Reviews of trips to Lusaka area

"Thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and hope to return sometime. Our stay at Tafika was the highlight" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"A wonderful trip and I long to return.

The wildlife and birds were incredible most especially at South Luangwa. We thoroughly enjoyed the contrasts between the three national parks and in the case of Kafue the contrasts between Kaingu, Musekese and Busanga Plains. Victoria Falls is not to be missed on any trip to Zambia.

We travelled independently for part of our trip on coaches, local minibuses and taxis. I would like to finish with a tribute to the Zambian people. Everywhere we went the warmth and friendliness of these gentle people shone through. As I said earlier I long to return.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No everything was perfect" Read full review: 36 nights in Africa; 21 on a Zambia safari

"Well this was a trip of superlatives but there is a problem and they are aware of it, something I discussed over dinner with Grant Cummings the owner of Chiawa and Old Mondoro who was on a quick visit and a charming man. He is on the case!

The park has 6 Lodges but further down the river there are over 20 lodges all using the same park some travelling 90+ Kms to get through the gate as a result when on game drives you see lots of vehicles and 10 vehicles round a leopard at the price you are paying is not on! Gladly our guides agreed and as I have been lucky enough to have seen it all before we moved off and left the crowds to it.

So I would not return to Chongwe or Chiawa for that single reason although the Camps are superb.

So that leaves Old Mondoro further up the river the crowds do not get there, it is not as luxurious as the other two camps but you never see another vehicle apart from the other that belongs to the camp and that only happens when you have a good sighting and they radio each other so fine and great talking point over diner that night. Ryan and Pam who run the camp are a delight.

Its beauty is also in its intimacy only 4 tents and for me the best wildlife of all the 3 camps. Would I go back YES just have to save up! For anybody reading this and fancy it go for a week and book up soon they already have reservations for 2017! Loved it" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Our trip was excellent. Thank you, Maruska, for suggesting we add the Lower Zambezi to our trip; it really did offer another dimension, balancing our overall experience.

One disappointment, and I'm not sure who knew what when, or if Expert Africa knew at all, was the added traffic flow caused by BBC filming in South Luangwa. They were given special permission to operate all hours of day and night, and when present at lion and leopard sightings their crew usually added 3-vehicles, making some of our sightings very congested. I had chosen the northern sector of the park, particularly for its lesser density. I know how much the publicity is good for the park, and the wildlife, I just selfishly wish it hadn't interfered with my own experience.

I had initially wanted to add Zambia to our proposed trip to Namibia and Botswana, but our trip was becoming far too long, so we opted to take a 'warm-up' instead. I'm glad we did, as we've opted to go with a private guide/vehicle during our second Africa visit. This will give us more say in what we see and how much time we spend where, something very important in obtaining good photographs.

Expert Africa's arrangements worked flawlessly. Thank you." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 16 on a Zambia safari

"A great trip!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Overall the trip was enormously enjoyable and successful.

We thought that our visits to Lilongwe and Chipata, both the SOS Children's villages and the experience of smaller towns, added considerable interest to the trip and added an extra dimension to the safaris, since we met local people and saw the country beyond the slightly false environment of the safari camps. Everyone we met was extremely friendly and welcoming. We also enjoyed our short stay in Nairobi, staying as before at the excellent but unfussy Fairview Hotel.

The safaris were very enjoyable. Lion Camp was our favourite of the two camps and could not be faulted, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone. Its location is exceptional and the game plentiful. We saw lots lions, a leopard on 3 occasions and many elephants - these three being our favourites - and the reviews of the plentiful sightings of lions and leopards were a major factor in selecting Lion Camp. We were not disappointed.

Puku Ridge was also lovely and suffered in our estimation only because of the wonderful experience we enjoyed at Lion Camp and the unfortunate fact that we were the only guests. The wildlife was not as plentiful but the guide made the drives very enjoyable nontheless.

We identified the safari camps we wished to visit and made some of the other accommodation arrangements ourselves, but Expert Africa's Claire Scott was happy to talk through our proposals and offer alternatives for our consideration, and most importantly she made the travel arrangements to fit our plans as well as booking the safari camps and our overnight stays outside Lusaka, so that everything worked seemlessly. She also held our complicated international flight bookings longer than we imagined possible while we delayed fixing our dates due to difficulties finalising when we could visit the SOS Children's Villages. All the travel arrangements and connections went smoothly." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"another fine trip and Shiwa was an excellent add-on as so different.
Please can we talk about 2014 possibilities especially about some info we have on Zimbabwe and Kafue from other guests we met." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"As you will have gathered we had a fantastic trip thanks to Expert Africa and NCS.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It's probably worth clarifying to clients about the seating in the jeeps so they know what to expect ie. if someone has to sit in the middle or not. Also we requested that the canopy be removed on one of the jeeps at Mchenja so that we could have a better upward view of birds and leopards in trees! This they did for us quite happily. It is worth people being aware of the option of an 'open' jeep which we managed to have throughout.

Just to mention re your staff - Ellie Dunkels was very helpful when Claire was not available. NCS seemed to think highly of Chris, Claire and Ellie." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"This was the second time we had visited Zambia. We liked our first trip two years ago so much that we returned to exactly the same camps, changing only the order in which we visited them. In all our travels this is the first time that we have ever done that, and we were not disappointed.

Of course we saw many of the same animals as before, but every encounter is different, and we now have even more precious memories and photographs." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"I booked this trip as a Birthday treat for my partner. I wanted it to be spectactular, exciting, interesting, and memorable. It was all of those things and more.

Claire Scott listened to my wishlist and produced an itinerary which allowed us to see more than we thought possible in the limited time we had available.

One of the reasons I chose Expert Africa was I wanted someone else to do the organising this time, so as not to have to worry about connections bookings etc. Well, it certainly was properly organised. We even had someone meet us BEFORE passport control in Lusaka who organised our visas for us, and we didn't have a raise a finger on our own behalf for the whole trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really, but thanks to Claire for not laughing when I told her how much I expected to pay for the trip! ;)" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari