Reviews of safaris to Chobe National Park

"This has been our fourth trip to Southern Africa. The excitement of seeing animals in the wild hasn’t worn off. So, it won't be our last. We have become addicts, so to speak.

All three lodges are, in our minds, highly recommendable. But, as I said to my wife, it looks like we saved the best (Kwara Camp) for last. This is not in any way to diminish the experiences we had at Muchenje or Lebala.

It’s no secret that we had spent 12 days in Zimbabwe (organized by a different tour operator who granted us a voucher for a trip cancelled in 2020): 2 days in Harare, 2 in Kanga Camp, 3 in Nyamatusi, and 4 in Somalisa Camp. That was also very enjoyable, but I’m mentioning this here for one specific reason. In Zimbabwe, at mealtime we were always given the chance to have a table by ourselves, whereas in Botswana they followed the tradition of having the guests sit together at one big table. Well, we didn’t get sick, so everything went well, but just as an aside, we sometimes dreaded the kind of small talk we had to engage in when communicating with other guests. Maybe we were just unlucky this time.

This was the first time ever that we did an exclusive fly-in safari, which is very intense. It’s non-stop action, and thanks to the wonderful camps we did not fall victim to a sense of fatigue that we anticipated.

We chose to do it this way because we didn’t have the courage to do self-drive during the corona pandemic. But our worries were not necessary, because everywhere we went, the people dealt with the dangers of corona in impressive ways. Masks were worn by nearly everybody, shops and airports greeted you with a temperature check and hand sanitizer (!). Anyway, under normal circumstances we like to combine the fly-in with a self-drive, and that’s what we have planned on doing next year. In our experience, you get to see a bit more of the people and the land, and spending some time on the road is quite relaxing.



Not really. Everything worked quite smoothly from start to finish, which I can’t say about our daily life in the good old USA. Maybe that’s to be expected in this luxury travel segment, but still, I think it’s worth mentioning.

Since the Lebala airstrip was closed for repairs, Lucy in fact contacted us in Chobe to offer us the opportunity to switch to Kwando Lagoon Camp, since this meant that our ride from the airstrip to Lebala was going to be around 2.5 hours instead of the usual 15 minutes or so. After a short discussion among ourselves we decided to stick to Lebala." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Really enjoyable! Created some lifetime memories!

I got a couple of African Tick bites but that is my own fault for not reapplying repellents" Read full review: 3 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"The trip as a whole was fantastic - all arrangements worked like clockwork with every single transfer being on time and with friendly smiling staff - our thanks to Expert Africa.

The combination of Victoria Falls, Okavango Delta and Mana Pools was ideal and we saw a huge variety of wildlife and had some amazing experiences. The lodges were great - with Nyamatusi in Mana Pools being the best - so totally luxurious and in a stunning setting.

Thank you all.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No - it was all great thank you." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"what an amazing experience. i have been travelling to africa over the past 20 years and this was, by far, the most incredible experience i have had. the accommodation was all exceptional and the travel seamless. everything to make the trip easy was thought of.

the itinerary was exceptional, allowing us to see different aspects of botswana. we wouldn't have missed any of it. each was different with its own charm. the guides were all very professional and knowledgable. we experienced so much in terms of both flora and fauna.

thanks to tracy at expert africa for making everything so easy.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

no. everything was perfect." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Excellent trip. Only regret is only being able to stay at Muchenje and Chobe Under Canvas for 2 night and not 3. Flights, connecting transport and accommodation all worked perfectly." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Very satisfactory reflects the feedback I have given on all the places where we stayed.

Botswana was very hot and dry and if I were to go back there, I would choose a different, cooler time of the year.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Your service was excellent." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Spectacular! Feel hugely privileged to have seen and experienced all that we did during our time in these 2 countries.

Variety is the spice of life and every day on the trip brought some new highlight, be it a particular wildlife sighting or interaction, a scenic location or an activity. The trip has re-kindled our addiction for Africa and has only served to convince us to seek more! We would happily return to any of the locations we visited and on each occasion, when it was time to move on, we wished we could linger on at each place - a sure sign of our appreciation.

We are especially indebted to Tracy Lederer for her knowledgeable guidance and patience during the planning and booking process. We acknowledge that we were not the easiest clients to deal with but only because of the need to "get it right" for these once in a lifetime trips and Tracy was spot on with her recommendations and reassurances. It was obvious that her advice was informed by her personal experiences of the various locations.

Logistically, pretty much everything went without hitch. (Even a trekking pole which was left at Muchenje somehow found its way back to us at Maun airport on the way home - don't know how, but Tracy located it and engineered its reunion!!). Appreciating the remote locations reinforces our admiration for the efficiency of your operation, working with the local teams.

We would fully recommend your services and would have no hesitation in approaching you ourselves for future trips in Africa. Till next time..." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 16 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip exceeded our high expectations for bucket list safari experience. Tracy, our coordinator at Expert Africa was easy to work with and tailored the trip to meet our needs. We appreciated that she had first hand knowledge of the camps that added weight to her recommendations.

In retrospect we should have added a couple extra days with no activities planned so that we could recharge our batteries. Ideally this would have been done in Namibia due to the stratospheric high cost of the lodges in Botswana.

Our Day trip to Sandwich Harbour was fantastic, and if we had to choose we would have ranked it higher than a scenic flight over the dunes. We had the best of both worlds as we needed to fly from Hoodia to Swakopmund so the excursion over the dunes was a no brainer addition." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This trip immediately followed a 2 week safari to Tanzania.

Overall, I think I would have had a less favorable opinion of my trip to Africa if I hadn't gone to Botswana.

What a perfect ending to our trip. Thank you." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"Overall it was a great trip and very well organized. Despite our booking the trip rather late EA managed to provide us a good mix of accommodation and we can honestly say that only one or two places were below average, most were excellent. Had we booked earlier I'm sure we would have been able to secure more first choice accommodation.

If we are fortunate to plan another trip to Africa in the future, we will definitely consider Expert Africa again, as well as recommend them to others." Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip