Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"Our Botswana trip was a truly magical and amazing experience.

Expert Africa did a great job of meeting our needs and our budget for a fantastic trip. Heading to Tanzania next and will use them again.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Everything was positive." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We were not scheduled to go to Chitabe lodge however we were transferred there after it became clear that the Siba camp was unacceptable for a 3 day stay.

The chitabe camp was EXCELLENT. Our guide, Ebs, was fabulous. The game viewing was incredible and the location beautiful. The staff in general was very accomodating and friendly.

Expert Africa and Wilderness Safaris were both helpful in arranging this transfer from Siba to Chitabe." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This was our first trip to Africa and we had only a vague idea of what to expect. The whole trip was fabulous. All the arrangements worked. All the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. All the accomodation was lovely. Even the basic camp on Mboma island was a hoot.

Although we are not birdwatchers, the array of birds pointed out by the guides and spotted by us has made us keen twitchers. Binocculrs are a must. Enjoyed all the food, even the more exotic. The night skies were a treat.

We were a bit surprised to find how cool it was in the early mornings and after sunset and found the ponchos and hot water bottles very useful. Loved the daily sundowner routine. Our highlight was coming upon a cheetah in the early morning and following it for 45mts. There was nobdy else around.

The ballon flight was great fun. skillfully managed by pilot and support staff.

Suggestions for improvements:

I think the way we did ie(Livingstone-Chobe-Linyanti-Khwai) was good. Took too many evening clothes and not enough warm clothes. Picking up the luggage at Jo'burg everytime was a bore and it would be nice to be able trust the security enough to not have to do it. The singing and dancing from the staff at the lodges was hugely enjoyable.

We did spend a lot of time travelling after we left Maun and the drive to and from Kulala was tedious and stressful in parts. Would have preferred a day each in Maun and Windhoek and possibly flown to Kulala as other guests did. The river was ok but could have given it a miss. Overall, it was a fantastic experience which we will recommend to friends" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"This was our third trip to Africa and certainly one of our best.

Our itinerary as prepared by Expert Africa perfectly and the recommendations of our agent, Gwynneth, for Xigera in Botswana, and Erongo Wilderness Lodge and Olive Grove Guest House in Namibia, lived up to our expectations.

We like the flexibility of being able to combine our own travel arrangements with those made for us by Expert Africa." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A fantastic experience. We had a great trip that we will remember forever.

The worst bit was the famous gravel roads of Namibia - I don't understand why they call them gravel - almost all of the non-tarred roads we drove on were more rock or sand or corrugated roads! However, despite my trepidation the Volkswagen Polo did us proud - not even one puncture!

Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"It was our 3rd safari experience and it was everything we hoped it would be

Suggestions for improvement:

Although your pre trip information was excellent I wish someone had reinforced how little we needed in the way of clothes. Because there was no need or time to change for dinner we could have left a lot of our clothes at home. We really didn't need our 20 kg" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"This is our 4 trip to Africa having previously been to S.Africa, Kenya and Namibia and this was the best. We were guided by Lucy at Expert Africa as to which camps to stay at and she did a great job.

The quality of service was incredible, everyone made you feel special. All the camps were different and had something special to offer. Food was great. As far as we are concerned this was one of our best holidays." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Our 3 week trip took in Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia. Maruska and the rest of the EA team were invaluable in the planning phase.

We completed 3850km (mostly on good tar roads at 120kph) in my brother's 8 year/150,000km-old Toyota Corrolla, without a hitch. Only disappointment: we didn't get a chance to sample the rescue & recovery services. Reports from fellow travellers were however encouraging and there was enough traffic on all roads to give us confidence. Border crossings were troulble free and relatively quick. We used Tom-Tom SatNav with the Southern Africa maps from UK, it was a good supplement to the paper maps and Brandt guidebooks, giving us accurate road mileages and ETAs.

In Bulawayo we stayed at the Banff Lodge: highly recommended. Travel in Zimbabwe was a pleasent surprise: recent changes to make USD & ZAR official have made it much easier for foreigners. There is an air of quiet optimism about, but filling stations, electricity and phone connections are not constantly available, and the neglect of infrastucture & public facility maintenance is quite evident. No problems with immigration/emigration (we did both twice), and people generally very friendly, welcomong and helpful.

The lodges we chose were most satisfactory and exceeded our expectations in many cases, particularly Chitabe Lebida, Etosha Aoba & Camp Kwando. Due to the distances travelled, we did not spend long enough at some ot the locations, but I don't see any way around this as we wanted to drive to get a good feel of the countries visited, maybe next time we'll stay an extra week or two! We would spend more time in the Delta: Chitabe is largely dry and we would liked to have sampled a wetter location too. Similarly, Etosha merits more than just 3 days in the Eastern sector." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We really enjoyed it. There were some long drives which got a bit tiring particularly when coupled with border crossings (6 in total) but it was very interesting to see the way the scenery changed from arid to wetland. We were also interested to see how the culture changed significantly once we crossed the border into Rundu province.

When we reached Victoria Falls we felt very satisfied that we (or rather my husband) had driven all the way up from Cape Town over the course of 3 holidays (thanks for the idea Chris).

Some of the scenery was superb - we've never seen such beautiful and unspoilt wetland areas. We considered ourselves fortunate to have seen it at a time of exceptionally high water although the recent flooding has not been great for local residents" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Overall my trip was a great experience and I have many fond memories of my time there and all the truly wonderful people I met and became friends with.

Suggestions for improvements:

Not really any I can think of!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari