Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"Our trip was absolutely amazing.

We spent three days on safari at Kiba Point and four nights in Zanzibar at Zuri Zanzibar. The entire trip was flawless. Our transfers and flights were well coordinated and timely. The accommodations and food were all top notch. Could not have asked for a better vacation.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None. Thanks for all of your assistance in putting this together." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We had a fantastic holiday.

In most cases it exceeded our expectations with just a couple of exceptions. Our 4 days at Lake Manze were brilliant. The game viewing was great, as were the guides, managers and all aspects of the camp. Our 4 days at Old Mdonya were also great. The game viewing was brilliant and so were the guides however we found the present managers at the camps to be a little distant at times and I think the running of the camp would benefit if the managers engaged more with the guests and the staff as was the case with the previous managers.

Pongwe Beach hotel is fantastic in all ways and the whole family thoroughly enjoyed their stay. Generally all our travel arrangements worked well and our flights and transfers were good apart from our final transfer at Dar when the Coastal Shuttle bus failed to turn up and we had to pay out for taxis. All in all a great holiday and one that I would love to repeat at some time in the future." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"We are very happy with our experience. Lyndsey was very helpful all times, thanks for your help." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We were both really happy that we chose the itinerary we did. From the short stop at the Southern Sun in Dar, to the excellent safari camps in Selous (Beho Beho) and Ruaha (Ikuka) we had a brilliant time. We could not recommend these places highly enough. Also the contrast between Selous (Green, hot and humid) and Ruaha (brown, hot and dry) was stark, but we were able to see lots of wildlife in both locations and the vistas were simply stunning. The game drives were excellent - with very few other jeeps seen in Selous and only a few more in Ruaha. This was a great time to visit - there was some rain but it did not detract from the experience and it was uncrowded.

We booked 5 nights in Zanzibar to relax after the safaris and chose the Baraza Resort. It is a stunning place with excellent villas and vistas - but we did have some customer service issues - mainly centred around attention to detail by the hotel and not to be confused with the service of the hotel staff - which was excellent

Expert Africa did a superb job for us. Thanks again Lyndsey.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not much to add - you put together a very good itinerary for us. I really like the objectivity of your website and the service from Lyndsey.

So we'll be saving up and looking to go on another safari somewhere else in Africa - and I'll certainly contact you when that time comes." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a brilliant trip to Tanzania, with a great variety of scenery, wildlife and culture.

We appreciated the gentle encouragement to go to 2 separate safari parks as we had been put off visiting Ruaha by the extra cost, but it was worth every penny. The contrast in environment and scenery between Selous and Ruaha was particularly marked during our visit as the rains had come early in Selous but yet to arrive in Ruaha. We hadn't realised quite how striking the differences between the 2 parks and wildlife were. We appreciated that Olivia didn't pressurise us to book a more expensive holiday but we would recommend highlighting these differences explicitly to future customers.

The variety of walking, boat and driven safari was brilliant, with expert guides and drivers able to find/spot wildlife and share insights about every species. Sharing these experiences each night at the communal dining areas was lovely too.

The guidebook sent to us before the trip was a really useful extra and we used it to book a recommended eco-tour to Jambiani village as an extra. The leather travel wallet has a lovely construction but could do with being a tiny bit larger (just an extra centimetre?) to accommodate the A4 documents sent out before the holiday.

The camps, hotels and transfers all worked seamlessly - there were no niggles beyond a minor adventure with an aircraft stuck in the mud at an airstrip after overnight rain. We felt very well looked after at each destination and extend our thanks to every member of the teams for making our holiday so memorable." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything went according to plan and both my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tanzania.

If anything we stayed too long in Zanzibar but this was dictated by our international flights arranged by us.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa to our friends and family who may be considering a similar excursion.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, none" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zanzibar holiday

"This was a very enjoyable trip.

It was good to experience different areas and to experience land and water safaris.

An added bonus was a wonderful few days in Zanzibar.

Expert Africa provide a great service. Knowledgeable, professional and friendly staff and a very competitive price." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful trip with many momentous adventures but quite a lot more tedious jeep rides than we had bargained for, especially in the Kenya portion where the distances between camps was several hours on washed out roads only to find out when we arrived that the next activity would be a jeep ride! This was disappointing as I had been quite clear that that what I was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

The biggest issue was that Olivia had not made clear to me the consequences of the rainy season. I thought it just meant that it would rain a bit during the day and we would get wet, something I don't care about. What it really meant is that the bush would be so green and thick that animals would be extremely hard to see, that water would be so readily available everywhere that animals would be widely dispersed across hundreds of thousands of acres, and therefore hard to find, that the bugs would be fierce. and that the normally rough, bumpy roads would be so deeply rutted and washed out hat driving was bone crushing. And, as I noted in my comments about Sarara, some activities such as the Singing Wells, were not possible. No one can control the weather but if I had known what the rainy season was really like I don't think I would have taken the chance of traveling in the shoulder season. Since we were the only guests at a number of places, i felt everybody else had gotten the memo except us!

Also, some of the logistics could have been worked out better. Though the three Samburu camps look equidistant on a map, in fact it made no sense to go to Saruni Rhino last instead of Sarani Samburu, which is quite close to the airstrip.By going there last, it added another 2 and a half hour jeep trip on washed out roads to get back to the airstrip we had just come from two days earlier.

Finally, we were never told that the trip from Saruni Rhino to Plantation Lodge would be over 10 hours. We were shocked to discover on arrival at Kilamijaro that our jeep ride was over 4 hours. I can't believe there was not a scheduled or even charter flight from Kili to Manyara. In any event, no one told us about the length of the trip and we had no food from 8 AM till 6:30 PM expect for the driver's small pack of Pringles. I expected better attention to logistics.

With the exception of Stone Town, all the places we stayed were great. I just wish we had done the trip a different year when we could have done it at the right time." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"Perfect holiday and thanks to expert Africa for the expert knowledge!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"An excellent, truly memorable trip. Amanda stepped in later in the planning process after another team member left and her advice and organisation were invaluable." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday