Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had a fabulous experience where the goal was to relax and take in the scenery on the island of Zanzibar. We greatly appreciate the fantastic expertise of Chris McIntyre and Ann Lederman, without whom this trip would not have been possible. The entire trip was planned on short notice, and was complicated by our own unreachability while traveling during the planning process. Also making things difficult were several itinerary changes that were unexpected but necessary.

We felt to be in great hands with the team at Expert Africa, and Ann in particular made a potentially difficult trip easy with her speed and incredible resourcefulness. In one instance, she was able to orchestrate hand delivery of an airline ticket to me in Arusha, Tanzania, when e-ticketing was unavailable and I was in-transit through Africa. Though I am an American, living in San Francisco, and Expert Africa is a tour operator based in the U.K., I always felt your services were instantly accessible, to a greater extent than even locally based tour operators in Africa.

We will always be grateful for your fantastic work in putting together our honeymoon, and if we ever have the wonderful opportunity of another vacation in Africa, we would use your services in a heartbeat.

Thanks again;

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We felt we received exceptional service, and have no suggestions for improvement." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 1 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our overall experience was what we dreamed of. Africa is a unique untouched beauty. We would definitely recommend this trip to our friends excluding the Beyt al Chai experience. In the end we did accepted this as an adventure at Zanzibar island, but it wasn't a pleasant thing to happen since it was our honeymoon, if it was in other trip we wouldn't have been so disappointed.

The game drives were great, even with the fact of missing the migration at the Serengeti. The CC Africa lodges are amazing, the staff is very friendly. Everything is great there! It's a worthwhile experience. No one should miss it!

The Matemwe Retreat is all fantastic..and as we said before our butler was tireless!

This trip was everything that we expected. We are very looking forward to go back to Africa very soon." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"The trip exceeded our expectations in every way. The tourist infrastructure in Namibia is outstanding, with the quality of the hotels, courtesy of the people and maintenance of the roads putting much of the UK and Europe to shame.

This was not a cheap holiday, but we felt that it was money well spent and would love to return. We saw and photographed far more than we had expected and this will provide us with many wonderful memories for the future.

We found that we used much more cash on the trip than expected. Fuel is now N$8 to N$9 per litre meaning that refilling tank was around N$400 at each petrol station (6 fills for 3000km). No petrol station we visited accepted cards. Needed more cash for tips, park entry fees etc than anticipated. Had informed our UK bank that we were travelling to Namibia, but they still blocked debit card as soon as it was used in ATM. They left message on UK phone to ring them back -not a lot of help in Namibia!

Fortunately credit card remained functional (had phoned their security dept before leaving rather than relying on website link). Initially took GDP£400 in SA rand, but took out further N$6000 to cover expenses en route. Had to draw this over three days in Swakopmund as ATMs seemed reluctant to give too much in one go. Banks close at 3.30 in afternoon, so not easy to access them if out on trips." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Having waited for our son to be 12 so that we could take him on safari, when it actually came to it I was worried it would not live up to my expectations and that I might resent the huge amount of money we spent. Happily it did and I don't.

We had a fantastic two weeks, the two lodges (Manze and Impala in Tanzania) contrasted in style, terrain and game viewing. I was really pleased that the Selous Reserve offered the choice of game drives, boat trips and walking safaris and feel we would have been a bit jaded had there not been that variety.

Tanzania is a good to choice if you want a bit of beach time and I was especially please that we elected to go to Mafia rather than Zanzibar. A lot of other travellers went on to Zanzibar, but on Mafia the ex pats from Dar es Salaam rated our choice the better one.

I was really impressed with how everything went without any hitches. I'm sure this is no small part down to the background work and research done at EA. When time is limited you don't want to put up with the things that are usually part and parcel of travel in developing countries and that was what I was hoping to avoid by booking through a specialist agent. The time spend finding out our requirements and expectations meant that it was no accident taht everything went so well.

