Zambia: reviews from our travellers

"An excellent trip - we enjoyed all the places we stayed & everything went smoothly.

We were really helped by the advice we had from Gwynneth - she was knowledgeable and pragmatic about what we could do and what would be most fun." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 5 on a Namibia trip

"It was a fantastic trip, we enjoyed every moment (apart from me feeling ill on the little planes!). Tracy suggested Susuwe Island Lodge, Tubu Tree and Baines Camp and they could not have been better suggestions, we were delighted with them. They were all a bit different to each other in style and in slightly different habitats so we saw different things, which is what we wanted.

We had a rather lengthy journey from the Royal Livingstone Hotel to Susuwe. We noticed from the map that there is what appears to be a direct road north of the Zambezi and then over a bridge but we were not taken that way, we assumed that it can't be a very good road. However, we learned when we reached Susuwe that it is a good road, a modern bridge and the journey takes 3 hours door to door. It took us 6 hours.

First, 1 hour drive to the Zambezi, checked out of Zambia, speedboat across the river, checked into Botswana, were driven 10 minutes by a woman who was on her mobile the entiire time then transferred to another vehicle and driver - why? He then drove us all the way to meet the vehicle from Susuwe, but we had to check out of Botswana and into Namibia. The journey took twice as long and presumably because of this cost us twice as much, we had to wait at the various immigration and emmigration posts and got another Botswana stamp in the passport to no useful purpose. We would still have been coming back this way of course to Kasane to fly to Tubu Tree, so going there a different way would have made a round trip which would have been more interesting as well as far more convenient. We would like your comments on this please.

When we were offered to change from San Camp to Jacks Camp because of a photo shoot at San we were told there were "a couple" of other guests at Jacks. There were in fact about 12 other guests which is considerably more than "a couple". We immediately thought we shouldn't have changed as if we had been the only proper guests at San we would have had a guide to ourselves, whereas with so many other guests that was not likely. We thought this was very misleading wording by Uncharted Africa.

However, by accident rather than design we did in fact have a - very good - guide to ourselves so were mollified! We were pleased overall that we changed to Jacks, it was quite an experience. Thank you to Megan who pointed out that I was particularly interested in the meerkats and they arranged 2 visits to them into our schedule so that was lovely, and I adored having them crawling over me!

I was amused to read in the Bradt travel guide that there are no meerkats in the Makgadikgadi park. This is plainly not the case!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Absolutely fantastic trip!

From start to finish everything went smooth and was great. Our best trip so far (out of seven trips to Africa).

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No idea. It's already so close to perfection." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip

"We all had the most woderful holiday imaginable, and all want to go back.

There were only 2 places that we would not want to revisit, Palmwag and Camp Kwando, our comments have already been recorded.
We had some trouble in Rundu, when a rucksac was stolen from the car, despite 1 of our men sitting in the car! We feel it would be helpful, if in future people going near Rundu, are warned to take extra care, not to leave cars unattended, and even if stationary in the car, lock all doors and windows.

At Ndhovu, we were told Rundu is a bad place, with handbags stolen from cars with people sitting in them, being distracted. There was a lot of noise and activity there making the opening of a car door, silently, relatively simple. (The people at Ndhovu put a lot of blame on people coming from Angola)

200 Rand notes do now seem to be accepted.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Tracy has been superb to deal with, very helpful at all times, guiding me in directions that were needed, and meeting all the needs of the 6 of us who travelled together. Sabrina took over very efficiently when Tracy went on maternity leave.

I would not hesitate to recommend Expert Africa." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"On return we could not fault the advice and guidance we were given by Lucy at Expert Africa.

The Robin Pope Safari experience was of a very high standard with the quality of guiding and camps expertly selected. The transfers were all very well done with no lost time as these are treated as being part of the driving safari experience. The camps hostess and the good humour of the guides ensured that the visit was good fun all the way through.

We could not fault the techinical knowledge of the camp guides and they certainly added to the experience.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Whole trip was completely faultless and ran totally trouble free so sorry but can't make any good suggestions here!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Having done the trip there is somethings I know I'll do different next time, but it was a great holiday." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 20 on a Namibia trip

"This was the best holiday we have ever had, and we've had some excellent holidays.

All travel arrangements went smoothly. Our itinerary was excellent with a great choice of camps. We liked every camp and everthing went so well that we arrived home feeling completely rested and relaxed. Other guests and guides or managers who saw our itinerary in South Luangwa said we had made very good choices. I'm pleased we chose camps that offered walking as we grew to love starting the day with a walk.

We are already thinking about our next trip and will use Expert Africa again. Thanks Maruska for arranging this wonderful trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None. The trip was perfect." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 22 on a Zambia safari

"After three previous planned trips, our long-awaited Zambia safari fulfilled all of our (lofty) expectations.

The varied, fun-filled days and nights in Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa were all that we had hoped for and both parks more than deserve their reputation. To just name a few highlights: 7 great leopard sightings in 10 days, lions hunting/feeding on buffalo/playing with cubs, elephants within reach (his and mine), lazily canoeing down the great Zambezi river (incl. hippo "bump") or herds of elephant majestically crossing the Luangwa/Zambezi.

Lake Malawi and Kaya Mawa has been a wonderful addition that should not be missed.

As usual, thank you very much to Ellie and the Expert Africa team for their knowledgeable advice and valuable service - there is a reason we have booked all of our Africa trips with Expert Africa during the last 10 years. May there be many more to come

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep doing what you are doing" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"It was a great return to Africa this time with two relatives one of which is elderly and the other infirm. The Robin Pope camps went out of their way to help in every way they could - nothing seemed to be too much trouble, I hope they keep up this standard now they have been taken over.

Would have spent more time at Nkwali (3 rather than 2 nights) to start the holiday.

Saw a lot more game/birds than our last visit which was 6 weeks earlier in the season (2004)." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"Robin Pope Safaris run a very very good operation and they set the standards of exellence without ever feeling the need to shout about it or shove it in one's face. We asked to go 'back stage' at Tena Tena and found a whole city of people working on our behalf - all smiling and just as happy as front of house. RPS deserve great credit for not jumping on the bandwagon and charging a single room supplement to the many people who choose (or have no choice) to travel independently.

The guiding and game viewing were excellent and it was so nice to enjoy the company of wildlife without, in most instances, anyone else around to spoil the perfect experience.

South Luangwa is a very beautiful place with a surprisingly varied landscape. It is a great destination for those who really want to appreciate an African safari rather than simply ticking the boxes and going back home.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Although we recieved a large bundle of vouchers, these were only required in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is a much better place to view Victoria Falls during the dry season and it really should be suggested as an option when putting together itineraries for visits to Zambia .

We recommend pre booking some activities at the Falls. We did this for the Flight of Angels but not for the sunset cruise and we only managed to get on one of the smaller more exclusive boats owing to a last minute cancellation. There is no point in going all that way to be disappointed" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari