Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had an absolutely brilliant safari - we saw loads of animals, more than I had expected. Our guide Halifa was fantastic - he was an amazing spotter, I don't know how he found all the animals but he did it somehow. He was also really helpful and would help out with any problem or enquiry. We also really liked him - very easy to get along with. I would recommend him to anyone going to Tanzania. All the camps we stayed in were excellent, again I'd have no problem recommending any of them. Staff were always helpful and friendly. All the people we met in the camps were very happy and very pleased with the guides and the camps.

The Shooting Star in Zanzibar was very nice, and again the staff very helpful. I think we enjoyed the safari part of the trip more, though - Zanzibar was more a place to relax and do nothing and we're not very good at that! Four nights was enough.

Ellie helped us with the booking and she has been great - she didn't mind any of us ringing up with lots of questions, and could always give you a sensible answer. She really knew her stuff!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an amazing experience which went all too quickly (except Swakopmund) and we will definitely return and explore the north. All the people we met were so friendly and helpful. We went south for the photography which was fantastic and we couldn't top clicking the shutter - so we have hundreds of momentos.

The top experiences for us were the Kalahari desert Sundowner Drive from Anib and the desert horses near Klein Aus Vista. The walking for me was excellent, especially from Canon Roadhouse and Rostock Ritz and I felt perfectly safe on my own.

Well done Gwynneth for helping to chose the accommodation and making it as easy as possible for John to access." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"It was absolutely fabulous!! Thank you all so much!

We have travelled worldwide over a number of years and I have dealt with probably hundreds of travel agents. Maruska was definitely one of the best agents I have ever worked with anywhere.

Thanks you, Maruska, for a fantastic job!!!

Suggestions to help improve service:

Expand your service into other countries in Africa and we will definitely book with you again!!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"First of all, we would like to mention two issues:
1. the distances from one to another place does not seem very long if you see the distance in kilometer on paper, but in reality it can take you quite a long time, especially when a big part of your trip is on gravel roads. Some travel days were in that sense quite tough for us.
2. our bank card has been skimmed in Tsumeb. Looking back, we probably know that it happened when some 'very helpful' guy wanted us to help with our transaction at an ATM. Of course, we have not been careful enough, but please be aware, these guys seem to be experienced and it all goes very fast, without any violence whatsoever.

Okay, those are the only two (minor) complaints, but overall our two weeks in Namibia were great! We have seen a lot of different things and have done a lot of things. All the lodges we have stayed in were unforgettable in their own way, however Desert Homestead, Doro Nawas, Etosha Aoba Lodge and Erongo Wilderness Lodge stand out. We really like the lay-down sandboarding near Swakopmund and also enjoyed the surrealistic landscape of the Sossusvlei. The most unforgettable thing of our holiday was, however, the Etosha National Park or more in general the game watching in Namibia. It is at times breathtaking to see wild animals at very close distance. We would like to recommend a trip to this beautiful country in all its elements to everyone!

Suggestions for improvements:

We experienced your service as very helpful and useful. We cannot think of anything to improve it." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a rewarding experience, we only saw one solitary male lion in etosha although we heard the roars each night (my wife was convinced
that these were actually recordings played for our benefit)!!

The directions for Frans Indongo on your map were not correct, the D2804 is really a 4wd road. the correct route would be to carry on the
B1 road to the D2433, the lodge manager confirmed this. Not a compaint just a point of interest." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"The trip was a very good experience." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zambia safari

"The whole trip was excellent in it`s organisation. Every connection was on time with drivers, camp staff etc all waiting for us.
Our highlights were the beautiful location of our tent at Kwara and the off road driving , the boat trip on the Chobe river with Muchenje Lodge and Santantadebi Mobile camp for all sorts of reasons as mentioned previously. [Ed: in the reviews below!]

We did see many wonderful animals but we can`t deny a little disappointment at the minimal sightings of the big cats.

We felt in need of exercise after 2 weeks of doing nothing but sitting in the jeeps and eating!

We had many interesting and fun conversations with the other guests all of which made the holiday memorable.

Suggestions for improvement:

The only negative I have is that the information on prices at Victoria Falls was inaccurate eg we expected the helicopter ride to be $100 but it was $130, similarly the cost of meals had risen sharply." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Chris & Lisa's comments -

This was our third trip to Africa with Expert Africa and we would not travel with anyone else! We went to Namibia in 2004 (our honeymoon) and to Zambia for the first time in 2007.

Anna had organized our previous trip to Zambia and was so helpful & enthusiastic we felt we had to ask her to help us to arrange a return trip. Her knowledge was invaluable in helping us to decide when we wanted to return and where we were to stay. The fact that Anna returns to Zambia for her own holidays shows just how much she loves the country and this is evident whenever you talk to her. Her passion for Zambia is infectious!

After talking to Anna so many times (I am sure she must be fed up with me by now!) and booking two trips with her I feel as though I am talking to a friend even though we have never met.

We fell in love with Zambia on our first trip & knew we had to return. We chose to go back at a different time of year (our previous trip was in October) to see the Luangwa Valley at the beginning of the dry season rather than at the end, and to see the Victoria falls at high water. It was lovely to experience this beautiful country in another season, the valley was as wonderful as last time and the falls were certainly different - there was water coming over them (a LOT of water!).

We hope to return to Zambia and will certainly be back in touch with Anna. Thank you for helping us to arrange another amazing trip!

John & Uschi's comments -

We are very grateful that Chris and Lisa asked us to come along. We had been to Africa a lot before (more than 10 times), but this was our first time to Zambia. And we were not disappointed. It is a wonderful country full of great wildlife and scenery and extremely friendly people.

We have loved some African countries for a long time and have put Zambia on that list." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Assessment below sufficient

Suggestions for improvements:

no" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa;

"The whole trip was a great success and this is based on the knowledge of Expert Africa in guiding our selection of camps and final destination.

We were recommended to limit our stay in the camps to 9 days and this proved to be right as the safaris are tiring. Marushka was particularly helpful when we had to cancel our previous booking due to ill health and Lucy was an excellent stand-in when Marushka was not available.

We would recommend Expert Africa to anyone and we will be back again looking at Namibia!

Suggestions for improvements:

As some of our fellow guests lost their luggage en route it would be helpful if your advice to customers suggested that they took a small emergency pack in their hand luggage (toothbrush, toothpaste etc), and you might suggest to the camps that they had a small stock of emergency supplies to help minimise the stress of lost luggage.

Other than this the trip was excellent from first contacting you to completing this form. Thank you." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari