Zambia: reviews from our travellers

"This feedback is far too long and not what you want to receive on your return from holiday when you have a million other things to do!! This is why it has taken me so long to complete after the end of the holiday. Why bother to ask about S A Airways and B A?

I have travelled with your company on several occasions and remain a great fan of the effort you take to make a holiday, to what could be a difficult area, run as smoothly as possible. This time was no exception and the following comments are for your guidance / information and in no way a criticism.

As you suggested we collected our baggage in Jo'burg and checked in again. On both occasions that we passed through Jo'burg the airport was EXCEEDINGLY busy and it was a good job that we had a 3 hour wait (as you had intimated) otherwise we would have missed the connecting flight. Anyone who was nervous of crowds and queues and delays may have felt concerned especially as a dangerous situation occurred as there was no room for passengers to alight from an escalator to join a massive queue through passport control.

Please see comments on the car at Mundulea.

When we arrived to check in at the Taj Pamodzi they asked for credit card details (which is usual in a hotel) and then asked how we were paying for the accommodation. It took over 10 minutes to convince them that we had already paid our travel agent. They had the audacity to say 'has it cleared through your bank account'. Eventually someone agreed that Expert Africa would be paying for the accommodation BUT THEY HAVE NOT YET PAID. Who was correct? At one time they wanted us to contact you before they would let us stay.

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Whilst I can appreciate that you want as many good comments as possible I feel that you may miss out on the odd nugget of criticism / feedback because some like me considered giving up and are put off by the length of this feedback form.

The availability of a paper form would have been appreciated." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Namibia trip

"It ran like clockwork. I have nothing but praise for every aspect of the trip, and for Expert Africa's ability to get it right for us.

As the title suggests, the trip of the lifetime is a cliche but nonetheless true in this case. I would love to visit Botswana in future and just hope that this becomes possible.

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The only thing I'd say is that given the timings of our flights which, although we booked them ourselves were the same as those that Expert Africa would have booked for us, it would have been a good idea to stop over for one night in Jo'burg on both outward and return journeys. This would have made the journey far more enjoyable and less tiring.

Clearly we could have made such arrangements but it didn't occur to us until we were waiting for 4 hours plus at Jo'burg airport for our onbound flight to Maun.

So, I suggest that EE might advise their clients that they might like to consider a stop over when flight timings are like this. This is not a major criticism just a suggestion that may make the journeys of other more pleasant. Otherwise we were very happy with the arrangements the EE made for us." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed every minute! Organisation was perfect, thank you Megan!

As we particularly enjoyed our walking safari, we will definitely plan more walking and boat trips for our next safari. Leaving Africa was, again, very hard. But we're already dreaming about going back!

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It would be great to be informed whether camps accept children." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 16 on a Botswana safari

"Apart from Budgets 4*4 which was rubbish (I have detailed it separately) it was a smooth, easy and enjoyable trip. We drove ourselves from Windhoek to Fish River, then back up through all the places one needs to see to Etosha, then along the Caprivi Strip, dropping car off at Kasene in Botswana, crossing the border by boat into Zambia and flying back from Zambia

My rating of "fairly satisfactory" reflects our problems with Budget - but Expert Africa did recommend Budet, rather than me asking for it. The rest of the trip wa better than "very satisfactory" and I was impressed by Expert Africa's knowledge and help, nudging me to avoid driving to far if we were likely to have to drive after dark, and offering help when hotels were wanted were book (remember you are dealing with hotels of 10 to 20 rooms on most of our trip)

In short I can recommend this sort of trip to anyone, it is doable, safe, instructive and enjoyable." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"We will recommend Expert Africa to friends" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The trip as a whole was very enjoyable. RPS staff and camp were both great.

Game sightings were more patchy than I had expected and OK rather than great over the six days I was there." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"I had been to Luangwa before, so knew roughly what to expect, and was not disappointed generally. There was not a great quantity of game around (or at least visible), which is perhaps to be expected at this time of year, but everyone tried very hard to ensure a good safari, and the river boat trips provided a very novel experience.

I would have no hesitation in recommending the area, and both RPS and NCS, to anyone contemplating a "real" Africa safari.

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I think you do a pretty good job as it is, no changes necessary." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Ellie did an excellent job organising the whole trip for the four of us. When Chinzombo was unavailable, she organised a very good deal with Norman Carr Safaris which was very much appreciated.

I would highly recommend Expert Africa to anyone who is thinking of going to Southern Africa and I am very pleased to find out that Expert Africa are now going into Kenya, which two of us are hoping to visit shortly.

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None at all. Everything was incredibly well organised. Can't fault anything." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"Another wonderful trip with Expert Africa . Many thanks to Elly who from the start was fantastic in the planning and execution of out holiday.

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No, Keep up the excellent standards" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zambia safari

"I just didn't want to leave...South Luangwa valley- the finest national park game reserve in Africa- 'Minha Africa'.

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Excellence remains, loyalty rewarded." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari