Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"We have had a wonderful holiday" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We loved our trip! Although I had a pretty good idea of the camps I wanted to stay at, Susannah helped me to select Tau Pan for the desert camp, and I felt that she would have been willing to spend all the time required if I had needed more help with the rest of the trip. All transfers were seamless; we felt that all we had to do was sit back and enjoy, which we did! We can't wait to go back.

I have to put in a plug for the Kwando camps. We did not stay at any Wilderness camps, so we don't have a comparison, but at all three Kwando camps, the guides were enthusiastic, kind and so knowledgeable. They not only knew the mammals, they knew every bird and plant, and would spend as much time as we wanted looking at everything. We also loved having the trackers with us and felt they added a lot to the experience. The trackers and guides work incredibly hard and put in very long hours--they are amazing. We also loved the atmosphere at the Kwando camps--very relaxed, informal, and friendly." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"We have brought home wonderful memories and had an amazing trip from start to finish. The whole experience was everything we wanted it to be - and more! As we left the Uk , I was concerned that I had seen so many documentaries and David Attenboroughs that I might be disappointed. How wrong could I have been - it was was above my expectation, there was real wildlife as soon as you left camp and often in it.

The staff were overwhelmingly friendly, nothing was too much trouble and we met some interesting staff and visitors alike.

Suggestions for improvements:

Tipping - this was all a bit difficult. Chris Macintyres book mentioned and I'm glad it did. There were guidelines to suitable amounts in each camp , which were different from camp to camp, which seemed odd. Everything was set based on the average wealthy American family, who live with a culture of tipping. The British don't, the Americans we spoke to said if those were the suggested amounts they felt they should pay more and we just felt mean! I was very glad to have thought this through from home. Maybe its something you could emphasise more in your useful information.

I didn't engage enough with the Wilderness safari culture and ethical stance before I went, due to lack of realisation and time but I'm glad we chose the things we did, given the difference it makes to parts of the country and opportunities it presents. It could be somethign you make more reference to or raise the profile within Expert Africa" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We enjoyed the whole trip, everything went well, food and accommodation were extremely good and everyone we met was very kind and helpful.

Maybe it would have been good to see a cheetah and a lion but you can't have everything!!!!

Suggestions for improvement:

This is our second trip with Expert Africa (we went to Namibia last year), we have been very impressed with your services, we particularly appreciated having someone who took us right the way through from first enquiry to the ticketing and that you have 'experts' on each country who know 'their' countries so well.

Susannah was so helpful and answered my e mails immediately. I am sure that when we return to Africa we will be using you again." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and hope to repat it again before too long. All was a s expected and even better !

Suggestions for improvements:

Hard to think of improvements." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"The whole trip was excellent in it`s organisation. Every connection was on time with drivers, camp staff etc all waiting for us.
Our highlights were the beautiful location of our tent at Kwara and the off road driving , the boat trip on the Chobe river with Muchenje Lodge and Santantadebi Mobile camp for all sorts of reasons as mentioned previously. [Ed: in the reviews below!]

We did see many wonderful animals but we can`t deny a little disappointment at the minimal sightings of the big cats.

We felt in need of exercise after 2 weeks of doing nothing but sitting in the jeeps and eating!

We had many interesting and fun conversations with the other guests all of which made the holiday memorable.

Suggestions for improvement:

The only negative I have is that the information on prices at Victoria Falls was inaccurate eg we expected the helicopter ride to be $100 but it was $130, similarly the cost of meals had risen sharply." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"A wonderful experience - really lived up to expectations.

Great combination of camps.

Once in Botswana, everything worked perfectly" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"The whole trip was a great success and this is based on the knowledge of Expert Africa in guiding our selection of camps and final destination.

We were recommended to limit our stay in the camps to 9 days and this proved to be right as the safaris are tiring. Marushka was particularly helpful when we had to cancel our previous booking due to ill health and Lucy was an excellent stand-in when Marushka was not available.

We would recommend Expert Africa to anyone and we will be back again looking at Namibia!

Suggestions for improvements:

As some of our fellow guests lost their luggage en route it would be helpful if your advice to customers suggested that they took a small emergency pack in their hand luggage (toothbrush, toothpaste etc), and you might suggest to the camps that they had a small stock of emergency supplies to help minimise the stress of lost luggage.

Other than this the trip was excellent from first contacting you to completing this form. Thank you." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"In whole Botswana and the trip exceeded oru expectations." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our honeymoon was amazing.

From initial planning with Lucy, who was very patient, knowledgable and friendly we had high hopes for our trip and all our expectations were exceeded!! Thanks so much" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari