Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"This was my first trip to Africa and i had an amazing time.

When i got in touch with Expert Africa Saskia Adye contacted me from the New Zealand branch to help me book because i was completely lost and didn't even have a clue which country i wanted to visit. Saskia very quickly had a good idea what sort of holiday i was after and the whole process very easy for me. The biggest compliment to pay her is that everyone i met in Botswana (including 3 agents) said whoever booked your holiday has done an amazing job!!

The game viewing experiences were amazing, it just didn't seem real for the first few days i was out there.

All the staff at camps were extremely friendly and i didn't really feel like i was travelling alone for most of the trip." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Brilliant trip. Organisation was perfect. Camps were wonderful, as were the locations and all the game interaction.

Only reservation about locations was that Etosha was too developed and touristy for our taste, which we weren't expecting.

Only slight criticism was that we had said we wanted to do some walking and we were led to believe that this would be possible which, apart from two tiny toddles which didn't really fall within the definition of a walk, it wasn't. We would probably still have done the same trip but, as we kept hoping for walks when in fact there was no hope, it caused slight disappointment which could have been avoided it we'd been warned in advance.

Otherwise, a perfect holiday.

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Not sure I'd have embarked on this feedback form if I'd realised how long it would take - but at least it's thorough !

On literature, sending us free copies of Chris's Brandt guides to Namibia and Botswana was a nice touch and appreciated.

Only slight regret was the absence of walking. As we'd said we wanted to do this, perhaps one location that provides specifically walking safaris should have been suggested. Otherwise perfect." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"This was our first trip to Africa and first safari trip. Expert Africa had been recommended by a friend, and after the first discussion with Nick Hobbs, I had no desire to explore further travel agents.

The brochure, whilst lovely, is confusing when you've never done this before - there are so many options. This on top of the website gives an overwhelming set of options even when you have narrowed it down to the country you want to visit. This is where Nick's knowledge and skill really came into its own. He listened to what I told him regarding what we wanted, and also to what I didn't explicitly say about my own values etc. He put together a holiday for us that was truly fabulous. Not only did we see incredible wildlife (including wild dogs which I particularly wanted to see) but also the choice of the Kwando Safari camps whose ethos of recruiting locally and responsible tourism was in line with my personal values. The staff at both Kwando Safari camps were exceptional, partly due to their strategy of recruiting a certain type of person.

The way the trip was organised by Nick made this a completely stress free holiday for us - it was quite complicated but everything happened when it was supposed to and I didn't feel I need to worry about a thing (it only started going wrong on the bits after the safari which I booked myself!)

I cannot recommend Nick and Expert Africa highly enough.

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I can't think of a single thing." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"A really fantastic experience, our first visit to Botswana, lovely country, friendly proud people, so much wildlife, excellent travel company . Would highly recommend.

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Would never have recieved this feedback form had I not chased it up and I was keen to give feedback because it helps other travellers etc. Very easy to fill in.

Think I would like to make a comment about all the various vouchers that are issued. Nobody asked for them at all except the Illala lodge and even then we only had one between us because one had been lost,but it didnt seem to matter. It all seems a bit of a waste of paper and something else for the client to carry (or loose!)." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"My trip to Botswana and South Africa far exceeded my expectations and was certainly a trip of a lifetime. All travel arrangements handled by Expert Africa was perfect.

Please give feedback to the camps: I would highly recommend an on-site nurse. There was one day when I arrived to Duma Tua where I suffered from heat exhaustion. It happened to be the hottest day of the trip and we left Vumbura at high heat and landed in high heat so the plane was extremely hot. Upon arrival to the camp after driving about 45 minutes also in high heat, my body literally shut down. I was unable to go to the night drive and the next morning drive. Although the staff was more than accomodating and worried for me, they were unable to get a hold of the nurse.

Luckily, I was prepared with re-hydration salts which allowed me to recover in less than 24 hours. It will give Visitors a good peace of mind and I did feel that Duma Tau was overstaffed with Managers so I don't think it would have been noticed that there was one less Manager but certainly would make a considerable impact with a Nurse on site. If this is not an option, I do recommend that all camps do keep re-hydration salts as part of their first aid kits.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the Wildnerness Camps and staff and I would 200% recommend them. I have so many irreplaceable memories and I look forward to the next trip." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Overall - a great trip. Highlights for us were the country and the animials. It was great to be back in Africa and the bush!

We loved the size, space and sheer amount of unspoilt and pristine wilderness in Botswana. The sightings of animals were very good and we got physically closer to the animals (about 10 feet away) in Botswana than on previous trips to Namibia and Tanzania. It was a pleasant surprise to see so much water (we were around the Delta area) in the dry season.

Sightings included 4 packs of wild dog - 2 at Little Kwara, where we saw 1 pack hunt and kill 2 impala. 2 other packs at Lebala including a sighting on foot - amazing. Also 2 unsuccessful attempts to hunt impala - the dogs chased the impala into the lake! Other hightlights were seeing large herd of elephant (30 - 40) at Lagoon and Lebala), cheetah (2 sets of 3 brothers at Little Kwara and Lagoon) and leopard (1 female at Lagoon and 1 female at Lebala). Lions at Little Kwara and Lagoon. Plus a lot of antelope, including sable, impala, birds, bufalo and wildebeest.

The animals were well fed (end of the dry season) and relaxed. The guides all gave the animals space and respect, which gave us great sightings without disturbing the animals. Having been on safari in other countries where the guides give the animals less space and respect, we appreciated the African style of guiding more on this trip." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our holiday was the experience of a lifetime. We would go back to both camps in a heartbeat and sincerely thank Expert Africa, and especially Maruska Adye, for organizing such a wonderful experience for us.

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No - everything was perfect!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had a really great safari, only let down by the lack of almost promised buffaloes in Duba Plains. Maybe it's time to see how often the buffalo are on the island and not rely on information from 5/6 years ago. For this reason alone, we've given a "not very" to the "knowledgeable" question as the interraction is now rare." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and greatly enjoyed Botswana and its people.

Expert Africa organised everything very well. The cancelled canoe trip partly happened and was a real highlight, so we are glad we stayed on at Selinda" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fabulous time.

We saw more wildlife than we have seen on previous safaris. We particulary enjoyed our walking and canoeing.
We felt that the standard of the guides and camps was excellent.

We will certainly use Expert Africa when we go to Africa again.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Prefer to complete a feedback on paper rather than on-line" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari