Reviews of safaris to Chobe National Park

"It was great to get out of our rental car (Toyota Corolla) we drove 5000 KM from Cape Town via Namibia) and let someone else take care of us. Generally very satisfied with some minor hiccups. Was very glad Expert Africa organized this as we were worn out from planning out trip.from So Africa to Maun. Tracy did a terrific job of taking care of us in a very short time. she listened to our concerns and needs an put together a an excellent package that included getting to the airport in Livingston. I would recommend her to friends.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Since we did this last minute we never received the literature before we left. We saw it on return and would have been helpful.. We made an inquiry to EA even though we were working with someone else. The previous company was not listening to what we wanted and generally fell on their face so we switched to EA and are glad we did, they are pros. Tracy also gave us ideas for places to go in the Okavango Delta (Goma Lagoon Lodge) panhandle which worked out great." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"A great holiday would recommend Expert Africa to other travellers." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"The trip worked perfectly so thank you Expert Africa for organising." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Very good" Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Overall, the trip was very well organised by Megan.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Fantastic holiday!
I think that if we had to share our jeep with other people on our safari we would not have had such a personable/educated holiday. That is what made out holiday!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"This was our third trip with Expert Africa and our biggest. I had planned this trip over a couple of years to celebrate my retirement and was not disappointed.

I would change a few things, with hindsight.

Erongo deserves at least two nights. Trust me.
Zimbabwe was a challenge. Getting in took ages. We did not feel at all welcome. I would advise staying in Zambia and travelling in to see the Falls.

As a general rule, lodges where you are able to go off road are better. The exception this rule is Chobe, just because of the scale of the wildlife experience that you are exposed to.
In future (God willing), I would transit through Jo'burg faster.

See you in a coupe of years, God willing.

I would be tempted by a lodge with perhaps more water based activities in the delta.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No.
Keep doing what you are doing." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Overall a wonderful trip -- going to be a hard one to beat. After two previous trips to South Africa, we wanted to clarify a few details about how the game drives and lodge logistics were run. e.g. flight times not impacting on game drives, whether we would go straight to dinner from the evening game drive or be allowed to freshen up and requests for quiet rooms with better wildlife viewing. We struggled to clarify these details before the trip, being told that we would go straight to dinner and that our points had been on passed on and the lodges would do their best.

In reality we never had to go straight to dinner (a different set-up from safari in South Africa) with the consequence that we would have packed differently. We also discovered out there that all the intra-lodge delta flights are run between 10am and 1pm, meaning that the morning game drives were cut a little short on every change over day, but were always possible. In terms of room selection, though we were located further from the main areas in both Xaranna and Sandibe, in Xaranna we were placed in a room between a near constantly running fan and a generator -- which did not add to the peace and quiet. There were other room options and we raised it with the lodge, but no action was taken." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Stunning! A huge variety of memorable experiences, diverse lodges and special people made this trip everything we hoped for.

Tracy Lederer take a bow as your help, suggestions, comments and patient answers to our many questions made this trip work as well as it did. Everywhere we stayed added something special to our overall experience and your suggestions of adding a private safari and a trip down to San Camp made a great trip a spectacular experience. Our private safari with Kazuma will always be very special and you may have spoiled us for the future!

We did not know what to expect from Botswana. The old mantra was Botswana was high cost because of low vehicle numbers/tourists. In our experience that is not totally true any more. Chobe around Kisane is so busy from the land and the river that it is unpleasant in places and it looks like development is continuing at pace. Some of the companies who run river trips are aggressive and do not consider the animals or other boats. Having said all of that, seeing the hundreds of elephants on the Chobe River near Kasane and being able to watch them swim makes this still a wonderful place to visit. Moving quietly in boats is a fascinating way to see wildlife from a different perspective. Savute and Khwai are both busy with Khwai being particularly so at times. In Khwai and Savute you can, however, leave the crowds around the lions or the dogs and go off and find your own wonderful wildlife which we could do with our private guide.

The wildlife is not the wide variety of plains animals that you see in Kenya or South Africa. Botswana is not the place for a quick tick-list safari. What you do have is much more intense and lengthy experiences with the animals you see. We found most of the animals to be very relaxed and not bothered by vehicles or boats. The variety of landscapes is breathtaking. The guiding is very, very good in general.

We are used to travelling in a variety of little planes which are used like taxis so they were not a shock. The routes are not finalised until the day before you fly so be prepared for short hops to drop off and pick up other passengers from a variety of dirt air strips. You may not get to leave at a time that suits you. The small planes we took were a mixed bag but the young pilots all seemed professional. The planes could get a little bumpy but nowhere near as bumpy as the road trip would have been!

We did not expect to come away with an understanding of how the different management styles between Botswana and Namibia affected the wildlife and the land. Although explained to us several times we are still struggling with the geography of the Delta! We did not expect to learn so much about the Salt Pans and how everything managed to survive such a harsh environment. We learned so much about animal behaviour by being able to take the time to sit and watch what was going on and have everything explained by well-trained and enthusiastic guides. We listened to the calm debate about the possibility of reintroducing hunting in Botswana. We met some wonderful like-minded travellers and some that were not so pleasant but that is what happens on safaris: you learn when to speak and when to leave subjects alone! We met some really special Batswana people whose enthusiasm for their country is wonderful.

This was a special holiday for us that we had wanted to do for a long time. We have been lucky enough to travel to many African countries, some repeatedly but had never made it to Botswana before. We would llike to return!

A few hints.
- A number of tourists did not realise how cold it can get at night so take clothes you can layer, a puffer jacket or fleece and even gloves and a hat.
- Take a torch and spare batteries.
- Take a kanga or a kikoy with you so that when the temperature gets unbearable you can soak it and wrap it around your neck to keep you cool. It also helps when it is very dusty to cover your mouth and nose.
-Laundry is done almost everywhere so you do not need as many clothes as you think and it is certainly not a fashion show.
-Almost everywhere we stayed provided shampoo, conditioner, soap and mosquito spray so you can save weight on not bringing too much of these.
- Stick to the baggage size /weight recommendations if you are in small planes. They really can not take suitcases! Have something different like a bright ribbon on your handle. We saw one group of around 20 all travelling with the same bags that were just like ours!
- Cross pack with someone you are travelling with in case one bag goes missing somewhere!
- Money: Botswana Pula is not available out of the country. There is no cash machine in the new airport at Kasane. There is a cash machine at a shopping strip in Kasane town so your driver may stop for you if you ask. I do not know about Maun. We carried US dollars cash with us for tipping (with a number of small bills for porters) and we carried more than we thought we would need.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
You are streets ahead of the opposition and I recommend you to anyone and everyone. The knowledge of your staff is first-hand and they always take our likes, dislikes and experiences into account when suggesting holidays. Seems simple but not often done!

Your web site is amazing however too many of your description pages that I was browsing now say that the lodge has not been visited since ... (quite a few years ago) I know it is impossible to keep totally up to date but a lot of pages are well past their use by date so maybe time for some more visits to keep your pages up-to-date and the comments relevant. Chris and I will volunteer to help whenever you like! :D

You do not have Aardwolf or Elephants on your San animal list." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"This was our first safari holiday and our first time in Africa and as such this was an excellent holiday with all expectations met or exceeded and with many surprises on the way. The holiday was very well organised and transfers between the lodges never caused a problem.

We saw all the animals we had hoped to see, and a few more, and despite the early morning starts, the immersion in the world of safaris was both restful and refreshing. Driving in Namibia was unproblematic and the border crossings in and out of Botswana were relatively quick.

My personal highlights: watching giraffes taking on cheetahs at Okonjima; walking to a group of Rhinos at Ongava; the beautiful Tree Top camp at Onguma; fishing in the Okavango at Nxamaresi; and the huge herds of elephants at Nambwa and Garden Lodge." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip