Reviews of trips to Johannesburg

"We loved the trip (we knew we would because my sister and her husband enjoyed it so much two years ago) Good variety of experiences.

Wonderful country, lovely people, excellent guides" Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we enjoyed our safari very much. The encounters with wildlife were more extensive and intimate than we had experienced before. Birdlife was superb.

We were surprised at the high number of elephants in Hwange, but it was explained by the guides that there are very few permanent, natural water sources and those that are there are mainly man-made. They are maintained and water is pumped permanently which means the elephants do not need to migrate to Botswana during the dry season but can stay in Zimbabwe year round and are breeding very prolifically.

Seeing white rhinos in the wild was fantastic and the reason we chose to visit Zimbabwe so we weren't disappointed.

All 3 camps were very comfortable in their own ways and all very different from each other. it was a pleasure to stay at each of them. Ilala Lodge was a wonderful start to our holiday.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It may be a good idea to recommend at least 3 nights at Amalinda if visitors would like to see cave paintings and visit World's End. We hadn't realised we wouldn't have time to do both." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was our third trip with Expert Africa and our biggest. I had planned this trip over a couple of years to celebrate my retirement and was not disappointed.

I would change a few things, with hindsight.

Erongo deserves at least two nights. Trust me.
Zimbabwe was a challenge. Getting in took ages. We did not feel at all welcome. I would advise staying in Zambia and travelling in to see the Falls.

As a general rule, lodges where you are able to go off road are better. The exception this rule is Chobe, just because of the scale of the wildlife experience that you are exposed to.
In future (God willing), I would transit through Jo'burg faster.

See you in a coupe of years, God willing.

I would be tempted by a lodge with perhaps more water based activities in the delta.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No.
Keep doing what you are doing." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was excellent and our expectations were not only met but exceeded. We enjoyed the varying landscapes, the animals and the people.

The trip, which we requested at the very last minute, was superbly organised. From the time of my initial contact, all requests/queries were handled in a timely helpful manner. All the components (fly, drive, transfers) fitted together well and all connections/transfers went smoothly.

The only changes we would have made are those that could only have been made with hindsight!

So again, thank you very much Maruska and Expert Africa.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: These are very minor suggestions and comments and are made purely to try and be helpful.

(1) An explanation off what one can expect in relation to meals when your accommodation is on a full board basis and you arrive around lunchtime. Our first full board accommodation was at Canyon Lodge and we arrived at lunch time. We were greeted with some information about the facilities and times for dinner and breakfast, but no indication of whether there was any lunch available or whether we were entitled to lunch. Subsequent enquires resulted in us being directed to the dining room.

At a later lodge, we realised that we could have had lunch even though we arrived early in the afternoon but had already had lunch just in case.

(2) If people are doing an overnighter at Cheetah View Lodge it would be good to know that the cheetah feeding is at 2 o'clock, which is the only time that this is held, is also included in the cost of the accommodation i.e. so that if possible you would make sure you got there in time for that. The other paid activities did not seem to be good value. I did note that on EA's notes of this lodge, that it EA thought that there needed to be a better integration of activities with the overnight experience, and we agree.

(3) I think that Hyena Pan did include laundry facilities.

I apologise if I should have known some of these things. I did look up all the accommodations on your website (which I thought was most extensive and the reason I choose the company initially), and make notes before our trip, but possibly I missed bits.

We wish that the tipping thing could be made easier. Australia does not have a tipping culture and so it always comes as a surprise and what seems like a lot of extra money on top of what are not insubstantial costs, at least in some places. While were tried to follow the guidelines, sometimes we were caught out when guides changed or we had an extra guide.

