South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"Overall the trip had many surprises, and thankfully they were almost all positive!

The people we met were all enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable. Several went out of their way to help us. We did not meet anyone who was antagonistic.

The accommodation was better than we were expecting. We found all the small lodges to be exceptional and very well appointed. The individual accommodation was always superb. As a retired geologist I found Mowani's great granite boulders to be inspiring.

There was a lot of travelling and some of the roads were a bit rough but our Toyota dealt with them easily and never let us down. On one occasion when we got stuck in deep soft sand it's four wheel drive got us out with aplomb!

We had gone to Namibia to see the scenery and animals and neither let us down. I will never forget the elephants of Etosha and Damaraland. The sand dunes of the Namib are unforgettable.

This was the best holiday we have ever had. Thankyou!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Maruska did a great job planning our trip and was great when it came to answering all of our questions!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Expert Africa are great.

We arrived after the long flight to Cape Town to be met by a smiling driver, this model was repeated at each destination.

All the hotel rooms booked for us were lovely and when we had a problem with our return flight being cancelled EA sorted out transfers for us seamlessly." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We can't thank Maruska and Expert Africa enough for the amazing trip.

We planned for over a year and Maruska was patient and kind enough to answer every single question. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better at one location, it was even better at the next.

The coordination and execution at each point of our journey was flawless. One member of our party even came down with a 24 hour virus during one point of our trip and we were fortunate to be at the same lodge as a group of physicians (we figured Maruska probably took care of that as well).

The safaris were all more than we expected. Not only the animal sightings, but the professionalism and service of the guides, as well as the vehicles were top notch. While the experience was slightly different at each location, overall we were pampered and catered to at each.

It's obvious that the people value tourism and want to ensure you have a great experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None - and we have already recommended Expert Africa to several friends and acquaintances based on our experience." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Every camp that we visited held Expert Africa in high regard which made us proud to be clients.

All went well but it would have been helpful to have the "hard copies" of Precision Air as there were glitches on their end. They had no record of us going on after Lusaka (right city??). We made it. And... All's well that ends well but we were put-on the wrong plane from the Serengeti to Kilimanjaro and they sent us to Arusha (along with another couple).

Precision Air then put us on another flight to Kilimanjaro but we missed most of our time at the lodge in Kilimanjaro before going on to Nairobi. We both decided that we would have skipped the Nairobi jaunt and gone from another city. Just FYI" Read full review: 26 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"Good trip. Although cat sightings were lower than expected, the quality was good two being on our own.

The Park has let go of the roads a bit hence there is more corrugation making it hard work, I raised this also with the Park Manager who blamed speeding and people not deflating their tyres. That is only half the problem, they are saving money by not grading the roads as much and as a consequence 2 wheel drive vehicles get stuck.

It is great to self drive and feed off other people's sightings, this time more so for birds in particular owls, which I had not seen in the Park last time.

Seeing two leopards close up was very special Miera and Mashubu (the fully grown cub) were their names." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a South Africa trip

"This trip was just fantastic - from the very kind and helpful staff at each camp to the amazing animal viewing.

It's really great to see the efforts underway to protect these animals and their habitats." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"We had a fantastic trip seeing amazing things. The children absolutely loved it all!

Lucy put together a fantastic itinerary and was really helpful throughout." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"The entire trip, even experienced in one outfit - thanks Delta Airlines, was more than we could have imagined.

From the time we arrived at our first camp it was magical... words fail to capture the experience.

We have some unique challenges with foods, but every camp had clearly planned and the accommodations were excellent and subtle.

The game drives were exciting with extensive wildlife sightings, but the game walks were viscerally rewarding. We found that on game drives you see Africa, but when hiking through the bush you experience Africa. The guides and rangers were outstanding and we never felt uncomfortable.

We also appreciate the support from Expert Africa throughout our trip, dealing with lost luggage, flight delays and cancellations - we especially appreciate the prompt responses as internet access and WiFi were inconsistently available (which we appreciated except when changes arose unexpectedly).

The ability to arrange an additional safari outside Johannesburg when our flight was cancelled allowed us to see rhino... and appreciate the quality and uniqueness of our experiences in South Luangwa." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"Our trip was fantastic. We all had a fabulous time.

It was well planned by Maruska.

We enjoyed staying in two different safari camps in two different countries as well as having 24 hours in Johannesburg." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 3 on a Botswana safari