Your expert advice was worth every penny." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall our trip was a fantastic experience. Pretty much every piece of advice from Expert Africa turned out to be spot-on, and our requirements were captured perfectly. Everything went seamlessly from start to finish.

We flew from Arusha to Katavi, Katavi to Mahale and Mahale back to Arusha. All of the arrangements for the internal flights were taken care of, and all of our guides and hotels were aware of when we were arriving and departing. An unexpected bonus was flying over the Serengeti and Ol Doinyo Lengai on the way back to Arusha from Mahale.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa and the tour operators, Sokwe/Asilia and Nomad, that they arranged for our trip. Thanks to Ellie and the rest of the team at Expert Africa." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Nothing much to add to all the comments here. We all enjoyed the holiday throughout. Such a range of experiences!
I think overall the standard of accommodation at Selous and Pongwe was 'under=-sold' and the quality of the food was higher than we expected.

Only thing we didn't think was worth it was trip to Prison Island, which we organised ourself- but it was quite an overcast and choppy day so we ducked out of the snorkelling which might have added to it.

Also I think the advice against taking travellers cheques should be rather more strongly stated; although we were able to cash them directly for dollars in Stonetown we did have to do a bit of shopping around and quite a high commission rate. I'm not sure we would have any success with sterling.

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Nothing to add to the various comments above. We will certainly speak positively of Expert Africa and recommend to anyone looking for a similar experience." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We can only laud praise on Expert Africa for the superb service which you have provided. Sabina was most patient and helpful in assisting us plan, and then in meeting our changing demands and requests. The advice she gave us, and the itinerary and accommodation she recommended were all absolutely faultless. We were particularly impressed that she continued to monitor waiting lists and was willing to change our accommodation long after our final confirmation and payment of the holiday.

We met many people along the way, and we think we had, withot doubt, the best operator!! We will unreservedly recommend Expert Africa to others and doubtless use you again when we next want to visit Africa. Our whole holiday has been a wonderful experience, and as well travelled people, we have found Expert Africa, second to none.

Thank you very very much!!! When our car broke down we were impressed with the way in which you telephoned us at the earliest opportunity, at Fish River Canyon to check we were OK and then sorted out an appropriate compensation from Europcar, which was waiting for us on our return.

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You are doing an axcellent job - I can add nothing as there was nothing in which you did not impress us!!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful trip - thank you - our third trip with you and just as good as the others.

The second half (post safari) was an attempt by us to get closer to the real Africa again and we most impressed at Kawaza, Kaya Mawa and Nkwichi by the responsible tourism and how the lodges are working sucessfully with the local people" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"We couldn't have asked for a better holiday - both on safari and in Zanzibar.

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If only Expert Africa dealt with the rest of the world!

It was a pleasure to deal with Eleanor and her knowledge of all aspects of our holiday was spot on. Every single transfer went to plan, all on time, and the accommodation at all the venues was exactly as she had described it to me.

It was Eleanor's suggestion for us to spend 3 days in Ruaha and we wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Thank you." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Our itinerary was very well judged by you, given our tastes and interests, and the order of visiting parks ideal. We loved North Kafue for the wide open spaces, hippo, antelope and especially birds. We didn't see big game there - except zebra and a couple of elephants - and it may be that clients with narrower tastes and interests than us would not appreciate the region as much as we did (there were some US clients at Shumba who said they were bored!). Of course, visitors at this time of year need to take the prospect of low temperatures seriously.

This was truly a holiday of a lifetime, and we are very grateful to Expert Africa for helping to make it so. We hope to go again in future, and in the meantime will not be hesitating to recommend you to our friends.

We were sceptical whether we could cope with the low luggage allowance. We didn't need to be; we survived easily on 15 kilos between us, and didn't wear some bits! You could emphasise this aspect even more strongly in your notes (but also stress the need for warm clothes at this time of year)." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari