Malawi: reviews from our travellers

"We very much appreciated being helped by travel agents who have intimate knowledge of the regions they are supporting. Thank you to Ellie for her always good advice on picking locations for the family and having a good sense on when, where and for how long to travel.

It is amazing how all the pieces nicely worked together without us having to inquire." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"An amazing two week journey round Malawi. City, lake, wilderness & missions. Thanks to Expert Africa - Not Mission Impossible but Mission Achievable!!

A very great big thanks goes to Claire Scott, my contact who took on board what I thought was a massive ask & querie into what I was aiming to achieve. Having explained four of five main locations I wanted to visit in Malawi & why, Claire set about making & suggesting a plan for me. My quest was to visit locations in Malawi that my great grandfather had pursued over a hundred & thirty years ago in the late eighteen hundreds.

In 1888 William Murray had set out as a young man of 22, from the Highlands of Scotland, to pursue a vocation of working in the Mission field in Central Africa. The first location that I was aware he worked at was Bandawe. Others included Livingstonia, Kota Kota, Kasunga & Mombera to name a few.

Claire set about making a plan suggesting flights, airports, accommodation and transportation. Within a few days she returned to me with a plan that certainly encompassed as much as I could fit in with the time available.
The trip was set in motion! As we reached nearer our departure date Claire contacted me regarding seeking information from Malawiean sources. Sources in Malawi had offered to help me find information on the Hisotrical Missions, if I was interested. I was over the moon. This proved very worth while. I met with Dora & Mike from Mandala House, in Blantyre (the Society of Malawi) I spent a morning with them and shared photos & information. This was a positive start to our Mission adventure.

All our accommodation on our trip was unique to their locations and varied in style & facilities. Frank & I enjoy meeting people and try to accommodate all activities where possible when we travel. Was it luck or what?? Everywhere we visited we met new & interesting people - staff & guests. Had fun, enjoyment and companionship in all activities.

Our driver from Central African Wilderness Safaris - Abassie was a real gentleman. Patient, attentive to our needs & wishes. He delivered us to all locations on the schedule & squeezed a few more in, while en route to destinations. We valued his local knowledge & connections with people. Although we learned loads from him, I do believe he also learned from the 'journey' & information we had taken along.

Our 'journey' took in all the locations we aimed to cover. Arriving in Livingstonia was the end of our journey but also the most important to me. We met with the librarian & estate manager of Livingstonia Mission(arranged by Abassie I asume). Both provided us with a guided tour, history lesson & a hilariously enjoyable morning. Finding a photo of my Great grandfather with Dr Robert Laws in one of the museum displays in the Stone House was the height of happiness for me. The rounding up of a long, searching journey. Ah!

Now, I have a lot of correspondence to catch up with everyone in Malawi who assisted with my search.

Our trip also provided some holiday time too. The treat part was to visit Tongole Wilderness Lodge and what a treat. Aswel as enjoying the visit from the local elephants, everyone & everything about Tongole was just brilliant.

Expert Africa provided well organised travel information, assistance with my specific reason to travel & a very caring, helpful Claire Scott - thank you so much!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Malawi trip

"Megan was exceptionally patient and helpful as we were planning our trip - we ended going to exactly the places that were right for us. Sometimes it is difficult to envisage each camp and their facilities and in this respect Megan was very supportive. The additional detailed information gained from Megan before our trip ensured everything ran smoothly and there were no nasty surprises.

We were pleased that our trip turned out to be very well balanced as we had hoped. South Luangwa obviously has greater game density than our other locations but the Lower Zambezi and Malawi gave different perspectives. The boat trips on the Zambezi were special and the friendliness and birding at Mkulumadzi were a great variation.

It was pleasing to feel that we not only visited an established camp in Zambia but also a brand new luxury camp in its first season. In addition we went to a reserve in Malawi that is trying hard to re-establish itself and really needs and deserves our support.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The only point relates to photographic equipment. We did not have any problems but the weight issues could be a problem for other travellers or ourselves in future. It is almost impossible to stay within the 5 kgs hand luggage limit on the internal flights - it would be better if the airlines specified a maximum total weight including hold luggage. It is never really an issue on the flights as the hand luggage is stowed in the back of the plane." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"7 nights in South Luangwa, Zambia with Robin Pope Safaris (3 different camps) followed by 7 nights chilling out at Likoma Island proved a great combination - Claire understood our interests and expectations well.

In game viewing terms we saw everything that we could have hoped for, and RPS are an efficient organisation with excellent guides. The 3 camps had very similar game and terrain - the contasts on our last trip between Selous and Ruaha in Tanzania were much greater. Nkwali and Tena Tena we would recommend, but Nsefu was spoilt by mosquito problems.

Kaya Mawa/Likoma Island is not for everyone (e.g.fussy N.Americans) but suited us perfectly with its laid back warm welcome, lack of commercialism, peaceful location and delightful staff - a great stress buster." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"All arrangements worked as clockwork (except one seat reservation of one leg of the flights but that was soon sorted out).

Lovely to be met at all stages of the journey, and thank you Ellie and Martha for all your help." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"A perfect holiday - my only complaint is that I want to go back NOW!

Especial thanks to Claire Scott and the team, we are already planning our next trip with Expert Africa" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Very good - excellent game drives and walks, superb and knowledgeable guiding, excellent accommodation in wonderful situations with efficient and attentive staff. Combining a visit to spectacular Victoria Falls with two safari locations worked very well for us. The overall trip went without a hitch and we were very impressed with the way all our internal transfers were handled seamlessly by RPS's support staff on the ground. It has left us with lots of great memories." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Overall, we had an excellent holiday with beautiful, luxurious lodges, great settings and excellent staff. we enjoyed the varied experience, very efficient transfers, with everyone friendly and willing to help. We particularly enjoyed being able to customize our stopping points during transfers which gave us a broader view of Malawi and its friendly people.

We'd like to thank everyone for making our trip so enjoyable." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Malawi trip

"Just a shame that Blantyre was closed for my arrival date - the 6 hour drive from Lilongwe was tough after long flight out from the UK.

But having said that, Robin Pope Safaris made it as hassle free as possible.

Otherwise all was excellent." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 5 on a Malawi trip

"Malawi was absolutely wonderful, one of our best holidays ever. Would love to go back some day.

Weather in Cape Town was variable, from sun to hail, through wind and rain, so we couldn't do a couple of things that we wanted to do (go up Table Mountain and visit Robben Island). We did see whales at Hermanus, which was on our to-do list, and penguins at Betty's Bay. City bus tours were good for getting to know the city. We were very glad we hired the car for two days as this enabled us to see the coast and the wine area.

All arrangements worked like clockwork, thanks a lot, Claire., for putting it all together for us." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip