Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Hampshire
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
3
Countries visited
3
Lodges stayed in
14
Excursions taken
1
My Mar 2022 trip, 2 camps,1 Kalahari mobile safari
Botswana between 23 Mar 2022 and 7 Apr 2022
Tracy's input goes way beyond anything we could hope to expect, and her tireless enthusiasm and friendliness pays off big time. She is immensely knowledgable about every camp and quite a magician when it comes to satisfying everyone's hopes and desires for the trip.
Thanks Tracy and thank you Expert Africa. We've travelled with you 3 times now and are already looking forward to planning our fourth!"
Arranged By Tracy Lederer
Little Machaba
"Small, intimate and wonderful!"
Kwara Camp
"Mind-blowingly brilliant!"
Each room was breathtaking, the staff were exemplary and the game drives were full of animals, birds and very special experiences - we even saw a cheetah kill.
We loved the rule of only 3 vehicles at one sighting, even if it meant we left to allow another in. This is so much better for the wildlife and we felt this made a difference to how many sightings we had. Everyone at the camp worked tirelessly to give us the very best experience.
We can't wait to go back!"
Botswana Private Mobile Safari
"AMAZING!"
Even with a pride of lion in our camp deep in the Kalahari, with no one else around, we always felt safe and as though we were getting the very best wildlife experiences. One of the group observed she hadn't felt this safe since before the pandemic!
We saw cheetah, hartebeest, kudu, jackals, bat-eared foxes, 2 African wildcat sightings and many Secretary birds as well as a massive herd of giraffe, and many, many springbok, oryx and wildebeest. With no wifi and hardly another person or vehicle for 6 days, we all felt we had finally encountered wildlife totally unaffected or interfered with by humans. It was phenomenal."
My Sep 2018 trip
Namibia and 2 other countries between 9 Sep 2018 and 26 Sep 2018
From the subtle differences between lodges regarding cost, solitude (which we love) and what we could expect to see, to the painful rearranging of flights when airlines change schedules, every element has been handled by Tracy with true expertise, professionalism, insight and smart advice. Thank you so much!
We travelled with 4 American friends and sorting out bill payments was very easy for all of us. Two of them had not been on safari before, one of them celebrating their 60th birthday while we were away, and it could not have been a better experience. The magical surprise birthday braai at Motswiri was a highlight, along with all the animal and bird sightings under the expert guiding of Andrew Harkness on our mobile safari (thanks for the spot-on recommendation, Tracy!)
Altogether a trip of lifetime - thank you everyone involved.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Happy with everything thanks."
Arranged By Tracy Lederer
Olive Grove
"Olive Grove review"
Our second stay there and we'd definitely go back!"
Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
The hot air balloon ride that was included in our package was a trip of a lifetime. The guiding was great.
Only sadness is that the upcoming major upgrade will probably price it out of our range, but delighted that we got a chance to stay there now. The massage we took was also top-class.
Thank you all! (Also saw our first ever aardwolf - awesome!)"
Ballooning in the Namib Desert
"Ballooning in the Namib Desert review"
13 Sep 2018 • Morning excursion
Thamo Telele
"Royal Tree Lodge review"
Julius was the perfect host, we really loved our 2 nights here."
Botswana Private Mobile Safari
"Botswana Private Mobile Safari review"
We had an amazing 3 nights with them - can't believe the number of animals we saw and also the incredibly high standard of food all cooked on an open fire and in a Dutch oven. Very impressive indeed!
Huge thanks to Andrew, Patrick, Alec, LB and P."
Motswiri Camp, Botswana (this camp has since closed)
"Motswiri Camp review"
Two Boy, our guide, was full of fascinating local knowledge about animals, birds, plants and insects. John also gave a lot of great insight into the natural world. BK is a superb host who, along with lovely team, all put in a lot of effort to make our stay truly magical - thank you!
It was also fun to have walking and boat safaris for a change."
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Ilala Lodge
"Ilala Lodge review"
In our view, this is the best hotel in Victoria Falls. Staff couldn't have been more helpful, and the food is very good. Thanks to all.
Ask them to contact Chris Worden to come and give his David Livingstone talk - it was fantastic."
My Apr 2014 trip
Botswana and 2 other countries between 13 Apr 2014 and 28 Apr 2014
Would travel with Expert Africa again and also recommend.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not really.
A couple of issues came up for the friends we were traveling with (Mack Air) - but as Ian and I weren't on that plane we've left it to them to report what happened. As advised very clearly by you before we left, they reported what had happened straight away to the camp manager and the problem was dealt with right away and to everyone's satisfaction. Altogether a very clear process in booking and very clear guidelines for what to do if things aren't right along the way.
Many thanks indeed for a tremendous trip."
Ilala Lodge
"superb centrally located lodge"
Kazuma Trails - Savuti (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"Well resourced, knowledgable"
Saw a tremendous amount and felt great care was taken of us."
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Chobe Princesses
"great location, good boat"
Room's toilet cystern took 2 hours to fill and mosquito doors had half inch gap that we had to sellotape up."
Chitabe Lediba
"Completely fabulous. Very high standard"
Little Kwara (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"Lovely lodge with fab sightings"
Superb staff and good attention to detail, lovely food and some wonderful sightings. Great effort put into finding the animals we hoped to see."
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
We loved Little Machaba, the food and staff were fabulous, the setting glorious, and the game drives were amazing.
Highly recommend and we'd love to go back."