It is impossible to single out 'other' people, other than guides and polers for example, as there are always people behind the that contribute to your enjoyment and comfort on a trip." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Provided a very well researched and considered experience for the four of us. Good variety of activities and accommodation. All transport and connections worked well. Maruska went to a lot of trouble to design a good trip for us at short notice. Would certainly recommend Expert Africa." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 17 on a Namibia trip

"Absolutely fantastic and has got me addicted to safaris

As Botswana is the "best" safari destination I knew it was the right choice for my first time, and I'm glad I set a high budget as that ensured I saw remarkable wildlife on a regular basis. Next time Mombo!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Trip was great as can be read on the comments/reviews. I have learnt a lot and would definitely change a few things next time; particularly the sequencing of how everything was planned. Also it got a little travel hectic at times which kind of effected the flow of things. For example flying from Sossusvlei Desert Lodge to Windhoek, then transferring to Johannesburg, waking up at 3am, flying to lusaka, then transferring to Chongwe was not that fun, also i would have chosen Luwi or Nsolo (dependent on who I'm traveling with) for 3 nights rather then split them up, we ended up spending 1 night in Luwi (after our full day travel from Chongwe), 1 night on the sleep out and technically we were meant to stay 1 night at Nsolo before moving to Chinzombo. So the combination of the traveling from Sossusvlei with the bush camp split up meant that we were frequently in transit. Not that big of a deal but would definitely mellow it out a little. Perhaps i should have chosen closer more connected neighboring countries and focused on staying a places for more then one night. We got on 15 different flights from leaving home to returning, so you could imagine that we got over it. Also learnt how much i prefer being isolated rather then being with other game drive lodge vehicles. As mentioned earlier, it was a shame that i didn't end up seeing many cats, nature told me otherwise, one of the main considerations of choosing the destination was based on my obsession for lions an well as my mission in working a conservation program to protect them. Happy to have meet with the Zambian carnivore project team. That was fantastic, i'm glad we ended up linking before we left. Now ready to plan my next escape." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"I wish we had known just how early in the season we were going and the limited amount of game sightings we should expect, we would have gone later if we had.
Otherwise the trip was well done and worked as planned.

This is the second time we've used Maruska and were very pleased before, so perhaps it was poor communication on my part." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This is a trip I want to forget. I had inappropriate expectations from other travellers comments, or from advice from Expert Africa. The unsealed roads that are considered "good" turned out to be on average, alot worst than the unsealed roads in Australia. The "best" sections in Namibia were eqivalent to our unsealed roads in National Parks with corrugations. The rest were atrocious, with no warning sign if something major comes up that requires significant slowing down.

I was told that there was cell phone reception almost everywhere, and I wouldn't need a satellite phone. It turned out half of the unsealed roads had no reception. There were some stretches of roads that I did not see another car for an hour at a time. I was driving alone and couldn't deal with any breakdowns myself. I wouldn't have made this trip if I had known the reality.

I was also told that I would see a good amount of game as it is baby season, and there would be an increase in predator activities to feed the babies. When I asked the guides they just laughed. Virtually all the animals gave birth anytime if the year. Also because there was alot of late rain, I really didn't see much game except for elephants.

I really wasn't prepared for how backward Africans were. The lodges in Namibia were nicely built, but you couldn't get even the most basic requests through the staff. They are genuinely nice people, but almost all the lodges never considered purchasing the few items that I requested due to dietery restrictions, eventhough they were common supermarket items. I asked if I should bring some of these items myself and was told the lodges confirmed they would supply them. Should I have been warned they may not mean what they say?

Zimbabwe apart from Victoria Falls was unbearably backward. I am not sure if its to do with their econmic meltdown 20 years ago. Even at departure, I thought I had to spend the night at the airport as they couldn't refuel the plane.

I did manage to get some good photos. I do think Namibia has the best rockscapes in the world and massive potential to develop their tourist industry further, but I wouldn't consider going back.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I received a very good service from Maruska in planning this trip. But I feel she may need to be updated about a few facts. When I travelled to Egypt several years ago with a tour, we were given in writing tips on cultural expectations I call it. EA could certainly do with something like that, so travellers are better prepared as they interact with Africans.

I have travelled extensively around the world but have never been to Southern Africa. I have found this trip very taxing." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Our trip was excellent. Better than imagined! The itinerary went very smoothly.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We are very happy with Expert Africa and Richard Ball. Would definitely recommend." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari