Botswana: reviews from our travellers

"Our seventh trip to the Okavango and ninth to Africa with Expert Africa. Another epic holiday and another singular example of the result of excellent planning by a team who care and know what they are doing. Our 2013 trip is well into planning. This time we met a number of other guests who had travelled without the benefit of such expert guidance. Many were unprepared, ill equipped and even without essential mandatory inoculations. We gave out a number of your cards!

Thank you again for another fantastic holiday and we only regret that the onset of age may eventually remove us from your mailing list. Meanwhile we will keep spending the kids inheritance!!

For prospective travellers, listen to Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not this time!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Overall an excellent trip with some nice added extras from the camps as they knew it was our honeymoon.

Nick at expert africa did a great job organising everything, especially considering the changes caused by Air Seychelles dropping their long haul flights." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Wonderful holiday with fabulous memories" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"it could have been perfect. but it wasnt quite
delayed baggage didn't help but that was BA and Air Botswana mixup but five days late ! luckily I had a spare T shirt and bought a hat at Maun.
stolen phone,...at Maun airport in jacket pocket.
baggage hold not checked at Little Kwara strip.. seats not checked either before take off,.. caused me distress and a lot of work for Chan Gu and other staff.. shame really.
in order.. we loved Footsteps , we really liked Little Kwara , Bushbuck River lodge was agood location with helpful cheerful owner..and good value, delicious food there.. Siankaba was a lovely place to end our safari and get ready to leave...the views across the river and the staff were so freindly.. evening cruise is still remembered.

Thanks Maruska for helping to put a good package together" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"was pleased with trip. spending a afternoon at Victoria Falls was enough time. unless you are interested in helicopter rides, bunge cord jumping or other such activities, half a day is plenty to view the falls. be ready to get wet, it is part of the experience. Mack Air was fun.

Flying in small planes is an excellent way to see the delta. All connections were timely except Air Botswana. If you think the big carries are bad, once you wait for 3 hours for an Air Botswana plane in the Maun International airport, they look good.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

keep encouraging people to ready all your literature. reading as you go along or after the fact makes you wish you read it before visiting.

you might considered including ponchos in the package you give to people visiting Victoria Falls. We paid two dollars for thin, throw away ones. I expect they cost pennies. I am all for local people hustling to make money but it might be a nice advertising gimick for you folks." Read full review: 4 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari

"Given all the flights and different accommodation there was plenty of opportunity for this holiday to go wrong. In the event there was only one potential problem which we narrowly averted - our transfer from the Livingstone to Botswana. At 7pm the evening before our departure we'd not had any transfer instructions. We asked at the desk of The Royal Livingstone who said that all the offices were shut so they couldn't find out any details for us but that most transfers were around 9am. So we went to bed that evening having set our alarms for 7:45. Fortunately my husband got up at 7am to discover a letter under the door telling us we'd be collected at 7:45!

The accommodation was better than we'd expected but, in each instance, had the atmosphere that we'd hoped for so well done to Nick Hobbs and the female (can't rememember her name) who recommended Bazaruto Lodge.

Very impressed by Expert Africa and Wilderness Safaris and would recommend them to anyone thinking of going to Africa." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was wonderful. We'd never been to Africa and so had no idea what to expect.

Megan was a pleasure to deal with, took time to understand our goals and provided clear and well thought out options for us to chose from. Just how well she'd designed our trip became clearer as it unfolded. Our trip included a diversity of settings (desert, delta, open plains) that meant we saw a lot of different animals but also has different activities available to us. Im also quite happy she recommended the Victoria Falls Hotel.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Here are my thoughts I wrote on our beautiful Africa experience. It says it all...

Thank-you...

MEMOIRES OF AFRCIA:

So many stars in the sky each night, it took your breath away.
The horizon that seemed to go on forever...there was no end to it.
The cloud formations everyday painted by God.
The sunsets that gave you a vision of what heaven may be like.
Grasses blowing in the wind that reminded you of a rolling mighty sea.
Birds that were so colorful and different it made you smile at God's creativity.
Rock formations so rich in texture and color that it made you realize how truly old earth really is.
Faces of black Africans who wanted to please you and share the beauty of their land.
The conversations I had with staff members at each lodge about their wants, desires, and dreams for their lives.
The jeering, jolting impact the jeep had connecting with the ground as it bounced and tossed my insides around.
Lloyd Wilmott's facial expressions when he told stories about his past with the animals and his wife. (He never referred to her as his ex-wife...always his wife.)
Janet's kindness extended to us and her servants~ heart as she helped Lloyd make us feel welcome everyday.
Lloyd's face lighting up when he saw Janet all dressed up for dinners in the evenings.
The childlike wonder I saw in Sandra as she was taking pictures with her new camera and lens wanting to capture everything.
Becca's pure joy of experiencing every aspect of the safaris.
The pure, raw fear of not having guns to protect you in dangerous situations and how terrified I felt.
Gratefulness in my heart that Doug gave Becca and I this gift of experiencing Africa together.
Praying everyday that God would take my fears away and turn them into memories to treasure.
Having to be quiet on the jeeps rides when all I wanted to do was express my sheer joy of seeing the most wonderful creations.
Morning teas and enjoying the treats that went along with it out on the morning bush ride.
The feeling of my daughters arms around me telling me I can do this safari, while sobbing, wondering what I got myself into.
The smell of the campfires early in the morning while drinking french pressed coffee.
Lying in bed each afternoon for a siesta with sweat all over me wondering if it could get any hotter than this?!
The feeling of panic~terror as the first small plane left the runway and the relief I felt when it's wheels touched the ground.
Watching my daughter write in her journal and thinking how this experience in Africa has changed her life forever and what this will mean to her.
Michael sitting in the jeep taking notes on the iphone of all the different wildlife we saw and me thinking how cool and clever he was.
Seeing Becca and Michael laugh together and experiencing their pleasure just by watching them interact.
Eating outside for 3 weeks as I looked longingly at the inside of the lodges wanting to be inside away from the bugs.
Realizing how powerful the force of nature is with all the water damage in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Not wanting to leave the quaint bed and breakfast after the first night because it was such a lovely spot to be in.
Animals... animals and more animals...
How beautiful the eyelashes on an elephant look.
Soft, fuzzy fur on a baby zebras rear end.
The longing look of the male lion as he courted the lioness.
How fast and furious the mating session was between the lion and lioness.
Mud caked on the elephants hide to keep themselves cool and the holes they dig to roll around in the mud.
The snorting sounds hippos make and how close they seemed to be.
Boating on the Delta river and feeling the wind blow across my face and thinking how alive I felt at that moment in time.
Listening to our guide Dutch talk about all he knew about the Delta and thinking how intelligent he was and how very interesting he was to listen to.
Feeling completely confident in Lloyd Wilmott's guiding abilities.
Loving the last safari the most and enjoying the simplicity and warmth of Lloyd and Janet.
The wonderful food all the cooks made and enjoying NOT having to cook it!!!

Thoughts to be continued...." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"We had a totally delightful time in Botswana and are very grateful for all the help Maruska gave along the way-could not recommend her services any higher." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Well organised" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari