Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"Although well travelled, old and cynical we had many "heart stopping moments" during animal encounters. I will never be able to persuade my wife into a simple tent again - she will insist on mahogany furnishings." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful time, one the best holidays that we had in a long time.

The service we received from Expert Africa was excellent and the trip ran very smoothly and to the itinerary that was provided beforehand." Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 1 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We had a fantastic trip.

If we were organising again I think we would do 3-4 days in Zanzibar first to wind down and get into holiday mode and then go to the Ruaha and Selous to get maximum benefit from the safari. We loved both parks and they provide an excellent combination with contrasting scenery, fantastic game viewing and game animals and different activities. The camps were quite exceptional and we would love to visit them and perhaps go all the way to Katavi.

The organisation and those all involved in it here and locally went entirely smoothly.

Suggestions for improvement:

I know this is probably not that helpful but this is the third trip you have organised for us and on each occasion your service has been exceptional, we would not dream of going to Africa with anyone else - many thanks." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Really enjoyed our honeymoon." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"The balance between resting and activities, the Indian Ocean coast and Stone Town produced a great 4 days in Zanzibar and we managed to fit in all we had wanted and more.

Fisherman Tours the Expert Africa representatives were really helpful and helped to arrange a Spice Tour (good idea to do on the trip between the east coast and Stone Town) and also a walking tour of Stone Town. It might have been a good idea to have had a list of possible activities that they coudl arrange before leaving home as quite a lot of information was given to you on the trip from the airport to hotel.

Good idea to get a Zantel SIM and 10,000Zsh credit before leaving Stone Town area - we made loads of calls to mobiles and UK and still didn't run out of credit by end of week.

Safari Blue (www.safariblue.net) was a brilliant decision to take up - we read about it at Shooting Star and as total novices had been a bit nervous about doing a day trip with dhow sailing and snorkelling but this was a really well organised but friendly and informal activity and excellent value for money at $55 per preson for an all inclusive whole day of dolphin watching, dhow sailing, coral snorkelling, great food, chilled drinks, a trip in a traditional fishing katamaran, flooded mangrove swimming all in a friendly and helpful atmosphere. Good also to see the company using some of the profits to reinvest in local communities - definitely to be recommended.

Taking a walking tour on first afternoon in Stone Town was a good idea as it meant we enjoyed the subsequent time more as we felt confident about where things were and more happy to venture off the main routes and see more than we would have done if not." Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zanzibar holiday

"The places we stayed were all we hoped they would be and more.

The Z-Hotel and its location may not be everyone preference, especially for those seeking a more isolated, santatised type "Maldives" experience. For my Wife and I it was a perfect change to the "Maldives" type experience as we travelled to the Maldives last September.

The Safari was simply amazing on all levels !!

We would not have changed anything ... although at a push knowing what I know now I may have opted for an alternate hotel in Dar es Salaam for the last night." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"This trip couldn't have gone any better, from start to finish. Both the camps were really amazing (guides, location everything), we loved every moment and really want to go back in the near future.

Zanzibar was a wonderful end to the honeymoon staying at a few different places was nice, the trips organised through the hotels were very expensive so I would in future organise them through fishermans tours before we go (in the end we organised a tour through fishermans whilst we were at the ponge)

The logistics of being picked up and dropped off at where we were suposed to be was near perfect, the only slight worry we had was on the last day when we were being taken to the airport when we didnt know when we were supposed to be picked up but after asking a few people how long it would take to get to the airport for the early morning flight we had a rough idea.

Overall Would recommend expert Africa to anyone, they gave us a perfect homeymoon

Suggestions for improvements:

Nothing. It was perfect thankyou" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This was a great trip . We had been on safari 2 times before and I think this was the best trip. The 2 parks were both very good and Zanzibar was relaxing afterwards. All the arrangements worked like clockwork and all the people we dealt with were helpful , committed and friendly.

Suggestions for improvements:

We kept chopping and changing our plans , but Elly was very patient with us and came up with helpful suggestions to make sure our trop siuted us. We wanted good game viewing and comfortable accommodation - we are not interested in having spas and the ultimate luxuries ! Rather an experience , and that's what we had.

So I don't have any real suggestions for improvement !" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We really loved our trip. I think we were both surprised particularly as to how much we thoroughly enjoyed the safari part of the trip, even though we thought we'd be really tired after our wedding.

The advice we received before we booked was so helpful as we really had no idea what we wanted to do and speaking to someone who had visited all the places and could answer even the smallest queries was really helpful and helped us to make a really good choice of trip. And it also meant that when we arrived, everything was as we expected and there were no nasty surprises!! The website was really helpful - we found all the reviews from people who had recently travelled to the places was really helpful as well to help us make our decision, and the descriptions about each place were very thorough.

It was the first time we had used a travel agent to book an entire trip and it was so good - everything worked so well. All the details we received before we travelled was very helpful and thorough and made it easy for us to check that everything was booked as we had discussed. During our trip all our transfers were there to pick us up on time and all the hotels expected us when we arrived - it was all very efficient.

Suggestions for improvements:

I don't think I can think of anything you could do better!

Thank you for helping us organise a wonderful honeymoon!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Amazing. Selous Impala was defo the highlight, just wish we could have stayed longer.

Suggestions for improvements:

No, just to say thanks for sorting everything out the trip was ace. I know it probably doesn't sound like it but the points raised were just the not so good bits we thought you'd like to know so the issues can be adressed.

Keep doing what your doing and we'll defo use you again just need to start saving." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday