Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"Maruska worked with us on this trip and really tailored it to our interests. We got to see more animals than we ever expected and up very close. The level of service from staff and the quality of lodging and dining were as she described.

In addition, due to her vigilance, we were able to rescue the trip from disaster when British Airways suddenly cancelled our flight to Zimbabwe with a 2 week notice. She had prepared us for this so we had a back up plan. Also, she gave us very good COVID traveling advice which we followed to the letter and things went very smoothly with all border transitions.

Overall, the trip was a much needed break from the stress of the last 2 years. Out in the safari car with the wind in our faces, looking for animals was mentally, spiritually and physically rejuvenating. This was truly the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks to everyone at Expert Africa!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: The trip was excellent. It would be nice to be able to log into my trip and see all the documents and advice I need with one click. The value was fabulous and Maruska is the best!

We kept joking, "Just do what Maruska says and you will be happy!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We loved every minute of our trip.

It was very well planned, lots of different activities and sceneries. All the transfers went smoothly.

All in all a truly wonderful holiday! We will always remember these special 2 weeks!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. It was just great!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zambia safari

"We cannot thank Expert Africa enough! This has been the trip of a lifetime, largely to do with the time spent on the organisation and the attention to detail by Tracy Lederer.

The trip was initially put together by Richard Ball, who has since left the Company and then taken over by Tracy, who gave us great confidence. Covid then hit and we had to postpone our trip twice, but at no point did we feel any concern that it was not going to go ahead or that it would not be what we had hoped for.

At the last moment one airline went bust, a few days before our departure but Tracy had got seats held on another airline before we even got in touch with her. The trip itself went really well, without a hitch. At every step we were met and guided across borders, through airports and onto transfers. The lodges that had been recommended were ideal and as we had hoped, the mobile safari was a real highlight.

Thank you to everyone at Expert Africa who worked so hard to make this a truly memorable and extremely enjoyable holiday.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would not have changed a thing. Thank you for all that you did." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"Everything from start to finish was superb.

From the initial chat about what I'd like to do, to the return, was handled exceptionally well by Meg and the whole Expert Africa team. You couldn't be in better hands." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Botswana safari

"Overall it was brilliant" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Very happy with the manner in which our trip, which had to be re-organised twice due to Covid, was handled by Lucy and, on one occasion, Chris. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

We were particularly impressed that, on departure from UK day, Lucy made telephone contact to advise that our airline for one of our flights had been grounded and she had already arranged alternative flights.

We would definitely use Expert Africa in future.

I would not recommend Machaba camp to guests looking for Wild Dog sightings as there are very few in the area. It also seems Botswana has very few cheetah apart from Chobe area so not great for those with an interest in them." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We could not have been happier with the overall experience from booking through execution of our trip. Tracy Lederer was responsive and knowledgeable every step of the way. And thanks to COVID, she had three years to work with us on making the experience happen.

We stayed in Victoria Falls 3 nights to recover from the long journey and enjoy the Falls and Zambezi River experience. We had a 9-night mobile safari with 1-night stays in lodges before and after. Before to "transition" from Vic Falls area and at end to "transition" from mobile safari to the long journey home. All bookings, transfers, meals, etc were executed as expected with high quality service.

We found Tracy to be very helpful and honest in her guidance with us. The changing requirements due to COVID added more considerations for her and us to balance....and that all went smoothly with her help.

If we book more travel to Africa, we will definitely request to work with Tracy." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari

"We were so happy to finally get to Botswana 3 years after we originally booked.

Expert Africa were excellent at arranging for the trip to be rolled forward each year due to covid restrictions. The recommended camps were excellent choices and we enjoyed that all 3 camps were quite different.

Lucy was an excellent source of information and very responsive to all our queries. When our flight from Vic Falls to Joburg was cancelled at short notice, she was quick to arrange an alternative from Livingstone so that we still made our international flight back to London.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Everything was excellent. A trip of a life time and well worth waiting for." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Botswana safari

"Claire is a Rock Star. Attention to detail and trip planning was perfect.

Thanks again Claire!" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was my fourth trip to Africa, but my first to Botswana, and it was the most rewarding. Sightings in three of the five camps visited were incredible - cheetahs, leopards, pairs of mating lions, mating hippos, and fighting giraffes and impalas. As a solo and older traveler, I really appreciated the friendliness, hospitality and inclusiveness shown by the Botswana people.

Overall the accommodation was excellent, as was the food and service, and the guiding generally exceptional. Having had multiple hip surgeries, I was so grateful my agent Maruska Adye-Rowe had done an excellent job in securing accommodation close to the main lodges, and preferential seating on the game drives. Maruska not only rearranged my whole schedule due to the pandemic, but also remained on top of my itinerary noting the cancellation my British Airways homeward flight from Victoria Falls, and arranging and paying for a new flight from Livingstone. The flight arrangements from camp to camp, and the transfers by Wild Horizons between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia were absolutely seamless.

Sadly I did not see any wild dogs on this trip, and elephant sightings were few, even at Chobe Elephant Camp. However, I was compensated by many "up close and personal" encounters with other animals, and thrilled at the huge variety of birds.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Both Maruska and Chris McIntyre were always available to answer any questions or concerns I had about this trip, and could not have been more helpful.

In hindsight, I wish I had probed for more information in terms of the manner in which the various camps operated, and also about the weather conditions. Being overly concerned about my luggage weight, I did not pack adequately for the very cold morning drives and huge swings in temperature. The camp schedules were also quite grueling for me - starting at 5:00 a.m. and going until after supper with very minimal "siesta breaks" in the hottest part of the day. However, I took some downtime at Okuti, where I also found a heavy fleecy jacket, and got my second wind!

Many thanks to you both for making this trip so memorable!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari