Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Overall it was marvellous.

The mobile safari with Grant was definitely the best bit of the holiday and well worth repeating,
Linyanti came a close second.

Shinde was very disappointing, the excellent facitlies were badly let down by the poor management and guiding

A couple of bits of information that others may find useful:

It's sandy underfoot at the campsites
Occasional clouds of dust unavoidable at this time of year, with this, photographers need to be cautious about changing lenses if using SLRs and contact lens wearers may find spectacles more practical
Getting a square to round plug adapter can be useful, gives increased flexibility at fixed sites and necessary for Grant's inverter on the mobile safari." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Fantastic- we had a wonderful time!

Anna's advice was bang on and I thought of her several times during the trip, remembering her enthusiasm and wanting to say how much I agreed!

Suggestions for improvemnet:

Tell your clients to take plenty of dollars. Sterling is no good. They need money for taxes in Malawi as well as in Zambia. And lots of money for tips, which were much more standard than we had been led to believe in the Guide." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Exccellent trip!!

Expert Africa did a super job;" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Hate questionnaires and my t is overcooked!
always glad to help" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"Our best holiday for a very long time, exceeding our expectations in almost every area.

The advice provided was extremely helpful and the descriptions provided on the website and in the Brandt guide were almost universally accurate.

The marked-up route maps were particularly appreciated.

Suggestions for improvement:

Put the bit about plastic bags to protect the luggage from dust in block capitals! We did but some others were less well informed.

Where can you get adaptors which fit the 3 round pin plugs - not everywhere has a European standard alternative?" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we were very pleased with our trip,
Our Guide on the Safari, Nuru was absolutely brilliant, he had so much knowledge and didn't have to rely on the CB or following other people around to find the animals. The way he was able to spot some of them was unbelievable. Also he had such a knowledge of all the small animals as well, always showing the animal afterwards in the books he had and always correct on their name as well.
he looked after us from the moment we landed to the time we took off for Zanzibar. We were very lucky to have some one like him.

The accomodation was very impressive overall considering the general standard on view. Was really impressed with the quality and variety of the food as well.

Tanzania is such a lovely country and would love to visit it again some time in the future.

A big Thanks to Claire & Ann who helped us out in preparing for the trip that were always very helpful when dealing with them." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"A wonderful country of huge interest and contrasts we had the holiday of a lifetime and a lifetime of a holiday! Thank you Expert Africa." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We (2 adults, children 11 and 10) had a great time. We had been to Namibia in 1995 and found it really quite unchanged for the most part. Highlights were Etendeka, the dunes at Sossussvlei, the kayaking trip with the seals at Walvis Bay with Jeanne Meintjes and some of our sightings in Etosha, including 8 lions and a cheetah. By the end of the holiday we were already making lists of places we would go to next time (Northern Damaraland, Caprivi Strip etc)

We would rate Namibia as a great first time destination in Africa for those who are allergic to package tourism and want to be independent, and don't mind a bit of driving (we did just less than 2000 miles in 15 days, which I would guess is not unrepresentative)" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"People always say you'll be disappointed when you go back to somewhere you've been to and really enjoyed - they say it won't be as good as last time. Well we were amazed and delighted that it was even better - it exceeded every expectation or hope for the trip.

It is a fantastic place with really superb people at the camps we've visited. We'd like to try some other camps next time we go, but don't know if we'll be able to tear ourselves away from Remote Africa - I guess we'll just have to try to find some extra time!

Suggestions for improvement:

You really helped us decide against Botswana in an open and honest way. Having had such a great holiday we can't think of anything you could have done to improve it since we don't believe you can control the airport/flight aspect." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"As a whole,this trip was a holiday of a lifetime. With the help of Expert Africa, we enjoyed our exploration of this beautiful country. Our total journey was 3400 km, but we did not unduly feel we were tied to the vehicle. We were happy that our planned route was in a clockwise direction, as it left the high points towards the end of the holiday (including hotter temperatures!). Unfortunately, we missed a key activity (ballooning over the dunes) due to high winds and we also hit an extremely cold winter snap. We enjoyed seeing the towns/villages and spending some time in them.

One point I would like to stress is that these lodges are mostly built to provide cool accommodation in summer, and therefore can be bitterly cold and draughty in winter. Visitors could perhaps be given more warning to pack winter clothing. Restaurant staff are wearing anoraks - ours were at home!

We did not appreciate open plan toilets or sharing a dinner table with people we had little in common with.

We found the guide book by Chris extremely helpful and appreciated all other documents." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip