Reviews of safaris to Central Kalahari Game Reserve

"Wonderful. No criticisms all superb" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"This was an amazing trip.

We covered three different terrains and enjoyed the variety that they each provided.

Our guides were very knowledgeable and great at sharing that knowledge.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I think that it might be a good idea to break the journey on the way out. It might be a little more expensive but it would mean that you would arrive at the destination fresh and ready to go.

After a 24 hour journey we felt a little jaded when we arrived at our first camp." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"The experience was far better than I ever expected.

Most special was the professionalism of guides, trackers and hospitality staff. It is hard to imagine how excellently they provide for an action packed, special individual experience in such a remote area where water, power and stores have to be provided, along with clean sheets, hot showers, three course home cooked meals and an astounding variety of drinks.

The hospitality was warm and genuine, the safaris professionally run with extremely knowledgable guides who were patient with our ignorance and generously shared their love of the bush: THANK YOU POSTER, VINCE, VASCO,KT, BALE AND GOMES.

We cannot wait to get back on another safari

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The dress code advice was a little deceptive as people dressed as they pleased. Many travellers had small "wheelie bags" which you advised were not permitted. As we travelled from Australia via multiple large airports, the lack of wheelable luggage was a downside so perhaps this needs an update?

HOWEVER, I thought the whole trip was very good value for money despite the high dollar cost, and would recommend it highly to other travellers. I cannot wait to do another trip and would definitely go back to Lagoon and Okavango delta, but would prefer a smaller lodge than Splash.

The organisation at Splash was not as good as the other 2 camps. Staff seemed not yet comfortable with dealing with the larger numbers and the "style" of the lodges with the turnover of guests and numbers of cars going every which way doesn't seem to work as well with the bigger groups, so I would be keen to find out about new Kwara. I would return to Tau Pan in a different season when the waterhole attracted more wildlife.

The food deserves a special compliment: fresh, home made flavours, served imaginatively and I just love the pre-dinner announcement.

FINALLY, I just loved the boat trip at lagoon with the bar service on the bank for sundowners with the hippos. Same as the bar on the floodplain at Splash. Special luxury experiences which I will always remember.

Your staff is amazing. Genuine, friendly, knowledgeable, professional and open to discuss Africa, poachers, politicians, animals and have a joke with the guests. I love them all. Hope to be back soon." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"This was our very exciting and successful trip to Botswana, well prepared, well organized and realized. All went as smoothly as possible.

We got relevant information in time. We felt safe and being taken care of all the time." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This was our fourth trip to Namibia, first to Botswana, and we think it was the best trip of all. We have used Expert Africa for every trip, along routes that we have chosen and planned ourselves. We will definitely continue to do so. Their staff's professionalism, knowledge and understanding of the country and the visitor's needs are second to none; we would not contemplate looking at another company.

The route, which Claire advised us on, was excellent, taking in a variety of landscapes from these beautiful countries. She took our initial wish-list and turned it into an affordable and practical trip. Perhaps a couple of the drives between destinations were a little too long, but certainly they were achievable in a day.

We have not visited the north of Namibia before and this, along with Botswana, provided a very different, water-based experience. The lodges were all excellent; all very different, but provided amazing experiences. We are always stunned at the quality of food, service and accommodation that are produced in the middle of nowhere!

The Namibian peoples are so friendly and eager to please their visitors. The guides are always professional, knowledgeable and well-educated. They manage to provide a personal experience to each and every visitor.

It was a bonus to be greeted at Windhoek airport by a member of Wilderness safaris and helped through the car hire process. Also, the use of their lounge upon our return was good, as was the help to bypass a long queue for the baggage check.

The only trouble is - we want to go back again now!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, it's all just great." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"I would really recommend this holiday. Away from all pressures and - as one of the other guests put it - you pay to see the animals and the vegetation on your own. This is a tailor-made experience, away from the crowds of people you find in other safari holidays. You can watch a leopard quietly feeding with no other truck around. This is impossible in most game reserves. In a word: outstanding." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Great trip - efficiently arranged by Tracy, who knows her stuff and got us good rates. Will use Expert Africa again next year. Very satisfied." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Very enjoyable we would like to return to Botswana." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Four years age we went to similar camps (also at the end of March) and the wildlife was extraodinary. This year the wildlife was more touch-and-go. At all camps we could drive for several hours and see few animals, and then we would encounter many animals, similar to our 2014 experience. What we were did not realize was that the 2014 trip coincided with exceptional early water, and our 2018 trip was the normal dry period. Kanana was so dry that we could not use the boat, and were able to mokoro only in a single channel. Our 'satisfactory' ranking simply reflects picking the wrong time to visit. If this was our first visit we would have ranked the trip much higher.

Thank you for ensuring that all camps were aware of our food preferences. All camps worked to accomodate them. With the exception of Little Tubu, all camps served vegetarian rather than vegan meals. The meals at Little Tubu were incredibly delicious, and the chef is fantastic.

With the exception of Savute Safari Lodge, we enjoyed the diversity of lodges and experiences. Savute was a poor choice for us for five reasons: disregard for acceptable viewing of wildlife; excessive crowding of vehicles (we knew this was a national park, and anticipated seeing other cars, but not so many and so constantly); so-so guide (our guide sometimes made comments that indicated he was a knowledgeable guide, but he generally said little and rarely shared this knowledge); rodents in our rooms (which were otherwise very nice, and had wonderful porches); and overall a lower quality in food, service, and facilities, compared to our other camps." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"Amazing holiday and everything ran smoothly from beginning to end.

We saw magnificent wildlife, stayed in some fabulous places but the memory that will stay with us for a lifetime will be the wonderful people we met along the way.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really.

Everything was amazing and would have no hesitation in recommending your agency - in fact we already have!

Rich was great, the fact that he had worked in Southern Africa gave us information we couldn't have accessed easily anywhere else.

Extremely happy with our choice of Expert Africa x" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari