South Africa: reviews from our travellers

"We have had a wonderful few weeks, discovering new places and enjoying the return to old favourites. Namibia has changed in some ways since we first visited in 2000, but the rugged beauty and the solitude remains.

I’ll get the major disappointment out first, not that you can do anything about it - Simba don’t make tomato sauce flavour crisps any more! Disaster!

In general, we learnt a lot about how we personally need to plan travel in the future, both having gained various back/hip/knee problems since we last travelled any distance and, at times, feeling more than a mere three years older.

I don’t think we will consider ‘one night stands’ again, especially if it means an hour or more down a gravel road basically just to eat and sleep. Namtib and Ai Aibas are both beautiful places and we had no time to do them justice. We’re not early risers and we are slow drivers, who like to stop and look, which all combined to have us on the road 9.30-4.30 for several days, which was exhausting.

We did look at the hotels in several of the towns and wonder whether we won't be better off to stay somewhere like that as a transit stop.

We also need to carefully look at the lodges, to consider whether we can actually cope there. If there is a steep walk to the reception or lots of steps, it's difficult. Also, there's no point in going somewhere and finding that the walks involve hiking up a mountain!

Being experienced travellers to Namibia, we think we won't try one of your set itineraries again. We would prefer to custom-build, knowing that we will have sound advice from you. We have booked all our previous visits through you (or Sunvil, originally) and we wouldn't consider going anywhere else.

There are certain areas which we won't choose to visit again, because of the poor quality of the gravel roads. For instance, the roads around the entrance to Sossussvlei were appalling. The drive to Swakop, once past Solitaire, had nowhere to stop and seems endless. The one picnic area was infested with wasps - what a disappointment! Also, much as we love Etosha, we spent very little time driving to other waterholes because the roads are awful.


We found most other visitors were German, with far fewer from Britain than on our previous trips. Not a problem; just a comment.

We'd like to mention Wilderness Safaris, whose staff were excellent whilst we used their airport lounge and then in guiding us through the airport. Whilst we were there, we had an interesting conversation with a gentleman whose was a senior commercial officer for the airports authority. He was interested in our descriptions of how a trip to Namibia is viewed my many of our friends in the UK; namely, if they actually know where Namibia is, as bonkers and dangerous, particularly as we drive ourselves. He was considering what commercial measures could be taken to dispel any fears and misunderstandings amongst UK people.
However, we're quite happy if tourist numbers don't increase!

Altogether, an outstandingly brilliant time, no less than we expected!

Thank you." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"The planning, help and support we got from Tracy and Expert Africa were indispensable and perfect.

I could go on and on to detail all the little and big things that you all did to help. All the time Tracy was willing to spend on the phone and by email, the ability to kindly and thoroughly field and sort any query, your excellent materials, and the deep, broad personal knowledge of the country you bring to the process, are inestimably useful.

I can save your time and mine by simply saying you did superbly." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"We initially booked this trip with Expert Africa in late February/early March, 2020. Then Covid hit and the world went into lockdown. Maruska was our contact person from the start, making the reservations and setting up the itinerary for us.

We went through many ups and downs over the course of these two years, never sure if indeed the trip would materialize. Initially we postponed the September, 2020 trip to 2021, but it still did not seem wise to go then, so we postponed it to August/September, 2022. If we could have gotten most of our deposit returned, we would have cancelled the entire trip, with all of the continued worries and anxiety that Covid was inflicting on the world.

As Expert Africa has a firm policy of not returning deposits, we postponed the trip again to 2022. We are so glad we did! It all turned out fabulous, and thankfully, we remained healthy.

Throughout this long postponement, with the changes involved, Maruska was always exceedingly polite, understanding, and respectful of our worries and concerns. She did an extraordinary job arranging our trip, which involved four different countries, multiple flights, and many different camps.

The organization was outstanding and everything was seamless.

Truly incredible attention to detail. Thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Can’t think of any." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"All well planned, helpful preparation discussions with Sabina.

Only minor detail that went wrong was advice to shop in Keetmanhoop before entering South Africa through the Mata Mata gate only to have nearly all our food and firewood confiscated by SA Customs." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 10 on a South Africa trip

"We have been fortunate to travel the world, and this trip is on our very short list of the best ever - top 5 for sure!

Expert Africa could not have been more accommodating as our plans changed several times over the course of a couple of years due to Covid and other changes in people's lives. Tracy was very patient and understanding and we loved working with her. She is a gem!

I would highly recommend Tracy and Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Hard to improve on what was a nearly perfect experience with Expert Africa.

Thank you for everything!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Definitely one of the top holidays of our lifetime (so far!!), expertly put together and managed by Sabina at Expert Africa. We were recommended by friends who have used Expert Africa and would unreservedly recommend them ourselves. Sabina listened to what we wanted from the start and built the itinerary, timings and accommodation around that perfectly.

Overall driving distance was about 4,250km so it was a tough schedule, but everything we expected (and a quite a bit more).

Managed to see and pass through stunning scenery, stop at interesting places and observe a variety of wildlife from Southern Right whales in South Africa to the big cats in Namibia, not to mention the magnificent seasonal flora on display in the Namaqualand.

Everything was in place for us so minimising hassle." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, a very interesting and enjoyable trip." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We were very happy with our trip as a whole. All activities were happened as planned.

Expert Africa listened to what we wanted, but provided appropriate advice to ensure that we achieved a balanced holiday" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Our trip was orgianally booked in November of 2019 for August of 2020- then the pandemic hit. We briefly considered rebooking for 2021 but ultimately decided on July 2022. Maruska was patient and attentive through all of the contortions of those two years.
Early in our trip one member was ill and had to stay an additional day at our first lodge to recover. Maruska was on leave, but Expert Africa answered an email about the problem within 15 minutes. They were able to figure out rebooking the flights to our next camp as well as making sure that all parties involved knew of the problem and new schedule details.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: Wonderful service, no suggestions for improvement." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"This trip exceeded expectations. The accommodations and service were stellar. Along with outstanding encounters with wildlife, the guides and support staff at the camps were memorable.

I can’t say enough about Maruska who worked with us since 2019 to make this trip happen.

We cancelled twice due to Covid, and we are so happy she stuck with us to see it through!

Her recommendations for where to go and how long to stay were spot on for this group. She always communicated in a clear and timely manner. Maruska, I’ll miss working with you!
I also want to give a shout out to Claire who was covering for Marusaka and who stepped in when we had to stay over an extra night in Victoria Falls due to my husband’s illness. She was able to change the flights so we could get to Tafika, she somehow seamlessly arranged the ground transportation to the airport in Livingstone, and when we finally arrived late in Mfuwe, there was someone from Tafika waiting to drive us the 2.5 hour ride to camp. And she checked back in to see how my husband was doing, as did Maruska while she was on her vacation!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Expert Africa does a superb job. We hope we can plan a future trip with you folks, specifically, Maruska!

Thank you!!!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari