South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"The trip was outstanding! And Lucy Copson was excellent and responsive, in helping us plan and navigate our way through the whole process.

I would highly recommend Expert Africa in general and Lucy Copson in particular, when looking to book an African adventure.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nope - you all get an A+! Thank you very much for a trip of a lifetime." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Cannot say enough about Lucy's assistance, recommendations, and responsiveness. She proved to be an exceptional representative for Expert Africa and her knowledge of the area was extremely helpful. We want to thank her for making our travels truly memorable." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Overall, and in every detail, this trip truly turned out much better than we had expected - and our expectations were high.

Maruska went the extra mile, several times, to ensure that our itinerary was precisely what we wanted. When the initial camp selections turned out to be more expensive than we wanted, Maruska proposed alternatives that worked out very well.

Our safaris to Botswana and Namibia couldn't have been better.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We never received a brochure, but did receive a glossy guide to your offerings, after we had returned home. Since we used your web site, and it's very good, it wasn't really an issue.

There were a number of comments about various camps that were only for Expert Africa, but there wasn't a place to put them. So we were obliged to just put them at the end of reviews. Ditto for some suggestions regarding improvements at camps, probably only of interest to camp managers. These things could be removed before posting the reviews, if you like.

We'd like to thank the Expert Africa team, and Maruska in particular, for arranging this very special trip for us." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Overall this was a great trip.

Kgalagadi is a magical park which generates a feeling of camaraderie among the visitors. Drivers still wave to each other like they are sharing some closely guarded secret. It would be possible to spend two weeks there, with at least three days at each camp. This would make the trip more relaxed and give more time to appreciate each area. Put in the hours in this park and you will get some fantastic sightings. There's no elephant, buffalo or rhino but it's great for birds, predators and the smaller critters. Tiny creatures can get in the chalets, although gratefully for us these were mainly the friendly, cuter end of the spectrum. Shouldn't bother most but might not be for everyone.

If you can book into a Kgalagadi widerness camp you can leave the modern world behind. Forget smartphones and the internet, at present there is no network coverage, apart from in Twee Rivieren.

If possible hire a 4x4. You don't have to but it will enhance the trip enormously. The road can be rough and the elevated driving position is great for spotting. If you can, get a double cab so you can easily stow your drinks, cool box, camera etc. For photography it's doubtful you can can beat Kgalagadi and Etosha.

The weather in late May to early June was fantastic for us, warm in the day and cool at night. It getting dry at this time of year so the waterholes in both parks are populated with small and large herds of animals. In Etosha the numbers seem astounding at times.

The timing was tricky and when our heathrow flight was delayed we could easily have missed our connection from Joburg to Upington. Luckily we traveled with hand luggage only and made it with a half hour to spare. Likewise, you probably need to stop over in Upington as we did, especially if you need to stock up before heading to Kgalagadi.

No fault of Expert Africa but it may have included just a bit too much driving. It was our choice to include Kgalagadi and Etosha. Not particularly the driving in the parks but between the two. However, this is a balancing act between time and resources and we don't regret it all." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"It exceeded our expectations for just about everything.

For your adventurist guest, when staying in Victoria falls, take a rafting trip on the Zambezi river and don't forget to do the Gorge swing if you don't have a heart condition! Botswana may be more expensive that other African countries for you Safari, but if you are concerned about the well being of the local people, we have been told that your money actually goes to free health care and education for their people. The Zero tolerance for poaching by the government appears to be working.

Its a very special place and without recommendations from Maruska Adye of Expert Africa, we would have never known what we were missing.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

You need to update the info on laundry. There is no limits on what they wash. Shinde, Okuti and Muchenjie all provided flash lights and had plenty of medical supplies. No need to supplement this when trying to keep baggage to a minimum. Trip itinerary was flawless. All of the connections to and from camps, while "open" went off like clock work.

Thanks Again Maruska!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"This is a third trip to the Kgalagadi and by far our best trip. The night before our arrival was preceded by a thunderstorm and torrential rain while resulted in a wonderful array.of desert blooms for the first 8/10 days. We were also fortunate to have several Leopard and Cheetah sightings and Lions every day!

Giraffes were very numerous as were the opportunities for bird watching.

Assuming we return May is a great month to visit the park and the Wilderness camps remain very good value and provide a great experience." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 14 on a South Africa trip

"All of expert Africa's arrangements went to plan very smoothly. Really enjoyed the trip but think we underestimated the amount of travelling we'd undertaken. Maybe 3 countries was one too many!

Zambia and Botswana in particular were great countries and loved getting to know some of the people we met. Had picked camps with a good chance of lion activity but were not lucky in that regard. Did feel at Vumbura that other jeeps seemed to be having a better experience and that our driver - who was lovely - was low down in the pecking order and perhaps being directed to the quieter areas of the reserve.

Didn't help that for the last 3 or 4 drives we had a community overseer on our trips who didn't speak to us really and it cast a bit of an atmosphere. We actually preferred Machaba which was not what I was expecting! Have passed your brochure to my boss as I can't fault your end of things." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"This trip is one we have wanted to do for a while. We were invited to a wedding in Franschhoek which gave us the excuse to do it.

We had a good idea where we wanted to go, and Tracy very skilfully interpreted this and put the trip together for us - nowhere did it disappoint.

We would do it again at a different time of year - spring being the ideal time to see the Western and Northern Cape. We'd stay longer at Klein Aus.

If we hadn't been booked to come home, we could quite easily have spent a couple of days in Windhoek and readied ourselves to go in another direction...........hopefully there will be a next time." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"Overall we had an amazing trip, such a shame that the Larids lodge didnt live up to the standard of the rest of the trip.

Our agent Claire who we booked the trip through was SO helpful and couldn’t have done more. Her advice was invaluable and very worthwhile." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a South Africa trip

"Despite a few glitches, we absolutely loved our trip as a whole.

Sabina from Expert Africa designed a customized African adventure for us and went out of her way to help us during one difficult episode. She was an incredible resource for us as this is the type of trip one cannot embark on successfully without a travel agent.

Prior to our trip, there were many many exchanges both by phone and email in which she was always ready, willing and able to answer any and all questions. Thank you Sabina and Expert Africa!

We will be sure to turn to you again for our next Africa trip!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Namibia trip