Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"Expert Africa and especially Eleanor got it right from the word 'go!'.No hiccups and everything worked smoothly,A seamless pleasurable experience.

Suggestions for improvement:

Keep up the good work !" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Great trip lived upto expectations. Ruaha was a revelation and a really great place to visit.

Everything wnet smoothly, apart from the hiccup with the Selous flight, which was a Costal problem.

Suggestions for improvements:

Nothing to add. We have used Expert Africa five times now and Sunvil to go to Costa Rica. We always mention the company whenever we are asked about our trips to Africa." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a fabulous time. The camps were both excellent and the safaris were the best part of the trip, but chilling out at Unguja Lodge was also great.

Zanzibar Coffee House was perfectly acceptable, but a bit of a step down in terms of quality/comfort after Unguja Lodge and Selous Impala Camp.

All the internal flights and connections worked out perfectly, making the travelling stress-free.

Suggestions for improvemwents:

Perhaps you should mention in the pre-trip letter that return BA flights can be confirmed , seats booked and boarding passes printed 24 hours in advance at internet cafes in Stone Town, (and presumably at camps with computer access and a printer if they're willing).
Also include water shoes in your list of what to pack, especially for Zanzibar." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Would not hestate to recommend the team.

Thank you.

Suggestions for improvements:

Keep doing what you do." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"A big 'thank you' to Expert Africa and Ellie in particular, for all the help and advice given during the planning stage of our first, but hopefully not our last, trip to Africa. The experience surpassed all our expectations and ticked every box and more!

The choice of camps, Impala, Manze and Mdonya met our criteria exactly and, for us, choosing them in that order was perfect. Impala was a great introduction to the 'safari experience' and by the time we reached Mdonya we felt like seasoned travellers. In our opinion three or four days in each camp is a must if you are to get the most out of the activities and you get the opportunity to develop a relationship with the guides and drivers.

All the travel arrangements went like clockwork, with the only exception being when we returned to Heathrow Terminal 5. Having landed, the planes navigational system failed within sight of the buildings and we sat for 20 mins, forty yards from the stand! Welcome home! We had to smile.

Undeterred by that, I'm already leafing through the new brochure - we are definately hooked and have some amazing photos of lions, leopards, cheetah, elephants, giraffe, cape buffalo, crocs, hippos, wild dogs, dik diks etc, etc but no other tourists! They were rarely sighted and we felt as if we had the Selous and Ruaha to ourselves.

We didn't go with any preconsieved ideas or a check list of 'must sees'. Every sighting was a bonus and special. I was just as excited at seeing my last giraffe as I was seeing my first, and we saw hundreds!

There will always be people like us wanting something that bit different and off the main tourist trail. Your expertise really pays dividends and we will have no hesitation in recommending your services to our friends.

Well done Expert Africa. Asante sana.

Suggestions for improvements:

I'm sure you're always on the look out for another 'special' camp. Keep up the good work." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Marvellous experience. The trip exceeded our expectations. We would like to thank Ellie very much for the advice and suggestions she made when putting together the itinery for our safari. She listened to our needs - we are keen bird watchers but we also wished to experience all the diverse aspects of an African safari. She suggested lodges whcih would give us a range of safari experiences and would fit our budget - a tented camp, upmarket lodge and a more basic lodge. We really appreciated this; it worked very well in giving us a broad safari experience for our first time in Africa. We had also specified a guide with a specialist knowledge of birds. Note had been taken of this. Ayoub, our guide, was excellent.

The itinery arrangements (meetings, transfers, accommodation, transport and filights) worked well - without exception.
We would definitely recommend Expert Africa, and Ellie - who always responded very promptly, patiently and knwlegeably to all our queries. We would also recommend our guide, Ayoub. He was very friendly, efficient and looked after us very well in addition to being an excellent wildllife guide.

Suggestions for improvements:

Not really! - outstanding overall trip thanks to Expert Africa and Sokwe/Asilia." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Ellie was fantastic from beginning to end. I knew from my first conversation with her (having spoken to a number of different agents at other companies) that she had summed up exactly what we wanted from our trip and the type of people we were. There was no other choice than to go with Expert Africa. She hit the nail on the head with both the camps and the beach and it was this expert understanding of our characters, and knowledge of the camps etc themselves that made the trip so perfect for my whole family.

Without Ellie, the trip would not have been the resounding success it was for everyone involved - first time safari goers, previous safari and Africa travellers and a Kenya ex-pat. Fundamentally, this was a trip to celebrate my father's 70th birthday so we did everything with him in mind. Having grown up in Africa himself, it was so important that we get the trip right which we did so perfectly with Ellie's assistance.

Ellie had to deal with my indecision (!) and a variety of questions from a number of my family members. She did so with patience and professionalism at all times which was very much appreciated - a service not replicated by your competitors.

Suggestions for improvements:

I don't think so. We were so lucky to have someone understand what we wanted, deliver it and then it being followed by a very lucky trip seeing everything we could have wanted and more. Truely awesome. Asanti sana." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"As we said before, perfect!!

All the transports were perfectly organized. The 3 places we stayed at were as we expected them (or better) and the choice was made with the help of Ellie, who spent a long time talking to us, explaining every detail and giving her gentle suggestions. She was always ready to answer anything at any time of the day. Thanks a lot Ellie!!

The best part of our trip was the waling safari at Impala. The days on the beach were really relaxing. We were a bit disappointed by Stone Town, but this is due to our expectations rather than any problem. We were expecting something different. Maybe the problem was that nothing could compare with the safari for us.

We will keep this part short in order to avoid repeating what we said for the prvious parts.

Best holiday we ever had!! The problem is we already want to go back..." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an absolutely brilliant safari - we saw loads of animals, more than I had expected. Our guide Halifa was fantastic - he was an amazing spotter, I don't know how he found all the animals but he did it somehow. He was also really helpful and would help out with any problem or enquiry. We also really liked him - very easy to get along with. I would recommend him to anyone going to Tanzania. All the camps we stayed in were excellent, again I'd have no problem recommending any of them. Staff were always helpful and friendly. All the people we met in the camps were very happy and very pleased with the guides and the camps.

The Shooting Star in Zanzibar was very nice, and again the staff very helpful. I think we enjoyed the safari part of the trip more, though - Zanzibar was more a place to relax and do nothing and we're not very good at that! Four nights was enough.

Ellie helped us with the booking and she has been great - she didn't mind any of us ringing up with lots of questions, and could always give you a sensible answer. She really knew her stuff!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"the activities were as we expected or even better and the logistics worked smoothly throughout the whole trip" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Mozambique holiday