Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"Our trip was absolutely brilliant.

Everywhere we went there was someone waiting to collect us and carry our bags to our next destination. It was extremely well-organised with a good blend of different activities / game / environments.

Thank you Lucy for putting it all together for us, we can't thank you enough! We will be back I am sure!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

N/A" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Just one dissatisfaction - not all of our car transport turned up on time, and indeed the first one did not turn up at all.

One major recommendation - go in November! It is supposedly low season, but we saw a huge amount and had a fantastic time, with the greatly added benefit of having the vehicles and often camp to ourselves in the vast majority of places.

We have never been on an organised tour holiday, so I was apprehensive that we would be herded around like pack animals and miss out on the unique experience you get when you travel individually. This was not the case. I was very happy with Expert Africa and would certainly use you again if we booked another luxury trip." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Although there were a few weeks of delay in Expert Africa staff engaging with us to start our planning, due to some staff changes and an international travel conference, we soon were underway and were guided well and promptly through decision-making.

We had been to other parts of Africa before and could articulate what we wanted, which helped. I had read other guests' reviews about the need to be careful around animals and the harsh-sounding needs for insurance and liability forms to be signed at each camp; this wasn't actually troublesome at all.

Our trip was a delight. We look forward to going back, possibly to the Chobe area next time simply to experience a different part of Botswana while it's still as pristine as it is. The national tourism policy of low-volume, high cost is working for them now; long may they maintain it.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

About the survey: start by giving a list of the subjects we will be asked to address so we know what to save for future pages. Other than that I can think of nothing. You all are excellent at what you do, and you deserve to succeed. We have already shared your name with our traveling friends." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We loved our second trip to Botswana.

It is expensive compared to East Africa for example but really suits us - generally quiet without too many people, we enjoy the little planes to fly in and out of camps, the wildlife and birdlife is great. The camp suggestions were good and Lucy and Nick were patient in helping find out availability for various combinations of camp.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Have a better system for passing messages internally.

We called and left messages 3 times which were not returned before we were able to speak to someone about Botswana. We know the team is busy but, if we had been first time callers to Expert Africa, we might not have persevered. It was only the fact that we've had such good experiences in the past with Expert Africa that meant we continued to call!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Many thanks to Maruska who organized such a great trip for us" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"The trip was well planned, and delivered what we expected. We had a lovely time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

One comment. Your warning about forged 200 rand notes came too late as we had already changed our money and we did have some trouble in getting them accepted.

In addition one petrol station would not take 100 rand notes." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We were a little apprehensive about the trip not knowing quite what to expect but overall it was very enjoyable. My wife was wondering why we had only booked 8 nights but realised once we had been there a few days that getting up at 5.30 every day, being jolted about on the trucks for several hours and the heat meant that it was quite tiring, so 8 nights was just about right.

The wildlife experience was really fantastic and we loved every minute of the game drives dispite being bounced about. The sundowners were magical.

We met lots of friendly people from many different countries during the trip and made a number of friends.



We were surprised at the working conditions for the staff at the camps. From what we discovered the camp catering staff stayed there for 3 months at a time and then had two weeks off we think. The driver seemed to work 3 months on with one month off. Not sure about the spotter. This may be normal by Botswana standards but some of the women we spoke to had young children so being away from them for 3 months at a time seemed hard.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only aspect of the trip that caused any concern, apart from the few comments on the camps, was the matter of tips. Most people we spoke to (from different tour compamies) were uncertain about what was normal or expected.

In these situations a lot depends on how much people depend on tips to make a decent wage and this was not clear. Nearly all the staff were friendly and helpful so if they needed the tips we would be happy to give them. While we would want to reward exceptional service in many counties (South Africa as we found which we went on to after Botswana) tell you in most restaurants that a 10% tip is expected at least.

A bit more definite guidance would have been appreciated. The British find tipping a difficult subject at the best of times!

The only aspect of the trip that caused any concern, apart from the few comments on the camps, was the matter of tips. Most people we spoke to (from different tour compamies) were uncertain about what was normal or expected. In these situations a lot depends on how much people depend on tips to make a decent wage and this was not clear.

Nearly all the staff were friendly and helpful so if they needed the tips we would be happy to give them. While we would want to reward exceptional service in many counties (South Africa as we found which we went on to after Botswana) tell you in most restaurants that a 10% tip is expected at least. A bit more definite guidance would have been appreciated. The British find tipping a difficult subject at the best of times!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We had fantastic safaris and a great trip to Victoria Falls where we would recommend the helicopter ride.

All the arrangements went like clockwork and the transfers were all on time and the staff excellent.

Thank you Expert Africa for making it so enjoyable and trouble free we will certainly recommend you to our friends.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were happy with your service and have no specific comments." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"One of the best, if not THE best holiday we've ever had. (Only thing missing was exercise, but not much chance of that.)
Game viewing bit disappointing at Lebala with hindsight but as virgins we still enjoyed it. Rooms and camp very good.
Little Kwara very enjoyable.

Nxabega stood out though, as a superbly-run camp, with a truly wonderful atmosphere. Grant and Dimari really set the benchmark.
Game best at Sandibe but what a miserable dump by comparison to Nx.

The transfer processes worked very well and once we knew the score, we relaxed totally about moving from camp to camp, and this really helped make the whole thing more enjoyable compared to hacking around India or wondering if the planes would fly in South America.

Zimbabwe day trip was worth it although we got stitched up by Zambia immigration, they hadn't given us a multiple-entry, only a double entry visa but this was not clear.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Take note of any unusual situations (eg airstrip down) and set expectations accordingly.
Check game viewing status / concession conditions closer to the off, maybe it would be better to switch (eg Lebala was only worth 2 nights due to so much empty burnt scrub).

Transfer from Livingstone to Lebala took a while; no food on the Proflight transfer, no food opportunities at Livingstone airport (only coffee) or en route (Kasane airport not selling food) so we were starving by the time we got to Lebala; it would have been good to arrange some opportunity to eat or buy food at some point. Maybe include a visit a cafe / restaurant in Kasane town, as there is plenty of time ?" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Our booking process was marred slightly by the fact that Anna was the person with whom we deal initially but subsequently it seemed to alternate between her and Lucy which meant that communication wasn't as seamless as it might have been.

There was also a problem when we asked over the phone for a quote, but you were under the impression that we were still considering which camps we were interested in and were waiting for us to make the next move." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari