Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Expert advice, smooth handling and veeery helpful with a few extra requests" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"Expert Africa are great.

We arrived after the long flight to Cape Town to be met by a smiling driver, this model was repeated at each destination.

All the hotel rooms booked for us were lovely and when we had a problem with our return flight being cancelled EA sorted out transfers for us seamlessly." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The itinerary was very well established from start to finish! The sequence of destinations and accommodations was perfect. Well done!

Our only hiccups were at the start of the trip - a guide for Arusha and a transport from the domestic flight to the day room in Dar es Salaam.

Staff at Expert Africa were attentive to these mishaps and helped resolve them immediately.

More conversation around what to expect would be helpful for first-time safari guests and more detailed descriptions of the activities available would be helpful in making decisions about how to spend out time." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"The whole trip was very well organised by Lucy, went very smoothly in Africa and was very much enjoyed. Unfortunately, our outward BA flight was delayed by over three hours and so we missed our Airlink connecting flight from Johannesburg to Maun but fortunately we were rebooked onto a later flight. Thanks to Lucy for reacting so quickly to our email, warning Airlink of the situation and ensuring Mack Air and our first camp at Lagoon were also aware. The service on the flights to and from Maun on Airlink was very good.

We stayed at four Kwando camps: Lagoon, Lebala, Mma Dinare and Splash. All provided very good and comfortable accommodation, food and facilities, friendly, welcoming and helpful staff; and, most importantly, excellent guiding and tracking, with plenty of time to view what was going on. It was good to be able to drive off road at all the camps which added immeasurably to the sightings; and it was rare for there to be more than one or two vehicles in one place at the same time.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip, our fourth with Expert Africa, and it met our objectives in terms of the animals we particularly wanted to see this time (cheetah and wild dogs) although we saw a very broad range of animals and birds." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We are a family coming together for this trip from five different countries.

Maruska did a fabulous job in organizing us all even with a last minute change. Great advice all round.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Everything ran very smoothly and we will certainly book our next trip with you." Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"If I could give Expert Africa 11 or of 10, I would!

Lucy was fabulous - knowledgeable, careful and a good listener too.

The result was the holiday of a lifetime, filled with memories we will never forget.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Totally professional and nice too! No, I can't find any way to improve." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"This was our first safari and we wanted to use an experienced company to arrange things for us. After a lot of research we chose Expert Africa and were glad that we did. Jessica listened to everything we asked for and planned the perfect trip. When we did have a small issue with a hotel transfer in Zanzibar, she quickly fixed it for us and kept us informed throughout.

All the accommodation and staff at Asilia Africa were exceptional, we could not have asked for anything better. The guides were all extremely knowledgeable and really cared that we had the best safari experience possible. The rooms were beautiful and so luxurious. The food was delicious and plentiful (perhaps bordering on too plentiful!).

Our time at Kilindi was very relaxing and just what we needed after a busy 10 days on safari." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"The service from Claire at Expert Africa from start to finish was exemplary.

So knowledgeable, extremely responsive and took into account our few comments on the itinerary. This was another fantastic trip.

It is a real priviledge to be able to do walks each morning in such beautiful scenery, seeing wildlife including some of the Big 5 on foot, at a safe distance, and then having the contrast of game drives in the afternoon and early evening.

All meals were superb and the hospitality was excellent." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Before visiting Kenya, we have been to four countries in Southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) five times, and each one of those trips were highly enjoyable.

Nonetheless, we figured it was time to check out East Africa for a change. To be honest, we were a little apprehensive about this trip, because many guidebooks or websites tell you that in both Kenya and Tanzania visitor numbers are much higher than in the South of Africa. As the New York Times wrote earlier this year, they witnessed a cheetah hunting and making a kill in the Maasai Mara, and in no time, the poor animal was surrounded by 50 vehicles. Well, even though the number of cars per sighting was, on average, higher than in Southern Africa, we experienced none of such extremes. I guess, we were lucky with the choice of camps and/or locations.

For instance, we took great care in picking camps that are using open vehicles with a maximum of six passengers and not vehicles with pop-up roofs, let alone minibuses. For a serious photographer, such conditions would seriously limit your freedom to move, and in the case of pop-up roofs you would have to stand up and, often, you would look down on animals. In other words, it would be a nightmare ruining my trip. I realize that the camps we picked are significantly more expensive, but this goes hand in hand with providing better guides, better amenities and facilities, and better service. The good news is that in our experience, the camps in Kenya are not quite as pricey as Botswana accommodations.

One more comment about the number of cars per sighting: The official rules in the Maasai Mara clearly state that the maximum number of vehicles per scene is limited to five (per animal, not animals!). Taken literally, a pride of 8 lions could be visited by 40 cars, and we have witnessed scenes with up to 20 cars. On other occasions, for instance when observing cheetahs or leopards, we have noticed that local wildlife rangers do in fact make sure that there are no more than 5 cars on the scene. Throughout the entire trip, we were blessed with guides that showed great patience and perseverance to stay at a scene for longer. Quite often we were also lucky enough to be the only two guests in the vehicle. The only camp where there were six passengers in a car was Lewa Safari Camp.

As in previous years, I enjoyed recording our wildlife sightings. Overall, we saw more animals here than in any other place in Africa. And our encounters with the big cats were especially noteworthy, because often they were full of drama. I should point out though that we did not see any wild dogs anywhere. Of the four areas visited, the Maasai Mara was, thanks to our guides, and despite the higher number of vehicles, a photographer’s paradise.

What we also appreciated in all five camps was that they allowed each party to have their own tables at mealtimes.

To summarize, this trip was so good that we are almost certain to return to Kenya in the near future." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 20 on a Kenya safari

"Fabulous trip. Learnt a lot even though we have been on many safaris.

Great range of experiences between the 2 camps - loved both of them - and wonderful relaxation at the beach.

I should like to discuss the Wildlife Survey form and the animal sightings you put on your website. I thought looking at your website that these were the animals with some chance% of what we might see. But of course there are lots and lots of others. Also find the more detail bit on this questionairre a bit confusing." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Kenya safari