Reviews of trips to Little Karoo

"An excellent trip overall, with many memorable aspects, particularly for Linda on her first trip of this nature.

It largely went extremely smoothly, especially considering the significant amount of driving involved (through our own choice). There were times when we felt the driving instructions underestimated the journey times. It would be helpful on future occasions to stress that these times might be significantly longer with stops and, similarly, that roadworks in SA involve far greater holdups than in Europe.

In addition, although sign-posting is adequate in places, there were places where it disappeared entirely, including at the point where we needed to rejoin the N2 to return to Cape Town from Franschhoek. This would not be an issue for anyone with access to a GPS system, but that is not the case if one is trying to avoid the exorbitant charges either for mobile phone roaming or for activating the rental car's system. I would recommend that Expert Africa's documentation spell out these potential pitfalls.

On a different note, Linda was horrified to find several ticks on her body when we were in Franschhoek which, we suspect, might have attached themselves during a bush walk in Kariega, although this is by no means certain. We learnt from a local pharmacist that this is not an uncommon occurrence in summer and I would suggest that the trip documentation should warn of this possibility.

Although this form only asks for feedback on hotels booked through Expert Africa, I feel it is important to talk about the 2 hotels I booked myself.

I strongly recommend the Taj in Cape Town for anyone wishing to see the central sights of the city. Not only is it a beautiful hotel with excellent facilities and very high quality food outlets, but its location is perfect for sightseeing, shopping and choice of restaurants nearby. And its rates are more reasonable than other, well-located five-star establishments.

Similarly, the Plettenberg Hotel is, I feel, a good choice for anyone staying in that area and wanting easy access to both the town and the beach.

A word of warning for anyone staying nearby and tempted, as we were, to visit the Robberg Peninsula nature reserve. Although the setting is spectacular, the shortest hiking trail, which we chose, is a hair-raisingly difficult experience, visibly so even for people far younger than ourselves. At one point, there is no option to get back other than by hauling oneself by rope up a precipitously steep hillside.And there is no indication of the difficulty in the information provided at the ticket office or on the maps at the start of the trails." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"This was a special, month-long trip to revisit some of our favourite places in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Western Cape. We were joined for part of it by 6 family members, including one son-in-law and two grandchildren (aged 8 & 10) who were having their first experience of Africa.

Lucy took a lot of trouble putting together an itinerary in which everyone’s requests could be included. She made some excellent suggestions for accommodation and activities, which we all enjoyed. The Zambezi cruise on New Year’s Eve was just one example.

As there were eight of us for almost half of the tour, we were treated as a ‘group’. This meant we had our own vehicle and guide for safaris, which was very relaxing and we all had a lot of fun.

A major flight delay at the start threatened to seriously derail our itinerary. It was a couple of days before Christmas, but the team at Expert Africa sprang into action and got everything back on track incredibly quickly.

The South African part of the holiday was just the two of us. It included a hire car and some very high quality accommodation.

We had very high expectations of this trip and were not disappointed, thanks to Lucy and her colleagues." Read full review: 32 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We really enjoyed our tour of the Cape. The weather was great except for a few days near the end of November. The roads, with driving on the left as in the UK, were perfectly manageable. However, it appears the norm for cars not to have satnavs, which means that you need google maps and a mobile signal to navigate

We enjoyed the contrasts between the coastal Garden Route on our way to Port Elisabeth and the inland desert and mountains on our way back to Franschhoek and Cape Town.

We felt that our decision to stay 3 or 4 days at most places gave us the opportunity to match weather and activities plus we were not perpetually unpacking and repacking.

Our biggest disappointment was that we were too late to see whales at either Hermanus or Plettenberg Bay. From advice on the ground we needed to be early October at the very latest to see the whales offshore, whereas we had read that early November would still be OK.

On the whole, we felt safe whilst travelling around South Africa but until we got to Franschhoek, we were totally discouraged from walking to restaurants and bars in the evenings as it was unsafe in the dark, which was by 7 30pm. This was inconvenient and undesirable but we needed to stay safe. Unfortunately, the contrast between those residents that have and those that have not financial stability is enormous and this will be evident to you in every urban area you visit." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"Our overall experience of Expert Africa was excellent.

They listened very carefully to what we wanted to achieve and created a really good programme for us in terms of locations, drive times, variety of landscapes and things to do and see. This absolutely ticked the boxes in terms of history and culture which particularly interested us, while enabling us to enjoy the classic Cape food, wine and landscape experience.

In other words, our holiday was exactly what we wanted, delivered with care and attention to detail." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 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

"We had a great time in SA. it is a truly beautiful and spectacular country.

In hindsight, we regret not spending longer in Plettenberg Bay and would also have loved to spend a night or two in Prince Albert. At the expense of either Swellendam or Oudtshoorn; both of which towns were not as memorable.

Tracy was very helpful and gave great advice. If we travel to Africa again, we plan to use Expert Africa and have recommended it to several friends.
This was our second time to use Expert Africa. We travelled to Namibia in 2016.

Thank again" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"For us it always a pleasure to travel to southern Africa, which we have been doing for over 40 years.

As ever the Expert Africa consultants were excellent and we wouldn't consider travelling to Africa without their help and advice.

Although the travel tags and wallet are extremely well made and gratefully received, we found them bulky and might act more like flashing beacon to unscrupulous locals to locate unsuspecting tourists! We didn't use them preferring a simply plastic wallet on the basis that 'more is less'..

We booked our hotel accommodation The Taj in Cape Town ourselves. Located opposite St George's cathedral it is a very comfortable and welcoming place with staff eager to please. They also provide a complimentary shuttle service, by limousine (Range Rover/Jaguar ) to anywhere within 10 Km area and a regular shuttle bus to VA Waterfront and Table Mountain. Most rooms have views of Table Mountain too." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a South Africa trip

"As mentioned elsewhere, the highlight of this trip was the Karoo National Park.

Its a pity that Expert Africa do not extend their horizon to this area. It is really worth taking a 3-4 day detour north of R62 and the Garden Route. Karoo National Park was truly exceptional, Graaff-Reinet worth a visit, Prince Albert simply delightful, the Swartberg Pass unmissable.

This was my fourth holiday with Expert Africa - they continue to be my first choice" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip