Reviews of trips to Johannesburg

"Lucy organized our trip for us. She is so easy to work with & very responsive to emails. The trip went flawlessly. We used Expert Africa to organize a trip to Zambia/Malawi for us 2 yrs ago & will be asking them to help us with a possible trip to Namibia next year!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Malawi trip

"I want to thank Expert Africa and especially Lucy Copson for organizing our (me, my wife, and two teenage children) trip to Zambia, Africa. This was our first trip to Africa and we knew little about the continent.

I must say that the website for Expert Africa really helped our understanding of what each country has to offer in the way of safaris and you can start to narrow down your options according to your wants and needs. But it wasn't until chatting with Lucy that everything really came into focus. After one phone conversation she really grasped what the family and I were looking for and organized our unforgettable trip to Zambia.

With first hand knowledge of the bush camps in South Luangwa National Park, Lucy choose two that were an absolute fit for us. We went on drive safaris, walking safaris, night drives, and even an overnight camp out and learned about all the animals, birds, and plants of the park.

Lucy also chose for us our excursion to Livingstone which was an excellent way to end our stay in Zambia.

Once again, thank you Expert Africa and Lucy for putting together an unforgettable bucket list trip for the family and I." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"Second time to Namibia, but managed to surpass previous visit with animals seen, and got some memorable images. Good to self drive providing so much flexibility as to how long you spend at a waterhole, we had well over 1 hour at one observing in the main bull elephants, only two other cars there.

First time in Botswana great time on the Chobe river viewing elephants crossing , and the birds. Spoilt with the number of lions with kills, and the first cubs I had seen albeit bit hidden in the trees.

Zambia provided a fitting finale something completely different, namely Victoria Falls, seen from the air and on foot, fantastic noise of the the water roaring.

The challenge is how to beat this trip?" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"We had a wonderful stay in Zambia, only wished it could have lasted longer... We had only one problem and that was due to the delayed KLM flight from Oslo to Amsterdam which made us miss our connecting flight to Johannesburg. Consequently we lost an entire day of our safari. Fortunately, we got very efficient and professional help from Megan at Expert Africa; she did the necessart re-bookings and informed Musekese Camp of our one day delay.

We were very pleased with both of the camps we were staying, indeed, at Tafika we had stayed before and knew its high standard. All the transfers went without problems, we were met by representatives of the camps at the airports and transported safely to the camps. Everything was well organized.

Of course, quite a few hours were spent travelling from one camp to the other, but that is only what has to be expected when you like to visit places that are really remote. The good thing about all our hours on the road, was that we felt we saw a lot of the country, which is interesting in itself." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"This was a trip I've dreamed of taking for 50 years, and it did not disappoint. Our team member, Maruska, was exceptional--as an example, when I first spoke with her, I rambled for about 15 minutes telling her all I wanted our trip to be. She listened patiently, then said she'd like to summarize what I've said to see if she understood correctly. In 3 minutes flat, she succinctly and accurately summarized all I had said AND attempted to say far more accurately than I did. That was the first indication of her insight, and every single dealing that followed reflected her keen professionalism and knowledge, plus she was always pleasant to deal with. Another example--my husband hadn't done any research on safaris, so was surprised and disappointed at first to learn what the trip should cost, even though the price was quite reasonable by safari standards. I suggested we schedule a conversation with Maruska so that he could discuss his concerns with her. After talking with her for 5-8 minutes, he relaxed, for he could tell from her comments and how she answered his questions and the options she presented that she was well versed in what she did and had truly put together an excellent package for us. When our daughter became ill at our first stop and the medic recommended we delay our trip by a day, so I sent an SOS to Maruska. Within an hour she telephoned me back, and within the second hour she made all of the necessary changes to our itinerary. She is a delight to work with, remarkably knowledgeable, efficient, helpful, and ever so pleasant!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Can't think of a thing, we are 4 very satisfied customers." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Wow, it was just wonderful everything went seamlessly. All we wanted to see, we saw - painted dogs, leopards, lions, cheetahs; the whole lot and more. Venues were superb and staff and guides brilliant at all the camps. If we did the same trip again we might stay an extra night at Lagoon, and sacrifice one night at Little Kwara, just because it was so good. Thanks Tracy for all your advice and help, (also Chris for his offer to help with the BA problems - which thankfully did not affect our return.

The small plane flights were great and the hot air balloon trip outstanding." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"Thank you again, Maruska. Everything went absolutely perfectly, exactly according to plan. We just could not have asked for more, truly a trip of a lifetime. We especially loved Primate Safaris in Rwanda and our guide Sura." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"A really extraordinary adventure. An excellent itinerary in Rwanda, capped by the priceless experience of tracking gorillas and other primates.

A beautiful week in the Quirimbas Archipelago, including a visit to a hidden gem of southeast Africa, historic Ibo Island.

Just a wonderful experience all around.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Many thanks to Tracy Lederer for another round of assistance in arranging and assembling an African adventure (our third in three years through Expert Africa). An excellent initial recommendation for an itinerary and extremely helpful advise in refining our ideas. The arrangements came together quickly and worked almost flawlessly.

Thank you again Tracy and Expert Africa." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 12 on a Rwanda safari

"This was an amazing vacation! The camps/food/game viewing were excellent.

Thanks again Maruska for all your help in putting this trip together.

You are always a pleasure to work with.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Passport check for Chris took three hours in Johannesburg. I'm not sure if Expert Africa arranged the representative for us in Lusaka, but it made our arrival/departure a breeze. Thank You! We checked our bags to our destination on the departure as to avoid the nightmare in Johannesburg.

I hoped to visit the shops at the main entrance to the park on the way to the airport. Unfortunately, due to our early flight they were not open. Had I known, we could have made arrangements at the start of the trip. Not a big deal --- there's always next time ... just mentioned it in case other guests had the same idea." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Fabulous trip.

Great itinerary from Expert Africa - good variety of camps and length of stays were perfect.

Our main Expert Africa contact was actually Megan, not Tracy, but she is not in the pick list.

It would have been nice to have received a phone call on returning from the trip to ask us how it had been.

Our guide Theo was excellent and negotiated two fabulous groups for our gorilla treks." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari