Zambia: reviews from our travellers

"What I wanted in a safari was density and variety of wildlife without lots of other people around. It's a very rare place indeed that can meet these requests. Zambia exceeded my expectations! I'm glad I went at the end of the dry season so that the animals were easier to view due to lack of vegetation as well as being in more concentrated numbers due to limited water sources.

What also made Zambia so unique was that there are sub species of giraffe and zebra that are only viewed in Zambia (and maybe Malawi). Somehow that made the experience that much more special.

I came back from my trip sad that I had to leave and immediately telling my friends on Facebook that they needed to put Zambia on their bucket list! (My images of all the wildlife I saw helped convince many that they too needed to go!)

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Your feedback form is critical if filled out by customers. I like that you follow up trips with a way to leave detailed feedback and I hope (and I believe) that you use the feedback to improve and update your info on the camps. I can't really think of any suggestion I can recommend to improve your system.

Exert Africa has been fantastic. I had no glitches with my arrangements and felt confident that if I did I'd know who/what to do, thanks to your information you provided." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari

"We had a memorable time when we visited South Luangwa 10 years ago and I'd been slightly apprehensive that this trip might have been an anti-climax. In the event, it was just as good and we really enjoyed the experience of staying in bush camps again. The balance between being close to nature and providing the essential comforts was just about right.

As we were there in mid-October the temperatures were very high which would have deterred a lot of people, but it did mean that animals congregated around the water sources which certainly increased our sightings." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 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

"We had a fantastic time, 2 great camps, some wonderful wildlife, good game drives, superb walks and river activities including catching Tiger fish, excellent company, good food, top quality guiding and camp staff and have some wonderful memories." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 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

"Brilliant.
Wonderful.
Flawless.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep on doing what you've been doing. I have recommended you on numerous occasions. I could not imagine a trip to a country in your portfolio without going through you." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Zambia is a great country to visit and offers a very diverse and great safari experience. The Luangwa valley is a superb park but beware Tsetse flies! We last visited the Lower Zambezi in 2007 and stayed outside the park and did not enjoy the experience so it was great to return and stay at two great camps inside the park.

Old Mondora, Nsefu amd Tafika are all great places to visit." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"Our fourth trip back to Africa booked through Expert Africa, and we recommend lots of people to do the same on the basis of the high quality of information given to help design the holiday, and the excellent delivery of the product on the ground/in the air.

On one previous trip, local problems arose and were immediately sorted out. No problems on this trip, only a seamless transition through Lusaka airport (good assistance from local reps there) and three different camps in Luangwa - all of which said they rate Expert Africa highly for their organisation and the detailed feedback they pass back to the camps from clients, which the camps value.

Luangwa in October is hot (up to 42 degrees max) but manageable and gives great concentration of game, has lots of good dirt roads for access, includes a wide range of environments in the Nsefu sector (so we saw wild dogs for the first time) and plenty of chances to see lion and leopard. Bird life is great even if you're not a twitcher. We went on 5 walks in 12 days, all very well guided, as were the drives by day and night.

We will go back once we can afford it again and if we are not too old by then ....." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"This was another excellent trip to Southern Africa organised for us by Expert Africa. Thank you Gwynneth. The advice from EA concerning 2WD versus 4WD vehicles for this trip was appropriate. The lodges were of a standard equal to or better than our expectations, especially the Garden Lodge in Kasane where our guides John and Innocent provided expert advice and guidance. The section of the trip after leaving the hire car in Kasane progessed smoothly and the cross border transfer into Zambia was effected efficiently. The transport arrived on time in Kasane as did the transfer from the Zambezi Sun to Livingstone airport., As noted earlier, at no stage were we asked for the Yellow Fever Certificates." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip