Travel reviews by Ms C. from Seattle
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
8
Excursions taken
2
My Feb 2022 trip
Tanzania and 1 other country between 1 Feb 2022 and 1 Mar 2022
"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."
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."
Arranged By Jessica Plumb
Serena Hotel Dar
"Serena Hotel Dar review"
1 night
Arrived
1 Feb 2022
"Fine."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Lake Manze Adventure Camp
"Lake Manze Adventure Camp review"
3 nights
Arrived
2 Feb 2022
"Ok. No hot water which would have been welcome.
Awesome guides and good service. Nice tent."
Awesome guides and good service. Nice tent."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Feedback response
We passed on this feedback to Manze, and the camp apologised for the cold showers. The water is heated by a solar system and sometimes the hot water does take a few minutes to come through. On top of this they had experienced some particularly cloudy weather. The camp said they would have happily have brought additional hot water to the tent had they been made aware of the issue at the time. The team will try and make this option clearer to all guests during the camp arrival briefing.
Africa Specialist
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Eland
1 sighting
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Spotted Hyena
Many sightings
Wildebeest
Many sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
Mdonya Old River Camp
"Mdonya Old River Camp review"
3 nights
Arrived
5 Feb 2022
"Flies all over, so pesky it was hard to sit by the campfire which was a bummer.
Good laundry service. Nice staff and tent was nicer. Water wasn’t hot."
Good laundry service. Nice staff and tent was nicer. Water wasn’t hot."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Feedback response
We passed on this feedback to Mdonya, and the camp apologised for this lapse of normal service. The water is heated by a solar system and sometimes the hot water does take a few minutes to come through. On top of this they had experienced some particularly cloudy weather. The camp said they would have happily have brought additional hot water to the tent had they been made aware of the issue at the time. The team will try and make this option clearer to all guests during the camp arrival briefing.
Africa Specialist
Sightings report
Buffalo
Many sightings
Eland
Many sightings
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Hippo
Many sightings
Leopard
Many sightings
Lion
Many sightings
Spotted Hyena
Many sightings
Wild dog
1 sighting
Zebra
Many sightings
Pole Pole
"Pole Pole review"
6 nights
Arrived
8 Feb 2022
"Surpassed my expectations.
Dive sites were fantastic. Dive boat a little rough but OK.
Nice rooms. Fabulous food. Loved the staff. Small resort so we got to know all of the guests.
Best place of the entire trip and some of the best diving I have done in my 22 years of my diving career. 20 stars."
Dive sites were fantastic. Dive boat a little rough but OK.
Nice rooms. Fabulous food. Loved the staff. Small resort so we got to know all of the guests.
Best place of the entire trip and some of the best diving I have done in my 22 years of my diving career. 20 stars."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Serena Hotel Dar
"Serena Hotel Dar review"
1 night
Arrived
14 Feb 2022
"See previous review"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Manta Resort
"Manta Resort review"
7 nights
Arrived
15 Feb 2022
"Wow Pemba is nice. Manta is gorgeous.
Breakfast was monotonous but overall quality of food was good.
Loved the spa treatments after diving. Great dive shop and team. Took excellent care of my gear too.
Coral Garden was a breathtaking site. Encourage guests to dive there, they must request it."
Breakfast was monotonous but overall quality of food was good.
Loved the spa treatments after diving. Great dive shop and team. Took excellent care of my gear too.
Coral Garden was a breathtaking site. Encourage guests to dive there, they must request it."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Emerson Spice
"Emerson Spice review"
3 nights
Arrived
22 Feb 2022
"OMG I love love love this hotel.
One of the most charming places I have ever stayed."
One of the most charming places I have ever stayed."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Stone Town Discovery Tour
"Stone Town Discovery Tour review"
23 Feb 2022 • All-day excursion
Really informative and a great way to familiarize yourself with the area.
Our guide was excellent. 5 stars for him!
Our guide was excellent. 5 stars for him!
Excellent
Swahili Cooking Workshop
"Swahili Cooking Workshop review"
24 Feb 2022 • Morning excursion
We were running late so had to rush it a bit.
Brilliant setting and really hands on which I appreciate. The only thing I missed was not having the recipes to take home.
The food we cooked was delicious
Brilliant setting and really hands on which I appreciate. The only thing I missed was not having the recipes to take home.
The food we cooked was delicious
Zuri Zanzibar
"Zuri Zanzibar review"
4 nights
Arrived
25 Feb 2022
"I did not like this place. The gardens are truly gorgeous and the room was pretty but not my style.
Food was mediocre. Pool was just OK. I wonder if this is what it’s like to be on a Carnival Cruise, lol. Reminded me of a Shanghai La property.
Beautiful first impression but an exercise in overpriced mediocrity."
Food was mediocre. Pool was just OK. I wonder if this is what it’s like to be on a Carnival Cruise, lol. Reminded me of a Shanghai La property.
Beautiful first impression but an exercise in overpriced mediocrity."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Poor
Facilities
Good
Feedback response
We sent these comments to the team at Zuri.
Their general manager, Anja Bosken, replied swiftly saying:
“I would like to sincerely thank you for your feedback. It was with sadness that I read that we were unable to exceed your expectations, specifically with food and the service level. This has been addressed with our Director of Food and Beverage. Thank you very much for the compliments on the gardens; we hope that you had a chance of taking one of our complimentary Spice Garden tours to discover the stories behind our private green oasis. I hope to be welcoming you back at ZURI in future. Kind Regards…”
Their general manager, Anja Bosken, replied swiftly saying:
“I would like to sincerely thank you for your feedback. It was with sadness that I read that we were unable to exceed your expectations, specifically with food and the service level. This has been addressed with our Director of Food and Beverage. Thank you very much for the compliments on the gardens; we hope that you had a chance of taking one of our complimentary Spice Garden tours to discover the stories behind our private green oasis. I hope to be welcoming you back at ZURI in future. Kind Regards…”
Africa Specialist