Reviews of safaris to Chobe National Park

"It exceeded our expectations for just about everything.

For your adventurist guest, when staying in Victoria falls, take a rafting trip on the Zambezi river and don't forget to do the Gorge swing if you don't have a heart condition! Botswana may be more expensive that other African countries for you Safari, but if you are concerned about the well being of the local people, we have been told that your money actually goes to free health care and education for their people. The Zero tolerance for poaching by the government appears to be working.

Its a very special place and without recommendations from Maruska Adye of Expert Africa, we would have never known what we were missing.

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You need to update the info on laundry. There is no limits on what they wash. Shinde, Okuti and Muchenjie all provided flash lights and had plenty of medical supplies. No need to supplement this when trying to keep baggage to a minimum. Trip itinerary was flawless. All of the connections to and from camps, while "open" went off like clock work.

Thanks Again Maruska!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"This was an incredible trip giving us treasured memories and a desire to visit this fascinating continent again.

The trip was a long time in the planning. I love to research and plan our trips but felt I needed help on this one. Taking into account our budget limit, numerous discussions and e-mail exchanges with Tracy Lederer took place before settling on our final itinerary. Tracy was always enthusiastic, patient and above all knowledgeable. We certainly would not have had the great trip we had without her. All arrangements for the trip went without a hitch but it was reassuring to know that help was just at the end of a phone should the need arise.

Crucial to our enjoyment was the variety which was included in our trip;
We were self driving in Namibia and had our transport organised in Botswana.
We stayed in very different camps/lodges, some humble some much more luxurious and one stay on a boat.
We experienced land based and water based activities.
We had a day trip to Victoria Falls.

The Bradt Guides and all of the detailed information which was sent to us prior to departure was very much appreciated.

Expert Africa will be our choice for our next trip." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"This was a much anticipated and long-awaited trip, and undoubtedly our most expensive holiday to date, but it probably exceeded our expectations. We appreciated the Botswanan approach to tourism (high income, low volume) which we believe preserves the "goose that lays the golden eggs" - the richness of its wildlife and the distinctive personal nature of its camps. We loved the variety of terrain, accommodation and wildlife that we experienced, which was what I had requested when we first started discussing the itinerary.

We chose Expert Africa because of its intimate knowledge of the area, and I appreciated the personal information and advice I received from Lucy, who obviously travels regularly to Botswana and could talk to me about the camps from her personal experience. All the arrangements worked like clockwork and so we could just relax and enjoy the experience.

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One aspect that we found a little difficult was tipping. Some camps had trackers as well as guides, and others had additional offerings that could be rewarded, e.g. the Bushmen at Camp Kalahari while others did not, and it was difficult to budget as we went along. I did not realise that in most cases the staff managed their gratuity box themselves, without reference to the management, so I think this could be explained more clearly in your information before travelling." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"We had such a super trip! Having just spent a week at Kruger Park, I was worried the kids would be 'safari-ed" out, but it turns out that each location had a special charm and offered us something new and exciting.

Though we 'saw' a sleeping lion in Kruger, we saw a whole pride of lions walk by our car in Chobe. Thought we 'saw' a leopard in Kruger, we saw a leopard in a tree trying to protect a kill from hyenas underneath. We loved the sounds of the Delta - the natural heartbeat of birds and frogs and so on that greeted us every morning and night. We loved the service of our lodges -- we felt very taken care of.

Mostly, I really appreciated that all the logistics were so smooth -- the pick-ups (and, in particular, border transfers) were on time and professional. The shuttle services (Wilderness safaris, African Odyssey, etc) were excellent. Having meals and inclusive private safaris added to the trip cost, of course, but were essential for traveling with a family and making it care-free.

Our favorite part of the trip was assuredly Machaba Camp -- my youngest son (age 3) hit it off with our guide (Moreri) and we are still missing him! Mostly, they were so accommodating with times and meals, that we relaxed into our vacation in a very real way. Thanks for making all these logistics so smooth!!!

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Honestly, it was excellent and I would recommend your services again -- worth the pennies to have all those logistics sorted out. We had a great time!

I might just add two small things - I might have missed the part about Ilala being in USD, and USD prices. Since we were coming from South Africa, this obviously seemed more pricey to us than we were expecting (and the only part of our trip that was not all-inclusive) and we could only get USD from the ATMs. Not a huge problem, but might be good to have included that in the trip info (perhaps I missed it - if so, sorry).

Also, we were essentially bribed at the VFAirport...the guys asked us if we wanted to upgrade to business class for $200 and when I agreed, he said it had to be in cash. Ugh -- by this point, he had already booked the tickets so we had no real choice, but it was clear I was not going to be getting a receipt for that one. I am sure he saw our American passports. I felt very duped, but since everyone else had been so honest and helpful our entire trip (and since the VFA airport is so beautifully new and professional!), this took me by surprise. Folks should be on the lookout for scams like this (especially as Americans).

Otherwise, super duper trip!!! Happy to answer any other questions." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Amazing. A trip of a life time" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"With the exception of ProFlight all ran to schedule. Ground handling good, no delays.

At Xakanaxa airstrip (which incidentally is a new runway positioned a little further from the camps than the 'old' strip) we were very pleasantly surprised to see Banda, our requested guide for Camp Xakanaxa where has been based since last January, albeit we were due at Camp Moremi first. Apparently in agreement with the D&DS marketing manager (regret don't know his name and was not aware he was the South African chap who wished us well as he leaving for the plane we arrived on) we were allocated Banda for the whole of our 5 night stay on an exclusive basis. This is an amazing example of D&DS customer service for which we are truly grateful. If you are aware of the chap's name please let me know and I will send a thank-you e-mail. Thanks should also be extended to all the D&DS staff including Setch and staff at Suvute and Albert (who was 'care-taking' between Moremi and Xakanaxa) and all the staff.

We will undoubtedly return to Nkwali, Savute and delta camps again - don't know when. However in future we will try to avoid Jo'burg airport if only due to the totally inefficient and unfriendly staff at passport control. It takes ages to be processed. Never enough staff on duty. As you maybe aware, there are 2 sections, one deals with SA residents, the other all non-SA passengers.

There are some 25 (maybe more) passport control booths on the non-SA section. Less than half were being manned on our first arrival and only 7 when we arrived form Maun. Coupled with the delays occurring to some families, presumably associated with the recently introduced regulations and paperwork required for people travelling with children, the delays are totally unacceptable. We were directed to stand in a queue behind a family which we were already aware had processing problems and had to wait 20 minutes while they continued to try and resolve without any apparent success so we asked to move and were eventually directed to stand in another queue. There is no efficient management system in place, it's a shambles.

It is not surprising that Lusaka airport is building a new terminal (by the Chinese!) and Maun wants to expand so that passengers can fly direct rather than via Jo'burg which attracts so much criticism. BA used to fly direct to Lusaka but apparently no more. We met people who flew with Emirates via Dubai so for the future it's worth considering another carrier. There may be others." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"This trip was a great introduction to Africa! The amount of preparation and information provided by Expert Africa meant that there was very little that we had to worry about, but still felt that we were in control of our own adventure.

Overall our highlights were exploring the sand dunes at Sossusvlei, our day trip out of Swakopmund to Sandwich Harbour, the wildlife at Etosha NP, the village life and waterways of the Caprivi Strip and the up close and personal experience of Camp Hwange.

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We were incredibly impressed with the service we got from Maruska, she put together our trip at very short notice, was always quick to respond to emails, and seemed incredibly knowledgeable when we spoke to her on the phone. We would happily recommend her and Expert Africa to anyone wanting to book a trip to Africa." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"It had been about nine years since we were last in Southern Africa and we had the pleasurable task of introducing some members of my family to this wonderful part of the world for the first time. It was a bit of a challenge to chart a course of safaris and 'chill-out' in the Cape when you have a combination of first-timers and a couple of 'old lags' to keep happy.

With the patient and knowledgeable Tracy at Expert Africa to help with suggestions and alternatives, I found the task was not as daunting as it might have been even when some members threw a bit of a curve ball at the end of the process, an eventuality that Tracy handled with professional grace and efficiency.

My partner and I have been clients of Expert Africa since Sunvil brought Chris in to broaden its product range. This he has delivered with peerless professionalism and has built a knowledgeable and very competent team over the years who, in this client's opinion, provide the best service available in the UK. Well done all and thanks to Tracy again." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"The trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana with a hotel and two game lodges was well-organised with a good range of activities. Megan at Expert Africa gave good advice about the selection of game lodges and after a few iterations of the itinerary a satisfactory plan was produced.

Our first stay was at the Victoria Falls Hotel on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. We were a bit dubious about visiting Zimbabwe following the long political unrest but our fears were unfounded as the people are friendly and the hotel was charming. On arrival at Victoria Falls Airport we were 6th off the 'plane but it still took about 30 minutes to get our visas. There is no particular hassle or unpleasantness at the airport - it is just a bureaucratic (and expensive) process.

Our one negative comment after getting our visas was the long, hot wait in the airport for a shared transfer with two other couples who were not even staying at the same hotel as us. Since the drive to the hotel is fairly short we thought that a private transfer would have been more sensible after a long and tiring journey rather than a wait of almost 1 hour for the slow immigration process.

The rest of the journeys were quite seamless with on-time pick up at the hotel and a drive to the Botswana border where the driver assisted with exit formalities while another vehicle was waiting to take us onwards to Muchenje, with a stop at Kasane Airport en route to change vehicles.

We had a great welcome at Muchenje Game Lodge. Transfer back to Kasane Airport was provided in the lodge's own vehicle where we were met at the door by the Wilderness Air representative who took good care of us and our bags. The flight to Vumbura air strip was a great experience, even if slightly sick-making!

At Vumbura everything was well organised with pick up and return by the guides. The home trip was quite tiring with flights to Maun and Johannesburg before the long-haul back to London.

In all the whole trip was well organised and the choice of lodges was excellent with a good contrast between Chobe National Park and Chobe River game viewing and Okavango Delta experience." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful holiday which we enjoyed tremendously - other than the visa concern mentioned at the start the only other thing which It would have been good to know is that tipping is standard and the daily rate per day guide in dollars would have been useful for us to know - also that a general tip to staff is normally given as well - this would give you a chance to have the right amount of cash in hand - as there is nowhere in most of the camps to get any cash - we fortunately had just about enough in various currencies to do this but it was a concern as we had not anticipated this ( probably it being our first time doing this type of trip)" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari