Reviews of trips to Livingstone & Victoria Falls

"Wonderful. We have had a short game trip in the Kruger many years ago but this exceeded our expectations. Ian used to live in Zambia as a teenager and this was his first visit back there for 45 years. He now wishes he had returned earlier. Gloria had never seen the Victoria Falls and she thought it was fantastic.

We thought Botswana and its people were delightful and would not hesitate to recommend this trip to our friends.

Thank you everyone.

Suggestions for improvement:

No very happy with the way the trip was organised." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"In a word - excellent.

We were also most impressed to receive a signed copy of Chris's book and about him giving up a hour or two after hours one friday evening to talk everything through and answer all our initial questions. We also found Lucy a fountain of useful information and suggestions, who also gave prompt answers to any queries I had." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"We had a fantastic trip. All the logistics worked out perfectly, our flights from camp to camp were all in the middle of the day so we didn't miss any activities and all the flights except the last one were without any stops and we were the only passengers. The only incident came on the trip back home, when our BA flight from joburg to heathrow had a 4 hour delay, so we missed our connection to Madrid and had to take a later flight. At least they didn't lose our bags!

We really liked the lodges & camps, most of them met or exceeded our expectations, and we will recommend them to friends, except perhaps Jack's Camp, which we didn't like that much: it's too stuffy and snobbish for our taste, the people there need to loosen up a bit. Also, we didn't like that they plan all the activities for you and don't tell you what the plan is when you arrive, it's like they want everything to be a big secret surprise, a bit childish and condescending.

All the rest were fine, our favorite was Duma Tau. I also loved Mapula because of its very relaxed and laid-back atmosphere and its focus on game viewing; my wife also liked it though she found it too rustic and less tidy than the others.

Expert Africa did an excellent job in organizing this trip, keeping us informed of changes (e.g., when NationWide Air went bankrupt and the flight was changed to BA), submitting all the info, etc. I especially liked the "camp availability chart" they sent us so we could figure out how to fit our preferred camps in the itinerary, that was a most useful tool for urs." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"We had a great trip. Good transport, great game viewing, excellent food and accomodation, very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable guides/lodge staff." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"We were delighted by the trouble and care Anna took from our first contact until our return - wonderful.

Everything Anna told us was true and we had an amazing holiday. my husband (it was for his 60th) said he will never forget this trip. He did question why we had never thought of going to Africa before now. all the camps and people involved wre of a very high standard and everyone was so caring and thoughtful.

A big thank you to Anna and we look forward to going back sometime in the not too distant future." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"Our holiday was fabulous! It all went very smoothly, and exceeded all our expectations.

It was all tremendous fun - we saw amazing things and met lovely people.

We have lots of wonderful memories and enough stories to last us years!

Suggestions for improvement:

No - you did a fantastic job for us!" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"The goriallas surpassed our expectations and this 4 day trip was a trip of a life time with 3 trecking days, the first day to see the golden monkeys and then 2 days of trecking to see the gorillas. Please be aware that with the animals each day you only get 1 hour of viewing time maximum.

South Luangwa lived up to our usual expections and the guys at Tafika base camp and the bush camps of Chikoko and Crocodile are some of the best in the area making a very good safari experience. My only comments here is they have to be careful when veting people to go on the bush camp trips as the make up of a group may affect the pleasure others get in this trip, i.e. mixing families with children with others on such a trip can be a downer. But certainly bush camps are for those who wish the real safari experience.

Toko Laya Safari Camp is an ideal place to finish yoru safari and catch the sights of Livingstone and the falls, a very well run and organsied camp despite having been only open since May 2008. A tribute to some of the good staff they have. The only issue that being in the game park next Livingstone it is not really a big game experince with no cats and not masses of wildlife. But a good place to relax and cover various experinces offered by the lodge.

Suggestions for improvement:

None
we were very well dealt with by Expert Africa and appreciated the opportunities to disucss fully when we wished to review/modify the itinerary." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"This was a fantastic holiday.The adjectives that come to mind are not sufficient. The variety of landscapes, sights, activities and experiences were wonderful. It was a really good family holiday also. There was something for all our children to do and they got something out of every place we went to. However, the highlight of the trip for our 6 year and 3 year old was the car being pulled out of sand in road works on a minor gravel road in the Caprivi Strip by a huge six-wheeled grader - and particularly the bit where the driver forgot to put the grader's handbrake on and had to chase it down the hill and jump into the cab! Our 10 year old cannot say what the best part of the holiday was. It was all great. We agree.

Namibia is a great country and should be on everyone's list of places to see. The people are friendly. It feels safe and there is none of the lurking tension that you feel at times in South Africa. We'd say it was like South Africa, but better. There is such a variety of things to do and places to see. The desert is stunning. The dunes at Sossusvlei should be on your list of 50 things to do before you die. Swakopmund was so relaxing and it was just nice to potter about there. The food was delicious - seafood near the coast, game inland - and cheap. The smell and sound of the seals at Cape Cross will stay with us forever! Etosha is (insert your own superlative here - words escape us)! The numbers and variety of animals is mind-blowing - and all from your own car window. You do safari at your pace and go where you want to go without 20 other camera toting tourists in the vehicle with you. While there are lots of other people in the park with you, it never seems busy. The roads are largely empty and you could be the only vehicle at a waterhole on many occasions. We had the fortunate experience of a leopard cub ambling about in the road in front of us without a care in the world and eventually leading us to its mother, with no other cars in sight. Try doing that in Kenya! The Caprivi Strip is an undiscovered gem. The river camps and lodges are all perfectly sited and the opportunities to see riverine wildlife are fantastic. Again, there are few other tourists around (for the present), but once word gets out this is sure to change. There is none of the mass safari tourism of East Africa in Namibia. See it while it stays like this.

We also enjoyed finishing the holiday off at Victoria Falls while relaxing at the Zambezi Sun. Victoria Falls is another 'must see' and again adjectives do not sufficiently describe the experience. Our only regret was not seeing more of Botswana, but time did not allow. People we met who had been to the Kalahari and Okavango Delta were impressed.

It was very helpful and consderate of Sabina to contact us in Swakopmund to inform us that the garage in Kongola had closed and so fuel was not available there.

This was probably our best holiday ever with memories to last a lifetime." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent honeymoon that we will never forget that has given us a real taster of Africa. We will be back !

Suggestions for improvement:

It would be useful rethinking your advice on luggage weight limits . You may have been giving official figures but on proflight there was no strict weight limit in practice." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Our itinerary was very well judged by you, given our tastes and interests, and the order of visiting parks ideal. We loved North Kafue for the wide open spaces, hippo, antelope and especially birds. We didn't see big game there - except zebra and a couple of elephants - and it may be that clients with narrower tastes and interests than us would not appreciate the region as much as we did (there were some US clients at Shumba who said they were bored!). Of course, visitors at this time of year need to take the prospect of low temperatures seriously.

This was truly a holiday of a lifetime, and we are very grateful to Expert Africa for helping to make it so. We hope to go again in future, and in the meantime will not be hesitating to recommend you to our friends.

We were sceptical whether we could cope with the low luggage allowance. We didn't need to be; we survived easily on 15 kilos between us, and didn't wear some bits! You could emphasise this aspect even more strongly in your notes (but also stress the need for warm clothes at this time of year)." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari