Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"Superb planning by Expert Africa, thank you so much.

Great memorable smiles on the faces of children who have nothing in this world. Shows the Brits that there are people with nothing in this world and they can still smile and not winge. Did not realise that Bic pens can be used to bargain with in the markets.

We have sent our valet at Tongabezi a Chelsea shirt with his hero printed on the back to say a further thank you and we have sent a parcel for the school in the Zambian school of Simonga, they have nothing out there. What a wonderful life experience. All Brits ought to pay a visit to Africa." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 6 on a South Africa trip

"Superb holiday - simply the best.

The hotels/lodges/transport etc all worked like clockwork. The combination of accomodations suited us well - teenager friendly, good quality, good food etc. People incredibly helpful and friendly.

Would change little in retrospect - probably only a direct flight from Cape Town to Maun." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"As a complete trip I think that I speak for the whole family by saying that this was probably the best family holiday that we have ever had - which is probably a good thing because it certainly was the most expensive! Having said that however when one considers what we experienced over the 2 weeks both Liz and I agreed that it constituted excellent value for money." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Absolutely out of this world! We feel so privileged to have had such a wonderful experience and have met so many lovely people. The safaris were more than we ever could have dreamed of and we saw absolutely everything we wanted to see and more!

We expected with all the transfers that at some point something might go wrong/ bags be lost etc, but everything went exactly according to plan.

Thank you so much for organising this holiday. We were very sad to have to leave Zambia.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"The trip was great, well organised and most of the time things happened as they were supposed to. My husband is now nearly as fond of Africa as I am!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Brilliant.

Only one problem. We did not book a trip to Jozani Forest but it was recommended to us whlst on safari. We realised we would pass it on route to Unguija so asked the driver if we could stop and visit it. He agreed but said it was normally US$60 per person but for us only US$30 each. We disagreed and said we would sort it out with his head office. He took 12,000 shillings each for the entrance fee each which we later saw should have been only 10,000 each.

When we arrived at Unguija he again asked us for the US$60 witnessed by the owner Ralf. Again we declined and but asked him to get his head office to contact us when back at the Serena. The same drive collected us for Unguija and again asked for the money. We have never been asked by Expert Africa's Zanzibar agents themselves. US$60 for waiting for 90 minutes seemed wrong and we suspected he was asking for money for himself.

The driver [Ed: from Expert Africa's Zanzibar agents] who took us to the airport on our last day could not have been more helpful with expediting us through checkin, passport controt etc.

I am a little concerned ther may be one rottern apple in Expert Africa's Zanzibar agents." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday

"My goals were to show my grandaughter:

1. conservation efforts in southern Africa,
2.a glimpse of how average people live/work in rural and urban areas,
3. some of the geology and animals of Namibia and Botswana.

All goals met and we had a wonderful time!!!

The only thing that didn't work out was that I did not realize that virtually none of the shops/restaurants in either countrywould accept American Express credit cards. Even at the airports! I had allowed enough cash for gasoline, camp tips and misc but was relying on my AMEX card for the bulk of shopping and meals. This made for a very tight trip, especially at the end in Windhoek where we totally ran out of cash.

Please let people know which credit cards are accepted in these two countries!" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"A good combination of towns and beach.

Quilalea is a very distinct experience and well worth the money.

For Mozambique it would have been good to have had a variety of places to choose from to visit, eg Ilha de Mozambique.
Maputo was very interesting and underrated." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Mozambique holiday

"The service form expert africa has been excellent and Sabina has been a mine of help and information to us. She has done everything we asked for and kept us in touch every step of the way. I have already recommended you to other friends and would use you again without hestitation.

Your brochure itself is worth having just to look at and gives an accurate and enticing description of what we have seen.

There is really only one thing I would have changed and that was the car. Technically you are right to say that it is manageable in a 2wd car. It would however have been so much more comfortable in a 4wd. We had no punctures and no breakdowns but the bumping and shaking on the rougher gravel roads was testing if only worying about shaking the car to bits.

As for Namibia it lived up to and exceeded all our expectations. Neither of us wanted to come bcak to England the holiday was that good. The scenery is so varied and the people so friendly that I would go back any time. Like many we have hundreds of photographs and hours of video so that I can make my own DVD to remind us of a fabulous time." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"Maruska was absolutely excellent and came back to us very quickly with an answer to every question we asked. The itinerary was perfect and we wouldn't have changed anything.

All the details which make a difference had been sorted out - I can't tell you how much nicer it is to find hotels expecting you to be a vegetarian than having to explain it at each venue as if they don't know.

The information you gave us in the form of maps and directions was also amazingly thorough." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip