Reviews of trips to Johannesburg

"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 loved it. What else is there to say?" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"A really wonderful trip - thank you for organising!

Only downer was the City Lodge - the rest was incredible" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"Great variety and accommodations, especially given limited time available and sort of last minute booking. Maruska's excellent; courteous, informed, proactive, responsive, creative, etc." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"A few hitches but overall an excellent trip much enjoyed" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"This was a "special" holiday and it certainly lived up to expectations. Zimbabwe was absolutely wonderful, both camps were different but excellent and we saw more wildlife than I had expected. It was a real privilege to view it so closely and to be accompanied by guides who had expert knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for their subject.

Zimbabwe is a wonderful place and never have we felt safer anywhere. Everyone should go there - whatever you think of the regime, it is the people who need tourists and go out of their way to make them have such a good time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We hardly needed any money on our trip as so much was included, but in Bulawayo we could only use Visa cards, which I suspect was the case for other places.

We had intended to get our visa prior to travel, but when I 'phoned the Embassy, they assured me that it was easy to get one on arrival in Zimbabwe. A second call revealed that you needed to apply for a form which would take a week to arrive and then collect the visa from London. It was easy enough to get one at Vic Falls airport, but the queue was very lengthy and it took a long time to get through. It would seem that the Embassy make it difficult to get one in advance." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"End to end perfection, from the planning stage with Saskia and Maruska to the trip itself which leaves us wonderful family memories for a lifetime. We indeed highly recommend Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Even thinking hard, there is none I can think of." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"I was thoroughly enjoying the trip until I became sick at Macatoo when I never got over the dysentery even with cipro, which had always worked the the past.

I loved the safari camps prior to Macatoo and had my expectations dashed there.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Wish I hadn't had such high expectations for Macatoo and Bazaruto (hard in Bazaruto as Portuguese was main language). My experience at the safari camps at the beginning to the trip far exceeded my expectations for a "camp"; I've done lots of camping, but the safari camps far exceeded anything I would call a "camp". Meals, facilities, drinks, guides exceeded all my expectations, but missed my mountains. Very impressed by the training and knowledge of the guides; only in Botswana is English the primary language.

Only down side was the HEAT, and getting pestered by the street vendors in Victoria Falls. Forget about a cotton scarf for the dust, but one thoroughly kept soaked, and dripping around my neck, saved several of the morning and afternoon safari rides. Might suggest those scarves filled with hydrating beads for the hot months; I would have brought one. Forget about wearing complete safari gear in the hot months, shorts and short sleeves are more appropriate; all vehicles have a roof for sun protection. Knowing how to keep cool under a soaked cotten towel in the afternoon, or playing "hippo" in a pool, also helped. Also, being warned that you never leave a vehicle while on safari, would make one aware to only bring sandals for footwear; that was all that was needed. OK, you could get out of Land Rover for morning tea or a sun downer, served right at the vehicle; must get permission about where to go for a "potty" break. Guides hold safety as highest priority.

I can hardly wait to see the thousand plus pictures my daughter took; we had different final destinations and she said the "card" is in the mail. I think you should also contact my daughter for her evaluation." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"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

"As a regular client of Expert Africa we received the normal high level of attention to our needs." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari