3 Wilderness Safaris lodges and got to know their dining style. Everywhere else game was often the meat provided, at Wilderness it was regularly basic beef, pork or chicken which was quite uninteresting. They also had an obsession with hot plates, which at 30C seemed unnecessary.

It was very nice to receive a recent copy of the Namibia guidebook in August. This was hardly opened before our trip and still fell apart before we got to Etosha. A large number of pages fell out somewhere which meant that we didn't have the information about Etosha that we wanted. We also had with us a 30 year old bird book with all its pages intact. It's a shame Bradt can't make their books a little more robust.

We were told that using toilets at petrol stations could not be recommended. We carefully took a trowel and a roll of paper with us. This was completely unnecessary as every toilet we visited was spotless." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip