Reviews of trips to Bulawayo

"We are so pleased that we chose to go to Zimbabwe.

We really enjoyed our short stay in Victoria Falls and then Hwange National Park proved to be a really excellent safari location, where we saw all the wildlife we hoped to see, and appreciated the professionalism of the guides." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zimbabwe safari

"It was a most rewarding experience. I lived in the country many years ago and was gratified to see that no matter what difficulties they face, the people are as welcoming and open and friendly as I remember. There are definitely challenges ahead, but I hope that there will be a gradual improvement in the economy. To this end, I would encourage tourists to visit the whole of Zimbabwe, and not just the outer northwest corner. The Eastern Highlands are indescribably beautiful, as are the Matobo Hills, Great Zimbabwe and the Zambezi Valley.

I suppose the unexpected thing about our trip was that apart from a delightful train journey which gave us double the travel time we had paid for, things actually do work. There were unavoidable delays from time to time, but there were no glitches in the arrangements made for local transfers or accommodation.

All in all it was a wonderful three weeks, and my thanks to EA for their excellent service.

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No improvements possible on the service we received from both Freddie and Claire.
We were picky and difficult and not altogether consistent, and they managed us brilliantly, thanks so much." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 16 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Great trip to Zimbabwe. Everyone raves about safari guides in Zimbabwe and they really are excellent." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was a "special" holiday and it certainly lived up to expectations. Zimbabwe was absolutely wonderful, both camps were different but excellent and we saw more wildlife than I had expected. It was a real privilege to view it so closely and to be accompanied by guides who had expert knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for their subject.

Zimbabwe is a wonderful place and never have we felt safer anywhere. Everyone should go there - whatever you think of the regime, it is the people who need tourists and go out of their way to make them have such a good time.

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We hardly needed any money on our trip as so much was included, but in Bulawayo we could only use Visa cards, which I suspect was the case for other places.

We had intended to get our visa prior to travel, but when I 'phoned the Embassy, they assured me that it was easy to get one on arrival in Zimbabwe. A second call revealed that you needed to apply for a form which would take a week to arrive and then collect the visa from London. It was easy enough to get one at Vic Falls airport, but the queue was very lengthy and it took a long time to get through. It would seem that the Embassy make it difficult to get one in advance." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"A very enjoyable holiday with the highlight the whole Camp Hwange experience. Victoria Falls was well worth seeing particularly when staying at the Vic Falls Hotel, a lovely old world hotel supplying excellent modern services.With hindsight I would now tailor the trip to include one more night in Camp Hwange and one less in Amalinda.

I am strongly recommending this to my family and hope they can enjoy this experience next year." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Great holiday, sorry to be home." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This trip was everything we hoped for. It was efficiently arranged and all transfers went smoothly.

Any issues we had like inefficient airports, horrible flights and delayed luggage are outside your control.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Unless you can find a more direct route from Manchester to Zimbabwe, which I'm sure you can't, we have no complaints at all.

Thank you for a wonderful trip." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Good trip thank you Expert Africa and Zimbabwe employees.

Very pleased we travelled at a quiet time of year as it greatly added to the pleasure of the trip, particularly with regard to the game drives." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Expert Africa has consistently supported travellers going to Zimbabwe. Why did we wait so long! This was a great trip which gave us a real insight into a complex country and its history. We would encourage other travellers to go.

Everything worked very smoothly in terms of transfers and the camps did not disappoint. We decided not to try and cover too much and spent our time in Hwange, Matopos and Bulawayo which gave us a great mix of experiences. We saw a good range of game, some important historical sites and met a great mix of people. We look forward to going back." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Fantastic.

Malawi and Zimbabwe proved to be two great countries to combine on this trip. There were many similarities. We found the staff in the camps and the people we met along the way to be very friendly, helpful and interested in us. The high standards of our guides impressed us, from Chris the manager at Mkulumadzi who personally took us on a walk and on a boat up the Shire River, to Richard Chamwala at Mvuu who delighted in sharing all things big and small with us. In our book you can always tell the best guides when they like finding the little birds and bugs to point out, not just the hippos fighting 30 feet away from the boat, both of which Richard did.

Our guide Nduduzi Ndlovu at Camp Amalinda in Matobo Hills was great at listening to us and discovering our interests, as evidenced by the wonderful day we spent with him driving through the park and the local communal lands, visiting a school, and hiking up to a cave with ancient paintings. He not only knows 7 languages but also knows where to find a zonkey!

Even our drivers that took us from one camp to another (or to an airport) were excellent, like Mike from Wilderness Safaris who stopped the car several times so we could see and talk to people and who also helped me buy a tchenge (those colorful traditional fabrics that woman wear as a wrap) in a roadside market.

We went to both countries in the hope that our visit would encourage and support the conservation of wildlife and wild areas. We also came to really appreciate the people of these two countries, where life has not been easy but there is a great determination to carry on and do better.

Claire at Expert Africa, with assistance from Chris, shared many insightful comments from personal experience so that we came up with this list of places to visit that really suited us. As usual, all details were handled and executed perfectly on the ground. This is really saying something because we gave quite short notice of our desire to travel.

And next time I will really believe you when you say that it gets cold in July at night!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zimbabwe safari