Expert Africa Traveller Reviews

We decided to visit Zambia, got in touch with Expert Africa with a rough idea of what we would like and got suggested itineraries and prices. We even got a free travel book about Zambia. Just . before leaving home for the airport we had a phone call telling us there was a delay, The plane was late leaving Dubai so we would miss our onward connections. Making us miss a full day from a safari camp. Claire from Expert Africa kept in touch, letting us know when she had rebooked air tickets in Africa for us and informed the camp we would be arriving a day later than expected. Very important as our trip to the lower Zambezi involved a small plane and pick up from a remote airstrip to the camp. Everything went like clockwork from then on, our new air ticket was waiting in Lusaka as promised. The holiday was a dream come true, everything we could ever hope for and more.

This is the third time we have booked a holiday in Africa with this company. We have seen other African Safaris advertised with other travel operators but they don't seem to offer the same level of expertise. Expert Africa try to find out exactly what we wanted for a holiday and advised us accordingly. They have recommended good alternatives when camps we wanted were unavailable. We have been very happy with service offered in past years when everything has gone exactly to plan. It's when the unexpected happens you see how good a travel firm really is. This year a problem with airline delay was smoothed over seamlessly, new onward flights and remote transfer was sorted for us while we were travelling. The reason we initially went to Zambia was because of expert Africa's excellent advice and website.

I had the most fantastic nine night trip to Namiri Plains. I have a set of criteria that I look for when selecting a safari destination and started to research Namiri as soon as it opened. After a lot of research, I went there with (probably unfairly) very high expectations, but can say that they were all met and exceeded. For the location I want somewhere that is quiet in terms of numbers of tourists but with good wildlife. We rarely saw other vehicles apart from those from our own camp during the stay and more often than not, we were the first vehicle at a sighting. My prime wildlife target was cheetah. We were very quickly at the stage where I was looking at a new sort of cheetah behaviour rather than just cheetah. Twenty-one different individuals, many with multiple sightings and behaviour ranging from hunting brothers (complete start to finish), courting / mating couple, sub adult cubs playing, mothers with younger cubs (playing), a male escorting another male from his territory, every imaginable pose; certainly met the wildlife criteria. Also into double figures for different full grown male lions, again with multiple sightings of some. Countless females and different aged cubs. There were also all sorts of other excellent wildlife sightings as well including a newborn giraffe struggling to its feet for the first time and taking its first teetering steps. The gory, harsh side of nature was also represented by a lone hyena taking down a wildebeest calf. There was not a single day where you could not pick out at least one excellent highlight and normally multiple ones. I was also lucky that the rains had brought the main migration within easy game drive distance, weeks earlier than expected. For the camp I want something that I feel gives me a real bush experience but without any hardships you might associate with camping. Eight large, well spaced ground level guest tents with all the comforts you need but nothing “resort like” that would feel out of place, fits the bill perfectly. All of the staff were excellent – very friendly and attentive and quickly knowing you by name. Meals were communal which I like – allowing sharing the stories of the day and the food was very good – it was difficult not to eat too much. Dinner was preceded by drinks round the campfire and some nights all vehicles would meet up at a sundowner location outside camp. I had read about things like a hot water bottle provided at night and thought I would not need it – in practice it was very welcome. A good guide is an essential and I had an excellent one along with spotter. How they see some of the things they do still amazes me even after several safaris. He had a great knowledge and understanding of the wildlife along with a real empathy with the animals. Also the ability to position for the best sighting angles and just to spend lots of time observing and learning about the wildlife. I decided to stay at one camp for a longer period rather than the more usual move round every few days. I was delighted with this choice and could still easily have stayed longer – it allowed time to see things evolve – for example a pride of lions at the start had year old cubs looking in pretty poor condition. Several kills later you would barely recognise them as the same lions. As far as Asilia goes, I think they do a brilliant job – the things like using refillable water bottles and saving the shower water before it runs through hot (solar heated), all add up. The results of a particularly destructive storm were dealt with very efficiently. If I was looking for a new area, my first search would be to see what camps Asilia had in the area. So far I have only returned to one safari camp. Namiri Plains is now top of my list for a return visit. I would just love to go back and hope that I get the opportunity to do so.

All efficiently organised and airline enforced changes easily dealt with.

We decided on this holiday at the last minute and the Expert Africa team worked miracles and found an ideal route and some wonderful hotels. We toured the environs of Cape Town, exploring the fynbos, watching whales, visiting the winelands and ticking off the 'must dos' of Cape Town. WE could not believe the quality of the itinerary and there was not a moment's disappointment.

Our second trip with Expert Africa and again they have come up with a winner!

We had four days on safari in Lake Manze Camp, four days in Kwihali and two days in Ras Kutani. We chose the destinations with the help of Expert Africa and they proved perfect - the accommodation, hospitality, the game drives and expertise of the guides really exceeded our expectations and gave us an altogether unforgettable experience. We did have long delays through the airline which we simply could not have sorted out ourselves, but the Expert Africa team rescued our trip by reorganising everything so we didn't lose a day. We saw sights we never thought to see in the wild - lionesses chasing a leopard, an elephant chasing a young lion, a lioness suckling her cubs, wild dogs, bush babies at night, the list goes on, and the quality of the guiding in both camps was simply brilliant. And Ras Kutani was the perfect place to relax after eight days of intense game drives. We can't recommend Expert Africa highly enough. A company that really does live up to its name.

We chose Expert Africa because we wanted a company that knew about the southern Tanzanian circuit and could help us with information about camps, the best time of year to go etc. Having booked last year, we then had to postpone by over a year and they accommodated this cheerfully. We often had questions about the trip that were always answered quickly and accurately. when our trip started our flight was postponed twice and eventually left Heathrow and hour behind the intended time, which meant we lost our connection in Nairobi. Expert Africa managed to rearrange all our schedules, which involved renegotiating dates with camps, changing the times and dates of several flights and emailing the details to our first camp so that it was all sorted by the time we arrived. We were immensely both impressed and grateful so that we could immediately relax and enjoy our trip. Expert Africa will now always be our operator of choice.

Three safaris rolled into one - Mana Pools, Lake Kariba and Hwange. A great combination - smoothly executed from start to finish.

Expert Africa - they live up to their name!

Two weeks for viewing wildlife which worked out very well

Have used Expert Africa before and they always do us proud

My wife and I had a memorable and highly enjoyable trip to Tanzania for four and a half weeks in September and October this year. Our trip was organised by Expert Africa and included two safaris and some time on Zanzibar Island. The first safari of nine days duration included staying in a tented camp in the northern Serengeti where we had excellent views of wildebeest and zebra. The second safari included the more remote southern parks, Ruaha National Park and Selous Game Reserve, where we also stayed in tented camps. We managed to get excellent close-up views of lions and leopards in Ruaha National Park, and of lions in Selous Game Reserve.

Expert Africa organised a well planned and highly successful trip for us. Their consultant was readily available and made many practical suggestions to enable us to have high quality wildlife viewing experiences but still stay within our budget. The overall trip was extremely well organised.

3 week self drive safari to Namibia

Efficient, knowledgeable and cost effective

We had an amazing trip in Tanzania. We loved every part of it. We stayed in four camps operated by Nomad Tanzania, a Tanzanian safari company. We love their sustainable approach to tourism and nature.

Elizabeth Wollen, from Expert Africa, did an excellent job in organising our trip. She was very knowledgeable and kind. She was always great at giving suggestions. She managed to match and exceed our expectations. Everything worked perfect and smoothly.

We spent 3 weeks travelling through Zambia, Botswana and Namibia, with a stop-off at Victoria Falls en route. Our wildlife journey commenced at Kaingo Lodge in South Luangwa NP,which set the standard for the rest of the trip. We proceeded, by way of Chobe NP and the Caprivi Strip, to Etosha, where we saw rhino at close quarters at the floodlit Okaukeujo waterhole. From there, we journeyed to Vingerklip and Erongo, before returning home via Windhoek. Apart from the amazing wildlife we encountered, including 4 of the "big 5", we saw an astonishing 180-odd different bird species, and stayed in the most fabulous camps and lodges.

We had a vague idea of a possible route when we started to plan our trip, but Expert Africa put together a detailed and varied itinerary,which gave us a taste of the very best that southern Africa had to offer. This was truly the holiday of a lifetime, expertly organised by Expert Africa, for whom nothing was too much trouble. We would certainly not hesitate to use this company again, nor to recommend them to friends and family.