South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"Malawi was absolutely wonderful, one of our best holidays ever. Would love to go back some day.

Weather in Cape Town was variable, from sun to hail, through wind and rain, so we couldn't do a couple of things that we wanted to do (go up Table Mountain and visit Robben Island). We did see whales at Hermanus, which was on our to-do list, and penguins at Betty's Bay. City bus tours were good for getting to know the city. We were very glad we hired the car for two days as this enabled us to see the coast and the wine area.

All arrangements worked like clockwork, thanks a lot, Claire., for putting it all together for us." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip

"Our trip as a whole was superb, from the initial contact with Sabina, to our arrival home.

We had enjoyed our visit so much 2 years ago, that we wanted to return, and see more. this could well have been an anti climax, but fortunately it wasn't. None of us have any regrets.

We noticed the effect of no rain for more that 2 years, very little greenery anywhere.

The unmade roads were in a bad condition, which we were told was due to the increase in large tourist transports.

The people, the accommodation and the food were as wonderful as we expected. Thank you Sabina for putting such a great trip together for us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A little caution is required when driving from Dolomite to Okaukuejo, especially in a 2x4 car. We were warned, by a frequent visitor, of very deep tyre ruts, at the start of the most direct route. We took the slightly longer southerly route (an extra12 Kms), which was fine.
We were also warned of the extremely large Anteater holes in the roads, some were 2 feet wide & 18 inches deep. Many could be seen, if driving at a sensible speed, as they had pile of earth beside them, but others were not visible until nearly on them! They need to be avoided, or the car would get stuck, and you could do serious damage!

There were none east of Okaukuejo." Read full review: 30 nights in Africa; 24 on a Namibia trip

"fantastic" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 12 on a Botswana safari

"This was a marvellous trip, partly because we visited some amazing places which showed completely different aspects of Africa but partly because of the effort put into planning the holiday by Megan at Expert Africa. She was endlessly patient and wanted to get the trip absolutely right for us whilst staying within our budget. We were happy to take Megan's suggestions which proved to be absolutely spot on for us.

Many thanks for helping us to have such a great introduction to Africa. We will be back!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perhaps you could explain the varied nature of some of the transfers more clearly. We were surprised by the number of different drivers we had going from Livingstone to Muchenje and the transfer to the small boat across the Zambesi seemed somewhat precarious, (and hilarious!) but having said that it did all work! It was not quite what we expected but certainly gave us a feeling of adventure and Africa from the start!

I think that the organisation is to be congratulated on such an efficient and personal service. Many thanks" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"You did an excellent job with our itinerary except as explained earlier we felt the two camps were too close in proximity to each other.

Overall, we have already recommended you to several people and believe one couple from Northern Ireland will contact your company about a trip to Tanzania and we suggested "little Oliver" and "Sayari". They said they had used your company in the past and would look you up immediately on their return to Belfast. You have our address for our commission." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall another wonderful trip back to Namibia. Very well organised by Sabina yet again. Regarding dietary requirements, everywhere ( except for the Nest Hotel in Luderitz) went to great efforts to fulfil our requirements, and where the more remote lodges were unable to do so, they informed us on arrival, again except for the Nest Hotel who were not at all remote. Tok Tokkie and Ultimate Safaris went to a lot of effort on this.

The highlights were; Ultimate safari in The Kalagadi with Polentswa and Rooipots lodges, The Mule Trail Hike, The Sedina boat trip, Sinclair Guest Farm and Tok Tokkie. The outstanding guides were Tarry (Ultimate), Manilow (Mule trail hike) and Domingo (Tok Tokkie) and last but not least, Taso from Sinclair guest Farm a very able guiding dog.

It was good to explore Southern Namibia & a brief excursion to Botswana & South Africa in the transfrontier park - stunning for wildlife.

As ever, Namibia provides huge contrasts & inspiration.

A big thank you to Sabina for sorting out potential problems with Budget car hire & other issues." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Dear Maruska,

This is for you. You are sure an expert in what you do. I can't say enough as far as your wonderful, well planned itinerary for us.
The whole trip was beyond our expectations. South Africa and Namibia were terrific.

Perhaps the only thing I would have changed was the City Lodge at Johannesburg. The Intercontinental Hotel was closer, bigger rooms and have a better restaurant. On the other hand, we only stayed at the City Lodge for less than a day and it was easy enough for us to walk and have dinner at The Intercontinental Hotel.

Thanks a lot, Maruska! Let us know if you handle other trips aside from Africa.

It was surely a very memorable, fun trip for us." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"My trip couldn't have been better. Nick Hobbs did a superb job of arranging all the logistics so that almost everything went smoothly. I have to send my special thanks to managing director Chris McIntyre for sending me my binoculars after I misplaced them on a flight between Tuba Tree Camp and Lagoon Camps. I received them at City Lodge and Chris even paid for shipping them. I was truly impressed by his kindness and generosity.

This was my second safari with Expert Africa and I'm already going to another one next year. I've already been on five safaris, but I still have along bucket list of locations in Africa I want to either visit or revisit.

I love the fact that unlike it's numerous competitors in Great Britain, the United States, and South Africa Expert Africa places the emphasis as much as possible on visiting unfenced national park or concessions, and staying at lodges which aren't fenced as well. This in my experience and many other safari goers I've met greatly improves gong on safari.

I will undoubtedly take more safaris with ExpertAfrica." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Adventurous and exciting Zambian safari.

recommend to others !

We would not be unhappy if the price were less!!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"This was our first time traveling in this part of the world and the first time we spent so much time planning in advance. It paid off - the trip was successful and the travelers happy.

As a family of three with an eight year old child, we valued the planning process and the considerations brought to our attention by Maruska. She helped us through a number of itineraries, patiently making suggestions/changes as our knowledge of the area expanded. Maruska's input was always thorough, professional and thoughtful.

The travel went off as planned and we are happy with the choices made thanks to Maruska's shepherding. I would absolutely use Expert Africa again and have already recommended it to others." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip