Zambia: reviews from our travellers

"Overall the best Safari that we have ever had and extremely well organised by Maruska.

We would certainly not hesitate to rebook the same itinerary in the future and have already booked another Safari in Kenya with Expert Africa.

The trip was perfect. Thank you" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"This proved an excellent safari with some superb game viewing. We saw wildlife and behaviour never seen by us before over the many safaris we are lucky to have had. This was particularly exciting as this was our last safari (age has caught up with us) and shows that every safari can be unique.

Other than Shawa Camp we knew all the other camps visited which continued with the high standards they have maintained over the years.

With regard to Shawa Camp it is a tented camp albiet with big tents and we would describe it as rustic. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and found it very relaxing with lovely staff. However whilst this is far from a critism we would understand if it did not suit some people.

As we have, dare we say, reached a more elderly age, in two camps I found myself pointing out to their management that they must make sure that they fully take account of older guests who are now travelling more and who may well have reduced mobility. Thus for intance steps should be safe and not too steep and access into vehicles be much easier.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I do not have any suggestions to improve service. It has always been a pleasure to deal with Expert Africa over the many years." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Zambia safari

"Wonderful. As in so many cases, our holiday was planned some time ago, and looking at the itinerary again in the run-up to our departure, we wondered if we should perhaps have booked to visit fewer camps and stay at each one for a bit longer.

In the end (given the time we had available) we really loved the structure and scheduling of the trip and it was particularly special to be able to visit all the Remote Africa camps. The walking at Chikoko, Big Lagoon and Mwaleshi was totally immersive and engrossing, allowing us to see and hear things we never would have done from a vehicle, and when paired with the full on game driving at Old Mondoro, it made for a fantastic holiday.

We found we especially liked being able to walk from camp to camp - and if visiting again, would definitely put in an advance request to do so between Mwaleshi and Takwela, which by good fortune happened to be possible on this occasion without us having pre-planned it. And if Remote Africa were ever to think about opening a third bush camp in North Luangwa, we can only imagine how lovely it would be to do a walking circuit between the camps in that area.

Very many thanks to Claire for putting together such an amazing trip and also for all her good advice on flight options, in terms of both getting to and getting about Zambia." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"Please see my comments about pairing traveller fitness for the walking safari" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"The overall experience was exceptionally good. Our other comments are on the care and attention provided by Claire Scott at all times during the booking process and run up to the trip. It was also very evident that Expert Africa is viewed in very high regard by both Remote Africa and Sheldon Safaris who run the camps we stayed at, with there even having been a visit to the camps by Expert Africa not long before we were there. This reinforced our already strongly held view that Expert Africa know so much more about the camps and the walking than many other tour operators who seem to need to refer even the most basic question to their in-country agents.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
One reason we contacted with Expert Africa is because of the detail of the information on the website and the transparency with which you operate. Keep up the good work." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"We chose the camps we went to based on past experience because we adore the bushcamp type of lodges rather than the all out 'luxury' lodges with Jacuzzis and so on. Such camps get harder to find nowadays. Good camps to us have relatively few guests so that game drives become leisurely and relaxing experiences.

Game can be hard to find - it is not unheard of to be out for an hour or two and see little so we have fostered our interest in African birds. They are always there even if the animals are being secretive. We always tell camps we are interested in birds as well as animals and the good camps (like these three) note this and give us knowledgeable guides and try to avoid putting us with the 'red meat' type of client s who only want to see lion and other predators. Result - we see the same amount of game but fill in the time between sightings with lots of the colourful and abundant African birds.

We go by past experience of safaris and often select our own itineraries however Expert Africa staff are actively send on fact finding missions to many of there camps and speak and advise from personal knowledge. If you do not have personal knowledge then use their staff - they are all helpful and will design trips for you having listened carefully to your preferences. We would not dream of using anyone else now.

Please note that our neutral recommendation for Megan reflects that we have admiration for all of Expert Africa staff and would trust them all to be excellent rather than pick one as better than another.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, just keep doing what you do cos you do it well.

These travellers noted about their flights:

Emirates had a bad hair day on our flights out.

Our flight out of Heathrow was severely delayed although we were not warned until we were queuing in the check in. We managed to get on an earlier flight otherwise our Dubai connection would have been missed. Our Dubai to Lusaka flight was also several hours delayed so that we eventually missed our connection between Lusaka and Luangwa. Seems Dubai had had a severe sandstorm which severely affected all their flights. We were not kept informed about this and so became quite stressed at the prospect of missing flights.

What was very impressive about this episode is that we received texts from Chris McIntyre himself whilst this was evolving (boss of Expert Africa) telling us of the problems and what Expert Africa were doing for us. We were met in Lusaka by their agents who had booked us a hotel for the night, arranged transfer vehicles and arranged replacement flights for the next morning. Chris McIntyre continued to monitor the situation and ensured the camp we were going to were informed so we felt very well cared for by Expert Africa.

Things don't often go wrong in Africa nowadays and when they do a bit of patience and common sense usually get you through but this was seriously impressive service, sorting out the problem before we had even landed in Lusaka and keeping not only tabs on their clients in transit but being aware of the problems in the first place and having solutions to hand. Emirates had no problems on our return flights however their lack of information during this episode was disappointing." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"We would highly recommend Expert Africa for anyone seriously looking to book an African safari.

All of our in-country travel and accommodations were arranged by Expert Africa. Upon our arrival in Lusaka we were met by kind and very helpful representatives from Expert Africa to get us to our hotel and to get us to the airport the next day. They helped us with our luggage and the entire check-in process. All in-country flights on Proflight Zambia were arranged by Expert Africa and coordinated with the bush camps to ensure we were met at each airport/airstrip.

Our experience with Expert Africa started in 2019 when we originally booked an August 2020 safari. That trip, due to COVID-19, did not happen but Lucy, our Expert Africa Travel Specialist, was able to coordinate the move of our reservations to 2021. In 2021, travel to and from the US to Africa was problematic due to COVID test requirements and frequent airline cancellations. Lucy was able to coordinate yet another extension of our reservations to August of 2022.

Throughout this entire timeframe we found the service provided by Expert Africa to be outstanding. Before our August 2022 safari, we thought a safari would be a once in a lifetime experience. After the amazing experiences we enjoyed at Anabezi Camp and Lion Camp it is now not a question of if we will return, but when. And when we do return, we will use Expert Africa to book the trip." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"We say every trip to Africa will be our last, and then we find ourselves yearning to return. Thanks to Expert Africa for getting us there." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"Our trip was well planned and it all worked without a hitch.

It was an excellent combination of camps and Matilda loved every minute of it. She is a coeliac but we had no problems with food.

A very memorable trip.

This is the second time I have used Expert Africa and I could not fault either of my trips" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zambia safari

"We have been to Robin pope safaris many times now.

This has to be one of the best safaris we have had, the guides were excellent, the games viewing was good and the weather was not too hot for us!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari