Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"Our ninth safari and a return for a second visit to Ruaha and Selous. The game and sightings were as good as any we have experienced before anywhere.

We saw three different lion hunt and kills, a crocodile/impala kill and an unsuccessful leopard hunt in daylight. We had good wild dog sightings, plenty of various antelope and an excellent range of smaller animals; add a total of 220 species of birds in 12 days, many lizards and even a few snakes this trip- 2 pythons and a green snake (it's a harmless species - I don't mean a mamba or boomslang). Both Ruaha and Selous remain game rich and less tourist full than many other destinations. Selous is a favorite over Ruaha because of the availability of water safaris but to us a mixture of places makes a trip and the paucity of available water in Ruaha just concentrates the game.

Guiding was excellent at all the three camps we went to and the camps themselves reflected the range from bush camp to luxurious with none of them having any shortcomings. As usual the camp staff were unfailingly pleasant and efficient. One does not usually notice the domestic staff side of things but all the camps manage hotel type efficiency of cleaning, clothes washing and ironing and food production and all done out in the bush far from civilization.

We approached Expert Africa with two itineraries; a Zambia trip was not on because places were already booked but it was clear that a Southern Tanzania one was possible and in fact everything we wanted fell into place within a few days. Claire was efficient, friendly and you get the impression with expert Africa that they will keep on trying to get your trip right. On this occasion there was no problem. Our documents arrived in plenty of time as promised.

An excellent and enjoyable trip- Thank you

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Our second trip organised by you and faultless really. We are experienced safari fans so perhaps we know what we want and what to expect more than some (Africa being Africa!), however knowing that your staff will have actually visited and have experience of many of the camps is comforting when planning and discussing places to go.

It would be good to see you cover Kenya and particularly Uganda." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Absolutely fantastic and lived up to and in fact exceeded our expectations. We had been wanting to go on a safari for several years and when this year we finally decided that we would go we thought it was going to be Botswana.

However having had many very useful and informative phone calls with the Ellie and other members of the Expert Africa team we ended up going to Tanzania, and were delighted with our choice. Everything that Ellie said was accurate in every respect and we would not hesitate to return to a wonderful country, with fantastic people, scenery and wildlife

Ellie could not have been more helpful and our overall experience with the Expert Africa team was excellent. I would not hesitate to use Expert Africa again or indeed recommend them to other people.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"A lovely trip and very well organised by Expert Africa." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip had the uncanny quality of feeling once in a lifetime whilst making you desperate to return.

We had great advice from Elizabeth in the Expert Africa team and couldn't have been more delighted with the choices we made on where to stay and what to do with our time. The planning was well done in advance and every element hung together seemlessly - every connection was made, all transport was waiting, everyone with whom we were staying knew to expect us.

We're already thinking about where to go next and wouldn't hesitate to pick up the phone to Expert Africa in the future to help us plan another great trip." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip was a once in a lifetime experience. One that will never be forgotten.

All the camps and lodges were different, as were the national parks and animal reserves. And we loved them all. We saw all the animals and birds in their natural habitat. Our guides were wonderful and very knowledgeable. WE were lucky that we had our own guide and jeep all the time, except for Lamai Serengeti. It made it easy for us to see all the animals in comfort. We have more Camps and Lodges to see in Tanzania.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None, you have done a marvelous safari tour for us." Read full review: 39 nights in Africa; 34 on a Tanzania safari

"Our first safari in Africa and we definitely hope it will not be our last. We were fascinated by all we saw, heard, felt, experienced and learnt. We loved it. Seeing so many animals up-close-and-personal is such an experience and privilege. We had to keep pinching ourselves that we were actually there in the places we had only read about or seen on our TV screens.

We appreciated Liz listening to our 'wants' and coming up with the solution that to get the experiences we wanted we should combine the North and the South of Tanzania - excellent.

We are glad we did not spend more time in the more crowded areas of the Serengeti, and so glad we went up to the border near the Mara River, before flying down South to Ruaha (Mwagusi) and Selous (Beho Beho). Each camp so different - each with their own special feeling - but each providing wonderfully efficient service, given with warmth and friendliness.

We just have to save now for another safari......

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only a minor point which relates to us as one passenger is a bad traveller - if a trip required flying over the Serengeti - try to arrange morning flights which apparently are not as bumpy!!!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall th etrip was excellent. A good balance of location, activties and time.

The one thing I would consider doing differently is to fly to Kigali via Amsterdam and miss out Nairobi. Costs more but less hassle." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was amazing, Rwanda exceed our expectations and I wished we'd stayed longer. Selous is a worthy extension and I couldn't have been happier with all the guides, transfers, flights and all but one of the hotels!

I would like to put in a plea that EA consider booking Rwandair air connections between Kigali-DAR/Kili. They are by far the most efficient and organised airline I've used in Africa and for clients looking to do a similar trip I would opt to book your own internal flights, than go back to Nairobi using EA partner airlines.

Thanks to Ellie and all at EA for organising a fabulous trip for us." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"We asked for & received a luxury experience, the holiday, our experiences & the people we met will remain long in our memories.

The service from expert Africa pre-sale was excellent 'Chris' with great information shared, post booking we weren't aware they existed, arguably this works for some, we personally would have appreciated checkpoints to share learning a & ensure no basic mistakes including visas, clothing tips, medical tips 'not sitting on the fence regarding yellow fever inoculations' etc.

Regardless, this is relatively small beer' as this was a holiday of a lifetime!!!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip and excellently arranged and put together by Expert Africa.

In addition to the comments above our two safari guides, Fazo (at Tarangire and Ngorongoro) and Godwin (Serengeti) were so friendly, knowledgeable and outstanding at spotting animals. It was a privilege to be with them for our safari.

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On the whole it was very good. I did pay my deposit in early spring though and instead of receiving a reminder about the balance in mid-summer, I just got an email telling me I was late. It's true, I was late but a reminder that it was due would have sufficed.

I would not recommend Zanzibar Palace for honeymooners - there seem to be a couple of newer hotels in Stonetown that are a bit more modern and plush" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari