Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"A fantastic trip to Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania (my fourth safari); the three weeks flew by. Everything ran smoothly, and was as expected. A few flights were inevitably delayed, but not significant enough to adversely effect the itinerary.

My preferences/interests had clearly been passed onto the camps, and acted upon, which was much appreciated.

An awful lot of work goes into organising a 3-week long trip, and Ellie was most knowledgeable. At times when I contacted her she was very busy and hence there were sometimes some delays in her responses. But everything came together perfectly, and I had a terrific time. I'll be back!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"It was a delightful safari.

Mention should be made of Wilderness Safaris in Maun, who on learning of our loss of luggage immediately took over the task of locating it and produced within a matter of minutes two emergency bags for us. After nearly 24 hours of travel their "don't worry we will sort it" approach was most welcome.

Our road transport from Kasane to the border was in a safari vehicle - driving at 40/50 mph in an open vehicle, being blasted by the wind, was extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately the second vehicle over the border was a normal minibus." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"My spouse and I are dedicated supporters of International wildlife conservation.

Frankly there are many tragic stories in well known countries in Africa that have experienced catastrophic losses in population of major species like Rhino, Elephant, Lions, Cheetahs, Painted Dogs and on and on due to poaching and loss of habitat.

We wanted to experience first hand what was different about Botswana.

The good news is Botswana is the "crown jewel" of African wildlife. In a little over two weeks we experienced:
* A healthy pride of 21 lions
* A pack of Painted dogs with 12 adults and 15 puppies!
* Superb bird life
* Multiple Leopards
* Huge, unstressed herds of elephant
* Honey badgers, Bat-eared fox, genets, hyenas and pups...
All that and people who were kind and gracious to us at every turn.

It was so great we are already scheduling our next safari to Botswana." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"This was the first time EVER that we engaged a travel agent to arrange a trip... after visiting 54 countries doing our own organising.

On the downside, the intimate knowledge that I usually have of every trip was gone. For me, this is part of the fun of a trip, so I missed it... having to check the itinerary every time I wanted to know something, rather than simply recalling it.

On the upside, the reason we had decided to use an agent was the difficulties of organising smooth transfers and bookings in a relatively unique environment... and almost everything went like clockwork. Where there was a hitch (the hotel 'upgrade' in Livingstone; pick-up going to the wrong end of the trip in Kasane) it was nothing to do with the booking or agent.

Taken as a whole we enjoyed the holiday very much indeed. Naturally there were highlights - Doro Nawas, Chongwe River Camp and Chobe Under Canvas would be our top three - but small things, like the fascination of the Zambia / Namibia border crossing at Kazangula or the starkness of the road from Henties Bay to Uis, also stood out as hugely interesting." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This was a trip of a lifetime for the 6 of us. I had researched and started planning the trip about a year beforehand. Expert Africa were tirelessly patient with me and must have put at least 6 or 7 different itinerates together before we eventually got to one we thought covered everything. The trip was beyond all expectations. The wildlife, camps, food and staff were 5 star and we were made to feel welcome and treated like kings the whole time.

IF there was one small criticism it would be that we didnt know we needed a visa to enter into Livingstone. So after an all night flight and a connection, we had a long 3 hour wait in a crowded and hot area waiting for a visa. There was much confusion as we did not know what we were meant to be queuing for and if they would accept a credit card. It was a worry at the time so it would have been nice to have been warned or to have applied for the visa in the UK but it really didn't spoil our trip in any shape or form.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Expert Africa were recommended to us from friends. I also called other firms but yours was the best for efficiency and expert knowledge about each area an each camp. Megan was brilliant at the beginning and she really tailored the trip to our needs with 4 teenagers with suggestions and ideas.

The trip was fantastically organised and the itinerary was followed to the letter. The only two things that were slightly different were that Selina has showers and not bucket showers anymore and the need to have a visa to get into Livingstone.

Other than that Thank You Very Much and I have recommended you to several people already :)" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our overall trip with Expert Africa was absolutely excellent. We all had an amazing time, that was a family aged 7 to 79! We had flown into Jo'burg and, after spending one night B&B on the way to Madikwe, we then had five nights at a Tuningi Lodge which we had arranged ourselves. After seeing what is generally known as the Magnificent Seven (the Big Five, which included leopard in a tree with an impala kill, and cheetah & wild dog), I was sceptical that anything could be better! How wrong I was!

Our stay at Footsteps across the Delta was the absolute highlight for the three boys and to be 100% recommended. The houseboat on the Chobe river was a fantastic way to chill, particularly for the adults, but still enabling peaceful game viewing.

All our arrangements went like clockwork, especially for Africa!

We would all happily recommend the enthusiasm and knowledge of the company.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions ... which says it all!" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 3 on a Namibia trip

"Once in a life time trip!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 6 on a Mozambique holiday

"Trip of a lifetime managed with absolute precision by Expert Africa from start to finish. They were a pleasure to deal with and the whole trip was smooth and trouble free at every point.

There was always someone to meet us at every airport to assist us with luggage and ticketing which was unexpected but made all the travelling completely stress free. I cannot recommend this company highly enough and will definitely be using them again for our next trip to Africa." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"The trip of a lifetime!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Maruska was wonderful: very knowledgeable, helpful and she built an amazing itinerary. All details were covered.

I've been recommending her to people at home!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"We were very pleased that all the arrangements made for us by Expert Africa, camps and lodges, internal flights, transfers and extra activities all happened seamlessly.

When a problem arose with our booking before we travelled, Expert Africa resolved the situation quickly and at no cost to ourselves for which we were very grateful." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari