Reviews of holidays to Mafia Island

"We had an amazing trip due to the fact that Jessica took time to understand our wishes for the trip and tailored the itinerary accordingly.

The organisation was excellent and the lodges lived up to our expectations.

We were looked after superbly all by lodge staff and the safari guides were extremely knowledgeable and we were thrilled to see so many animals close up.

Thank you Expert Africa" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic.

The trip was put together over a series of calls and discussions, met all our criteria and was a great success.

We had one slight hitch with charges for a walking and night safari which Lyndsey sorted immediately, the wonders of e mail.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Maybe make it clear that you will be guided through the many flight changes by Coastal, it was a bit daunting but they made it easy" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari

"We loved this family trip and it created long lasting memories." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari

"Inspite of all the horror stories of flying and Heathrow this year, the travelling was probably one of the most straight forward journeys to Africa ever. Health travel questionnaires for Tanzania and Kenya are no longer required or requested as long as you have covid vaccine certificate.
The second week which was organised through Expert Africa was a huge success and a two centre holiday in Mafia was a good choice." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip was quite the odyssey. A long itinerary with lots of moving parts.

I was surprised and impressed by Expert Africa who took care of the hiccups and responded quite promptly to take care of the unforeseen circumstances that pop up on a trip like this.

I wish I could book EA for all of my trips, easily the best agency I have ever worked with.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, you are top notch." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari

"Despite some tricky conditions everything worked very well, and we had a diverse and very enjoyable trip. We´vee been very happy with the services of Expert Africa and will gladly book with them again.

Tanzania had an unusually wet season. We did have quite some rain and some very dull lighting conditions but the sun came out often enough to keep us happy. Some areas in Selous and Ruaha were inaccessible but that was no issue for us, we covered a lot of ground, doing mostly full day outings.

We loved the lush green environments, it was nice to see happy animals enjoying the abundance of food. Predators were a bit scarce, and the high grass a problem for visibility sometimes but we had expected that. Birding was really good, we recorded almost 300 species and photographed about 250. Udzungwa was a really cool place to be, loved the hiking there. Snorkeling in Mafia was a revelation - like swimming in an aquarium, really beautiful. We cannot quite join in the chorus of devoted Chole followers though.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions - really impressed with the quality of service. Thanks again!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Excellent trip, and we loved Tanzania - people, location and activities.

Slightly disappointed by the weather (more long periods of rain than we had expected) and the wildlife were also elusive, but overall it was an excellent trip and we would happily return. Lodges were all excellently run, with high standards, as expected." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Kono Kono let the whole trip down

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None I can think of" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"A memorable trip indeed !

We have wonderful memories, in spite of the disappointment in Mafia because of the weather.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Your organization was perfect. We don't know how you could possibly improve it." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"We knew this was going to be the trip of a lifetime, but nothing could have prepared us for the experience we had. By the 3rd day we had run out of superlatives and by day 8 we were tongue tied when trying to describe how remarkable the wildlife was, how fabulous the food, how gorgeous the accommodations and how well we were treated. Even now, two months later we have difficulty.

We would not hesitate to use the services of Expert Africa again, in fact we would insist on it for trip planning in that part of the world. We would also insist on having Lyndsey Marris as our personal representative. Lyndsey was outstanding from day one, asking all the right questions about our travel experiences, our wishes, making suggestions before I had a chance to even think to ask, and somehow despite her being in London and our being in the United States we never waited more than 24 hours for an email or telephone response. We don’t know how she managed to work around the time difference, but she did. Her recommendations were spot on and she was flexible with changes; nothing seemed beyond her. We met and formed a friendship with a family from greater London while in Ruaha who had also used Expert Africa and had Lyndsey as their agent and they had the same experience and praise for her as we did.

We were provided with daily itineraries including private drivers, reservations at restaurants, all flight arrangements, hotel and safari camp reservations and accurate information about all of them. In over three weeks of travel there was only one hiccup and that was minor and no doubt precipitated by a flight delay causing us to arrive in Nairobi 2 ½ hours late. The driver who was to have met our flight was not there and we were unsure on how to proceed. As it turned out, a very attentive gentleman had been observing our situation and eventually came over and asked what had happened and it turned out he worked for the same company, Southern Cross Safaris, who was to drive us that day and the next. He took over and got us transported to the hotel and put us back onto our activity schedule to see the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center. The driver from Southern Cross Safaris was delightful and informative and we met him again the last evening of our trip when we came back to Nairobi to fly home. The only adjustment we would make to our stay in Nairobi would be to give up the convenience of an airport hotel for the apparently unique, lovely experience of staying at Giraffe Manor. We didn’t know Giraffe Manor existed so it wasn’t something we asked Lyndsey about, but we really wish it had somehow come up.

I would suggest to anyone going on Safari to stay in multiple camps in diverse geographic areas. Lyndsey gave us a perfect itinerary in the perfect order: Nairobi, Selous, Ruaha, Mara River, Grumeti and finally Mafia Island and a flight home from Nairobi. Each of the areas had its own flora and fauna and special emphasis. Selous is private, no traffic or competition to view the animals, you can go off road, but the animals are very spread out due to its size. You have the opportunity to see the rare wild dog, but fewer cats. Ruaha, on the other hand, is a national park; you cannot go off road, there are many more vehicles, but it is definitely the place for cats. Mara River is all about the wildebeest crossing. It is also a national park. Grumeti is a private paradise in the Serengeti that gives you the absolute best of the best. Mafia Island is an exquisite respite from the “always on alert” feeling of safari.

If you looked on a map you might wonder why we worked from south to north just to fly much further south at the end, but Lyndsey explained her thinking, we took her advice - she was exactly correct. The wildlife built up as did the camps as we went along. Not once did we feel we were taking a back step in the quality of anything. And going on safari is quite tiring despite the fact you are being driven everywhere, so a restful beach idyll at the end is perfect.

We will definitely return to Africa. We would repeat this trip in a heartbeat. In fact this trip was so fantastic it will be difficult to resist literally going back to the same camps, but Africa is huge with so much variety, we will most likely expand our horizons. Where ever it is, Expert Africa will help plan our trip." Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 18 on a Tanzania safari