We're acutely aware that the places that Expert Africa features are some of the most pristine and delicate wilderness areas in the world. They are also home to some of the world's most iconic species. We're conscious, too, that we have a responsibility not only to help protect these places but also to promote the benefits they provide to the people who live in them, and who dedicate themselves to protecting them. This is a shared responsibility involving our travellers, the camps and lodges on the ground and ourselves at Expert Africa.
Services
Canoeing in the Lower Zambezi: there's big game on the Zambian and Zimbabwean banks of the river. Families, especially those with younger children, will want to focus on family-friendly camps and lodges. Groups of friends or families will find inspiration in the idea of taking over a private villa, safari camp or large house.
Reviews (10)
Richard Collins
Jun 14, 2022
We spent a wonderful 10 days in Malawi on Safari in the Mejete Wildlife Reserve followed by a stay at a beautiful beachside resort on Lake Malawi. You need local expertise to get the most from a family holiday in Africa, and Expert Africa's advice and support made sure our holiday was very well prepared. Malawi genuinely is the warm heart of Africa.
We stayed at the Robin Pope lodges in Mkulumadzi and Pulumani during early June - both are simply wonderful places to stay and the staff and management made us feel very special and well looked after. The weather at this time was very comfortable. A little windy at times on the lake but never enough to prevent any water activities. The Reserve is mainly made up of thick bush so you only see what is close to the roads but our guide was an expert at getting us to spots where there was always something interesting to see.
We were lucky to see a cheetah take an impala in front of us which is rare and although we did not see all the "big five" the variety of birdlife you see is stunning. Our guide was a true bushman with fascinating knowledge of tracking, plants and trees and he identified and pointed out every species we came across from rodents and lizards, to the larger animals.
What made this particularly memorable was how the guides made each drive educational for our kids and tested their knowledge with fun learning games. The Pulumani Lodge by Lake Malawi is stunning and was the ideal place to relax and enjoy the amazing hospitality from the staff and management. It is a long drive from Mkulumadzi and the roads can be difficult and Malawi suffers from badly maintained roads, but on the plus side you see exactly how the country is as you pass through the villages and roadside markets.
We knew Malawi has poor infrastructure and the journeys would be long but the country is truly beautiful, incredibly friendly and offers a real African experience, and thanks to Claire's help and advice at Expert Africa, we had the most amazing, memorable time. We honestly could not have wished for more from this holiday.
We stayed at the Robin Pope lodges in Mkulumadzi and Pulumani during early June - both are simply wonderful places to stay and the staff and management made us feel very special and well looked after. The weather at this time was very comfortable. A little windy at times on the lake but never enough to prevent any water activities. The Reserve is mainly made up of thick bush so you only see what is close to the roads but our guide was an expert at getting us to spots where there was always something interesting to see.
We were lucky to see a cheetah take an impala in front of us which is rare and although we did not see all the "big five" the variety of birdlife you see is stunning. Our guide was a true bushman with fascinating knowledge of tracking, plants and trees and he identified and pointed out every species we came across from rodents and lizards, to the larger animals.
What made this particularly memorable was how the guides made each drive educational for our kids and tested their knowledge with fun learning games. The Pulumani Lodge by Lake Malawi is stunning and was the ideal place to relax and enjoy the amazing hospitality from the staff and management. It is a long drive from Mkulumadzi and the roads can be difficult and Malawi suffers from badly maintained roads, but on the plus side you see exactly how the country is as you pass through the villages and roadside markets.
We knew Malawi has poor infrastructure and the journeys would be long but the country is truly beautiful, incredibly friendly and offers a real African experience, and thanks to Claire's help and advice at Expert Africa, we had the most amazing, memorable time. We honestly could not have wished for more from this holiday.
