Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"will go back. best holiday i ever made with the whole family" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"One could write so much that it is not worth starting to... Just a brilliant and inimitable place to go." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Namibia is certainly an interesting and beautiful country to visit. Highlights were driving through the dramatic desert scenery, climbing the dunes, seeing the seals at Cape Cross, watching a rhino family drink at Okaukuejo's waterhole, seeing crocodiles on the Angolan bank of the Okavango river, and the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at Ghaub guest farm. Having travelled fairly widely in Africa, the thing that perhaps surprised us most was how few people there are in Namibia (2.2/km2) - even the towns seemed empty!

It was interesting that none of the lodges (except Ghaub) offered child portions for their meals, even for very young children, which unfortunately resulted in food being wasted.

Cash was easier to find than expected with ATMs in even the smallest towns and at many petrol stations, which was good as food and supplies seemed generally quite expensive.

Expert Africa certainly organised the trip well - Tracy was always happy to answer queries, replied rapidly to my emails, and kept us posted with any changes. We had originally asked for self-catering as much as possible and I realise that in many places this is not possible, but where we were quoted only bed and breakfast we sort of assumed there would be facilities for catering for ourselves which was not always the case - this was perhaps our fault for not clarifying this before leaving. Otherwise, the voucher system worked well and everything was booked as expected (except for the family room at Haus Sonneneck). The route was clearly marked and lodges were easy to find." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"Anna was extremely knowledgeable and very efficient in organising our trip. She dealt very patiently with all our queries and requests and clearly knew Zambia inside out. As a result our whole holiday went like clockwork. We would definitely be very happy to recommend Expert Africa and Anna Devereux-Baker to anyone planning a trip to Africa and we will certainly use them for our next Africam adventure.

Suggestions for improvements:

None" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Another fabulous trip to Africa, we can't wait to go back

One thing we did notice however, was that, while the standard of guiding remains generally very good, there seem now to be some guides who are doing the job just to make enough money to be able to fund other business/life plans. As a result we encountered one or two without the old passion/feel for the job. While their knowledge was probably very good, it was in a bit of a textbook style and seemed to lack an empathy with the animals/environment.

Possibly because the good rains had meant animals were more dispersed and therefore a bit more difficult to find, there seemed to be a lot of racing around trying to find things without stopping to evaluate the surroundings and potential. I also felt that there was a bit more harrassing animals by changing position to let people get a different shot rather than just sitting quietly to observe, again perhaps because of the perceived need to move on to try to find something else. Also because there were possibly fewer 'opportunities to view' there tended to be several vehicles at each sighting.

Suggestions for improvements:

Difficult to think of anything Expert Africa could do better. We are always delighted with the service and have recommended you to lots of friends.

It would have been helpful to have seen the questionnaire before we went so that we could make notes on relevant points as we went along. After three weeks and lots of locations it is a bit difficult to remember precise details for" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fantastic honeymoon in Africa - although we wouldn't go back to Cape Town and Kruger in a hurry we would highly recommend Zanzibar and Pongwe Beach Hotel - a fantastic start to married life!

Suggestions for improvements:

Your service is faultless - keep doing what you're doing!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Fabulous holiday, would recommend to anyone with a sense of adventure and an interest in wildlife. We have some great pictures to keep the memories alive.

Suggestions for improvements:

None, I think the fact that Anna knew the places well was crucial to choosing two of the smaller operators and gave us an exceptional holiday" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Excellent, very glad we didnt camp! so every room was a luxury in comparison. The food was cheaper than expected.
This was one of the best holidays I have had and would definately reccomend it to others and certainly with Expert Africa

I would like to have known that when in towns it is usual to pay a guard $10 to look after the car.

There was a little confusion as Brandberg white lady were expecting us for 2 nights, which is what we wanted, so there was some mis communication here. we had to pack up and leave for Omoruru." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Loved Namibia and we will definitely return. It was great to be able to do it ourselves rather than be on a tour and mixing camping with staying in lodges worked very well for us. We were pleased that we went to Kaokoland and to see the Bushmen at Nhoma, it made the trip that much more special. The country was so interesting with such varied landscapes and things to do.

Expert Africa (Maruska) had done a great job in doing the bookings and in giving us information about where we were going. It was excellent having the map with the route shown and the accomodation wriitten in. Chris McIntyre's book was invaluable. I have recommended Expert Africa to many people and haven't been able to praise them highly enough.

Many thanks Maruska." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"The economic climate made this trip more expensive than it might have been 12 months earlier. But once you leave Lusaka you can forget the rest of the world, forget money, forget politics, the weather or anything else that disturbs your equilibrium: simply immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the bush. The people involved in putting this bush experience together restore your faith in human nature.

This was a great trip, but then again I have never had a bad trip in Africa. The dilema, as ever, is whether to return again or move on and extend your experiences. Would we go back - no question!

Suggestions for improvement:

This was a trip difficult to criticise - and certainly in terms of planning and booking there were no questions left unanswered and no issues that caused a problem. You know when the ref has had a good game, you don't hear the whistle. Expert seem to handle things much the same way. Thank you." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari