Kenya: reviews from our travellers

"Until our flights home, we had a magnificent holiday and would recommend all the places. We have one minor and one major complaint about the trip ( I should however say at this stage that Ellie was hugely helpful from the beginning to the actual holiday.

Minor:- having spent £15k on the holiday, I felt that,unlike other travel agents we have dealt with, the lack of a personal call on our return and the failure to send us this form until I requested it was not very good PR for Expert Africa.

Major:- on our return, our flight itinerary expected us to sit for five hours at Dar airport ( outside on the roadside on uncomfortable chairs) while we waited for our connecting flight with Kenya Airways to Nairobi. As we were flying business class from Nairobi to London, why were we not on the earlier Kenyan Airways flight so that we could at least wait in a comfortable lounge?

For some reason I had a fever with temperature of 103 and insisted on taking the earlier flight ( they nearly would not let me fly and wanted me to go to the hospital to see a doctor) Because we were flying economy, we had to pay 130 dollars to change flights. On this flight were many of the guests we had met during our holiday that were also on the London BA flight.

As your client it is not up to us to check all the flight times as we have already made it clear that we would want all the most sensible connections. Also,the earlier flights were not new as one guest we had spoken to had booked a long time ago like us and because BA cancelled their Wednesday flights out to a nairobi just before we were going, necessitating a change in flights all round, you could have rechecked then. We do expect to hear from you on this matter as it is not satisfactory and left a bitter taste after such a wonderful holiday up until then." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Excellent in almost all respects. We were delighted with this well organised and memorable holiday" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 4 on a Rwanda safari

"We'd not used Expert Africa before but our experience was excellent and we'd certainly use them should we decide to take another safari.

We had a good conversation initially talking about what we'd done before and wanted to do on this safari - they understood our requirements and put together a great itinerary for us.

Any emails we sent were replied to very quickly.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

As I've indicated we had a very enjoyable experience and can't really suggest any ways to improve your service." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our seventh safari trip to Africa (all arranged by Expert Africa!), but our first trip to Tanzania. We had very much hoped to see a crossing of the Mara river by the herds of migrating of wildebeest, and we were fortunate to do so. A lasting impression is of the huge herds of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes and elephants that we saw both in the Tarangire and the Serengeti.

All the arrangements worked perfectly, and we enjoyed our trip very much indeed.

Two general comments regarding safaris in Tanzanian National Parks:

(a) the need to be back in camp before sunset does not allow for the sundowners in the bush experience that we have enjoyed in other African countries, such as Zambia;

(b) in our view, the open vehicles available at the camps, are essential to enjoy a true safari experience. As Tanzania does not allow open vehicles outside of National Parks, many guests 'safaried' in closed vehicles, having driven from airports / other National Parks." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Excellent. It was an intense experience that really did exceed our expectations; it was just like the documentaries and films that you have seen over the years. We saw everything we hoped to... and animals and birds that we never knew existed.

I'd like to mention our transfer driver, John, who looked after us between the 2 Nairobi airports. He took great pride in looking after us at all times as we asked to be taken on quite a few detours and his friendly attitude and "mother hen" nature really put us at our ease in what for us was a very different environment from anything we'd experienced before.

For the entire holiday it was strange, but good, to be able to mentally sit back and be completely managed by others, leaving us to enjoy the moment without having to worry about how to achieve the next steps." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Kenya safari

"Once again expert Africa delivered all that they promised. Our holiday was varied and exciting. Everyone we met made us feel welcome and ensured that our trip was comfortable and safe.

Maruska is excellent. She has great listening skills and an ability to match our desired trip with the Expert Africa offering superbly. Her advice was essential in helping us plan our holiday and the selection she recommended worked well.

Thanks also to Ellie and Chris for their advice on photography and to Ellie for handling our final arrangements.

Primate Safaris - especially Simba - was great in Rwanda. The agent in Kenya was not good and left us waiting at Nairobi airport for a long time when he was due to meet us. Remote Africa run a fabulous, family operation. And Shiwa N'gandu is a quite extraordinary and memorable experience.

The wildlife and experience lived up to all our expectations. The guides and hosts we met as we went around made the holiday for us, providing us with real insights to life in Rwanda and Zambia." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"The trip as a whole was wonderful, thanks to the great planning of Richard Trillo and anyone else who made this trip so easy and yet exciting.

My only negative comment was the lack of internet access. We had WiFi at Macushla House, which was great. My husband was happy to hear that I had arrived safetly. When we got to Offbeat Meru, I was told the the internet was "down" temporarily. I assumed this could not be avoided, but was concerned because I had not expected this.

We had WIFI and Sosian so I was once again in touch with my family. But at Offbeat Mara I could not contact my husband. I just wish I had been told this ahead of time so I would know what to expect." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"Had no expectations but if we had high ones they would have been exceeded. Truely a unique experience where nature is at the center of everything you do.

Thanks to Richard and Expert Africa for tailoring a perfect trip with all logistics and travel locations arranged in a highly professional and reliable manner. We only had to experience and enjoy." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Kenya safari

"Everything organised by Expert Africa went smoothly but for the chaos of Arusha airport! The internal flights were "unpredicatable" in timing and carrier. Some had unexpected stops to pick up other passengers. This did not matter too much.

Unfortunately the flight from Seronera to kilamanjaro entailed a change of planes in Arusha. Our voucher did not tell us this, nor mentioned the carrier and no one seemed to know when the onward flight was expected to leave. As usual in Africa, all worked out well but worrying time wondering if we and our luggage would be reunited and arrive in Kilamanjaro on the same flight!

Nairobi airport is a disaster and I would suggest you warn future clients (even people like us who fixed this aspect of their travel themselves) to avoid Nairobi." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Once again Expert Africa has helped us plan a superior holiday. As we have more experience with safari travel, they have helped us zero in on those camps that fulfill our wants.

We enjoy small, intimate camps with great managers and varied activities and the Expert Africa staff has done a great job of guiding us to the right locations. Two of the camps on this trip are owned by Asilia and we recommend them highly. It seems that Asilia does a great job of allowing each of their camps to have its own distinct personality, while providing the staff and management with excellent training opportunities. The third camp we visited on this trip was independently owned and was equally spectacular.

A big thank you to Claire Scott and Richard Trillo, with an occasional assist from Eleanor Dunkels, too!

We look forward to working with you again when we plan our next trip." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari