South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"We loved Botswana and Malawi but our hearts belong in the Valley. We’re already planning the next trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep up the good work." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip

"Our whole trip was magnificent. Cape Town was busy with so much to see and do; we visited District Six Museum, the Planetarium, Slave Lodge, Heart of Cape Town museum [home to Dr Christian Barnard's first heart transplant]; the Cape Peninsula -Cape Point, Boulders Beach, did the Chapmans Peak Drive, V and A Waterfront and of course Robben Island, Table Mountain, Signal Hill and the stunning Kirstenbosch Gardens. We also spent a day driving to the West Coast National Park to see the wild spring flowers- truly incredible scenery.

At our time in Franschoek we visited Paarl, the motor museum and the very pretty town of Stellenbosch visiting the village museum. En route to Hermanus, we stopped at the beautiful Vergelden Winery with lovely grounds and buildings and enjoyed an incredible lunch in the sunshine. We saw whales on our walking tour in Hermanus and visited three lovely wineries each with a different character.

We saw an incredible array of wildlife in Bostwana and our stay at Muchenje was truly a dream come true.

At Victoria Falls, we did a falls tour, had a helicopter flight over the area and did a bridge history tour. On our last afternoon we took 'high tea' at the Victoria Falls Hotel and admired the stunning view and interiors of the hotel. This was coupled with bonus wildlife sightings at our hotel the Victoria Fallls Safari Lodge.

Thank you to Tracy Lederer who worked so hard to tailor the holiday to our requirements - it was truly a trip of a lifetime and one we shall always remember - along with our month long trip to Namibia [also organised by Tracy] back in 2010!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
None; everything was wonderful - thank you." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"We had a great time. We had some really good experiences, had some great views and met some lovely people. Everyone was really helpful and pleased that we were visiting their country, both in South Africa and Namibia.

We had hoped to see the spring flowers in Namaqualand, but realised before we arrived that the drought would mean it unlikely. We saw a few, which was lovely but also did more walking than we might have done and found other things to do which we really enjoyed.

Highlights of the trip were Twee Rivieren at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Fish River Canyon, Kolmanskop (outside Luderitz), Augrabies Falls and the Eagle's Nest at Aus.

Thanks to Tracy for the original inspiration and Claire for making it happen." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 13 on a South Africa trip

"EA had organised the majority of our trip and we were very happy with our choice of accommodation and the arrangements made." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 7 on a South Africa trip

"We had a lovely trip, with special fondness for the Kwando Camps.

Oh my goodness, they go out of the way to make the guest experience special. The best guides and staff we've had.

Not crazy about Wilderness Safaris and will try to avoid them the future.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

You are wonderful and I'm looking at a 2020 trip to Kenya and Rwanda.

I'll be in touch!" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari

"I feel so lucky and grateful to have made acquaintance with Justin Huff from Expert Africa. His knowledge was so thorough and immediate that I knew I had to take advantage of his service to plan our African adventure-- even to the extent that I risked a relationship with a very important friend who is a travel agent. I just didn't want to make any mistakes, traveling so far and at such expense!

We met someone on our trip who had spent the equivalent of four months at a full time job researching his trip to Africa, rejecting agency after agency when they didn't include or provide the amenities that this man deemed essential to a perfect safari. I was BEYOND DELIGHTED to learn that every single thing this man had learned was the best way to go, Justin at Expert Africa had included in our trip to the extent that it was literally perfect. I don't think I can put it any more succinctly than that.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only one. I felt that canvas wallet you provided was a tad excessive, as I have no future use for it, and didn't really need it during the trip. Maybe others feel differently, but I do plan to send ours back.

Thank you so much for running a fantastic operation!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Kenya safari

"Your staff was VERY helpful. This was our first trip/safari.

I wish I could of discussed more options of costs. Seems as though there is some kind of confidentiality of lodging costs that prohibits better financial planning of a trip." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful holiday in Southern Africa. There are so many memories- we tried to name our 'top 10 best moments' but it was impossible as each day offered something new and exciting. We will definitely be back to this lovely part of the world before too long.

Thank you to Tracy Lederer for her advice and organisation - everything ran very smoothly and exceeded our expectations." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"This was our 21st trip with EA and, yet again, we were well served by our favourite agent.

We had hoped for a better flower season but, booking relatively early because of our need to spend some time in Cape Town, we had to take our chances. At least the variable weather at that time of year was kind to us. And we did see flowers aplenty in West Coast National Park; and we did find a good range of birdlife.

In short this was a very worthwhile trip not only in its own right but also as a scouting mission for a return." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 5 on a South Africa trip

"Lucy helped us organize this short break after many other options were considered. Lucy is intimately familiar with options in that region and gave us impartial and practical advice. I look forward to booking out next trip with Expert Africa." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zambia safari