Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"Absolutely wonderful! Botswana feels so much wilder than the other places we have been to on safari in South Africa. For me, the sense of remoteness and being so far away and cut off from every-day life, was a refreshing experience. Everyone we met in the camps was warm, friendly and very helpful. We were very pleased with all the Kwando Camps we visited and the following general comments apply to all the camps.

I was interested to know about policies on waste, water supply and energy use and it seems that the camps are keen to do all they can to minimise their impact. The solar water heaters are Lebala and Lagoon were particularly good. Considering how remote the camps are, the facilities are fantastic. There are no electric points in any rooms for charging camera batteries, etc., but this is not a problem as the staff will charge any batteries or gadgets during the day. You just need to make sure you have spare batteries, and since there are many chargers and batteries from other guests, (especially for Canon and Nikon), I took a waterproof pen and marked our initials on our chargers and batteries.

Since all camps follow a similar daily routine, it's very easy to get used to. All the camps are very flexible on the duration of game drives. If game viewing was going well, then vehicles tended to stay out longer, rather than sticking to fixed meal times. The food in general was good and the home baked breads, cakes, quiches and pies for afternoon tea were excellent.

It was difficult to separate out any individuals who were particularly good or helpful as all guides, trackers and camp staff were so pleasant, helpful and informative. All of our guides were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It was great to sit and talk to staff who had grown up in the delta and were to talk about their old way of life, before their families were moved to villages.

The weather in June can be very cold, so it's best to take lots of layers. Thermals would be very good. I was really glad that we took our warm duvet jackets, which are very light and compressible to pack in the luggage and many other guests commented that they wished they had similar! It was beautiful and warm during the middle of the day, but the temperatures soon dropped after sunset. It was particularly cold first thing in the morning and some camps provided a hot water bottle (as well as the usual blankets), which made things much more comfortable.

It may have taken four flights just to get to the first camp, but it was certainly worth the long journey and we'd love to go back as soon as we can.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I'm always paranoid about our luggage not arriving with us, especially when on a trip with a complicated itinery. The last few times we have been away on such a trip, I have made special luggage labels, which hopefully would give it chance to catch up with us, if it was delayed. I typed up a very small version of our itinery, with passenger surname name, dates and flight numbers, destinations, names of camps, with Kwando Safaris contact number in Botswana and my mobile number. (It is possible to get all this in). I printed all this onto a credit card size piece of paper and laminated them with some special luggage labels I found on the internet. They were really durable and a least gave me some confidence that we may see it again ! The format is quite simple to copy. I thought that it would be a valuable service (although very cheap and easy to do), if Expert Africa could provide such labels for customers. You could put the Expert Africa logo on the back. Please let me know if you would like to see an example of the label I did for our trip." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"It was amazing !!! 6 weeks travelling through Africa with a 6 year old child is not everyone's ideal holiday but due to the perfect recommendations given by Maruska and the closeness with which she worked with my husband ensured we had a relatively hassle free, stress free, safe journey.

The travel book was also a great guide as it was up to date and relevant

We would (and have ) fully recommended your company and specifically Maruska to everyone we met !

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
None that we can think of" Read full review: 46 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"The holiday of a life time. the trip was wonderful and even though our itinary was quite complex it all went like clockwork. No hitches . Lucy put together a great programme abd gave us some very valuable advice ." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"This was a trip of a lifetime, and it was even better than I imagined it would be. The arrangements worked perfectly and we can't wait to go back!!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The advice was very helpful and the trip was fabulous. It would have helped to be reminded that it gets cold throughout the evening and night, so we could have used more warm clothing not just in the AM but for the evening and sleeping!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Trip was great. I'm still trying to reduce my 2,500 images to something more manageable!

Game viewing was great and the cold mornings and evenings meant that mossies were less of a problem than we expected. The two Wilderness camps (Duma Tau and Litlle Vumburu) were far better than Chobe Safari Lodge for atmosphere and the 'safari experience' as well as the food and the atention to detail." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"A fantastic experience with excellent service and hospitality everywhere we went. We couldn't really hope to have had a better trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Very comprehensive feedback which was good.

An easy company to book with, everything was delivered as advertised or better than expected" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Exceeded expectations

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The trip was coordinated well and all went smooth" Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was exceptional! We have been to Africa three times before but never to the Okovango Delta or Capetown and never with Expert Africa. We wouldn't change one day of it! Every part of it was exceptional from the Falls to the safaris to the wine tasting in Capetown.

We agreed that one of the things that made it truely exceptional was the construction of the trip. What I mean by that, is that we got to do and see exactly what we wanted, so it was a highly individualized tour, but we had Expert Africa there every step of the way to make sure that every detail was taken care of and taken care of professionally.

When we climbed on our flight from the US to fly ten thousand miles to another continent and begin a unique adventure, we did not know if everything would go as smoothly as promised or not. It went better, every step of the way, then we could have imagined. Every flight was on time, every camp was expecting us and treated us like royalty, even our side trips to Gaborone and Capetown went without a hitch. And through it all we were able to travel on our own schedule without being hampered by being part of a larger tour group. We would recommend Expert Africa to anyone!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions really. While Maruska was away, her sister helped, Saskia, us. She was as professional and helpful as Maruska. They were both great!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"The trip was amazing and we are already discussing another one. From the organisation pre-trip to details during the trip, everything went perfectly.

I much appreciated Lucy, she was always quick to respond and answer questions.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really, I was extremely satisfied with everything and we wouldn't hesitate to work with you again.

Perhaps one small thing, it would have been more convenient if you offered travel insurance for residents of countries outside of the UK. Since we live in France and the US, it took us alot of time to look at the different providers in each country and eventually purchase the insurance." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We shall return to Botswana without any doubt! A wonderful overall experience!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Dissuade people from booking their own flights (which we did!) as this can only cause priblems synchronising dates when flight details change." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari