Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"A great trip! We were on 4 rivers: the Kavango, the Okovango, the Kwando and the Zambezi and stayed in a number of island lodges (as well as Okonjima and Windhoek). The variety was remarkable. Some of the road journeys were long but by and large the travel was good and we'd recommend self-drive because you have so much more contact with people. The border posts were a world unto themselves - lovely but leave plenty of time.

Given that we were passing through three countries, and had quite precise pickup times, it would have been helpful to have been told about the time changes. We worked out the ones between countries but were caught out by the fact that the eastern end of the Caprivi Strip is not on Namibian time!

The pick up at Kasane (n Botwswana) was not straightforward. We'd been told we would be picked up by our last lodge, Islands of Siankaba. But they don't pick up outside Zambia. A firm called Bushtracks does all the pick ups (and does not have a board with your name on it). It was quite by chance that we managed to find them. That said, the water crossing (at the crossroads of Zimbabwe/Botwswana/Zambia/Nambiia) was wild!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Another great trip with Expert Africa. So thank you once again!
It would have been good to know about 'Caprivi time' and to have been given the name of the company doing the pick up at Kasane.

Thank you very much!!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"This ranks as one of the top vacation trips in our 49 years of marriage. We received true value in every aspect, but particularly in Botswana.

Every aspect was planned and executed by Expert Africa with its various on-site agents to give us a vacation and experience without any hiccups. My hobby is photography, and I feel I had the opportunity for some great shooting. The camps selected or suggested by Expert Africa gave us the variety to get as much "feel" for Botswana in 9 days as we could have hoped.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

You might consider having potential customers fill out a form indicating what they want or expect from a trip to Africa. many of our friends reacted to our plans with comments like "aren't you scared to be out there at night?". Many Americans are not as familiar with the potential experience as they should be." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was wonderful - we enjoyed it very much. The information Maruska provided when we were initially planning the trip helped to arrange a trip that suited our interests and desires. We believe the initial phone conversation was essential to the process, as Maruska was able to find out what we were hoping to do, and she knew the right questions to ask in order to better understand what we were looking for (both in terms of what we wanted to see and do, and what was most important to us.) Once she understood that seeing different habitats and wildlife, with good guides, were our priorities, she was able to suggest camps to fulfill these priorities.

Maruska also understood that luxury accommodation and gourmet food were not important to us; we just wanted comfortable, safe accommodation (though we found all our accommodations and food great). Our discussions with Maruska helped tremendouly, since we were not familiar with the camps in Botswana and how it all works (camps, activities, transport).

Also, her extensive knowledge of Namibia assisted us in deciding exactly what we wanted to do there and how we could do it. We really appreciated her knowlegde of both the regions and activities, and the practical knowledge of what was possible (e.g., roads, distances, driving times, etc.). Everything worked out extremely well.

I have one additional comment regarding the camps in Botswana. We really enjoyed Mapula Lodge, which was very relaxed and did not have so many guests. Our stay at Mapula was very special, even though we saw more game at the other two lodges. Although we enjoyed all three camps, the atmosphere at Mapula was most appealing to us, as we really like to take our time watching the wildlife, not rushing from one animal to another.

We realize every visit is probably different, and we were lucky to be at Mapula with only two other guests. But one thing we would definitely look for in the future (after having experienced the camps), is camps that have no more than four guests in a vehicle. It is just a much better experience to drive through the habitats and see the animals with only two or four guests in the vehicle. Luckily, we only had two game drives with six guests - but those two drives were not nearly as enjoyable as the others. With six guests, there was a lot more talking, and it was hard to appreciate the sounds of the animals and the land, sounds that enhanced the amazing things we saw.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
I only have one suggestion. We never received our final documents (including map and luggage tags) by mail. Although this did not affect our trip, since Maruska e-mailed all the necessary documents, it might help to send the final document package by special post (with some sort of tracking) rather that just by regular mail. One other idea is that the final document package could have been sent again by fast post when we still had not received the package 10 days before departure. As I mentioned, it did not affect our satisfaction with the trip, and Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek airport had a map of Namibia ready for us when we arrived.

Thank you for a great trip!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We both loved Botswana and the people at each camp were exceptionally friendly and helpful. What a great country." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"This was a fabulous holiday. As always every detail was looked after by Expert Africa.

The lodges, especially in Botswana were great, staff wonderful and game viewing excellant.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I really can't think of any suggestions.

Just must say how smoothly the transfer was from Botswana to Livingstone, we were met by someone at every point; the airport, the river crossing, passport control and drive to lodge. Excellant service." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip to Botswana, after all of the research and planning, completely lived upto and exceeded our expectations. We met some wonderful people and saw amazing wildlife and scenery.

We cannot think of anything we would have done differently and the travel tips from Expert Africa and the Bradt guide were well informed and extremely useful, for example, take spare batteries, pack light and use the laundry facilities which we have not done on previous trips.

So a big thank you to Expert Africa, the camp staff of Little Kwara, Lagoon Camp, Chitabe Lediba and Duma Tau and of course to the Botswanan wildlife." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We went for the animals and the scenery which were wonderful and totally lived up to expectations but I hadnt expected to be so entranced by the people who looked after us. They were just amazing, genuine, dignified, informed, funny,. It was such a priviledge to have that experience and i will never forget ithem.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep doing what you are doing so well. Maruska was great, listened to us and was very knowledgeable which helped enormously.She was very good, answered our questions very promptly. We also met some other people whose trip she planned and they were also extremely happy with her." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Every thing ran like clockwork and came up to expectations. Thanks to Lucy for doing a great job.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa.

Hope to travel with you again

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep up the good work" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"THe trip was memorable and wonderful. I would love to return sometime.

Just one point, perhaps I did not read the instructions, but please warn people that there is no Mobile phone contact or Internet access (Except Muchenje). It was nice but I should have been better prepared. The silence and overall experience was excellent.

I have recomended your Company to friends.

Thank you for th excellent organisation and the Camps we were sent to.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Inform us that Mobile phones and Internet not available in many camps. As it happened , it was good to be far away.

The organisation was excellent" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Expert Africa have lived up to their name, providing us with an exceptional, personalised trip and some wonderful memories.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would have thought that there was very little room for improvement!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari