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South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar
South-west Zanzibar

There are some excellent dive sites in south-west Zanzibar

South-west Zanzibar is the quietest part of the Island.

There are only a few but very lovely accommodation options...

...which are great for relaxing on the beach...

...as well as by the pool.

The beaches are amazing for swimming...

...and there is a lot to discover under the water’s surface.

South-west Zanzibar

Reviews of holidays to South-west Zanzibar

152 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include South-west Zanzibar.

Showing 141-150 of 152
Duration
Arrival date
Mr & Mrs Bee-eater
UK

"Thank you for an outstanding holiday"

I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 27 Dec 2007 and 15 Jan 2008
"It was an experience of a lifetime and probably one of the best overall holiday experiences we have ever had.

The holiday organisation was absolutely superb and we have nothing but praise for the team at Expert Africa. We stayed in 5 /6 different locations and every transfer was done on time with the minimum amount of holiday time being wasted.

Our 8 days safari in Southern Tanzania was by far the best element and Beho Beho will go down as one of our favourite places in the world. Your recommendations for visiting Selous was just right.

In retrospect we wish we had done a little bit more research on Zanzibar and what we were looking for in the relaxation resort. Having spent 8 nights in the bush we would have liked somewhere with some evening activity, if only some music playing or a local bar to walk to. Our fault and something we have learnt for the future. We still had a good time but this would have made it absolutely perfect.

A big thank you to everyone at Expert Africa for a great holiday. We will not hesitate in recommending you to anyone wishing to travel to Africa.

Do you cover India?" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs LC
SW London

"Jambo"

I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 22 Dec 2007 and 8 Jan 2008
"Magical. We would go back to three of the four resorts - not bad.

We did know that the third resort had not been visited by your staff at the time of booking." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr J
Essex

""

I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 24 Nov 2007 and 21 Dec 2007
"In general, it was a most enjoyable holiday and the arrangements make by Expert Africa worked perfectly in all important respects.

Based on my experience, I have made comments which I hope will be accepted as constructive and assist you to improve still further your level of service.

I experienced some difficulties in getting to Heathrow for a Saturday departure. Both mainline rail and the tube often have engineering work at weekends. I spoke to some other people who also had problems. Where there is an option of a mid-week departure, I would suggest you might point out to would-be travellers that a mid-week departure would avoid snarl-ups with rail and tube.

Visa. May I say that I object to the entry “visa”, which is not really a visa, but an arrivals tax. (The fact that you can buy it on arrival at Dar indicates this is not a true visa). Most countries have a departure tax, but on arrival I would prefer to receive a warm welcome, not a poke in the eye. In terms of the overall cost of the trip, this is not a significant amount, but I do not like having to pay a tax both on arrival and on departure. I appreciate this is not under your control, but I mention this in case you ever speak to the appropriate authorities.

A general comment: All the tents/rooms were spotlessly clean.

Laundry. At Mdonya the embargo on hand washing women's underclothes also extends to men's underclothes and handkerchiefs. (Strangely, this did not seem to be an issue at Manze and Impala. Change of religious taboos??). The cost of laundry is included at Impala.

p.6 Airport departure tax. The only place in Tanzania where I had to pay a departure tax was on departure from ZNZ to DAR. USD6.00, not 5. Claire's email said, "You no longer need to pay the international departure tax out of Tanzania as this is now included on your air ticket. You will still need to pay the domestic departure tax out of Dar and Zanzibar but not out of Selous or Ruaha. We have recently amended our Notes for Travellers accordingly." I took this to mean I would be charged the tax flying Dar-Ruaha, and Dar-Znz, but this was not the case.

You state that it is essential that we reconfirm our return flight. When I eventually managed to find a computer and logged on to BA.com, I found a message saying that reconfirmation was necessary only for flights from Libya and Saudia Arabia.

Postcards are unobtainable at Mdonya and Manze. They can be bought at the shop in the domestic terminal at DAR airport - if you are awake enough to buy some whilst awaiting the connecting flight to Ruaha.

The safari vehicles in Tanzania all have an overhead awning to keep off the sun and/or rain. This is an excellent idea and one that their competitors further south (e.g. Zambia, Namibia) would do well to copy.

Both Ruaha and Selous are happily free from the accumulation of plastic bags, Coke tins and other rubbish which I found spoiling the Zambezi at Chobe last year.

My experience did not bear out your advice concerning payment of ranger fees. On no occasion was I asked to pay any fee for the services of a ranger, although it is of course customary to give them a tip.

Mobile phones: the Tanzanians are as addicted to mobile phones as we are. This was not a problem at Impala, but at Mdonya and Manze drivers and guides made and received calls when out game-viewing. When drifting peacefully across Lake Manze in a small boat with the engine stopped, or being stationary watching 40 elephants moving silently across the road in front of you, these are not ideal times to have a mobile start ringing. I look forward to the time when some of the bird mimics, such as robin chats, master the ring of a mobile and then this sound will be heard all over the park! Perhaps drivers and guides should be discouraged from taking or using their phones outside the confines of the camp – unless there is an emergency. I already mentioned this at Manze, so corrective action may have been taken already.

Compared with my experience in South Luangwa, the Tanzanian guides are less knowledgeable and they are less able to express their knowledge in clear English. Many of them do not distinguish between the letters “l” and “r”. Rilac bleasted lollers are common birds! (aka Lilac breasted roller)

At some stage in the planning process it was suggested that I split the stay in the Selous and do Manze, Mdonya, Impala. More by luck than good planning, I think I did my trip in the right order. The standard of the camps rose as I progressed, culminating in extreme pampering at Impala. I think I would have been disappointed if I had ended up at the comparatively Spartan Mdonya after I had enjoyed the luxury of Imapala. A small example, the tin wash basin to be emptied by hand at Mdonya was plumbed in at Manze, and replaced by two porcelain sinks at Impala. (This is not meant to belittle Mdonya. It is a charming place which I really liked, but if you expect every camp to be like Impala, then you may get an unpleasant surprise.)

Although I appreciated the comfort of having the wad of vouchers which you sent me, in the event I was never asked to produce even one. The pilots of Coastal Aviation did not even ask for my air ticket when flying out of Ruaha and Selous!

Fly Camping. You say in your brochure that you are not sure where this term originated. If you read the Life of Selous by J.G.Millais (1918) he makes references such as,

“horses could be no longer used and the elephants themselves must be pursued on foot in the 'fly.'”

“…mostly killed by hunting them from horseback, but even as an old man he killed many on foot in the 'fly' country.”

“Their main hunting veldt was the 'fly' country between the rivers Zambezi and Gwai.”

This suggests to me that the term fly camping means to camp in areas where there are tsetse fly. I realise this derivation is hardly likely to encourage tourists!

I found the Tanzanians universally friendly and welcoming, although the Zanzibaris I met at Unguja were not quite to cheerful as their colleagues on the mainland.

Thank you to everyone at Expert Africa and all the camps and hotels. After the hiccough last year over car hire in Namibia, this has restored my faith in Expert Africa." Read full review: 27 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
The Purple Rollers
UK

"Tanzania - our best trip to Africa so far"

I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 15 Oct 2007 and 2 Nov 2007
"The balance of the itinerary was superb. We have done a number of safari holidays before, but none have been to this standard of care and attention.

It was difficult to believe that the entire schedule, with all the internal transfers, could work. It did, so our thanks to all concerned.

The standard of accommodation and variety of locations combined to give a brilliant holiday and experience.

Initially, we found the brochure difficult to interpret. This was resolved by telephone discussions on our actual requirements, after which we found it a good point of reference.

Every single query was dealt with promptly and efficiently." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr Baobab
Wimborne

"My trip to Africa"

I visited Zambia and 1 other country between 12 Oct 2007 and 30 Oct 2007
"An absolutely brilliant trip, everything and more than I could have hoped for.

