Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"We've been to Africa 10 times now and this was my third trip to Botswana. Amazing experience overall.

Great accommodations, great people and the best wildlife viewing in Africa, if you like more natural and wild environment." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Another wonderful holiday in Namibia and Botswana visiting some old favourites and some new ones that will probably become old favourites now.

Everything went smoothly from the arrival of the brochure to our arrival in Namibia and our return home.
Sabina organised an excellent trip for us - was that Sabina that we met at Doro Nawas? we thought it was but perhaps were wrong.

Nothing can replace the absolute peace we feel either looking at the stars or sitting round a waterhole late at night . The long empty roads are a joy to drive and arriving at such magical destinations incomparable. We feel that we had several holidays all rolled in to one - a couple by the river, in Etosha, at wonderful Doro Nawas, the seaside, and then Sossusvlei.

Just one amazing adventure.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Thanks for such a great trip from start to finish." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"Once in a lifetime trip! Botswana was beautiful, people were friendly, and game viewing was out of this world. We saw more animals than we ever thought we would see. The private game reserves are worth the extra cost because you can get closer to the animals. The guides were extremely knowledgable and taught us a lot. Tracking skills were outstanding. The lodges were all beautiful and great with conservation efforts. There were only a few kinks in our trip. Kwara camp staff were lacking people skills and clearly weren't happy to be there. Also, on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls we were harassed by some local street sellers and threatened. Though everyone else in Zimbabwe were very friendly so we didn't let this ruin our experience. I would recommend local guides or tourism police for going out in public next time. Overall this trip was outstanding, we are already talking about going back some day!" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"How do we even begin?! As our very first experience of Africa this was an absolutely incredible trip. The camps we stayed at were fantastic, we saw everything we came to see (and more!) and the Delta is an even more stunning location that we could have imagined.

The logistics around the whole operation were seamless - we didn't have to worry about a single element of transport as it was all expertly taken care of. We felt very looked after and ultimately very relaxed!

In all, there is nothing here that we could have reasonably asked for to make this trip any better. Thank you guys for a truly memorable trip. We look forward to booking with you again!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Fantastic trip. So pleased with what we saw and experienced.

We got great advice from Megan to go to Chitabe if we liked leopards!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Trip of a lifetime

Loved all the camps in different ways but preferred the Kawando Group because it is locally owned and the staff seemed more genuine and accommodating. Just a different and more relaxed atmosphere than the corporate owned.

Flying from camp to camp was so relaxing unlike our previous trip to Tanzania where we were on bumpy roads most of the day

Everything went so smoothly with no delays and the camps were even more impressive than we ever imagined

It was simply the best in every way

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not one thing and I will recommend you to all my friends." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Thank you Expert Africa. Logistically it was perfect with zero hiccups and we realise that there could've been many. You certainly get what you pay for and it was a trip of a lifetime.

The safaris, food, ambience and accommodation - all absolutely spot on and thank you so much for the help in organising everything for us. We will definitely be back in Africa over the next year or so, and when we plan it we'll be in contact. Thank you Chloe for being someone who knew the countries we were visiting inside out - so often you do the research yourself, then speak to someone at a company who then knows less than you do. This certainly wasn't the case here!

We have some fantastic wildlife (especially bird photos) from the holiday (taken with professional Canon lenses) so if you want any for the website/future Bradt travel guides please let us know.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, not at all. However, as Richard is a birdwatcher (and bordering on OCD keen) he did spot a mistake in the Bradt travel guide that you could pass on! The Spoonbill photograph is actually an African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) and not Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) as per the book!" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"The trip was wonderful. We clocked over 100 new bird species and all the animals we could imagine except rhino. Loved the night sounds--hippo and lions plus others!

We liked all 4 lodges very much. Best were Xigera and Vumbra Plain. Little Vumbra needs a bit of spiffing up. Sandibe was amazing...a bit wierd, but VERY comfy and attractive. Beds everywhere were wonderful.

The staff and the guides were terrific....always knowledgable and very pleasant. Food was excellent -- as was the wine. Perhaps too much food, too often.

Just for you to know, wifi at both Sandibe and Vumbra Plain...and hair dryers. Also outlets for re-charging at every single place.

There were too many high points to mention!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. You are doing a great job, and we've recommended you (Tracy) and Expert Africa to several friends...even some who were with other safari groups.

Special thanks to Tracy for suggesting to the various camps that we have accomodation close to the center. My knees were very appreciative.

Wilderness planes were not as comfortable or clean as MacAir planes.

Can you send email of general manager of Vumbra Plains or Chris the food/beverage manager?" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"This was really the trip of a lifetime! We saw and did so much. For people who like to watch birds and animals, this provided opportunities galore!

It was also a very nice itinerary, suited to our particular interests and preferences. We would have liked to be more active since we aren't used to spending so much time in vehicles, but recognize that the nature of the trip made this very difficult. Game drives made it possible to see much more, from a closer distance, with less hazard.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Overall, the trip was very well organized. We stayed in some spectacular places.

Having the customized map and letter really helped in terms of self-drive navigation. (Two small points: The location for Okonjima was too far north for the actual turn off. Also, there were a couple of inconsistencies between the letter and the actual itinerary that looked like they were 'left overs' from a previous version of the letter.)

In terms of the overall itinerary, the trip was very well organized. If we were to do it again, we would make very few changes. We might skip BullsPort (but then wouldn't have walked at all!). We could also have skipped Mushara Bush Camp, except that we did need somewhere to overnight in about that location. Maybe we could have stayed inside the park? We loved having a waterhole chalet in Etosha and that was really a highlight. Footsteps was an interesting experience and might have been more important to us if we hadn't spent the previous 4 days kayaking and walking in the delta with a different outfitter." Read full review: 31 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"This was a great trip, with many good points and highlights.

We loved the Kalahari - the size, space, remoteness and sense of peace, and were very impressed at the amount game there - big herds of springbok and oryx. The Delta was special - the sense of peace, and the colours. The game was great - big herds of elephant, plus giraffe, Kudu, Oryx, Impala. We got very lucky and saw 4 adult leopard and 3 cubs over the course of the trip, plus lion hunting buffalo (unsuccessfully!).

The people are delightful - warm, relaxed and friendly, and of course the quality of guiding is very good." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari