Travel reviews by Dr C & Mr P from BC
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
4
Countries visited
5
Lodges stayed in
16
Excursions taken
1
My Mar 2024 trip
Kenya between 11 Mar 2024 and 30 Mar 2024
"once again Claire has hit it out of the park. Her attention to detail is outstanding. The weakest camp for us was Tortillis as it was large and had not a lot of animal life. We loved Kifaru house and want to return. We also did the conservation tour at Lewa which included meeting the dog tracking team--would highly recommend this to any other travellers. There are only 3 days a week on which it is possible to do this but it is well worthwhile. We also liked elephant pepper camp --the sheer volume of animal life there was amazing.
Suggestions to help us improve our tripsor our service Not any I can think of."
Suggestions to help us improve our tripsor our service Not any I can think of."
Arranged By Claire Scott
Karen Gables
"Karen Gables review"
5 nights
Arrived
14 Mar 2024
"a wonderful oasis of calm. it felt like our home. the staff were truly delightful and looked after us. Would go back in a heart beat. A minor concern is that the menu is very limited in choices."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Nairobi Elephant Orphanage visit
"Nairobi Elephant Orphanage visit review"
18 Mar 2024 • Morning excursion
i loved the interaction with the elephants. I have to say I preferred the giraffe sanctuary to the sheldrake. There is something quite monetary about the elephant sanctuary--I am sure their expenses are high, but there was a constant push for more donations, more gift purchases etc that was a bit off putting.
Kifaru House
"Kifaru House review"
4 nights
Arrived
19 Mar 2024
"magical!! staff were top notch. Sasha is a remarkable host. Godfrey a superb guide. All the house staff were attentive and very friendly. The food was also impeccably served and delicious. Our room was spacious and clean with a stunning view over the valley. Cannot wait to go back."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Eland
5 sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
1 sighting
Leopard
2 sightings
Lion
6 sightings
Pangolin
1 sighting
Spotted Hyena
2 sightings
Striped Hyena
1 sighting
Wild dog
1 sighting
Zebra
10+ sightings
Tortilis Camp
"Tortilis Camp review"
3 nights
Arrived
23 Mar 2024
"staff were very friendly and food was excellent. Tents were clean and basic. The camp is quite large and we prefer smaller camps. It was not busy when we were there but i can imagine if the camp was full it would be overwhelming."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
6 sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
6 sightings
Hippo
3 sightings
Lion
5 sightings
Oryx
2 sightings
Wildebeest
2 sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Elephant Pepper Camp
"Elephant Pepper Camp review"
4 nights
Arrived
26 Mar 2024
"loved elephant pepper camp. The staff were outstanding. Our waiter Robert was attentive and fabulous about making sure we were cared for. Our last dinner he had us in a separate tent with candle lighting. Moses is a great manager. We had Rinka as our guide who was very good. overall would definitely go back I like the smaller camp!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Buffalo
10+ sightings
Eland
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Hippo
10+ sightings
Lion
10+ sightings
Spotted Hyena
10+ sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Back to Africa after covid
South Africa between 22 Oct 2022 and 10 Nov 2022
"it was SO lovely to be back in Africa.
I had missed the bush so much--the smells, the sights, the animals.
Babylonstoren was a true delight--a great way to unplug. Cape Town was vibrant and beautiful
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
keep giving the great service that we have always had from you. I constantly tell people about expert africa.
Many of my colleagues are "afraid" of travelling to Africa which I find odd.
I keep telling them about how your team looks after ALL the details and that you are always there to sort out any issues that arise."
I had missed the bush so much--the smells, the sights, the animals.
Babylonstoren was a true delight--a great way to unplug. Cape Town was vibrant and beautiful
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
keep giving the great service that we have always had from you. I constantly tell people about expert africa.
Many of my colleagues are "afraid" of travelling to Africa which I find odd.
I keep telling them about how your team looks after ALL the details and that you are always there to sort out any issues that arise."
Arranged By Claire Scott
Hotel Verde
"Hotel Verde review"
1 night
Arrived
24 Oct 2022
"our flight was a bit late so arrived at midnight and had to be up for the first shuttle at 0400. Room was clean and shuttle was prompt.
It would have been helpful to know that we had to walk through the Cape Town airport to the shuttle area to pick up the hotel verde shuttle. We sorted it out though so no big problem"
It would have been helpful to know that we had to walk through the Cape Town airport to the shuttle area to pick up the hotel verde shuttle. We sorted it out though so no big problem"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Good
Rooms
Average
Kwandwe Ecca Lodge
"Kwandwe Ecca Lodge review"
4 nights
Arrived
25 Oct 2022
"room was totally amazing and the level of service was impeccable. Food was great.
Jason , our guide/driver was a font of knowledge and always happy and optimistic. Nosi, our tracker, was an eagle eye--we saw SO much simply from Nosi's expertise. We were only able to do one short late morning walk due to the wind (Jason explained that the dense shrubbery of Kwandwe could be treacherous during windy days--difficult to hear and smell game) But I still got a great video of a dung beetle on that walk so I was content.
I would have loved to have been able to stay for longer. Not the same game density as South Luongo park but still had great viewing."
Jason , our guide/driver was a font of knowledge and always happy and optimistic. Nosi, our tracker, was an eagle eye--we saw SO much simply from Nosi's expertise. We were only able to do one short late morning walk due to the wind (Jason explained that the dense shrubbery of Kwandwe could be treacherous during windy days--difficult to hear and smell game) But I still got a great video of a dung beetle on that walk so I was content.
I would have loved to have been able to stay for longer. Not the same game density as South Luongo park but still had great viewing."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Buffalo
Many sightings
Cheetah
4 sightings
Eland
5 sightings
Elephant
3 sightings
Giraffe
7 sightings
Lion
9 sightings
Oryx
1 sighting
White Rhino
6 sightings
Wildebeest
1 sighting
Zebra
6 sightings
Babylonstoren
"Babylonstoren review"
5 nights
Arrived
29 Oct 2022
"totally amazing!! loved the Fynbo cottage. The food was amazing!!!! We could have stayed for longer.
I can't say enough about the staff--they were superb!!
Loved the mountain drive. The mountain bikes were great although we did use the golf cart to get to dinner (no lights on the bikes so I was too nervous to ride in the dark)
We would definitely go back Loved that we could purchase salad and dinner fixings at the store and then prepare our own meal in our cottage (we did that one night)"
I can't say enough about the staff--they were superb!!
Loved the mountain drive. The mountain bikes were great although we did use the golf cart to get to dinner (no lights on the bikes so I was too nervous to ride in the dark)
We would definitely go back Loved that we could purchase salad and dinner fixings at the store and then prepare our own meal in our cottage (we did that one night)"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Cape Grace
"Cape Grace review"
6 nights
Arrived
3 Nov 2022
"As you know, we had a bumpy first day at the Cape Grace. Looking back, I think this was due to a new employee who dropped the ball a little, leaving us sitting in a room for 90 minutes until Jim call the front desk to find out what was going on. The employee had left for the day and the newly assigned room was not cleaned (empty wine bottle on the floor , broken mirror in the BR etc etc.) These were sorted out and the balance of our stay was good.
Don't think I would go back for six nights again, though--would rather stay at Babylonstoren and just do a few days in the city. The level of service is not yet back to what it was 10 years ago but there were moments where we saw that again so hopefully it will come back to what it was. (For example, the new employee just told Jim that he should just 'carry on ' to the plane the walking stick that had been hard carved for him by Niso at Kwandwe--a few days later when we asked the cashier about shipping options she immediately suggested tons of bubble wrap and quickly had someone do it for us with no extra charge).
The walking stick got home safely as hand luggage because it was not distinguishable as a walking stick That level of service was what it had been before covid."
Don't think I would go back for six nights again, though--would rather stay at Babylonstoren and just do a few days in the city. The level of service is not yet back to what it was 10 years ago but there were moments where we saw that again so hopefully it will come back to what it was. (For example, the new employee just told Jim that he should just 'carry on ' to the plane the walking stick that had been hard carved for him by Niso at Kwandwe--a few days later when we asked the cashier about shipping options she immediately suggested tons of bubble wrap and quickly had someone do it for us with no extra charge).
The walking stick got home safely as hand luggage because it was not distinguishable as a walking stick That level of service was what it had been before covid."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Facilities
Good
Magical Zambia and Zimbabwe
Zambia and 1 other country between 4 May 2018 and 22 May 2018
"Expert Africa does it again! Claire is fantastic about listening to what you want and delivering. Our trip went smoothly.
The only complaint is that I never feel it is long enough--I could happily spent a month in the bush. I loved 4 nights at each camp. Shorter stays means that you are constantly packing and moving. The next trip I will look at hiring private air charters rather than using commercial flights between safari camps -- for the extra cost, I think it would be worthwhile.
Freddie Sutton took over during Claire's absence and did a fine job getting all the information to us.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
keep doing what you are doing!"
The only complaint is that I never feel it is long enough--I could happily spent a month in the bush. I loved 4 nights at each camp. Shorter stays means that you are constantly packing and moving. The next trip I will look at hiring private air charters rather than using commercial flights between safari camps -- for the extra cost, I think it would be worthwhile.
Freddie Sutton took over during Claire's absence and did a fine job getting all the information to us.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
keep doing what you are doing!"
Arranged By Claire Scott
Latitude 15
"Latitude 15 review"
1 night
Arrived
4 May 2018
"Lovely property only stayed one night.
A bit of a mixup at checkin as they only had reserved one room for the two couples, but it was handled well and the other couple were given a beautiful apartment at the rear of the property for the night ."
A bit of a mixup at checkin as they only had reserved one room for the two couples, but it was handled well and the other couple were given a beautiful apartment at the rear of the property for the night ."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Nkwali
"Good game viewing"
4 nights
Arrived
5 May 2018
"great game viewing.
Our guide Brantson used a jeep without a cover -- we got drenched one night when caught out on the evening game drive. I felt ponchos should have been in the jeep and offered to us to use if we wished.
Game viewing was good lots of leopard sightings. Brantson was very knowledgable.
The camp manager , Kiki, was excellent--very informative and made everyone feel very welcome."
Our guide Brantson used a jeep without a cover -- we got drenched one night when caught out on the evening game drive. I felt ponchos should have been in the jeep and offered to us to use if we wished.
Game viewing was good lots of leopard sightings. Brantson was very knowledgable.
The camp manager , Kiki, was excellent--very informative and made everyone feel very welcome."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
1 sighting
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
Many sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
Kapamba Bushcamp
"fabulous magical camp "
4 nights
Arrived
9 May 2018
"I was astonished at how lovely this Bushcamp is--magical at night with the solar lighting. Loved the rooms.
Loved how meals were eaten at different locations and the quality of the food. My favourite was having sundowners IN the river complete with a brazier which produced delicious kabobs to go with our sundowners. (And, the piece de resistance, a herd of elephants who walked across the river in the distance appearing as black silhouettes against the orange and purple and red sunset.)
Our guide, Steve , was excellent--we did lots of walking each day. Had several good leopard sightings and saw my first porcupine!"
Loved how meals were eaten at different locations and the quality of the food. My favourite was having sundowners IN the river complete with a brazier which produced delicious kabobs to go with our sundowners. (And, the piece de resistance, a herd of elephants who walked across the river in the distance appearing as black silhouettes against the orange and purple and red sunset.)
Our guide, Steve , was excellent--we did lots of walking each day. Had several good leopard sightings and saw my first porcupine!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Buffalo
1 sighting
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
Many sightings
Lion
1 sighting
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Zebra
Many sightings
Avani Victoria Falls
"Safe and clean"
1 night
Arrived
13 May 2018
"large property located on the falls. Sadly, we arrived after 6pm when the gate to the falls was closed and had to leave at 0700 am the next morning.
The gate to the Falls was supposed to open at 6am but we waited until 630am with no-one in sight to unlock the gate. We had previously been to Victoria Falls in the dry season so we weren't devastated but we were disappointed.
Room was clean but nothing special. We ate at the restaurant where the service was spotty at best."
The gate to the Falls was supposed to open at 6am but we waited until 630am with no-one in sight to unlock the gate. We had previously been to Victoria Falls in the dry season so we weren't devastated but we were disappointed.
Room was clean but nothing special. We ate at the restaurant where the service was spotty at best."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Good
Service
Average
Activities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Sightings report
Zebra
1 sighting
Camp Hwange
"Tented camp"
4 nights
Arrived
14 May 2018
"tented rooms were clean and had a nice outlook onto a water hole. Main lodge had a campfire around which we gathered each evening prior to dinner and which was lit in the morning if you wished to warm up. The mornings were quite chilly so definitely needed my down vest for game drives. Loved the hot water bottles which were put in our beds each night.
Try to go when the French investors are not in camp--they tend to take over while there and it flavours the whole experience. Two of them smoked while we were there and I saw one of them simply drop his cigarette and grind it out in the sand in front of the lodge.
We had a very bad experience with a trainee guide which Julian dealt with and which I won't go into details here. Julian is a superb Zimbabwean trained guide with a wealth of knowledge. His story telling is magical as he talks about the lions Lots of good walking here, but is always preceded by a drive to get to a walking location."
Try to go when the French investors are not in camp--they tend to take over while there and it flavours the whole experience. Two of them smoked while we were there and I saw one of them simply drop his cigarette and grind it out in the sand in front of the lodge.
We had a very bad experience with a trainee guide which Julian dealt with and which I won't go into details here. Julian is a superb Zimbabwean trained guide with a wealth of knowledge. His story telling is magical as he talks about the lions Lots of good walking here, but is always preceded by a drive to get to a walking location."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Average
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Sightings report
Buffalo
1 sighting
Elephant
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
Many sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Zebra
Many sightings
Vundu Camp
"Bush camp on the Zambezi river"
4 nights
Arrived
18 May 2018
"Nice location on the banks of the Zambezi river. Camp is a bit worn, bed linen was very worn. My bed sheets were badly stained and I had to ask for it to be replaced (which it was ).
Breakfast was minimal. No protein just carbohydrates. Toast and granola etc. There seemed to be a shortage of guides while we were in camp. Steve was hired by one camper as his private guide leaving Henry to deal with six of us. Two of these people did not want to walk due to health issues so we were quite limited for the first day despite our wish for lots of bush walks.
The next day, the couple who did not want to walk requested Henry to themselves and so we were in a bit of a pickle. Daryl (the manager) had to go to the airport to pickup more campers. Fortunately Steve was freed up for the day as the fellow who had hired him as a private guide decided to stay in the camp , so our day was rescued and we had a wonderful morning walk in the bush. Definitely will be back to Mana Pools. Uncertain if we will be back to Vundu Camp.
Dinners were excellent kudos to the chef loved eating en famille. Daryl and Melanie were wonderful hosts and there was lots of lovely dinner conversations."
Breakfast was minimal. No protein just carbohydrates. Toast and granola etc. There seemed to be a shortage of guides while we were in camp. Steve was hired by one camper as his private guide leaving Henry to deal with six of us. Two of these people did not want to walk due to health issues so we were quite limited for the first day despite our wish for lots of bush walks.
The next day, the couple who did not want to walk requested Henry to themselves and so we were in a bit of a pickle. Daryl (the manager) had to go to the airport to pickup more campers. Fortunately Steve was freed up for the day as the fellow who had hired him as a private guide decided to stay in the camp , so our day was rescued and we had a wonderful morning walk in the bush. Definitely will be back to Mana Pools. Uncertain if we will be back to Vundu Camp.
Dinners were excellent kudos to the chef loved eating en famille. Daryl and Melanie were wonderful hosts and there was lots of lovely dinner conversations."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average
Sightings report
Buffalo
1 sighting
Eland
Many sightings
Elephant
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Zebra
Many sightings
We can hardly wait to go back
Tanzania between 12 Oct 2009 and 25 Oct 2009
"I always think that the theory of relativity applies to holidays in that time seems to be SO much shorter in Africa than back in the reality of work and the cold of Canada.
It helps to use the expert services of the staff at Expert AFrica who know their business inside and out. We will definitely be back to Africa and will be using Expert Africa again.
Suggestions for improvements:
None off the top of my head."
It helps to use the expert services of the staff at Expert AFrica who know their business inside and out. We will definitely be back to Africa and will be using Expert Africa again.
Suggestions for improvements:
None off the top of my head."
Arranged By Claire Scott
Beho Beho
"repeat trip better than the first"
10 nights
Arrived
13 Oct 2009
"Beho Beho is like our African family. The guides and staff are simply exceptional . We were in Banda 5, the "honeymoon suite" with a spectacular new outdoor bathtub."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Oyster Bay
"beautiful hotel"
2 nights
Arrived
23 Oct 2009
"beautiful minimalist design rooms spectacular ocean front views Marita is an excellent hostess"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent