South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"We had a family visit at the centre of this trip and the itinerary was built around it. Had it not been for the Stellenbosch hotel mistake this would have been a 99.5% success but the D'Ouwe dragged it down to a 98%er.

We love your holidays and the efficiency and expert kowledge you apply to getting it right for us. Long may it continue. We look forward to planning a Namibia/Botswana combo with you for 2009!

Oddly the only Okavango camp we have not wanted to return to was Sandibe also run by CCA who manage Kwandwe. We felt the Sandibe buildings similarly poorly suited to the environment. I would welcome the opportunity to talk about the Kwandwe management, the D'Ouwe Werf and Samara game." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"As a complete trip it was brilliant with many wonderful highlights. Until we got to Kulala the arrangements worked flawlessly. Only then did things begin to go wrong and these all happened on Wilderness Safaris' "watch". From then on the trip had an element of stress it did not have before since we constantly had to keep on checking things like whether they had packed fruit on the game drives for my wife instead of cake (on 2 days they forgot!). I know you have already been in contact with them and I await the outcome.

Thank you Expert Africa!" Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Absolutely first class, our best holiday ever. We particularly valued the itinerary you had prepared for us, which gave us all we wanted to see. The flowers in Namaqualand fully justified starting the trip from Cape Town, and Fish River, Namib/Naukluft, Damaraland and Etosha gave us some absolutely memorable experiences. Clearly there was much we have yet to see, but this holiday has been a start.

We particularly appreciated leaving Etosha to the end: on the way northwards we were fascinated by our sightings of lifestock, but these were as nothing to what we saw round some of the Etosha waterholes, and had we seen the latter first, the others would have been less exciting for us.

We were also pleased with all the accommodation arranged for us, which with only limited exceptions, was all delightful and comfortable, with exceedingly friendly welcomes..

Suggestions for improvement:

Keep doing as you are doing!" Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"Fantastic, amazing.

Nearly all UK travellers we met had arranged their trips via Expert Africa - what more needs to be said? We've travelled with you 3 times now and we wouldn't even contemplate looking elsewhere." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Hate questionnaires and my t is overcooked!
always glad to help" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip

"Everything worked perfectly from start to finished. All the arrangements made were perfect and the whole trip hassle free and very enjoyable.

It was a most memorable experience and one we would like to build on sometime.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Given our fantastic experience I cannot offer any advice on how you could improve! We were very impressed.

Many thanks to Claire for arranging such a perfect trip!!!!!!!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a South Africa trip

"The Scenery is fabulous and the visit was well worth while.

There were problems with some aspects which detracted from the overall experience - poor vehicle from Europcar, some booking problems, some places where wer appeared to get the worst of the accomodation that was on offer, rather than the best.." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"Wonderful trip and Expert Africa delivered what they promised. No hiccups or adverse surprises" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a South Africa trip

"The holiday itinerary you put together for us was exactly what we had asked you for. We got to see a tremendous range of scenery - both urban and rural, both coastal and inland - together with a good taste of the natural flora and fauna. The guesthouses and hotels you selected for us were superb (see below)and the travelling distances sensibly achievable whilst allowing us plenty of time to see and enjoy each area.

Our dealings with Expert Africa were an entirely happy and stress free experience - from Claire's advice throughout the planning of the holiday, to Jill's attention on the ground in South Africa.

We will most definitely be recommending you and hope to be able to travel with you again in the future. Well done - a perfect example of excellent customer service in an industry which at times struggles!!

Thank you once again Claire - we hadn't been on holiday for 8 years, so this was a very important break for us and you were instrumental in making it wonderful.

Thank you so much." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a South Africa trip

"We had a great time, only spoiled by the antics of Europcar" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 2 on a South Africa trip