Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs K from Maidstone

"A very good trip. We have steered clear of Kenya for many years because it has become so popular and crowded but felt we would like to give it a try again in the hope that we might see the wildebeest crossing the rivers with all the action that the crossing produces.

In the event we were unsuccessful in that regard because animals are not always predictable! Having entered the Mara pretty much on schedule they decided to turn round and go back into Tanzania. In fact this the third year running they have not travelled as far north as previously.

In this respect it was our fault for relying on historic data and we had not taken the trouble to update ourselves on recent trends. It will always be difficult to make predictions on this subject and while there are websites which give up to date information this is not relevant at the time one has to make a booking.


This disappointment was compensated by several rare sightings. We were able to spend a lot of time and able to follow a Serval mother and three kittens and on two separate occasions we witnessed a cheetah making a successful chase and kill right in front of us. Over many years of going on safari we have occasionally seen cheetahs with the result of a successful chase and kill but never before have we seen the actual chase right in front of us.

We selected the two camps because they are operated by a company with several locations in southern Africa and who work with Expert Africa and whose camps we have visited at four other locations in Tanzania and where we were suitably impressed.

One particular aspect which pleased us was the flexibility of the ranger/guides to check with their guests on the duration of the trips. The fact that we always had a packed breakfast with us meant the duration of each trip was not governed by the need to get back for a cooked meal."

"This was our fifth visit to the area spanning sixteen years and, sadly, the least satisfying - a mixed bag of excellence and disappointment.

Let's start with the positives.

For thirty years now we have been making almost annual trips to Africa to see and photograph wildlife visiting many different countries. Of all those visited there is no question in our opinion that the Tanzanians are the very best people when it comes to friendliness and the provision of hospitality and service.

The next major plus point is the service provided by Expert Africa's agents in Tanzania. You really felt looked after by their staff - staffing levels are excellent. As an example, we needed some medical advice which resulted in the need for some antibiotic medicine. No problem - they just flew it up from Arusha on the next flight.

Other ways they provided satisfaction was in the way little changes to the daily plan were taken on board and executed.

We choose to go to these areas in Tanzania to enable us to see cheetah. This is where our first disappointment happened. There seem to be fewer sightings compared with many years ago (we readily accept that no animal sighting can be guaranteed anywhere).

Years ago we would see two or even three separate cheetah sightings on any one day. On this trip we saw only six sightings over an eight day visit to the area.
In this same period over the years there has been a gradual increase in the number of lion sightings and total lion numbers. This puts greater pressure on the cheetah who are often killed by lions. Also this means that when a cheetah is found it is immediately surrounded by vehicles and this pressure may be driving them away.

We witnessed one outrageous situation where three cheetah on a kill were corralled by twenty vehicles in three concentric circles with a clear area of no more than 10 to 12 meters diameter. The stress levels shown on the poor animal's faces was clear to see. This behaviour by tourists has got to be controlled! But the commercial interests rule. Years ago there were some four or five operating companies, now it seems there are forty five - you see a new name on a vehicle numerous times a day."

"This was the first time in five visits where we got our timing wrong regarding the location of the migrating animals (the start of the migration). The weather pattern was slightly different from normal years in that this year there had been a second "short rains season". However, there were enough animals to provide adequate sightings and so the overall experience was good albeit somewhat different from being surrounded by vast numbers of the migrating animals as we have been on previous visits at the same time.

We were pleased to find that you are still able to traverse "off-road" in the Ngorongoro Conservation area (round the Ndutu area) and this enables you to get closer to some of the sightings and to get optimum camera angles. You are not allowed to go off-road in the Crater itself nor indeed in the Serengeti so with somewhat fewer animals in the Serengeti at this time this year we did not get as many photo opportunities as on previous occasions. The number of animals in the Crater does not vary much from year to year as they tend to remain within the crater.

On a personal note we were very pleased with the way in which my wife was assisted as she is partially disabled and the assistance provided at all locations and by our guide ensured she was able to participate fully in all viewings."

"A three week trip including 9 separate flights and 3 countries worked well.

It is reassuring to have the expertise of Expert Africa to arrange all the local contacts, meet & greet personnel and transfers that ensures all the elements fit together."

"A new area for us but well worth the trip."

"We used two new camps which we had not visited previously and one where we have been regular visitors.

The two new camps exceeded our expectations and will feature for certain on any future visit to the areas."

"Everything fitted into place well - the individual elements and transfers worked on schedule.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We have used Expert Africa for many years and have utmost confidence in their organising abilities and information for our trips."

"As a regular client of Expert Africa we received the normal high level of attention to our needs."

"No more comment necessary

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Cannot comment on the web site as I only refer to your brochure and telephone discussions with staff. I also have extensive knowledge of many of the areas we go to."

"We are experienced safari travellers and therefore do not go overboard with comments.

We know what we expect from certain areas we visit and plan our locations with the objective of seeing particular types of animal and bird.

We also know that "nothing is guaranteed".

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Regarding the "I can't comment" fields, I have not used your website much at all - perhaps I should have done - I tend to rely on direct telephone contact with the EA staff. On quotations, again I discuss at length with the staff to get the location and accommodation which I think meets our needs and is right on price."

"One of our best trips in terms of the complete package. A wide variety of locations giving us a range of different environments and animal sightings with a good mixture of land and water.

If I were arranging it again I would not have put Tafika, Nsefu and Tena Tena all together - just two of the three would have sufficed - probably Tafika plus Tena Tena to give a slight variation of environment."

"The visa waiver situation did not work on this occasion. This needs to be discused and further clarification made.
Please come back to me to discuss in detail."

Feedback response

We’re delighted that these travellers enjoyed their trip (and rated it as 'Excellent'), but sorry that they didn’t succeed in getting their visa fee waived by the Zambian immigration officials. Sadly this is never guaranteed. That’s why we always ask our travellers to carry enough US dollars on them to be able to purchase a visa if necessary.

That said, it’s thankfully rare for our travellers not to get their visa fee waived, and having learned from this traveller’s experience, we have adjusted our notes and procedures slightly – to further increase the chances of a fee-waived visa.