Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"We had an outstanding trip with so many memories of stunning landscapes and wildlife that we will never forget. Both fully lived up to our hopes and expectations. We did find the driving in Namibia to be gruelling at times due to the condition of the mainly gravel roads and the necessity to drive relatively slowly, making for some long journeys - in particular the journey between Swakopmund and Twylfontein.

Our itinerary in Namibia took us to a variety of places and experiences that were all very different from each other, and each worth the visit. In Botswana it was mainly about the wildlife, though we also enjoyed the beautiful setting of the Okavenga Delta and meeting lots of Botswanans, who without exception were friendly and welcoming.

Finally, except for not getting the type of vehicle we were expecting (though Bidvest & Tracy from Expert Africa did contact us to offer to change, which we decided against) every aspect of the organisation of the trip went without a hitch. We were also impressed that the company paid the difference in flight prices between Windhoek & Maun after Air Namibia cancelled all these flights from the beginning of November and we had to be rebooked onto SA Airways." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"having been on many other safaris can safely say this was right up there with those costing much more
the wildlife has been stunning & if your happy to self drive this is for you
would recommend without question

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

do not talk down the government camps in etosha as they are the best if you want instant access to the park & have fantastic water holes" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"I had a wonderful experience as did my friends.

It was well planned. I was worried we were moving to much but as we did it all made good sense.

We saw more then I could have imagined and the staff were beyond helpful." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a great time in Namibia. At the start of our holiday, our luggage was lost which caused us to lose some time. We had to buy necessary supplies, had to drive back to the airport, etc. After that, our experiences were fantastic.

Namibians are very friendly people, always willing to help & waving at the side of the road. The nature is beautiful and watching the wild animals is just amazing. The entire trip was perfectly organised. From the planning of our trip to when we arrived home. When we had questions, Maruska was always very fast in her replies.

We would also like to express special thanks to Wilderness Safaris for their support when our luggage was lost. They really did a great job." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"The arrangements generally worked clockwork and all the places we stayed were well worth visiting.

Apart from the mishaps in respect of the car (see earlier) the other thing worth mentioning is the problem of the border crossing from Botswana to Zimbabwe. We apparently arrived at a peak time, but queuing for over 2 hours in the sun to pay $55 dollars for a visa was infuriating - all the more so because it was obvious that virtually every transfer agent except ours had a special arrangement with the clerks issuing the visas.

We lost count of the number of times transfer agents would go to the front of the queue with wads of passports and forms. We were, literally, the last in the queue at the point we left, even though many people arrive after us. I'm not sure of the answer - probably either they should crack down on petty corruption or you should get a different agent?" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Fabulous trip.

Great itinerary from Expert Africa - good variety of camps and length of stays were perfect.

Our main Expert Africa contact was actually Megan, not Tracy, but she is not in the pick list.

It would have been nice to have received a phone call on returning from the trip to ask us how it had been.

Our guide Theo was excellent and negotiated two fabulous groups for our gorilla treks." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We had a truly amazing trip.

Having done 2 safaris before, we had high expectations, but this trip really delivered.

Botswana is an amazing place and the Safari experience there is totally unspoiled and genuine, and gave us many memorable experiences.

Our choice of the 5 camps in Botswana plus the final two in Zambia worked really well, giving us a huge amount of variety. Originally we though that 17 days might be too long, but there were so many different things to see and do that we kept wanting to keep going!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Well done Sarah, your help in putting this trip together was both excellent and invaluable." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"A very memorable trip. The Caprivi Strip is so different to the rest of Namibia. Delightful lodges. Expert Africa very good, as always.
Only two small comments:

1. there was a chap from Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek airport to meet & greet us. This has never happened before, so we walked straight past him. I hope he wasn't offended, but there was nothing from Expert Africa to say that we were being met at the airport. Bit of a surprise.

2. Wild Horizons transfers. Perfect and on-time for each occasion. The problem was communication. We we not given a pick-up time for the transfer to Livingstone Airport. Our previous driver said we would be contacted and informed 24 hours before pick-up. We were not contacted, and none of the telephone numbers given in Zimbabwe was contactable either from a mobile or the hotel's phones. I even tried sending a text, but there was no reply. In the end we had to ask the Avani concierge to phone Wild Horizons local office in Zambia. If Wild Horizons has a local office, why give travellers lots of numbers in Zimbabwe ? (none of which seem to work)." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We have been to Namibia before and it definitely did not disappoint this time, such a magical country.

It was our first time in Botswana and we loved it and would like to see more, as is always the case in Africa in my experience. The people were so friendly and the wildlife amazing.

Victoria Falls was also good and we were glad we took your advice about seeing the falls from the Zimbabwe side as there was plenty of water! It was also a nice little town to wander around with interesting history, a good end to our trip." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Overall an excellent holiday that more than met our expectations. We both thoroughly enjoyed the whole time spent in Africa." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari