South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"My biggest fear of going on safari was not acquiring COVID but having testing for one or all of our 5 party members significantly impacting the trip.

I put my faith in Expert Africa, and everything went seamlessly. From pick up and testing at JNB airport for our initial tests for Zimbabwe to all the planes and vehicles along the way, there were conscientious staff on time waiting to assist us.

While it was a leap of faith, we were rewarded with camps with few other travelers giving us undivided attention and spectacular game viewing.


Here a few things I felt were important in making my trip such a success so that you might consider duplicating them for future clients.

First, I feel the order of the camps is crucial. Somalisa Acacia in Hwange national park was a good place to start. The camp itself is luxurious and beautiful, and the game viewing is very good. If guests can request a guide, I highly recommend Calvit. He made the experience. This camp, however, is about 10° colder than the others. I think going from cold to warm is much easier to adapt to than the other way around.

Steve Edward’s camp at Lake Kariba is significantly different than the other two camps. It is largely water-based which offers a different experience from typical game drives. I think it was a nice way to break up the land based parks. While I felt the game viewing wasn’t as good as the other two locations, the ability to go to the fishing village and see how a large portion of Zimbabwe lives was the most interesting thing I experienced on the trip. An opportunity not to be missed by any of your clients. Also fishing was tremendously fun for my boys.

Finally, I cannot praise the final camp at Mana Pools enough. Its location along the Zambezi river with an expansive view and extraordinary game was by far the highlight of the trip. No camp will surpass it and by having it last, the vacation ends with a crescendo. Also, we found Mash to be an excellent guide again to be recommended if possible.

The Armadale Lodge was very pleasant with large private grounds if a day in Harare is required. My wish is that others may have our experience.

Once in a life time experience!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe 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

"Another great trip organised by Expert africa" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 2 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 wonderful honeymoon in South Africa.

It was a perfect combination of sightseeing in Cape Town, wine drinking in Franschhoek, relaxing in Plettenberg Bay and game viewing at Kwandwe. It was a great experience of a beautiful country and we hope to go back sometime." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"We have had the most amazing trip of our lives. We have travelled to many places but this holiday, to get a feel for South Africa, was very special.

Our itinerary was followed to the letter as we had expected and the whole trip just flowed so well. Pick-ups and drops offs were exceptionally well organised - Ilios is an excellent company. This was our first experience of South Africa - a BIG birthday present for my husband who has always wanted to visit South Africa based on the tales told to him as a boy by his late father.

The trip certainly exceeded all of our expectations - more in fact. We are already thinking of another trip maybe the same time next year in advance of another BIG birthday perhaps.

A very big thank you to Lucy and the Team in Cape Town for making this such a memorable experience

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We can't think of anything which could have made this trip more enjoyable other than maybe an extra night in Kwandwe and Grootbos and one less night in Cape Town but nevertheless we enjoyed the whole whole experience.

Thank You" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"We went to watch cricket, but we enjoyed many other aspects of the Cape and had an excellent time.

The information we received was good and so were the driving instructions" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a South Africa trip

"Enjoyed every aspect of the safari and beach. The logistics worked seamlessly and we returned refreshed and planning our next trip." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Mozambique holiday

"Our trip was mostly booked by Richard Ball, who was really helpful in organising with us a truly once in a lifetime holiday. He listened to what we wanted, advised and recommended, but would listen to us and accepted what we wanted. As it was our 30th anniversary, not sure how but we ended with private safari vehichle's, private dinners, cakes, and room upgrades. So many thanks.

Many thanks to everyone and all who were involved in making our trip so special.

The next time we visit Africa, will certainly put Expert Africa at the top of our list." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"This was a big trip for us and our expectations were high. But they were met in almost every respect, British Airways excepted.

It was a very memorable and exciting three weeks, at a very hot time of year and in a year of terrible drought in Botswana and Zimbabwe." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zimbabwe safari