Mozambique: reviews from our travellers

"The trip was as a whole was excellent. The Namibian 2 weeks went much more smoothly than I personally had anticipated for an African self-drive holiday. We booked 18 months in advance, so with Sabina's guidance were able to pick the lodges which seemed to suit us best, and we knew ahead of the trip which were likely to be the best and worst. Sabina put up with a massive number of email questions over the preceding year, and I can only congratulate her on staying cool, calm and collected, and answering my constant questions accurately, in detail, and with good humour!

We relied on Chris McIntyre's Bradt Guide to Namibia as our 'Bible' during our 2 weeks. It is packed with almost all the detailed information that anyone could want to know about everywhere in Namibia, with very few updates needed. We only had to pay National Park fees for Etosha, not for the Namib Naukluft Park nor the Skeleton Coast Park. We also didn't have to pay taxes for entry to & departure from Mozambique! The information given re the left luggage facility at JHB OR airport was incorrect. They charge ZAR70 per case per day, and have apparently never ever accepted credit cards. Fortunately we had ZAR980 in cash that this cost us.

Being in an air-conditioned car in Namibia we didn't need to drink anything like the recommended quantity of water, and found the garages we filled up at usually had enough food/sandwiches to keep us going, so we didn't buy extra food.

We did have a hick-up on flights a week before we left UK, but Chris and Sabina managed to fix this to our advantage!

We were delighted that we had gone clockwise round Namibia, ending up with the highlights of Etosha and the Africat Foundation at the end. We met a number of couples who had gone round anti-clockwise, and were disappointed by the relative lack of game after they left Etosha.

Our week in Bazaruto could have been marred as all the other couples at Bazaruto Lodge on our arrival left after 2 days, and the whole hotel was taken over by 64 S. African marlin fisherman for their 21st annual Marlin Fishing competition! However when we booked they hadn't, but as they have used the same hotel at the same time of year for the last 20 years Expert Africa should have been warned beforehand by the Pestano Group Central Reservations team. The Manager,Tony, was quite embarrassed, but it didn't spoil our stay there. What was disappointing was the cloud cover and rain, which almost ruled out snorkelling - our main reason for going there!" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We had an amazing trip and everything went smoothly, including airport transfers etc. The car journey to and from Nuarro was longer than we thought and the layover in Nairobi was unbearable, but clearly unavoidable!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Mozambique holiday

"We had a wonderful trip and the transfers were, as ever, well organised, even through Nairobi airport. The places we stayed more than lived up to our expectations. The lodges were very quiet compared to last year and we did enjoy feeling exclusive. We enjoyed mostly having the game drive vehicles to ourselves. It is a shame that the lack of direct flights from the UK may be deterring people from visiting Tanzania, but we loved the quietness. We certainly had no problems although the return flight was more tiring and not so pleasant because of not being a through flight.

We were impressed with all our accommodation and are amazed with how such luxury is provided in the wilds of Africa. We did find that Mosiguard improved our tsetse fly experience. All the vehicles we used were comfortable. We can recommend a southern Tanzanian safari for the game we saw (everything bar rhino and wild dog), and the beautiful scenery and lovely people. I hope we shall return." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Our two weeks in Southern Tanzania and the Quirimbas in Mozambique was excellent. The variety worked very well - wildlife, culture, beach - and all the places we stayed in were very good indeed. We were not disappointed at all by any of the accommodation and if anything they exceeded our expectations.

This is the third time we have used Expert Africa and we would use them again, as well as recommend to others. The quality of service is excellent, as well as the attention to detail, and the efficient dealing with last minute hiccups. Ellie Dunkels created a plan B for our departure inc ase we couldn't get through Nairobi Airport, which had been decimated by fire, and rearranged, at no extra cost, our flights back when LAM cancelled our flight. Thank you!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Mozambique holiday

"You did a terrific job in finding out our expectations and recommended camps that more than fulfilled our wishes. I can highly recommend you to a friend." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Overall a fantastic trip - huge success and really enjoyed by all of our party.

Would reconsider flying from Kasane to Bazaruto via Joburh - this was slow and boring.

Interested to note direct Flights from Capetown into the delta- that might offer interesting options for pre or post safari time.

Mozambique looked great from the Air but we did not feel we could explore much when we got there.
Also felt a bit of a "prisoner " in remote beach lodge - maybe staying on mainland or nearer a town might have worked for us." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Mozambique holiday

"Excellent holiday; would love to do it again some day." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"As we had not been to Mozambique before had no prior expectations. However it is clearly on the up touristically especially in respect beach holidays.

Safari part was good for us since it had a "freshness" that has disappeared in some other destinations as safaris have become more "packaged" and up market. People very friendly and staff performance level good" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a Mozambique holiday

"Enjoyable" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Mozambique holiday

"The trip was excellent experience a lifetime experience I would easily say. Everything was planned excellent by Expert Africa and I would like to thank you about.

I have one minor issue with your instructions where nowhere I could see that the USDs accepted in Tanzania had to be issued after 2000 and in Mozambique after 2006 I think. This created some friction and uncentanty when I was paying in cash and it made me feel uncomfortable close to the end of the trip when I was running low in cash that it was accepted.

Aside that congratulations to your planning, but I would like you to inform everybody about the small extra costs like departure taxes from Mozambiqual airports as well as transit visas to Tanzania and so on.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Apply as much pressure as you can to the hotels for value for money as well as to the governments to reduce visa costs. A USA visa costs 30 euros a Tanzanian one 50 (one entry) and a Mozambiquan 80 and if you wanted a transit you had to another 30 for Tanzania. Again I had the feeling that all of the government agencies that I had to deal with were trying to rip me off as a tourist." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Mozambique holiday