Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"we had a lovely holiday.

Namibia is such a beautiful place

Gwynneth organised everything perfectly. It all ran like clockwork. Thank you

Suggestions for improvements:

It was all good" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"Great trip lived upto expectations. Ruaha was a revelation and a really great place to visit.

Everything wnet smoothly, apart from the hiccup with the Selous flight, which was a Costal problem.

Suggestions for improvements:

Nothing to add. We have used Expert Africa five times now and Sunvil to go to Costa Rica. We always mention the company whenever we are asked about our trips to Africa." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"It was excellent 12 days to remember. it is very private and wild. it´s our 5 safari Tanzania, Namibia and 2 South Africa. it´s a pity you don´t have a Ocean and wine.

Wine is a big interest so next year the whole family 10 persons go to South Africa. But I and my husband are going back to Mombo for the animals and Zarafa for the location." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We didn't know what to expect on our trip and what a wonderful experience we had. Maruska did a fantasic job creating an itinerary that matched our interests and our budget. We enjoyed all of our accommodations, tours, etc...throughout our trip. We had the added challenge of a nine hour time difference but this was never an issue.

Maruska always answered any questions we had with a very detailed email response and promptly called whenever we'd set up a time/day to talk by phone. We appreciated the detailed information and the inclusion of the Bradt Namibia guide. The Bradt Namibia guide we found to be even more helpful once we were on our trip, reading it regularly as we made our way from place to place. The descriptions and information was very helpful, the "notes for travelers" were extremely helpful as well.

We felt so well prepared for this trip from all the information Expert Africa provided us, there were no surprises and things unfolded seamlessly.

The reviews on your web site were helpful to us as it provided us with information, insight in regards to what we could expect. We like that they are unfiltered and when Expert Africa would comment/respond to a review that was less than favorable. We really hope our reviews will be helpful to other travelers and are sorry it has taken us so long.

The recommended length of stay was helpful and we felt accurate based on our experiences. The length of stay for most of the places we stayed was 2 nights and we wondered if that would feel too quick, however, we felt very satisfied as we went from place to place. We felt like we'd experienced the activities and seen as much as we could within out stay. While we enjoyed all of our accommodations if we were to highlight some it would be Onguma Tented Camp, Etendka Camp, Khwai Tented Camp, and Mapula Lodge. Onguma and Mapula were definitely luxury experiences were are not necessarily accustomed to, however, we enjoyed them completely - we appreciated the simplicity of Etendka and Khwai.

We are already planning on another visit to Southern Africa and we would readily work with Maruska and Expert Africa again!

Suggestions to help improve trips and service:

The only thing we might do different was a 2WD car with more clearance. Many of the roads we traveled on weren't much different than roads we drive in Alaska, however, in Alaska we have a 4WD vehicle with more clearance than what we had. So, driving on some of the roads in a 2WD vehicle was different for us. We understand that because of our trip budget we pretty much had to go with the car we had and things really did work out well. However, if someone can afford it we believe a 2 wheel drive vehicle is sufficient for the self-drive we did in Namibia but having one with more clearance than an economy sedan would be better." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful holiday travelling around Southern Namibia. Sabina helped us create a great itinerary so although we did plenty of driving we had plenty of activities planned too.

Although it was the winter, it was a great time of year to go as the daytime temperatures were lovely and warm but not too hot so we were able to do lots. After saying that it was very very cold at night so if you do go in the winter make sure you take plenty of warm clothes.

The highlights for us was the ballooning, the Tok Tokkie Trail and kayaking with seals in Swakopmund.

Suggestions for improvements

No we were very happy with everything." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We had a fabulous time. The camps were both excellent and the safaris were the best part of the trip, but chilling out at Unguja Lodge was also great.

Zanzibar Coffee House was perfectly acceptable, but a bit of a step down in terms of quality/comfort after Unguja Lodge and Selous Impala Camp.

All the internal flights and connections worked out perfectly, making the travelling stress-free.

Suggestions for improvemwents:

Perhaps you should mention in the pre-trip letter that return BA flights can be confirmed , seats booked and boarding passes printed 24 hours in advance at internet cafes in Stone Town, (and presumably at camps with computer access and a printer if they're willing).
Also include water shoes in your list of what to pack, especially for Zanzibar." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Would not hestate to recommend the team.

Thank you.

Suggestions for improvements:

Keep doing what you do." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"A big 'thank you' to Expert Africa and Ellie in particular, for all the help and advice given during the planning stage of our first, but hopefully not our last, trip to Africa. The experience surpassed all our expectations and ticked every box and more!

The choice of camps, Impala, Manze and Mdonya met our criteria exactly and, for us, choosing them in that order was perfect. Impala was a great introduction to the 'safari experience' and by the time we reached Mdonya we felt like seasoned travellers. In our opinion three or four days in each camp is a must if you are to get the most out of the activities and you get the opportunity to develop a relationship with the guides and drivers.

All the travel arrangements went like clockwork, with the only exception being when we returned to Heathrow Terminal 5. Having landed, the planes navigational system failed within sight of the buildings and we sat for 20 mins, forty yards from the stand! Welcome home! We had to smile.

Undeterred by that, I'm already leafing through the new brochure - we are definately hooked and have some amazing photos of lions, leopards, cheetah, elephants, giraffe, cape buffalo, crocs, hippos, wild dogs, dik diks etc, etc but no other tourists! They were rarely sighted and we felt as if we had the Selous and Ruaha to ourselves.

We didn't go with any preconsieved ideas or a check list of 'must sees'. Every sighting was a bonus and special. I was just as excited at seeing my last giraffe as I was seeing my first, and we saw hundreds!

There will always be people like us wanting something that bit different and off the main tourist trail. Your expertise really pays dividends and we will have no hesitation in recommending your services to our friends.

Well done Expert Africa. Asante sana.

Suggestions for improvements:

I'm sure you're always on the look out for another 'special' camp. Keep up the good work." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"We have had a wonderful holiday" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We felt Namibia was a wonderful country with very friendly and pleasant people everywhere we went. We just loved the countryside, the solitude and the wildlife.

Luckily Gwynneth suggested we upgrade from a basic car to a Nissan Xtrail. We would suggest that everyone does this as some of the roads (for example up to Corona Guest Farm) would have been challenging without the extra ground clearance.In addition there is no way that the camping gear we hired would have fitted into a small hatchback! Next time we would consider a full 4x4 as anyone who is in the least adventurous will find that even with the Xtrail there are a few places that are off-limits.

Camping gear was hired from Camping Hire Namibia in Windhoek. This was reasonably priced and included everything we needed but was rather shabby including horrible old plastic mugs.

We would thoroughly recommend our mix of a couple of camping nights followed by a luxury lodge - the best of both worlds!

We loved our first taste of Africa and would thoroughly recommend Expert Africa for their knowledge and experience.

Your information booklet sent to us on our booking was extremely informative and useful especially the tips on driving and car hire." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip