Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"All accommodation more than acceptable.
Expert Africa reputation held in high regard concerning honesty/arrangements etc.

Overall standard of food excellent but portion sizes greater than European norm, e.g. Ploughmans at Grootberg Lodge had excess meat.
Also cold puddings more acceptable than hot 'solid' puddings.

Suggestions for improvements:

No! We have been more than satisfied with service provided." Read full review: 49 nights in Africa; 21 on a Namibia trip

"Apart from Villa Verdi ,another good trip

Suggestions for improvements:

We are very happy with the service from Expert Africa for more than 10 years now" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was organized at the last moment and everything worked 100% thanks to Anna at Expert Africa whose recommendations were absolutely spot-on, and whose organizational skills proved to be miraculous (including re-scheduling entire flight programs at the last minute) and whose knowledge of the area and the specific people we would deal with are unparalleled. All the lodges we stayed in know Anna really well.

Suggestions for improvements:

No - but I have certainly recommended Expert Africa to a freinds already and will continue to book next trips through Expert Africa. Absolutely excellent." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Good relaxing diving holiday. Sailing home on a Dhow after diving was magical.

Suggestions for improvements:

Good organisation and recommendations have turned out to be accurate. Thanks" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"A perfect combination of activity and relaxation - we couldn't have asked for more.

Expert Africa were really helpful when our BA flight was delayed - much appreciated." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Firstly, thank you all very much for organising such a wonderful holiday. The pre-holiday information removed all the usual anxiety of the unknown and, with a few minor exceptions, was very very helpful.

You didnlt ask about Primate Safaris so I have to ass that they were fantastic – our guide was William. What a great guy, he looked after us very well.

Seeing the Gorillas was just amazing – what an experience! The trek wasn't particularly difficult (thankfully), it only took about an hour and 10 minutes in total, and not too hard either. With hindsight we should have done 2 gorilla treks. The Golden Monkeys were interesting but nothing like seeing the gorillas – we were the only people who did the monkey trek, so we had a guide, a trainee guide, two trackers, a porter and two armed guards – and us!!!

A couple of things that are different from your info:

There is an exit charge from Zanzibar Airport of $30 each. We were told that there was no facility to get money from the airport and anyway they would only accept it in US$. What happens if we don't have $60 cash we asked – you get a taxi to Stone Town and get the money, was the reply. Fortunately we had $62 – but I just don't know what would have happened if it had been a Sunday and the banks were shut.

The Spice Tour was $60 EACH – for about 2 & a half hours and 1 hour 20 minutes of that was travelling to and fro. Interesting but not worth £85.

All in all we had a truly wonderful holiday and would not hesitate in recommending Expert Africa. We will certainly be back.

Many thanks" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"It was a wonderful trip. It was very efficiently organised by Sabina and there were no hitches at all. With only one exception, the accommodation and service surpassed our expectations.

We were particularly impressed by the guides. They were all so motivated and had an amazing knowledge of the flora and fauna. We were looked after by so many friendly and helpful people.

It was our first trip to Africa and we were so impressed by all that we saw. We're already planning another trip and would certainly choose Expert Africa again.

Suggestions for improvement:

We can't think of any" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"This was a fantastic holiday.

The accommodation was well chosen, the information supplied was second to none, (maps, routes and instructions on how to get to the accommodation).

Suggestions for improvement:

Because of the time of year, it was suggested that a 4X4 would be a good idea. The extra cost put the overall price over our budget so we opted to go earlier. We had no need for a 4X4 but the state of the roads, with severe 'washboarding' meant that a small saloon, with its firm suspension, was very tiring in some places. We could not maintain more than 30 Kph in some places, whilst being passed, at speed, by larger cars with bigger wheels and softer suspension. I cannot suggest a cure for this other than to let future clients read this comment.

On a lighter note, it was worth having a second spare wheel for the peace of mind and the fact that having a second meant that we never needed either of them! We met many people who had had punctures.

An anecdotal word of warning :- One couple had a puncture, jacked the car up and found the second wheel was the wrong size, got out the original spare which turned out to be flat. Hire company not known." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"This was our forth trip to southern Africa. It was undoubtedly the best for animal sightings. It was more restricting than driving ourselves around Etosha or the Kalagadi or being driven around Etosha from Ongava in that there is nothing to do between 1100 and 1600. The six people to a vehicle at Kwando is very bad, fortunatel we only had that happen three times in 18 drives so it wasn't too bad. However if we had been there when the camps were full it would have definitely spoilt the holiday.

Salinda, I'm told. have three seats down either side of the vehicle and all other camps we have stayed at have three rows of seats. Apart from being cramped the person in the centre of the three can't see very much as their side view is restricted and those in the second row have forward vision restricted as well.

The Kwando vehicle seating is the only real complaint of the whole trip. The Kwando experience was really fantastic we saw just about every animal we wanted to see, the only exceptions were cheetah and leopard cubs! We would certainly recommend the Kwando circuit to any one, especially Kwara. I think that three nights at each camp is the minimum one should have and we would have been happy with five nights at Kwara. If we were to go back to northern Botswana we would certainly go to Kwara but probably not Lagoon and Lebala.

Baines, whilst not e real dissappointment, was not in the same league a the others. It may be that had we done Baines first we would have felt differently but the guides we had weren't upto Kwado standards and there didn't seem to be enough land to visit different areas on different drives." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"The Expert Africa website is a great starting point - it is rare to get so much information including honest assessments from EA about the lodges. The in depth practical information is very useful.

Ellie could not have been more helpful and friendly. The lodges that she suggested for us were perfect - she really listed to what we said about the type of holiday and accommodation we were after. We spent a lot of time talking through the pros and cons of different venues and it was refreshing to speak to a tour operator who would give you their own views.

We had a fantastic time and can't thank Expert Africa enough for all your help and careful planning!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari