Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"The trip went perfectly - we were met as scheduled for our various transfers and everything went to plan. The camps were very much as described on the Expert Africa website and the safaris more than met our expectations - this certainly ranks in our top 3 holidays ever - and we've been lucky enough to have had a lot of holidays all over the world!

From first contact Ellie was very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly - that was why despite finding a slightly cheaper quote, I got back to her to give her the chance to price match (which she did) - we were kept informed throughout and the literature provided was very useful - when I needed clarification on a couple of points Ellie was quick to reply.

The only thing I think we could have done differently is to visit Ruaha first - the parks were both excellent in different ways but Impala camp was special in terms of 'customer service' - the River Lodge was fine but coming after Impala it was always going to suffer by comparison! Either way we still enjoyed ourselves immensely, so a big thank you for that!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The issue regarding the date of dollar notes which are acceptable in Tanzania needs to be clarified - your original 'notes' booklet says notes should dated 'after 2000', although your letter of 7 September updated this to 2003. I had 3 or 4 20 dollar notes dated 2004 and a couple dated 2006 and Selous Impala camp said they were not acceptable - luckily I also had enough in sterling to cover this deficit. However when we got to Ruaha the manager said she was unaware of any problems with notes after 2000!

A relatively small matter but it could be important in some cases." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Liz did a great job at listening to our requirements and preferences and pairing us with the camps delivering most of what we wanted.

She was also quick to react to and compensate the one minor hiccup along the way." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"We are well travelled and enjoy staying in quality accommodation. We have been on two safaris in the past but this is the first time we have booked through Expert Africa. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company to friends and family. We had a fantastic holiday thanks to the advice given to us by Claire who put together a first class itinerary.

We were not aware of the strong tipping culture in Tanzania and would have appreciated this being pointed out to us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

It seems Expert Africa are worthy of their name!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Wonderful, over too soon,

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perfect as it is." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a fantastic holiday. Both camps were very good in their own ways. The whole trip ran very smoothly apart from comments below.

We will definitely use Expert Africa again.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Dar Es Salaam airport is chaotic. It is very hot and it is not clear where to go. We did not realise we had to fill in departure forms and had to go back to the end of the queue. Perhaps Africa travel should advise people of this form and process to get through this airport.

My wife felt quite faint with the heat and jostling crowds. It took more than an hour to get through past all the passport control and security points. Perhaps we should have been warned of this." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We had the most amazing honeymoon on Safari at Azura Selous, followed by some much needed R&R in Zanzibar. Everything was fantastic.

Azura was wonderful - see my review separately for that if you want more details. Expert Africa were great and did everything we could have asked for. I'm sure if you book at trip with Expert Africa, you can't fail to have a great time.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep up the good work! Many thanks!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall, our trip was a most enjoyable and memorable experience, and we would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa to other travellers.

Our advisor Ellie was knowledgeable and helpful, and was mindful of the fact that we were hoping to have high quality wildlife experiences but that we did not have an unlimited budget. She made many helpful suggestions, and was very successful in meeting our aims. I spoke to Chris at one time, and he made some helpful suggestions which we later appreciated, particularly about flying from Arusha directly to Ruaha, and not taking the Dar Express to Dar first (which was our original plan so that we might visit the Usambara Mountains, but this would not have been feasible in the time available). Ellie's planning was very thorough, and everything worked smoothly.

The only thing that didn't work was that the mailed package did not arrive in time before we left. It would have been better to allow more time.

Ubuntu and Kwihala were easily the most professional people we stayed with, and we thoroughly enjoyed staying at their two tented camps. Please pass this comment on to them. Both managers, staff and guides were excellent at both camps.
The only reservation we had was about our first guide, Kevin. He was quite pleasant and was also fairly knowledgeable about wildlife and birds. However, he has been a guide for some time, and seemed to be going through the motions a fair bit, and was not particularly enthusiastic (certainly compared to other guides we have used). He did not usually proffer a lot of information on his own initiative, apart from an excellent dissertation about the Rift Valley. He would provide information when we asked, but we had specifically told him we were interested in everything, including local culture.

When we were driving along in Tarangire (in particular) and Ngorongoro, he was not constantly scanning as the best guides do.He would often just drive along, frequently listening to the CB radio which tended to be on all the time. I would often spot things he would not, and I know from using other guides that my eyes are nowhere near as good as the best guides' eyes.
I know that guides use the CB radio for communication, but we got the sense he was using it (constantly) more for his own interest, and it became very annoying on occasions. We may be wrong there, but as we were starting to descend into Ngorongo Crater in the early morning light, I asked him to turn off the radio so we could enjoy the experience but he didn't hear or notice.

He did do a more thorough job in Lake Manyara, and we were happy with our safari experience there.

We don't necessarily want to cause a problem for Kevin, as he has his good points. However, we also have a number of specific complaints.

On our first night's stay in Sopa Lodge in Tarangire, we had to ask the management for some more bottled water. We found out the next day that Kevin had a large supply of bottled water on board, but he failed to inform us of this. He claimed he did, but my wife and I are quite aware of the importance of water, and he certainly didn't inform us.

On the way to Tarangire when we arrived at the big tourist shop where everybody stops, he made a beeline for the coffee bar for his free coffee. We don't begrudge him this, but he left us to our own devices (which is fine), but he had not really informed us of what was going on, or asked whether we might like a coffee, or indicated how long we would be there. This attitude contrasted with the few other guides we have used, who would make sure you were informed and were looked after.

Lastly, on the second morning during breakfast, he picked up my Nikon camera with its telephoto lens attached and played around with it for a short while. He did this without asking. As it happens, I was surprised but I didn't take exception to it as I could see he wasn't going to do any harm. However, I thought a lot of photographers I know would take exception to it, particularly as he could inadvertently damage something.

The above are all fairly minor gripes in the overall safari experience. As I said, Kevin was quite personable and pleasant, and we generally got on well. However, we believe his performance would be improved if he was more aware of his clients' requirements and showed greater enthusiasm and a little more "gung ho" attitude to do his best for his clients." Read full review: 33 nights in Africa; 16 on a Tanzania safari

"our trip surpassed all expectations. We were met at all airports by some lovely people.

We were comfortable and made to feel at home by everybody we met." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was a big financial investment - but worth every penny.

We have wonderful memories, a journal and many photographs. Would always recommend working with an experienced travel agency - such as Expert Africa - particularly if it is your first trip. Think it would be helpful to describe a typical Safari day - early rise etc. Also, a traveller's itinerary printed on one single sheet would make the trip easier to manage." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful experience overall. Please see my individual camp reviews for more detail.

The highlight was definitely Greystoke Mahale - if you can possible find a way to go there, do it! Our other experiences had high points and low points, but it was a great adventure overall and we were very pleased with the logistics and coordination by Expert Africa." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari