South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"We had a fabulous holiday, and the experience was definitely enhanced by your arrangements, particularly the excellent choices/recommendations that you made regarding accommodation - all our hotels were in superb locations that enabled us to see or access the main attractions with great ease." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 2 on a Zambia safari

"We would like to thank Lucy Copson for helping put together such a wonderful experience.

The choice of camps suited us perfectly." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Another fabulous trip to Africa, we can't wait to go back

One thing we did notice however, was that, while the standard of guiding remains generally very good, there seem now to be some guides who are doing the job just to make enough money to be able to fund other business/life plans. As a result we encountered one or two without the old passion/feel for the job. While their knowledge was probably very good, it was in a bit of a textbook style and seemed to lack an empathy with the animals/environment.

Possibly because the good rains had meant animals were more dispersed and therefore a bit more difficult to find, there seemed to be a lot of racing around trying to find things without stopping to evaluate the surroundings and potential. I also felt that there was a bit more harrassing animals by changing position to let people get a different shot rather than just sitting quietly to observe, again perhaps because of the perceived need to move on to try to find something else. Also because there were possibly fewer 'opportunities to view' there tended to be several vehicles at each sighting.

Suggestions for improvements:

Difficult to think of anything Expert Africa could do better. We are always delighted with the service and have recommended you to lots of friends.

It would have been helpful to have seen the questionnaire before we went so that we could make notes on relevant points as we went along. After three weeks and lots of locations it is a bit difficult to remember precise details for" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"I think the individual feedback says it all - we were enchanted with our accommodation, captivated by the people, intoxicated by the countryside, the flora and the fauna, not to mention the sea life.

The planning was perfect - we had been closely advised by Expert Africa and found the timings to be spot on - no stay in one place was too short, no stay too long. We were priviledged to have 40 days and the luxury of being able to enjoy two countries, we felt, at our leisure." Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 24 on a Namibia trip

"Officials generally were not very helpful or pleasant eg at border, NWR park receptions (Hobas, Sossusvlei, Anderson gate - exception Ai-Ais).

Betesda - one night here before Sossusvlei would have been enough, then straight on to Rostock Ritz for 2 nights from Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei - 4 wheel drive ticket is now NA$110pp
Solitaire - a must to stop off for petrol and atmsophere at Moose's for apple crumble and coffee - general buzz of overlanders

Etosha
Is it right that the park fees are not included in the Park Lodge accommodation costs?
Saw 11 lions watched game herds approaching Springbokfontein waterhole.
Etosha Pan look out is a must
Lunch stop at Namutoni, really liked the atmosphere and cleanliness of this site, nicely laid out.

Cape Interliner bus service to Livingstone was 1.5 hours late leaving Tsumeb and 3 hours late at Livingstone.

Exceptional help and planning from Sabina in organising our trip, thank you!

Suggestions for improvements:

Definitely we would recommend Expert Africa." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Zambia surpassed all expectations.

I wanted to go back to Zambia where I grew up and give my family a positive snapshot of the country. The Victoria Falls is indeed a natural wonder of the world and the helicopter flight along the gorges was thrilling.

Robin Pope Safaris were exceptional to the point that nothing else measured up! We saw all the game we had hoped to see and discovered the magnificent birds of Southern Africa. It was a pleasure to be in the company of such wonderful guides and staff.

My husband and youngest daughter are now converts to river fishing, having enjoyed it so much on the "Mighty Zambezi!"

Mozambique, Bazuruto Island was disappointing because of the activity staff's failure to engage with us. I would not recommend the resort to people who are not going to sunbathe all day." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"All I can say is that we had never expected to travel to Namibia before this holiday but after it, we are so glad we have.

Seeing wonderful animals such as leopard, cheetah, elephants, lions and hordes of antelopes etc. in the wild and with the assistance and genuine affection for their jobs of the local guides, we both feel as though we have experienced something no one else has had...

Obviously, other people are doing the same, but we were made to feel very special by almost all of the people we met and by their staff, and it really made a difference to our holiday. The local people seemed so friendly and attentive to tourists and many countries around the world could benefit from their 'ideas on customer service'. A superb trip all round." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"We could not fault a short but very special trip, which was touchingly ackowledged as such at several of the places we stayed.

We had stayed at all 4 places before and it was good to be recognised as returning, rather than new, guests.

Suggestions for improvements:

Keep up the current high standards! Sabina could not do enough to help. Again...................................." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 5 on a South Africa trip

"Our honeymoon was amazing.

From initial planning with Lucy, who was very patient, knowledgable and friendly we had high hopes for our trip and all our expectations were exceeded!! Thanks so much" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"the activities were as we expected or even better and the logistics worked smoothly throughout the whole trip" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Mozambique holiday