Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"Thank you so much, Jessica! Our holiday in Ruaha was amazing.

Every step of the planning and booking process was simple and fun.

Our overnight and transport through Dar es Salaam was smooth, and Ikuka and Kitchatka Zumbua are both excellent camps that complement each other very nicely.

We would be thrilled to return to each camp some day!

We highly recommend Expert Africa. Thanks again!" Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a fantastic trip, and appreciated the time you took to make sure it would work for all of us, from ages 7 to 77!

The process of deciding upon itinerary (places, lodging, timing) involved very productive discussions to arrive at a great trip. The 15 days with Anaphi Anafi demonstrated that our desires were listened to, and we had a truly great and effective guide.

Thank you so much for everything.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No.

Any small matters that arose, the sorts of things that occur with any planned trip, were handled very quickly" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"This was an absolutely fantastic trip, and getting close to gorillas was a unique and thrilling experience.

We should also give a shout out to Lyndsey, not only for organising the trip and making some great suggestions, but also for rescuing the situation when our plane to Dar was delayed by 12 hours. Thanks, Lyndsey!" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an excellent trip, overall we are truly happy and got so many lifetime memories that we will forever cherish." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Absolutely loved the experience, having the meet and greet service really helped make the flights very comfortable, very well planned, would have liked and overnight stop on way back and perhaps daytime flights, cant wait to go again" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"3 nights at Kigelia were excellent but 4 nights at Sand Rivers was a waste of time, so overall the trip was unsatisfactory.

Nomad should be much more honest about Sand Rivers. It may have been good in the past but currently there is no reason to go there and I got the impression that they are aware of the issues." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"It was a really special trip and one we would definitely repeat.

Ruaha is a very special place to experience and Moli is the perfect person to experience it with." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Wonderful trip to Nairobi and the Serengeti. See individual camp reviews.

Only overall snag was Kenya Airways cancelling a leg of our return flight from Kilimanjaro-Nairobi which Expert Africa quickly stepped in to help with (involved re-routing the bush flights to enable us to fly Zanzibar-Nairobi instead).

Was very grateful for this support, quickly provided." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our fifth visit to the area spanning sixteen years and, sadly, the least satisfying - a mixed bag of excellence and disappointment.

Let's start with the positives.

For thirty years now we have been making almost annual trips to Africa to see and photograph wildlife visiting many different countries. Of all those visited there is no question in our opinion that the Tanzanians are the very best people when it comes to friendliness and the provision of hospitality and service.

The next major plus point is the service provided by Expert Africa's agents in Tanzania. You really felt looked after by their staff - staffing levels are excellent. As an example, we needed some medical advice which resulted in the need for some antibiotic medicine. No problem - they just flew it up from Arusha on the next flight.

Other ways they provided satisfaction was in the way little changes to the daily plan were taken on board and executed.

We choose to go to these areas in Tanzania to enable us to see cheetah. This is where our first disappointment happened. There seem to be fewer sightings compared with many years ago (we readily accept that no animal sighting can be guaranteed anywhere).

Years ago we would see two or even three separate cheetah sightings on any one day. On this trip we saw only six sightings over an eight day visit to the area.
In this same period over the years there has been a gradual increase in the number of lion sightings and total lion numbers. This puts greater pressure on the cheetah who are often killed by lions. Also this means that when a cheetah is found it is immediately surrounded by vehicles and this pressure may be driving them away.

We witnessed one outrageous situation where three cheetah on a kill were corralled by twenty vehicles in three concentric circles with a clear area of no more than 10 to 12 meters diameter. The stress levels shown on the poor animal's faces was clear to see. This behaviour by tourists has got to be controlled! But the commercial interests rule. Years ago there were some four or five operating companies, now it seems there are forty five - you see a new name on a vehicle numerous times a day." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Yet another great safari organised by Expert Africa.

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of my trip and, to put the wildlife sightings into context, my visit was at the end of the season so the recent rains created very thick vegetation which made big cat sightings unlikely.

The sightings of Wild dogs (now Painted Wolves) are always special and I had fantastic bird sightings from both camps.

As always Expert Africa have excelled in organising a fantastic trip, tailored to my requirements and providing complete satisfaction. I am always happy to recommend Expert Africa and I hope they will continue making my safari arrangements for many years to come.

Full marks too, for Sean and Millie at Lake Manze and Malcolm at Mdonya and their respective teams for providing me with such enjoyable stays at their wonderful camps and such great company." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari