Reviews of safaris to Central Kalahari Game Reserve

"Overall, a fantastic trip.

Expert Africa did an excellent job in their seamless arrangements." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"A favourable experience" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"An excellent and very enjoyable trip. Everything was extremely well organised and went without any hitches. Mack Air was efficient and always arrived on time, the only scary moment being on our last flight to Maun when the pilot had to take very rapid avoiding action to prevent us from hitting a stork flying at 4,500 ft! All the Guides were attuned to the requirements of photographers and did their utmost to position their vehicles in the best position. The green season is a wonderful time to go but made their jobs all the harder so their efforts were very much appreciated." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"In general this was perhaps one of the most enjoyable and spectacular holidays we have had. We know Namibia quite well so were partly revisiting places we had seen and liked before and partly filling in gaps to see places we had missed before. We were slightly concerned that we needed to maintain a complicated schedule, our trip totalled just short of 6000km and involved staying at 18 different places so there was obviously a worry about what would happen if for some reason we got behind schedule, but the planning was excellent (thank you Sabina) and everything went as planned without any difficulty. So we never found out what would happen if things went wrong! We felt sure in such a situation we would have been sorted out.

Expert Africa's information was excellent (brochure, website and specially prepared information).

We are very tempted to do similar trips with Expert Africa in future." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 25 on a Namibia trip

"My trip was expertly organized, to say the very least and was a truly amazing experience.

I have already commented on all the camps, so I'll just comment on the overall organization. I think the selection of camps for me was just perfect. I had a river camp, a desert camp, a jungle camp and a combination river/bush camp. This allowed me to never get tired of what I was seeing and always experience something new. I also think Maruska gave me great advice in suggesting that I do 11 days rather than 7, because the game viewing is trickier in the rainy season, so you see less, so you need more time. So because of my timing, I traded off game viewing for privacy, but because I made a longer trip, I still saw all the game. The advantage to safaris in December is privacy. On 8 of my 20 game drives, I was the only person in my safari vehicle! For 24 hours at Tubu and 8 hours at Savuti, I was the only guest in camp!

But the most impressive thing for my were the transfers. My first day, I left Lusaka and flew to Livingstone where I was met at the airport and whisked away. At the border between Zambia and Botswana, I was met by a boat, which had been waiting for me, was zipped across the river and met by a safari vehicle. This vehicle then whisked to a rendez-vous with the safari camp's vehicle, with then met the afternoon game drive from Mucheje camp part way and I was on a game drive! So I left Lusaka and noon and 5 transfers later, all done seamlessly, and I was on a game drive at 4pm!

Another example is: at Tau Pan in the Kalahari, I went on a morning game drive, came back to camp to have brunch and pack and then had a one hour game drive to the air strip. 5 minutes after arriving, the plane landed and 5 minutes later we were airborne. After a 1 hour flight where I was co-pilot, I landed at Little Tubu and was on a game drive 10 minutes later! So, I was on a game drive in the Kalahari at 2pm and on another in the Okavango Delta at 4pm. What amazing logistics!

Really, really, really well organized trip all in all. It's a rare trip that I leave all the logistics to someone else, but I am very glad to have left it to Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only thing I can think of is for you to probe a little more into what exactly we are hoping to experience. For me, this was my first safari, so I really wanted to see big cats. I'm not sure the camps chosen for me were the absolute best for this (I'm not sure they were not either), but I would have benefitted from some more info as to why those particular camps were best for me in that particular area. I had no idea there were so many options to choose from.

All in all, you guys are awesome and I will certainly recommend you and use you again. I was referred to you by a good friend who has used you a couple of times." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Hard work. Not as rewarding as our first trip to Namibia but still fun.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Advice on where to buy pulas was not good. Windhoek airport does not stock pulas in any of the three exchanges. Bank in Namibia (4 tried) also don't sell pulas. Finally bought them in Botswana at Barclays. Other point is that Windhoek airport exhanges do not take travellers cheques." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall very positive, most enjoyable and memorable trip. Some exceptional animal and bird sightings - eg leopard with young one.

The only negative points were the transfer from Kasane airport to Chobe Game Lodge, our stay at Lianshulu, and the stopover at Ghanzi, which we felt was unnecessary and not particularly enjoyable (though we did get to see another side of Botswana!)" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic holiday" Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Where do I start? As usual Botswana was amazing. The scenery, the wildlife, the excellent Wilderness Safaris camps all as good as ever.


As usual Expert Africa ensured that everything ran like clockwork. All just as we have come to expect on our repeated visits to this area.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I cannot think of any way it could be improved.

Expert Africa staff could not be more responsive, helpful and generally good to deal with." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"There is no doubt that Botswana is truly an amazing experience. The wildlife is outstanding, the locations wild and remote, the camps are fantastic and it is a humbling experience to see the daily life and death struggles of animals trying to survive.

We travelled with Wilderness safaris - our second time - but I feel their objectives and ours were not entirely matched. I would take great care to ensure you get what you want.

A couple of minor gripes first. I know Expert Africa passed on our dietary (veggie) requirements but when we reached our first (not Wilderness) camp these were not quite correct. On passing back through Maun the next day we spoke to Wilderness direct and while these requirements reached the first camp they did not reach camps 2, 3 and 4. Camp 5 had them but I think only through the feedback given at camp 4. The camps mostly got it once told but on one transfer between camps we were given a meat sandwich on leaving and a meat salad on arriving.

As per my Khalahari Plains feedback there were flight problems and once delayed, because they have pre allocated your guide, activities did get very slightly compromised. This leads onto my major concern.

In the 2 years since our last visit the emphasis of Wilderness seems to have changed. They seem more focused on providing luxury rooms and slick appearances than on providing a true wilderness experience. Out of the 100 or so guests we met probably less than 10% were repeat visitors. They seem all out on attracting rich 1st time bucket list guests. The type of guests who are often more into the quality of the rooms and service rather than on the quality of the activities.

During our 15 days we spend 8 days in the company of very nice people who were on their first ever safari and at their first ever camp. This included the 3 days each at Little Vumbura and Chitabe.

The allocation of guests to guides is sorted before you get to camp. It needs to be more flexible. When we checked into Chitabe we had been 10 days on this trip (and 14 days on a previous). The camp management knew this. Yet they still put us with a couple of elderly sisters on their first ever camp. As much as they were very nice people our objectives and requirements were different. This should have been patently obvious (it was to the guide).

We knew, after 3 weeks in total on safari the differences between a Kudo and an Impala and a lapwing and a roller, While the guide did an admirable job of trying to manage the disparate needs of the guests it never quite worked. On our first morning at Chitabe we were half an hour late setting off because the ladies had not brushed their teeth or brought their kit for the morning drive.

After 6 days at LV and Chitabe we were bristling with frustration at the basic mismatching of guests' experiences.

(The day after we left Chitabe we understand their was an incident in our "old" truck where 2 people wanted to leave lions in the process of killing a buffalo whereas 2 wanted to watch the whole process. That should be sorted in the allocation process rather than leave some guests unfulfilled and some gusts traumatised.)

Would I travel with Wilderness again. Possibly but I would look at other companies too. If I were to go again I would be much more demanding and want:

1) A sensible allocation of guests - a sensible matching of experience. I recognise that it might not be possible to avoid first timers but experienced visitors should not be matched with people at their first ever camp.
2) If you want to occasionally go out all day (and not just morning and evening) say so before you go so that this is built in. Repeat what you want when you get to each camp.
3) Clarify whether you want to watch a kill in all its detail - its not likely to happen but if it does its a bit late to sort out conflict.

It just seems to me that Wilderness are becoming more focused on providing a 5 star "hotel" service rather than their core activities." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Botswana safari