Reviews of safaris to Chobe National Park

"I have provided a lot of feedback on the individual camps, covering the amazing wildlife, the superb lodges and camps, and the brilliant staff in each location.

Expert Africa, Tracy, were very helpful. The advice we received on the different options that were possible in Botswana, fitting our budget and timelines, was excellent, and proved to be spot on!

We were heading onwards to Victoria Falls and Malawi under our own steam, and Tracy was able to provide excellent advice on best route, and we took the opportunity to ask Tracy to book us the land transfer from Kasane to Livingstone.

The whole trip worked like clockwork, so efficient! The locations were exceptional. I would highly recommend!



Cannot suggest any improvements. That says it all!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip which was 3 weeks in Namibia with a few days each in Botswana and Victoria Falls at the end.

Namibia was really surprising. We knew the landscapes would be impressive but needed to experience them to fully understand just how impressive they are plus we hadn't expected the wildlife to amount to much but saw a lot more wildlife than we could have imagined.

We started out a little worried about the idea of a self-drive but our concerns were largely unfounded. Europcar were very helpful, helping with buying a local SIM card then how to connect the phone to the car and so be able to use Googles SatNav. The 4WD vehicle was rugged and had plenty of space. There was no problem obtaining petrol, with plenty of petrol stations at important stages of the drive. Most petrol stations had good toilet facilities but charged a few Namibian dollars to use them. Diesel was invariably dispensed by one employee while another employee cleaned the windscreen and we found ourselves tipping little and often.

We had taken a lot of cash in SA Rand and some Namibian dollars as we had read that credit cards were not widely used. However, we found that very few shops, restaurants etc did not accept credit cards and in fact they were preferred to cash.

The roads during the first half our trip were a bit rougher than expected but we stuck to the speed limits recommended by the vehicle hire company for gravel roads and had no problems with the vehicle and not one puncture. This did mean allowing longer for the drives than the Sat Nav said but we built that into our time-lines on travel days. The second half of our trip, ie once past Etosha and up to the north, was mostly on long, straight, tarmac roads and there were regular, sign-posted stopping places with picnic benches and shade along all the main roads where we could stretch our legs and have a drink and a snack which we had brought with us.

Navigation also proved to be easier than expected thanks to a combination of the SatNav (Google maps using a phone connnected to the vehicle) and the directions supplied by Expert Africa.

Highlights for us were the general scenery around Sossusvlei and particularly the balloon trip over the dunes, the coastal area around Swakopmund, sleeping under the stars in Damaraland, the wildlife in the Etosha area and particularly the waterhole at Okaukeujo and the wetlands in Bwabwata National Park. However, the quality of the various lodges, their staff, guides and food in 12 out of the 13 places we stayed are what really made our holiday special.

We will remember this trip for a long time and took so many great photographs that making the photobook of this holiday is proving daunting - there won't be space for everything we want to include.

Thanks so much to Chris McIntyre who insisted we needed to visit Okaukeujo and to Sabina who suggested the balloon trip over the dunes, for all the other recommendations and for putting the whole trip together.

This was our second Expert Africa trip and we are already looking forward to contacting them about our next African adventure in a couple of years." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"This was an amazing trip and we are so grateful to Maruska for planning this in such an excellent way. We really liked the order of the journey, it felt like we were progressing through an African adventure, gaining experience and knowledge with each new location. The driving part of the trip was well planned and we were glad that we didn't try to go too far on any one day. There were a few spots where the roads really need grading, so our driving times were a bit longer (especially to Malansrus), but we really appreciated all the detail on how to get to each place. The lodges selected were outstanding. The Botswana portion of the trip was excellent and we were again happy with the order of where we stayed, saving Rra Dinare for last. With morning and afternoon game activities we got to see so many animals, enjoy sundowner drinks in locations we only dreamed of, and return with memories and photos that were beyond our expectations.

Overall, this trip was amazing and the experience and knowledge of Expert Africa (and Maruska) to arrange this made it so! We would recommend Expert Africa to to everyone we know that want a genuine trip to Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Some of the times were a bit tight and travelling over lunchtime was a bit awkward to coordinate eating and newly arriving at a lodge with their planned itinerary." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"We cannot praise the organisation of this trip highly enough. It was excellent from beginning to end.

It provided everything we wanted. The choice of accommodation for our budget was spot on, and some how we seemed on almost every occasion to be in one of the best rooms. Hard to believe that was by chance!

We experienced only two very minor 'hiccups' and both were resolved by the Namibian representative almost instantly - itself perhaps as good a recommendation as one can give.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our experience of the availability of internet across Namibia was considerably better than the Notes to Travellers indicated we should expect.

We found every fuel station and lodge we visited expected us to pay by credit card, and in the end we were left with a large amount of SA currency which we were only able to use after a friendly SA lodge manager agreed to accept it in payment of our final account at the end of the trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Maruska did a great job planning our trip and was great when it came to answering all of our questions!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zimbabwe safari

"If I could give Expert Africa 11 or of 10, I would!

Lucy was fabulous - knowledgeable, careful and a good listener too.

The result was the holiday of a lifetime, filled with memories we will never forget.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Totally professional and nice too! No, I can't find any way to improve." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We enjoyed our trip very much, mainly because we hadn't experienced this part of Botswana and Namibia before and that sense of anticipation of what to expect next was always something to look forward to.

The lodges/camps we chose were somewhat remote and transfers between them were actually quite long and a bit tiring. Botswana and Namibia border crossings and immigration were numerous and also tedious in some instances- long queues etc.

Wildlife sightings throughout the trip, apart from Elephants at Camp Kuzuma waterhole, were limited and hence a little disappointing. A visit to the Delta may be on the cards in the future but we would not return to this area." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We can't thank Maruska and Expert Africa enough for the amazing trip.

We planned for over a year and Maruska was patient and kind enough to answer every single question. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better at one location, it was even better at the next.

The coordination and execution at each point of our journey was flawless. One member of our party even came down with a 24 hour virus during one point of our trip and we were fortunate to be at the same lodge as a group of physicians (we figured Maruska probably took care of that as well).

The safaris were all more than we expected. Not only the animal sightings, but the professionalism and service of the guides, as well as the vehicles were top notch. While the experience was slightly different at each location, overall we were pampered and catered to at each.

It's obvious that the people value tourism and want to ensure you have a great experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None - and we have already recommended Expert Africa to several friends and acquaintances based on our experience." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Once again our trip, organised by Expert Africa, went extremely smoothly.

One of our bags went on walkabout for 2 days on our way out but it was recovered fairly efficiently by Mack Air/&Beyond and delivered to our first camp (Savute under Canvas). But not a real problem since we always pack some of each others clothes in each bag.

This was our 4th safari in Botswana and our experience was very enjoyable overall. Everything went as planned and on-schedule, and we saw an incredible number of different animals. In fact, we probably had better sightings of Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and Spotted Hyena than on our previous safaris." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was amazing; definitely the trip of a lifetime!

Everything went really smoothly and it was great knowing that Expert Africa had taken care of all the details along the way. We had more information about the camps (since as cell phone service, tipping policies, etc) than a lot of other guests we talked to who had used other travel agents, and it was great going in with so much stuff information.

See our comments for each camp for more details on our fantastic experience!" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari