Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"this holiday had the perfect combination of a variety of very different contrasting destinations, time to chill out in exquisite lodges, the bustle of a culturally and historically fascinating city, the thrill of travelling to a tiny island group at Mafia - the fun of snorkelling and diving - monkeys, butterflies, coral reef and fish - perfect

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no I think you were absolutely excellent and you made our holiday very enjoyable and relaxing" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful time in Africa and look forward to returning soon!" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip as a whole was wonderful. I kept joking that I was worried something would go wrong - but nothing did (much to my relief)! It can feel like you have a lot riding on a big trip like a honeymoon, and we were keen to travel somewhere that neither of us had been before.

Overall, everything was seamless, from flights to transfers to the lodges / hotels / resorts themselves. For the most part, everyone we interacted with on the trip was warm, friendly, and eager to help.

Olivia was great - from initial enquiry to the final booking, she was responsive and clearly very knowledgeable about travelling to Tanzania. She managed to accommodate and re-work our itinerary/quote a few times as our dates changed due to work obligations, but managed to find something that worked within our budget and timeframe. We booked our external flights ourselves, but only because we had air miles available to utilize.

The trip was a great mix of safari / wildlife, short city break with some history, and beach holiday." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Fantastic trip put together on short notice and appreciate the guidance of Richard and others.

I contacted a few other big-name agencies who wanted to provide me with their agenda; Richard listened and put together an agenda for us.

I appreciated the detail in their website and that is what led me to call them (okay, it may be a bit old-fashioned in design, but it is encyclopedic and sometimes that's better than glitz)." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was wonderful. It came about because our eldest son was working in Dar Es Salaam. But we had already used Expert Africa in the past to take our three sons to Namibia. That had been the best family holiday for us. We felt we must use Expert Africa again. I can only say that I am indebted to the knowledge of Lyndsey Marris, and the fact that Expert Africa listens, wants to know what we are looking for, what kind of budget do we have, and then makes carefully thought out suggestions. Lyndsey was so good. Absolutely excellent.

The trip was in every way memorable. Each place we stayed at was great. Lyndsey had provided us with a spot on itinerary. I feel with Expert Africa we are privileged to have people who care about Africa, and who really know it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company. I wish we could return to Africa in the future, but not sure when!

As someone who has lived in Africa and whose work a long time ago(!) was dealing with books for Africa, I feel passionately about it, and two of our three sons have lived there. Chris's books are the best, without a shadow of a doubt. The Zanzibar book is full of rich detail and I left it with Jasper to keep as he is still out in Dar. It is a superb book.

Having time with Jasper in the Selous and on Zanzibar was incredibly special. We will not forget it. Jasper was blown away by the Selous in particular. Thank you, Expert Africa. Our youngest son lived in Botswana; one day I hope to get there, but for now, from the bottom of our hearts, thank-you." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Everything went well from start to finish.

A very good holiday with a good balance between the three locations.

Even though we already had visas for Tanzania we had to stand and wait at immigration while a staff member collected a whole pile of passports and visas and then worked through them interminably slowly!

On arrival in Zanzibar we expected to show our passports and yellow fever vaccination certificates! In the event we just filled in blue cards, gave them to the member of staff, plucked our bags off the carousel and walked out to our transport. (This was Fisherman Tours-their vehicles are very comfortable and they were always punctual)

Having read dreadful accounts of Zanzibar airport (standing in long queues in the heat etc) we were pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is small and cramped but there were no long waits and we left on time." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"It was a lovely trip - the highlight was Ikuka which is a simply wonderful place which we cannot recommend enough - Zanzibar was lovely and Breezes was a very good hotel even if the kite surfing was a little disappointing.

The arrangements by Claire at Expert Africa were excellently done and the itinerary was great ( we would never have know of Ruaha without that knowledge). My sister and brother in law have already booked a Namibia trip with you based on our recommendation." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We have been to Africa before with Expert Africa and we knew what we wanted to see this time.

We then spent a long time with Richard Trillo and his team discussing options and then left it to him to put together an extended trip to hopefully tick all the boxes on our wish list.

ALL BOXES TICKED, this was a fantastic journey through 5 African countries, we have seen and experienced so much, so a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Expert Africa for arranging this for us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, just carry on doing what you're doing now - it would be very hard to improve what you're already doing so well." Read full review: 44 nights in Africa; 17 on a Kenya safari

"Expert Africa put together the most wonderful holiday ever. We were lucky to have two weeks - so spent 8 days doing the classic northern circuit where to see the wild animals so close was just breathtaking.

The Asila guides - Fazo in particular - are worth their weight in gold to show you a real authentic experience and not a tick-box encounter with animals. We saw so much and learnt so much.

All the accommodation was very good and we particularly liked the more authentic canvas tent experience that Kati Kati gave us as we really felt on safari then. Don't just opt for the big lodges!

Tanzania is so beautiful and the wildlife sublime. I was born there and had never been back but was overwhelmed by the positivity and humour of the Tanzanians.

The holiday exceeded all my expectations as I really felt that we had had a more authentic genuine trip and seen so much. it was very nice to finish down in Selous by the lakes and chill out a bit more while still going on game drives and boat trips.

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I think you are all brilliant and don't know how you could improve.

The booking of the flights is complicated and we really appreciated Clare's imput as it is so difficult to understand distances/ times etc.

I have recommended your company to many of my friends - and Fazo our guide who was amazing - so thank you for making this special trip so amazing." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed the part of our Tanzania jaunt organized by Expert Africa.

I had intended to do these bookings myself, but it was much easier, and very pleasant, to have Olivia's expertise!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were very happy to have chosen Expert Africa. I can't make comparative comment about quotations as I didn't seek alternatives.

Likewise the feedback form, as we have no similar experiences to compare. It's certainly long, but I was forewarned by Trip Advisor-type comments!" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari