Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"Overall the trip was great and very organized. Maruska was great to deal with, really listened to us and gave good suggestions. I liked the itinerary she sent us shortly before we left that gave lots of details about exactly what was happening. There were a few glitches during the trip (canceled flight, driver showed up late) and we had to reach out to Expert Africa on an emergency basis and they were very responsive.

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I would not return to the lodges that we stayed in in Zimbabwe, we didn't have a great experience there. There was a mix up with Khulu Bush Camp and our departure time was moved back and we were never told, that ended up being a very long day and we would have preferred to fly. Two of our travel days were very long and we never got to eat lunch, it was not clear from the itinerary how long they would be. Our Mack Air flights ended up having multiple stops that we weren't aware of, it would have been nice to have more information about those flights." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The trip as a whole was fantastic, we had a good time in all the locations proposed and the travel was also well organised.

We did not encounter any difficulties before or during the trip, the information that was provided to us in advance was very useful.

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We felt that what makes the experience really memorable are the guides working at camps.
Don't know if it's possible to have more details on this somewhere (could be also just the name/surname?)" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Dream come true!.

We had the best holiday ever, everything about it from the booking, the flights and pick ups, the accommodations, food, animal experiences and staff - we cannot fault anything or anyone - just perfect.

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Absolutely not :)" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zambia safari

"We were absolutely thrilled with our trip of a lifetime safari experience. Anton at Expert Africa organised an itinerary which really delivered on all our wishes for this trip. Everything was top notch at the majority of our camps/lodges.

We had an unfortunate experience at one camp - perhaps it was just bad luck - and have delivered our feedback on this separately, for which Anton really listened to and understood our concerns.

Setting this camp side, our overall safari was incredibly good value for money, with all of our rooms extremely comfortable / luxurious, well fed and watered, and most importantly all of the wildlife sightings that we hoped to see. It will be a lot of fun going through our 1,500+ photos!! We will continue to rave in particular about Mma Dinare for years to come - cheetahs, leopard, hyena cubs, wild dogs, lions galore - amazing guide/tracker - just WOW!

Please do consider Expert Africa for your safari needs. They clearly have strong relationships with the camps we visited and we felt well looked after from our first enquiry through to detailed follow-up on our return home.

I am sure that we will be return clients for our next Africa adventures!

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Not a suggestion but just an additional thank you to Anton. So grateful for all his support - all enquiries, big and small, were met with expertise and willingness to help.

Highly recommend him to anyone considering a Botswana safari!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"AMAZING experience!!!

We worked with Tom to plan our trip, and he was nothing short of exceptional. Patient and attentive, he crafted an itinerary that perfectly matched our interests. Tom's knowledge and creativity were evident in every detail, and he organized the trip flawlessly. From suggesting the overall structure of our journey, selecting the perfect places to stay, arranging transportation, and even accommodating our vegetarian dietary needs, everything was executed perfectly. Not a single glitch occurred throughout the trip, even as we crossed multiple borders and transitioned from a mobile safari to a lodge—everything went smoothly. A truly remarkable job.

This once-in-a-lifetime, bucket-list journey turned out to be such a marvelous success for our entire group (age range: 25-65 years) that we all returned with the desire to do it all over again.

Thank you, Tom, our wonderful guides and support teams, and the lovely people of Botswana for giving us the opportunity to experience the best possible vacation." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Claire Scott helped us with this trip to Zimbabwe/South Africa. (She had previously organized a trip to Zambia/Malawi in 2015.)

Everyone in our group of 8 commented on how flawlessly and seamlessly this trip went, thanks to Claire!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Everything was great.

No concerns to report." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed our trip which was 3 weeks in Namibia with a few days each in Botswana and Victoria Falls at the end.

Namibia was really surprising. We knew the landscapes would be impressive but needed to experience them to fully understand just how impressive they are plus we hadn't expected the wildlife to amount to much but saw a lot more wildlife than we could have imagined.

We started out a little worried about the idea of a self-drive but our concerns were largely unfounded. Europcar were very helpful, helping with buying a local SIM card then how to connect the phone to the car and so be able to use Googles SatNav. The 4WD vehicle was rugged and had plenty of space. There was no problem obtaining petrol, with plenty of petrol stations at important stages of the drive. Most petrol stations had good toilet facilities but charged a few Namibian dollars to use them. Diesel was invariably dispensed by one employee while another employee cleaned the windscreen and we found ourselves tipping little and often.

We had taken a lot of cash in SA Rand and some Namibian dollars as we had read that credit cards were not widely used. However, we found that very few shops, restaurants etc did not accept credit cards and in fact they were preferred to cash.

The roads during the first half our trip were a bit rougher than expected but we stuck to the speed limits recommended by the vehicle hire company for gravel roads and had no problems with the vehicle and not one puncture. This did mean allowing longer for the drives than the Sat Nav said but we built that into our time-lines on travel days. The second half of our trip, ie once past Etosha and up to the north, was mostly on long, straight, tarmac roads and there were regular, sign-posted stopping places with picnic benches and shade along all the main roads where we could stretch our legs and have a drink and a snack which we had brought with us.

Navigation also proved to be easier than expected thanks to a combination of the SatNav (Google maps using a phone connnected to the vehicle) and the directions supplied by Expert Africa.

Highlights for us were the general scenery around Sossusvlei and particularly the balloon trip over the dunes, the coastal area around Swakopmund, sleeping under the stars in Damaraland, the wildlife in the Etosha area and particularly the waterhole at Okaukeujo and the wetlands in Bwabwata National Park. However, the quality of the various lodges, their staff, guides and food in 12 out of the 13 places we stayed are what really made our holiday special.

We will remember this trip for a long time and took so many great photographs that making the photobook of this holiday is proving daunting - there won't be space for everything we want to include.

Thanks so much to Chris McIntyre who insisted we needed to visit Okaukeujo and to Sabina who suggested the balloon trip over the dunes, for all the other recommendations and for putting the whole trip together.

This was our second Expert Africa trip and we are already looking forward to contacting them about our next African adventure in a couple of years." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 19 on a Namibia trip

"We had a great time. The Botswana leg and the Falls were both pretty much perfect. As per above comments Little Kulala could perhaps sharpen its act up a bit (by contrast, Sandibe sent us off with a farewell package and left us feeling they really cared). We would say that had we not booked our own dunes trip in Swakop, that would have felt like a wasted stop - driving 6 hours to get there and 5 hours the day we left, we would not have wanted a long drive on the Swakop day to see eg seals but Swakop itself really doesn't have much to last over an hour. So we would strongly recommend being clear with people that they ought to book an activity for the day. We went with Amazing 5 Tours and they were excellent (EA weren't able to book with Turnstone as we only decided late and we felt we were almost warned off going with anyone else). In Vic Falls, worth knowing that the back gate to the Falls is permanently shut so it would be a long walk. We could have done it all alone but found a friend of a friend who was able to take us down to and across the border. For non "Africa hands" I think there is a risk that EA underestimates how wearing it could be crossing and recrossing the border without someone on hand to help. I also have a bit of an issue with the wildlife survey - I think that, like the reviews, they take into account everything since 2007. So for Sandibe there are 4 poor reviews, all 2012 or earlier. More importantly there are reasonably high % sightings eg for Rhino when Sandibe now has none and Nxabega has a solitary male. If someone has their heart set on a rhino this is actively misleading. Not an EA point but maybe one for next edition of the Namibia guide. We wanted somewhere to stop on the way back to Windhoek and the book implied Gross Barmen was a decent idea. It is abysmal. Absolutely no positives and a 30 minute drive each way to find this out." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Namibia trip

"This was an amazing trip and we are so grateful to Maruska for planning this in such an excellent way. We really liked the order of the journey, it felt like we were progressing through an African adventure, gaining experience and knowledge with each new location. The driving part of the trip was well planned and we were glad that we didn't try to go too far on any one day. There were a few spots where the roads really need grading, so our driving times were a bit longer (especially to Malansrus), but we really appreciated all the detail on how to get to each place. The lodges selected were outstanding. The Botswana portion of the trip was excellent and we were again happy with the order of where we stayed, saving Rra Dinare for last. With morning and afternoon game activities we got to see so many animals, enjoy sundowner drinks in locations we only dreamed of, and return with memories and photos that were beyond our expectations.

Overall, this trip was amazing and the experience and knowledge of Expert Africa (and Maruska) to arrange this made it so! We would recommend Expert Africa to to everyone we know that want a genuine trip to Africa.

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Some of the times were a bit tight and travelling over lunchtime was a bit awkward to coordinate eating and newly arriving at a lodge with their planned itinerary." Read full review: 25 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip