Zimbabwe: reviews from our travellers

"The clue's in the title. The expertise of Expert Africa shone through, from the advice of Megan Green, to the knowledge of guides Andrew Harkness, Josiah of Splash and Lagoon's Spenser to the training and commitment of camp staff to the cheerful professionalism of the Mack Air pilots.

Everyone went the extra mile to ensure this was a uniquely memorable experience for a seventy year old who's had his fair share of those in the past.

If you want to feel it's good to be alive give it a go under those enthralling Botswana skies.

One small piece of advice - when the sun's not around it gets very cold. Thermals, hat and gloves are useful supplements to the ubiquitous bush baby hot water bottles and ponchos." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"Our second holiday with Expert Africa. Our trip to Botswana was expensive but it was just magic, arranged with great attention to detail.

Botswana is an incredible country to visit. I have never felt so welcome and well cared for anywhere else. All the staff and guides were friendly and wanted guests to feel at home. Game viewing is in small groups with a high level of personal service you just don't get elsewhere, and there is plenty of wildlife to see. Our guides were well trained, provided a lot of information and were always happy to answer questions. Most importantly, we always felt safe, despite getting very close to many animals. The guides even know the best way to manoeuvre and position vehicles, so photographers get the best view possible.

This was our third safari holiday and the best. Botswana definitely deserves it reputation as the best safari location.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep up the high standard you have set!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 13 on a Botswana safari

"Start to finish, this was an amazing trip. The guidance, planning and details worked into the trip by Maruska helped to make it so.

I am an independent traveler with considerable experience in Africa (45 countries on the continent) and usually make my own arrangements--or make things up as I go--but on the recommendation of a friend--and on a short fuse for putting it all together--I reached out to Maruska for help and am glad that I did.

Lodging, safaris, meals, and movements along the way were all excellent because of her expert guidance. This is one of the best experiences I have had on the continent.

This was the first experience for my wife in southern Africa and her first safari trips. It was a perfect introduction for her and memorable for both of us.

No problems. No worries. No issues or complaints." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"We loved our trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana. It was our dream trip as a family to do. It surpassed any expectation we held.

Tom Morris listened and gave us an incredible adventure that we will always remember.

Thank you Tom for all your help!

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We really can not think of anything- it was superb." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari

"trip was fantastic, trip of a lifetime" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"Our trip was utterly memorable - we had a wonderful time. Namibia provides such a diverse landscape - from desert to the lushness of the Caprivi Strip.

We are glad that we did the itinery we did - of course one learns things for next time! We would not have bothered with Swakopmund - we did not find it an attractive place at all. What we really wanted to do from there was a flight down over Soussevlei but were unable to get booked on anything. Had we known about this in advance we could have booked a flight earlier but of course recognise that no tour operator can tell the clients everything! With hindsight another day in Soussevlei would have been useful to have had more time to explore and climb the dunes.

The whole trip went very smoothly indeed apart from entering Zimbabwe - we did not know that you still need a Covid certificate to enter there and also $55 cash for the visa - it would have been useful to have been told this - thankfully we had a very helpful assistant on our transfer from Botswana who baled us out. But without exception all other transfers etc when super smoothly which was great.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Gosh - it's a hard enough job trying to get a handle on what the client wants I don't know how you could do it any better!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 16 on a Namibia trip

"Super trip, extremely well organized.

A meet and greet at every critical transfer point and I was well looked after throughout, especially when upset stomach occurred" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Another fantastic experience. Everything went so smoothly including the transitions. Because everything is so well organized one can relax and enjoy the experience and adventure much more.

Our agent Claire knows what we are after and did (another) brilliant job of not only meeting but surpassing our expectations.

We would return to Hwange Bush Camp tomorrow if we could!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zimbabwe safari

"The Expert Africa staff were excellent. From beginning to end, we always had staff directing us to where we had to go including getting us across the Botswana Zimbabwe border. Everyone was on time and professional. We felt completely cared for. I would highly recommend using Expert Africa and when I decide to take my next safari, I will be using them again!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Botswana safari

"Pre-trip planning was great. I had many back-and-forth conversations with Megan and we tailored a trip that met our specific needs. We had to go through several rounds of proposals until we got the right one, and Megan was patient, prompt, friendly and very helpful. We definitely could not have arranged the trip without her guidance.

Once on the ground in Africa, we encountered a major problem. Because I was traveling without my wife, I was told by the border agent in Namibia that I needed to present my son's birth certificate, a letter from my wife giving me consent to travel alone with my son, and a copy of my wife's passport. This is all due to child trafficking prevention laws in southern Africa. I was not aware of these requirements and had to call my wife at 2am in the morning US time so that she could send me a copy of my son's birth certificate. The border agent also wanted the letter and her passport scan but I told her there was no way I could get those in short order and she reluctantly let us in to the country.

Over the next few days, I had my wife get a notarized letter and scan that and her passport and send to me. This, however, was not technically in compliance with the laws of these countries, as I was supposed to have an original copy of both the birth certificate and the letter. This meant that any border agent in Zimbabwe or Botswana could have decided to follow the law exactly and decline us entry into their country.

Upon reviewing the itinerary from Expert Africa, I did see a short section about traveling with children under 18 in southern Africa. It was several pages into a long itinerary, it was pretty vague (it mentioned a birth certificate but nothing else), and no one at Expert Africa - either by phone or in email - ever pointed this out to me.

I feel that this was a major failure on the part of the company. I had several restless nights wondering if I was going to miss an entire week of my trip due to this, I had to call my wife in the middle of the night, I spent time talking to the US consulates in each of these countries and generally this caused me a lot of stress.

I want to be very clear with this: any time Expert Africa has a parent and child traveling with them, they should repeatedly and proactively remind the parent to get all necessary documentation in order weeks before the trip takes place. This should not be left to a small-print section at the back of a document. As much as I loved my trip and the service I got planning the trip, I don't think I can recommend Expert Africa to friends unless I have confidence that other travellers would not be put in the same situation that my son and I were put in." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Botswana safari