Reviews of trips to Cape Town

"We have had a wonderful few weeks, discovering new places and enjoying the return to old favourites. Namibia has changed in some ways since we first visited in 2000, but the rugged beauty and the solitude remains.

I’ll get the major disappointment out first, not that you can do anything about it - Simba don’t make tomato sauce flavour crisps any more! Disaster!

In general, we learnt a lot about how we personally need to plan travel in the future, both having gained various back/hip/knee problems since we last travelled any distance and, at times, feeling more than a mere three years older.

I don’t think we will consider ‘one night stands’ again, especially if it means an hour or more down a gravel road basically just to eat and sleep. Namtib and Ai Aibas are both beautiful places and we had no time to do them justice. We’re not early risers and we are slow drivers, who like to stop and look, which all combined to have us on the road 9.30-4.30 for several days, which was exhausting.

We did look at the hotels in several of the towns and wonder whether we won't be better off to stay somewhere like that as a transit stop.

We also need to carefully look at the lodges, to consider whether we can actually cope there. If there is a steep walk to the reception or lots of steps, it's difficult. Also, there's no point in going somewhere and finding that the walks involve hiking up a mountain!

Being experienced travellers to Namibia, we think we won't try one of your set itineraries again. We would prefer to custom-build, knowing that we will have sound advice from you. We have booked all our previous visits through you (or Sunvil, originally) and we wouldn't consider going anywhere else.

There are certain areas which we won't choose to visit again, because of the poor quality of the gravel roads. For instance, the roads around the entrance to Sossussvlei were appalling. The drive to Swakop, once past Solitaire, had nowhere to stop and seems endless. The one picnic area was infested with wasps - what a disappointment! Also, much as we love Etosha, we spent very little time driving to other waterholes because the roads are awful.


We found most other visitors were German, with far fewer from Britain than on our previous trips. Not a problem; just a comment.

We'd like to mention Wilderness Safaris, whose staff were excellent whilst we used their airport lounge and then in guiding us through the airport. Whilst we were there, we had an interesting conversation with a gentleman whose was a senior commercial officer for the airports authority. He was interested in our descriptions of how a trip to Namibia is viewed my many of our friends in the UK; namely, if they actually know where Namibia is, as bonkers and dangerous, particularly as we drive ourselves. He was considering what commercial measures could be taken to dispel any fears and misunderstandings amongst UK people.
However, we're quite happy if tourist numbers don't increase!

Altogether, an outstandingly brilliant time, no less than we expected!

Thank you." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We have been fortunate to travel the world, and this trip is on our very short list of the best ever - top 5 for sure!

Expert Africa could not have been more accommodating as our plans changed several times over the course of a couple of years due to Covid and other changes in people's lives. Tracy was very patient and understanding and we loved working with her. She is a gem!

I would highly recommend Tracy and Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Hard to improve on what was a nearly perfect experience with Expert Africa.

Thank you for everything!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Definitely one of the top holidays of our lifetime (so far!!), expertly put together and managed by Sabina at Expert Africa. We were recommended by friends who have used Expert Africa and would unreservedly recommend them ourselves. Sabina listened to what we wanted from the start and built the itinerary, timings and accommodation around that perfectly.

Overall driving distance was about 4,250km so it was a tough schedule, but everything we expected (and a quite a bit more).

Managed to see and pass through stunning scenery, stop at interesting places and observe a variety of wildlife from Southern Right whales in South Africa to the big cats in Namibia, not to mention the magnificent seasonal flora on display in the Namaqualand.

Everything was in place for us so minimising hassle." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We were very happy with our trip as a whole. All activities were happened as planned.

Expert Africa listened to what we wanted, but provided appropriate advice to ensure that we achieved a balanced holiday" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"This started out as a once in a lifetime trip but as we travelled further in to Africa we decided we will definitely go back!!!!

I would have packed a little differently than I did. Taking 2 pair of thermal underwear would have been useful, as our nights and morning game drives were quite cold. We also had banking issues along the way. Even though we had given our bank all of our travel information we still had issues at ATMs. We should have brought far more cash with us than we did.

The people, the environment, and the animals were incredible!! Africa is something everyone should experience if they can.