Susie Thornton
Apr 18, 2022
We have booked a number of holidays with Expert Africa over the years and have nothing but praise for their professionalism, knowledge and efficiency. We have worked with a number of their team and found them all to be of a similar helpful nature. I have no hesitation at all in recommending then. Also their publications by Chris McIntyre that they give you to accompany your holiday are excellent. The Namibia one particularly.
Kevin Noyce
Mar 10, 2022
Expert Africa supported us to transfer our complex Namibian itinerary from April 2020, to April 2021 when Covid hit (we were due to travel just days after the first lockdown began). They then did the same again in 2021 when lockdown 2 was still in force, so we have just managed to complete our trip, as planned, thanks to their policy of supporting their customers and partner providers in Africa.
We have just returned from an amazing journey with that including fantastic experiences, great lodges, beautiful scenery, warm, friendly and welcoming people and some great wildlife sightings. Expert Africa's knowledge, expertise and experience ensured we were able to enjoy every moment. We would thoroughly recommend them as a company as well as recommending travel to Namibia to anyone who enjoys the natural world.
We have just returned from an amazing journey with that including fantastic experiences, great lodges, beautiful scenery, warm, friendly and welcoming people and some great wildlife sightings. Expert Africa's knowledge, expertise and experience ensured we were able to enjoy every moment. We would thoroughly recommend them as a company as well as recommending travel to Namibia to anyone who enjoys the natural world.
Nikki Applewhite
Nov 29, 2021
The clue is in their name - Expert Africa really know their business. Our holiday was organised very efficiently, especially during a COVID pandemic. Every detail was in place including all our tests before we came home. As for the Safari - second to none - we saw everything - even a Leopard cub! The lodges are a delight as are all the African staff who looked after us. Brilliant - thank you so much
Carl G.
Aug 18, 2021
It's hard to know where to start with Expert Africa. They were great in providing personalised advice on the itinerary, accommodation and activities. And then COVID-19 hit. Expert Africa were understanding, flexible and made endless changes always with a smile and a laugh. Ultimately it was due to their ability to adapt and make changes at short notice that we were able to spend an amazing and unforgettable family holiday in an amazing country and were actually priviliged to on occasion feel like we had Namibia to ourselves. Our advisor was available throughout and couldn't do enough to make our holiday amazing.
Roger Fisher
Apr 24, 2021
For a long time we thought we wouldn't be able to have our holiday because of the Coronavirus and as it happens, we had to cancel our visit to Botswana. But with the help of Maruska at Expert Africa we were still able to visit Tanzania and Zanzibar. Everything was very fluid with plans changing almost daily right up until the date of departure (and beyond)! due to airline cancellations because of Covid. However, Maruska was incredibly patient and helpful in identifying solutions and alternatives and she also proactively (and mostly successfully) sought refunds for the parts of the holiday that we couldn't undertake (a couple of lodges in Botswana offered to postpone our bookings but were reluctant to give refunds but they succumbed to Maruska's charms eventually).
And although I didn't book our international flights through Expert Africa, Maruska kept an eye on all of our travel arrangements, even whilst we were away, and alerted us when our return flight was cancelled. The holiday itself was way beyond our expectations partly, I suspect, because there were so few other tourists about. In some of the lodges we visited we were the only guests which meant that we were treated like VIPs.
And what lodges! The Lemala camps were excellent and Maruska negotiated a very good deal for us by using only Lemala for our safari accommodation and the deal included our own vehicle and guide throughout, which meant that we could go where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, instead of being tied to a strict timetable for game viewing. As far as the game viewing was concerned, having been told by a couple of friends that their experiences included having to vie for a view of the animals with 100s of other vehicles, we instead found ourselves to be in splendid isolation with almost every animal we saw. The only downside was having to come home.
And although I didn't book our international flights through Expert Africa, Maruska kept an eye on all of our travel arrangements, even whilst we were away, and alerted us when our return flight was cancelled. The holiday itself was way beyond our expectations partly, I suspect, because there were so few other tourists about. In some of the lodges we visited we were the only guests which meant that we were treated like VIPs.
And what lodges! The Lemala camps were excellent and Maruska negotiated a very good deal for us by using only Lemala for our safari accommodation and the deal included our own vehicle and guide throughout, which meant that we could go where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, instead of being tied to a strict timetable for game viewing. As far as the game viewing was concerned, having been told by a couple of friends that their experiences included having to vie for a view of the animals with 100s of other vehicles, we instead found ourselves to be in splendid isolation with almost every animal we saw. The only downside was having to come home.
Sue Bell
May 24, 2020
Expert Africa is a very efficient company. For our last trip we were keen to visit Namibia and had a plan of where we wanted to stay, but due to lack of availability, our itinerary was not possible. Rather than postpone our trip until another year, our Expert Africa contact, Tom Morris, worked extremely hard to come up with a workable itinerary. This he managed to do, keeping our trip to the area we had originally planned, encompassing some of the accommodation we had wanted and also introducing some new ones.
The itinerary worked very well and gave us a mix of self-drive and guided drives. Expert Africa have once again organised another excellent trip for us. We have now used them several times and have no hesitation in recommending them to others.
The itinerary worked very well and gave us a mix of self-drive and guided drives. Expert Africa have once again organised another excellent trip for us. We have now used them several times and have no hesitation in recommending them to others.
Yvonne Wilson
Dec 09, 2019
We have been fortunate to experience a month long trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana during October 2019 which was booked through Expert Africa at relatively short notice in July of this year. The itinerary we finally settled on required a fair deal of planning but was competitively priced. Throughout the process, Expert Africa offered informed advice and recommendations, clearly based on personal experience of the suggested locations.
They were also extremely patient throughout despite numerous tweakings to the itinerary. In the event, everything went without hitch which is quite remarkable considering the many very remote locations we visited. All the recommendations were spot on and each element of the trip lived up to expectations. We would definitely recommend Expert Africa to would-be Africa visitors and would return to them for future trips of our own.
They were also extremely patient throughout despite numerous tweakings to the itinerary. In the event, everything went without hitch which is quite remarkable considering the many very remote locations we visited. All the recommendations were spot on and each element of the trip lived up to expectations. We would definitely recommend Expert Africa to would-be Africa visitors and would return to them for future trips of our own.
Richard Balmer
Dec 07, 2018
My wife and I have just returned from a wonderful 11 night self drive holiday round Namibia. We did some research and sent a draft itinerary to Expert Africa who made suggestions - every one an improvement. They found an excellent hire car company (Bidvest) who provided a Renault Duster (perfect) and booked all our accommodation. We can not praise them highly enough.
We drove 2400+ km, didn't see all of the country but did see some amazing scenery and lots of wildlife, and appreciate some delightful lodges, sunrises, sundowners and meals. We have already begun to recommend them to friends!
We drove 2400+ km, didn't see all of the country but did see some amazing scenery and lots of wildlife, and appreciate some delightful lodges, sunrises, sundowners and meals. We have already begun to recommend them to friends!
Beth Vogel
Nov 02, 2016
We used Expert Africa to help us plan a 4 week trip to Namibia this spring. We are experienced travelers but were not able to plan this trip ourselves using books and websites because of the huge variety of available places and options. We have never used a service like this. We were absolutely delighted from start to finish. We began with a conference call about our vision for the trip, a review of what worked on past holidays, budget etc.
They seem to really get what we wanted. The trip was perfect, the days stayed at each place, the order we traveled in, the vehicle, trip details, followup. Expert Africa seems to support facilities that are involved in local communities and sustainable tourism, which was really important to us as well. I could not recommend them more highly.
They seem to really get what we wanted. The trip was perfect, the days stayed at each place, the order we traveled in, the vehicle, trip details, followup. Expert Africa seems to support facilities that are involved in local communities and sustainable tourism, which was really important to us as well. I could not recommend them more highly.