Expert Africa's Anna Devereux Baker was exceptionally helpful when flight times changed, the Post Office went on strike and I needed a flight upgrade arranged due to back problems." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Ms V & Mr D
Illinois

"Overall trip feedback"

I visited Tanzania and 2 other countries between 2 Oct 2007 and 17 Oct 2007
"We had excellent experiences with gorilla tracking in Rwanda, game viewing in the Serengeti and enjoying the sun on Zanzibar. We would recommend all of these experiences to friends.

While we would recommed going to the Selous, we can not recommend the Lake Manze Camp. This camp was not a good match for us. However, the Lake Manze Camp was the only camp in Selous that had availability on our preferred days. We knew that there were risks with going to this camp as it was so new (in that there may be some procedures that may need to be worked out). We did not expect the full Italian experience. We were expecting that there would be an African experience.

We already talking about our next trip to Africa. We know that we will go again.

When we do, we plan on contacting Expert Africa.

Feel free to include us on the mailing list for your 2008 brochure. Thank you!!!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Good
The Hoopoes
London

"A wonderful trip!"

I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 29 Sep 2007 and 14 Oct 2007
"We had a great holiday, with the combination of action packed safari followed by complete relaxation on the beach working well.

This is our second trip with Expert Africa and both times I have been impressed with the level of personal knowledge and expertise of the advisors as well as their honesty. I have found this a huge help when making decisions about where bto stay and also I have been well prepared for each of the venues. Many thanks.

Suggestions to help us improve: The only comment i have is the reference in your note to the recommended use of travellers cheques for making payment in Tanzania/Zanzibar. Our experience was that most of the hotels/restaurants would not accept them due to the time taken for banks to transfer the money to them. It would be useful to adjust this information in your notes." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Red-eyed Dove
London

"our honeymoon"

I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 22 Sep 2007 and 12 Oct 2007
"We had a brilliant trip. Majority of places we stayed at were great." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Good
The Giraffes
Germany

""

I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 9 Sep 2007 and 21 Sep 2007
"We want to thank you very much for organising our honeymoon.

The locations you have choose were definitively what we wanted. We were very pleased and had a gorgeous time in Africa!

What a fantastic holiday! Superb accomodation, delicious food and, most notably, a very warm welcome and great African hospitality everywhere we stayed.

Thanks to all at Expert Africa for co-ordinating such an amazing holiday for us and for your patience with our ever-changing itinerary!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr W & Ms B
London

"Fantatstic"

I visited Zanzibar and 1 other country between 6 Aug 2007 and 19 Aug 2007
"Beho Beho set the honeymoon off to a great start.

Would be hard to follow that experience and beat it and so our beach expereinces were good, but not really comparable

Zanzibar has to compete hard with safari due to the nature of what is available on each type of holiday. Beho Beho being amaziny, beaches being great, but not comparable.

Also the "Safari Blue" in Zanzibar is a bit of a let down, 200/300 people all crammed onto one sand island was a bit of a shock" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday
Overall trip
Excellent
Showing 141-150 of 152
98%
152 reviews of South-west Zanzibar by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
143
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Where to stay in South-west Zanzibar

Our suggestions for beach lodges in South-west Zanzibar


Unguja Lodge

Unguja Lodge

Unguja is a small, rustic lodge in southern Zanzibar standing on a quiet beach, with some of the most spacious rooms we have seen on Zanzibar.


92% (79 reviews)
Chumbe Island Lodge

Chumbe Island Lodge

Situated on the tiny Chumbe Island, this lodge is an award-winning example of eco-tourism, with excellent snorkelling.


98% (48 reviews)
Fumba Beach Lodge

Fumba Beach Lodge

Fumba Beach Lodge is stylishly put together, with spacious, luxurious rooms, comfortable communal areas and a fantastic infinity pool.


87% (39 reviews)
The Residence Zanzibar

The Residence

The Residence is a very large resort hotel in south-west Zanzibar. Each villa has its own 8-metre lap pool.


100% (2 reviews)

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