Reviews of holidays to Mafia Island

"Once again extremely happy with Expert Africa. Everything went smoothly and was well taken care off. The knowledge and recommendations from the Expert Africa team, this time especially Lyndsey, were extremely valuable. Thank you for this Lyndsey and also for all your patience.

What we like with Expert Africa besides their vast knowledge is that they listen to their customers, spent the time to discuss our trip as long as we want and subsequently are suggesting what best suits us. Also appreciate very much that Expert Africa has been looking to find the best deal for us with the best value for money within our budget.

Asilia Africa was again top notch and such a great outfit making everything memorable. Jabali was incredible and unforgettable so was Roho ya Selous, different styles working so well together in a holiday.
Highlight for us were the wild dogs that we failed to see so many times on our previous holidays and the whale sharks & flying foxes in Mafia.

We loved Ruaha and Nyerere as less crowded, feeling even private, both parks a nice contrast though realize probably not for everyone as animals are not on display like in the Mara or Serengeti." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic overall first time safari experience for the children.

Seeing Wild Dog in two separate parks was amazing.

The camps were all high quality and wildlife viewing overall was excellent.

Great to cap it off swimming with Whale Sharks." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Our first time to Tanzania was a fantastic experience which, if we can fit it in at some point, would be great to repeat.


Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service

Nothing springs to mind" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 17 on a Tanzania safari

"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