We will go back!!!!!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None that I can think of." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"A truly outstanding trip - one of a lifetime.

We cannot thank Lucy (our Expert Africa advisor) enough. Lucy did a truly remarkable job in very trying circumstances - as we had to defer the trip three times due to Covid. She managed these deferrals in exemplary fashion with remarkable, patience, good humour, resilience and integrity .Her recommendations and guidance in choosing locations was perfect as she clearly listened to our views and we felt in safe hands throughout.

The attention to detail and communication was second to none.

Exemplary!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"We booked this trip at short notice as soon as South Africa came off the dreaded red list in October.

Whilst it was a bit touch and go whether we would be able to go when the red list reappeared for a few weeks, thankfully all was ok and we were able to travel.

The trip was excellent with all the people we met demonstrably welcoming and Shamwari, the Cape Grace and Cape Town being very enjoyable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

none" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 3 on a South Africa trip

"A really excellent trip. We had a fantastic time. We were very lucky to be in an early wave of visitors following the removal of Botswana and S Africa from the UK's red list about a month ago. There were very few other tourists there - which made the trip an even bigger "treat".

The stand out thing about safari on a fly-in/out to a private concession (vs fly drive which we have done previously) is that the guides and trackers are dedicated to finding the best vantage point for viewing game and will go off road to do so. We had some amazing sightings which we simply would not have seen if we had been driving ourselves.

The S African leg of the trip was very different from that in the Botswanan bush but still very enjoyable. The strength of the Rand vs GBP made eating out very affordable." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Excellent trip! To be honest, I can't recall an Expert Africa trip that wasn't, but this was right up there.

Both Lucy and your properties worked brilliantly with respect to Making it easy for Sheila's limited mobility. I think every property managed to put give us the closest room/suite/villa to keep distance down, and Sanbona allocated the front passenger suite in the land cruiser to Sheila.

Great combination of properties locations scenery etc. By the way, Bontebok Reserve was worth the visit - not lots of animals, but lived up to its bontebok moniker with plenty of good views of them.

I know Sanbona isn't one of your regular properties. So here's my perspective (having visited a wide range in the past - Addo, Kariega, Etosha, Selous etc).
Ok, so it doesn't compete with these for scale.
The scenery was great, if you like your geology on the surface (I do).
Limited numbers of antelope visible - a few kudu and not much else.
Great views of the big beasts (elephants, rhino, giraffe - and the white lions are truly special).
The guide was very good, and I think did a great job with a group of people who were only there overnight and therefore a focus on seeing the big ones. I'm sure we would have seen more of the smaller animals if we'd been there longer. We also didn't have time to spend around the dam and lake, so there would be plenty to see over a longer stay.
It's very dry, and unsurprisingly it's some time since they've operated boat trips (still showing on their publicity) - not a problem but worth noting in case someone's heart was set on it.
The accommodation/suite was fabulous. I imagine the Dwyka Tentedd camp would be similarly amazing.

So, pretty much as we'd discussed with Lucy, if you'd more time and the inclination to head to the Eastern Cape, the Addo / Kariega option is the better bet. But if not, Sanbona is definitely worth one or two nights for anyone interested in a safari (and even for those who've visited much bigger safari areas).

Ok I think that's about it for feedback - other than a huge thank you to Lucy and everyone's go contributed for putting together a great trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nah, it's brilliant.

I hope the current virus problems don't impact you and your partners/properties too severely, and indeed you all keep safe." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"Claire put together an excellent itinerary with a nice selection of accommodation none of which was large impersonal corporate hotels. The whole trip worked well and in particular driving directions were spot on which was very helpful given the distances we covered. We did use a friend's map of the Garden Route as the directions were missing details of actual distances - this might be helpful for future clients. We used 'MapStudio Garden Route & Route 62' a lot of the time.

Our only hairy moment was taking the car back to the airport (which we had avoided on arrival by having car delivered to hotel) and this was slightly stressful as we had to return the car with a full tank but the BP garage was located on an obscure location on the other side of the car rental return area. It was chaotic at the BP station as everyone was filling up before returning their cars. That said the check in at Bidvest was very good and straightforward.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Although the holiday was expensive it was worth it and we couldn't have put it together without Claire's assistance." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a South Africa trip