Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"We had such a super trip! Having just spent a week at Kruger Park, I was worried the kids would be 'safari-ed" out, but it turns out that each location had a special charm and offered us something new and exciting.

Though we 'saw' a sleeping lion in Kruger, we saw a whole pride of lions walk by our car in Chobe. Thought we 'saw' a leopard in Kruger, we saw a leopard in a tree trying to protect a kill from hyenas underneath. We loved the sounds of the Delta - the natural heartbeat of birds and frogs and so on that greeted us every morning and night. We loved the service of our lodges -- we felt very taken care of.

Mostly, I really appreciated that all the logistics were so smooth -- the pick-ups (and, in particular, border transfers) were on time and professional. The shuttle services (Wilderness safaris, African Odyssey, etc) were excellent. Having meals and inclusive private safaris added to the trip cost, of course, but were essential for traveling with a family and making it care-free.

Our favorite part of the trip was assuredly Machaba Camp -- my youngest son (age 3) hit it off with our guide (Moreri) and we are still missing him! Mostly, they were so accommodating with times and meals, that we relaxed into our vacation in a very real way. Thanks for making all these logistics so smooth!!!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Honestly, it was excellent and I would recommend your services again -- worth the pennies to have all those logistics sorted out. We had a great time!

I might just add two small things - I might have missed the part about Ilala being in USD, and USD prices. Since we were coming from South Africa, this obviously seemed more pricey to us than we were expecting (and the only part of our trip that was not all-inclusive) and we could only get USD from the ATMs. Not a huge problem, but might be good to have included that in the trip info (perhaps I missed it - if so, sorry).

Also, we were essentially bribed at the VFAirport...the guys asked us if we wanted to upgrade to business class for $200 and when I agreed, he said it had to be in cash. Ugh -- by this point, he had already booked the tickets so we had no real choice, but it was clear I was not going to be getting a receipt for that one. I am sure he saw our American passports. I felt very duped, but since everyone else had been so honest and helpful our entire trip (and since the VFA airport is so beautifully new and professional!), this took me by surprise. Folks should be on the lookout for scams like this (especially as Americans).

Otherwise, super duper trip!!! Happy to answer any other questions." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Of course it is dificult to predict the exact conditions at a camp be (for ex. when the flood arrives). It would be helpful to at least indicate the range of various conditions.

We expected Tubu to be partly flooded ("mixed"). In fact it was even drier than Chitabe (we saw more hippos in Chitabe than in Tubu). Perhaps you can add a history of previous years when the flood has arrived at the various camps, so that every traveller gets has a reliable Information about the past years.

It also was not so clear that there was absolutely no wifi at the camps. This should be indicated more clearly." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Amazing. A trip of a life time" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"The combination of the friendly staffs and spirit of Africa and just being in the safari mode was wonderful and trumps all the small quibbles.

Seeing a leopard mother and her cub playing a small distance away and seeing a cheetah close up in the wild are hard experiences to match. Thus, we had a fabulous experience overall.

If the ceiling fans can be added at Little Kwara and the flights can be adjusted to take vacationers directly to their spots (instead of flying them more than 90 minutes out of the way), the review could have been even more positive." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had an incredible experience - a real trip of a lifetime.

From the second I reached out to Expert Africa to help with our plans, everything was very easy, smooth, and professional. Nick did a wonderful job figuring out what kind of camps we wanted and what our priorities were and the combination of our two camps was a really good choice for us - and very different experiences.

Furthermore, when we got to each camp, everything was flawlessly ready and set up for us. Thank you!!" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"A unique experience that will live long in the memory" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"It was excellent, brilliantly organised and managed.

In retrospect we should have chosen Sabyinyo in Rwanda, Ngorongoro Crater in the Crater. I would have preferred to stay at the Hyatt in Dar - or an alternative to the Serena - it was a shocker.

I had concerns about Little Kwara before I went and these were confirmed. I would not stay with a Kwando facility on a return to Africa." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"With the exception of ProFlight all ran to schedule. Ground handling good, no delays.

At Xakanaxa airstrip (which incidentally is a new runway positioned a little further from the camps than the 'old' strip) we were very pleasantly surprised to see Banda, our requested guide for Camp Xakanaxa where has been based since last January, albeit we were due at Camp Moremi first. Apparently in agreement with the D&DS marketing manager (regret don't know his name and was not aware he was the South African chap who wished us well as he leaving for the plane we arrived on) we were allocated Banda for the whole of our 5 night stay on an exclusive basis. This is an amazing example of D&DS customer service for which we are truly grateful. If you are aware of the chap's name please let me know and I will send a thank-you e-mail. Thanks should also be extended to all the D&DS staff including Setch and staff at Suvute and Albert (who was 'care-taking' between Moremi and Xakanaxa) and all the staff.

We will undoubtedly return to Nkwali, Savute and delta camps again - don't know when. However in future we will try to avoid Jo'burg airport if only due to the totally inefficient and unfriendly staff at passport control. It takes ages to be processed. Never enough staff on duty. As you maybe aware, there are 2 sections, one deals with SA residents, the other all non-SA passengers.

There are some 25 (maybe more) passport control booths on the non-SA section. Less than half were being manned on our first arrival and only 7 when we arrived form Maun. Coupled with the delays occurring to some families, presumably associated with the recently introduced regulations and paperwork required for people travelling with children, the delays are totally unacceptable. We were directed to stand in a queue behind a family which we were already aware had processing problems and had to wait 20 minutes while they continued to try and resolve without any apparent success so we asked to move and were eventually directed to stand in another queue. There is no efficient management system in place, it's a shambles.

It is not surprising that Lusaka airport is building a new terminal (by the Chinese!) and Maun wants to expand so that passengers can fly direct rather than via Jo'burg which attracts so much criticism. BA used to fly direct to Lusaka but apparently no more. We met people who flew with Emirates via Dubai so for the future it's worth considering another carrier. There may be others." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had the best time, totally exceeded our expectations and continued to amaze us throughout. W

e wouldn't hesitate to recommend Botswana to anyone looking for a really special trip and all the camps we stayed at were excellent." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari