Travel reviews by Mr P&Mrs L from Derbyshire

"An excellent trip overall, with many memorable aspects, particularly for Linda on her first trip of this nature.

It largely went extremely smoothly, especially considering the significant amount of driving involved (through our own choice). There were times when we felt the driving instructions underestimated the journey times. It would be helpful on future occasions to stress that these times might be significantly longer with stops and, similarly, that roadworks in SA involve far greater holdups than in Europe.

In addition, although sign-posting is adequate in places, there were places where it disappeared entirely, including at the point where we needed to rejoin the N2 to return to Cape Town from Franschhoek. This would not be an issue for anyone with access to a GPS system, but that is not the case if one is trying to avoid the exorbitant charges either for mobile phone roaming or for activating the rental car's system. I would recommend that Expert Africa's documentation spell out these potential pitfalls.

On a different note, Linda was horrified to find several ticks on her body when we were in Franschhoek which, we suspect, might have attached themselves during a bush walk in Kariega, although this is by no means certain. We learnt from a local pharmacist that this is not an uncommon occurrence in summer and I would suggest that the trip documentation should warn of this possibility.

Although this form only asks for feedback on hotels booked through Expert Africa, I feel it is important to talk about the 2 hotels I booked myself.

I strongly recommend the Taj in Cape Town for anyone wishing to see the central sights of the city. Not only is it a beautiful hotel with excellent facilities and very high quality food outlets, but its location is perfect for sightseeing, shopping and choice of restaurants nearby. And its rates are more reasonable than other, well-located five-star establishments.

Similarly, the Plettenberg Hotel is, I feel, a good choice for anyone staying in that area and wanting easy access to both the town and the beach.

A word of warning for anyone staying nearby and tempted, as we were, to visit the Robberg Peninsula nature reserve. Although the setting is spectacular, the shortest hiking trail, which we chose, is a hair-raisingly difficult experience, visibly so even for people far younger than ourselves. At one point, there is no option to get back other than by hauling oneself by rope up a precipitously steep hillside.And there is no indication of the difficulty in the information provided at the ticket office or on the maps at the start of the trails."

"My overall feeling about the trip is very positive, notwithstanding the occasional (probably inevitable) minor niggle, referred to in individual sections.

Everything was organised extremely well, with no problems of logistics, and the experience I obtained of Namibia was varied and consistently interesting. All the lodges were of a very good standard, with comfortable facilities and good quality food - as, indeed, I would have expected, given the overall cost.

The constant moving around was, inevitably, somewhat wearing by the latter stages, but this was an unavoidable element of this type of trip which attempts to cover a significant amount of ground. And, by the end, I felt I had acquired some satisfying insight into the country and its cultures, even if a trip of this nature can never hope to do much more than scratch the surface."