Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"In planning this big trip for five people, I enjoyed working with Maruska, who was patient, responsive and knowledgeable over the course of a year. The time zone difference was a minor inconvenience for communication.

We loved Anabezi, really enjoyed Somalisa Acacia, were disappointed by Lion Camp, and appalled by Splash Camp. We paid a lot of money for four nights at Splash and felt it was largely a waste of money, except for seeing painted dog pups.

While much information was supplied, some of it was unclear or inaccurate and I found myself doing research instead of asking Expert Africa again (i.e. WiFi at each camp; what kind of plugs were needed; what are the current baggage requirements). I would have liked more precision about logistics (i.e. there are multiple vehicles involved in some transfers). I also made myself a map of camps and airstrips that would be a nice touch from you.

The little gift of luggage tag and passport holder was thoughtful but not very well designed!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari

"I suspect that if we had not had many years experience of safaris, I would have been (Very Satisfied). However, although there were several truly wonderful times, overall, the game viewing was "average" for much of the time .... long hours driving seeing not a great deal. Whether this was due to the time of year/local climate/bad luck ... who knows. This said, the guides were excellent, the camps comfortable and we were lucky to have a vehicle to ourselves for much of the time. Victoria Falls was lovely and as dramatic as expected." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We had a wonderful trip, stayed in lovely places, saw many animals and met lots of friendly people.

The arrangements made by Maruska, for the trip, were excellent. Lots of thought went into the itinerary, and everything worked well. All the transfers, all the lodges were super. We are so impressed by Maruska and will use her again in a heartbeat!!

The highlight must be the eles at Stanleys, just wonderful being so close to them.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Oops, never been to your website. Your name given to us by a friend who used you, and had an excellent trip. Will use you again, when the bank balance has recovered!!!

Many thanks, and especially to Maruska." Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Our information and discourse was always with Maruska who was meticulous, knowledgeable and detailed in the planning with regard to our trip. We cannot thank her enough for the planning that was executed flawlessly, that reduced the anxiety of the multitude of transfer and connection flights that occurred within our itinerary.

The execution on the ground and air by the operators was flawless and any oddities that occurred were developments that could not be predicted by Expert Africa or their employees. Updates are required by direct observation and on site verification. We hope that we have provided them for you in this review in an objective manner that is factual without any bias or drama. Of course, there are always two sides to a story and after submission of our comments to any of the operators, if there is a discrepancy of the events that occurred, we are happy to respond or reply in kind. Our comments are also documented by photos of the elephants on the walkways and streets near the Vic Falls Hotel and in the case of the excessive call to prayer by the Imam near the Machweo hotel, we have a live, timed recording to document this annoyance.

Otherwise, it would be hard to improve upon the suggestion of camps recommended by Maruska in the Kalahari or Zambia for the quality of service and most importantly, for the wildlife that was observed.

We think we are seasoned travelers and it is not often that we would ever lavish such praise upon a an individual or company that helped us so much with the arrangements but Expert Africa and Maruska are to be commended. So please accept our sincerest thanks for an itinerary well planned and executed. If Maruska can put in the time and effort to plan this trip, we can certainly take the time and effort to evaluate in kind. Thank you.

Greg & Kathy

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: We never looked at brochures, website or general literature etc. from Expert Africa. Perhaps we missed something. I think we have already given our suggestions in this extensive evaluation process on how to improve such trips. Fortunately, there was not much need for that." Read full review: 36 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"A-MA-ZING absolutely amazing. It was way better than I expected and a great experience.

I was surprised by the beauty of the landscape in Namibia despite its dryness. It was easy to travel around, the people were so helpful at our accommodation places and the camping was a great experience. It worked well interspersing a couple of days camping between the lodges and everything that your company organised went to plan.

The planning was meticulous with lots of essential and background information provided to ensure we had a successful trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: Adding the timing of the afternoon game drives/activities at the various lodges may be helpful as we missed some." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We had a most enjoyable trip. Eight nights in the safari camps was sufficient. We could have enjoyed a third night at Shinde, with perhaps only two at Gomoti, where the activities were limited by lack of water. We were mostly lucky with our fellow travellers, who can make such a difference to the trip.

It was much colder at night (between about 5.30 pm and 9.00 am) than we had expected. We just about had enough warm clothing, and the hot-water bottles were very welcome on both morning drives and for the night.

At Gomoti and Splash, we found the timing of evening drives, from 4.00 to 7.30, and dinner at 8.00 more difficult than at Shinde, where dinner was at 7.30. With the former, the wake--up call at 6.00 am seemed to come round too quickly.

Tipping: Your guidelines were clear and we followed them. But we were concerned that we did not see anyone else tipping their guides when they said their goodbyes. Perhaps they were very discreet, although we think not. Do some companies include the tipping in their prices, or are the guides not getting the tips which are an important part of their income?

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Megan was very helpful, including about aspects of our longer trip which were not her responsibility. We felt reassured that she was available to help as and when needed." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"We had a great trip in Zimbabwe.

Always felt very safe and welcome. Met wonderful people in camps, cities and along the roads.

Felt like we got the privilege of experiencing the wilderness almost completely alone with our hosts. And got interesting openhearted stories about everyday life in the country." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"A very good introduction to safari. Choose expertafrica simply because Tom was very knowledgable and spoke convincingly from firsthand experience. Made us keen to go back again and again." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"This was such a great holiday I don't know where to begin.

Freddie and Richard at Expert Africa were great, safari exceeded expectations guides knowledgeable especially Mott at Gomoti and the superb Andrew Harkness.

Accommodation first class everywhere." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari

"Great holiday.

Enjoyed every minute of it." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari