Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"Anton Walker really nailed everything for me. Just the right camps, accommodated my myriad of questions with great patience, and provided me with a trip beyond my wildest dreams. He was always available and listened well. Unbelievably smooth transitions from airport to camps.

Botswana was surreal. Like entering the world before development, where the animals lived as they were meant to and people leave a very small footprint. And they were everywhere! In addition to the animals listed on your spotting chart, there were impala and red lechwe and warthogs. I never imagined being able to watch a leopard and its cub eating an impala way up in a tree, or following a cheetah and watching it settle down for a nap. All was spectacular.

Anton also arranged for me to visit the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust, where I got a private introduction to all the great work they are doing both with the animals and the community. Fascinating!

Also - wanted to mention how great the other people on safari were. As a solo traveler, it made it an even more rewarding experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Every detail was spot on.

I found the elephant encounter a bit contrived, but others were thrilled, so might just be me. As beautiful as the rooms were at The Elephant Camp, I would definitely opt for Old Drift over that every time. And probably should have done Old Drift at the end to enjoy the pampering and the food after Botswana (I think Anton would have agreed, but I was set on Zimbabwe first)" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Anton put together a fabulous trip for us. He listened carefully to our wishes, chose camps which suited us perfectly & enabled us to experience different aspects of the Delta plus the Central Kalahari.

A member of the team was always available with advice or to answer questions, excellent service." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"A superb trip.

I cannot fault the service from Expert Africa (again!). Incredibly efficient and knowledgeable.

The locations you selected for us suited very well indeed and were universally fantastic.

A truly marvellous and memorable trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No; you nailed it." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Amazing trip, a lot of great adventures and memories that we will bring back home" Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 22 on a Namibia trip

"Given this is Africa and I'm used to setting expectations on organisation accordingly, the fact that this trip was flawless in its organiasation is even more incredible.

Almost all the hotels were fabulous and we invariably had the best rooms - not sure if that's because we booked early or wheather its Expert Africa's influence but definately no complaints here.

The trip was exactly what we asked for and although it was a year in the planning, Sabina took time to understand our needs and organised a trip that met them and worked well. Things like picking up the car in Namibia and organising a taxi across the Botswana border worked well and saved us money.

Being able to explain what we were after and then for her to make suggestions and evolve the trip accordingly definately worked well and we now have some ideas for our next trip. Will definatley look to use Expert Africa again if possible.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Very impressed with everything - just wish you did Uganda and Angola as these are two countries I'm keen to visit." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"We explored going to Africa with numerous outfitters and specifically selected Expert Africa because of Megan and how she explained the variety of experiences! She was attentive, patient and friendly! She explained each experience in detail and catered to exactly what we wanted for this trip. Her detailing was on point- she was accurate in her depictions of each activity. And, they lived up to her high praises. She held our hand through packing and preparing for the trip as well!

The book provided and pamphlet were all extremely useful in preparing and learning about the trip!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"The trip was fantastic! Our adviser Maruska Adye really understood the experiences we wanted and our budget. Spending time in both countries was wonderful." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This was the most amazing trip. We saw so much wildlife the highlights being the cheetah the sable and the baby elephant giraffe hippo and lion cubs. We experienced being very close to lions and a little too close to elephants. My only disappointment was not seeing the wild dogs but they had moved out of the area and also not seeing a leopard. Our guides did everything they could to find the leopard and we did spend time tracking but if they don’t want to be found then no amount of searching will get that sighting." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"This was a very enjoyable bucket list trip. It was thoughtfully planned, and everything went smoothly.

My special thanks to Maruska for sharing her breadth of detailed knowledge, for considerable patience, good listening, clear communication, good recommendations, and kind encouragement." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We had the most amazing family holiday - so many unforgettable moments. Maruska was efficient and helpful from the planning stages through to the completion of our journey. She stepped up to help immensely when our bags had been lost between Kilimanjaro and Joburg Airports. She stepped in and got the Wilderness Safari folks to help follow up with the airport and airlines which was a huge relief for us as we were "off grid" for several days following their loss and felt very stressed about what to do next. Overall - we were thrilled with our time in Africa and thank Expert Africa team for helping to plan such a great trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Converting NZD to USD to pay for the trip was daunting - felt hugely expensive. Yes, we requested and planned a high end experience and were aware of the costs, but we definitely felt a big hit to the wallet. When you factor in that we were also giving healthy tips (as suggested, and we felt like with the great service we should do at least the "minimum") on top of the high room rate at each camp ... we felt it even more. Next time we might consider a mix of high vs medium range camps to save some money. Again, not to take away from an incredible trip planned together with Maruska ... thanks" Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari