Reviews of safaris to Augrabies Falls National Park

"When we booked the trip we had already made our own arrangements for international flights and for 6 nights in three wilderness camps ( Kieliekrankie; Kalahari Tented; Bitterpan) in the Kgalagadi NP. All of the camps offer a great experience but on reflection one night at Bitterpan would be sufficient. Also worth noting that the drive to the camp has one or two dune challenges!

This was our second visit to the park and we thoroughly enjoyed our 12 nights with some great game viewing interspersed with some very quite days!
If in the region the Fish Canyon is well worth a visit for 2/3 nights. We were also very fortunate to arrive back in Springbok to witness the flowers which again was highly enjoyable.

Overall a great experience." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"We thought it was very good value for money.
Staff at airports, hotels, restaurant, everywhere were excellent. Very friendly, very helpful.
Food quality exceeded our expectations.
Good variety of foods available.
Very varied landscape and activities with the choices we made, so no time to get bored.
Packing not so easy with temps from 34degC to 2degC
Very pleased we took our GPS, less stressful, no music in the car is the biggest negative. Radio stations are boring or not in English.
Main reason to travel at this time of year was to see Namaqualand in flower, it was spectacular.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. In my case I knew what I wanted so Tracy made it work." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"Overall, a fantastic trip.

Expert Africa did an excellent job in their seamless arrangements." Read full review: 34 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We really enjoyed our holiday. Namibia is a great country and the scenery is spectacular.

If I was doing the trip again I wouldn't have stayed a night in Namtib Desert Lodge but would have put in a night at Quivertree Forest after our stay in Fish River Canyon. We stopped here for a couple of hours on our way to Luderitz, but we wished that we had more time and were able to see it at sunrise and sunset.

The driving was mostly fine in our high clearance 2WD. The only roads that caused us problems were the access track to Polentswa lodge and the D707 north of Namtib Desert Lodge where the road is basically sand for a 20km stretch. I would recommend that in future you only recommend this road for people in a 4WD and that you recommend the C13/C27 route for anyone in a 2WD. I think that even though this is longer it would be much faster as the D707 is in a pretty bad way once you get North of Namtib Desert Lodge. The scenery doesn't get really good until the C27 near the Namib Rand reserve.

We had an issue at Polentswa lodge, however, this was quickly resolved - thank you for your help with this. I would recommend that you clarify the current situation regarding night drives and other activities with the Ta Shebube lodges and update your website accordingly. We were really impressed by the quality of the Ta Shebube Rooiputs lodge - we had a great time there and saw some great animals.

I would have liked to have one or two nights on the Mata-Mata side of the national park as well as Rooiputs, as the wildlife and birds are quite different here to Rooiputs, but all the park accommodation was full so it was not possible. However, I would recommend this for future guests if the accommodation is available." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"we planned this as a special experience and we got what we expected!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

we really appreciate the flexibility that you show in allowing us to plan our own holiday yet drawing on your expert knowledge to advise and facilitate. This is a truly winning combination!" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 18 on a South Africa trip

"Arranging this trip on my own was difficult and I am glad that I found Expert Africa online.

I wasn't sure how to even get started but Gwynneth helped me to select the best way to get to the Kalahari while understanding that pre/post Kalahari travel would be arranged on my own. Gwynneth was quick to respond to all questions and made me feel confident that the trip was well-planned and would be a good experience." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 5 on a South Africa trip

"We are very happy with most of the services and suggestions provided by Expert Africa. The lodge choices were excellent overall. We were also very happy that we decided to follow the recommendation of renting a 4x4. It made the driving much more comfortable and worry-free. Gwynn was a pleasure to work with. She is obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about her home country. The map provided was perfect! We had no problems at all driving ourselves.

I do have to mention two small bumps throughout the process. The first was a problem with the bank transfer from the US. Even though it is clearly explained in the instructions, I wish someone would have made it stand out. There are pages and pages of instructions to read and things are easily overlooked. It would be great if you could have a small list of highlights, including payment instructions. We ended spending over USD$300 to correct the bank transaction problem.

I was also disappointed about our lodging arrangements in the Kalahari. When we first discussed the lodging we were told that we were going to have to stay each one of the three nights at different places because everything was booked. To our surprise, when we arrived in Mata Mata and called !Xaus we were told that they had plenty of rooms available. They told us that they had availability when Expert Africa made our reservations. We ended up losing our entire payment for our night at Mata Mata Rest Camp which was not pleasant." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We would surely recommend this trip to KTP and Northern Cape. The Kgalagadi is definitely for those who already have some experience on wildlife and self-driving and are happy with what it comes and enjoy every inch of it (landscape, Flora and Fauna, from the smallest to the biggest). It really lets you feel little in this world.

We tried to be out of the main camps and thus, have been at all the wilderness camps and surely enjoy them all. The shops at the main camps offered actually more than we were expecting, like OTC medicines, tea, coffee, water and other drinks, biscuits and even some frozen meat (at Twee Rivieren they even had ice cream!).

Augrabies is more family friendly and thus less wild but with impressive landscapes.

This trip was another great experience in Africa and, as always and once again, expertly arranged by Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None we can think off." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip

"Our trip as a whole was fantastic.

It completely lived up to our expectations and we most certainly recommend Expert Africa to our friends.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Since Expert Africa had no suggestions for Springbok & Namaqualand accommodation, we made our own bookings. We highly recommend Naries Namaqualand located about 30 km east of Springbok, especially the mountain suites. This was equivalent to or greater in luxury than Xaus.

As a critique, the Expert Africa staff knew we were planning to visit Kruger Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Augrabies Falls and Namaqualand. We think it would have been appropriate for someone to suggest we purchase or at least investigate the feasibility of a SANParks Wild Card as this can save money on daily conservation fees within the parks." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 7 on a South Africa trip

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Kgalagadi and Cape Town - and would happily, and enthusiastically, recommend it to others! The trip isn't for the faint hearted - or for anyone who is looking for a holiday on a plate - but if you love exploring, don't mind driving around (a lot!) and have been on safari before so you know that you won't see animals at every turn - then this trip is for you. The order you do things is important - so we would recommend Augrabies Falls, followed by the Kgalagadi, followed by Cape Town.

The wildlife we saw in the Kgalagadi was fabulous - and included the Black Maned Kalahari Lions (including a pair mating, as well as a couple of family groups and individuals), Cheetahs (including a pair lying in the shade right next to the road) and an amazing selection of antelopes, deer and other smaller mammals (including Bat Eared Foxes - and Meerkats!). As the tourist numbers in the the Kgalagadi are very low compared to other destinations in Africa, you have the chance to sit, watch and enjoy without interruption - which is a real privilege.

Cape Town is fantastic - and our only regret is not getting out to Robben Island (if you're going - make sure you pre-book ferry tickets to Robben Island in advance, as getting them when you're there is not easy).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We think you should recommend to travellers who plan to visit the Kgalagadi that they should consider upgrading to a 4*4 vehicle. Although the roads are very good in the dry, it's a different story in the wet. But also - and perhaps more importantly - a number of the roads are below the vegetation height of the scrub/bush either side - so unless you have a high vehicle, you struggle to see the wildlife (we bumped into several people who were disappointed by the lack of wildlife - and all of them were travelling in saloon cars. Either we were lucky - or the height really did make a difference!)" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip