Tanzania: reviews from our travellers

"We had expected an itinerary which we only got from our guide on arrival in Ruanda.
We found we had a very long and bumpy trip from Kigali to Nyungwe and from Nyungwe to Kibuye. These were unexpected and not pleasant.
We wondered why we had 4 nights in mountain view lodge rather than 3 nights and last night in Kigali> Most others seemed to do this.

THE PERSON WHO MADE OUR TRIP SPECIAL WAS OUR DRIVER IN RWANDA, AIMABLE. He broke our long journey to Nyungwe with a stop at the National museum. He made our last day in Rwanda special as he suggested we left very early so we could spend time at the Genocide museum before we caught our flight to Zanzibar. He shared his own experiences of the politics of Rwanda and the Genocide. He really looked after us

Overall the trip was great we enjoyed all the primates, Rwanda. Zanzibar and Mafia" Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 10 on a Rwanda safari

"The main purpose of the trip was the safari in the Selous and this was brilliant, the rest of the trip was for relaxation and exploring and we certainly got that. It was a good holiday." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"A great holiday, well organised, we were met at every point, our driver/guide in Rwanda, Sam was very good. The holiday met our requirements and are looking forward to next year.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Please really emphasis the damp and coldness of the mountains when going to Rwanda to see the gorillas, it is not so much as to what to wear when climbing but how to keep warm in the rooms as everything feels damp, also take a torch as the rooms can get dark as the generators are only on for certain times, can make reading difficult." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic. It far exceeded our expectations (was our first time in Africa).

We found all the dawn starts and long days a bit tiring, but well worth it. The amount of wildlife and how close we saw it was amazing.
I was impressed with the amount of help and knowledgable suggestions we had from Eleanor in putting together the trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything we could have wished for and more. The itinerary went exactly as planned, with the right people meeting us and helping us every step of the way.

The driver/guides were excellent and made sure that we were always informed of the days travel plans in advance. Nothing was too much trouble with plenty of time for viewing and taking photos etc. We saw every animal you could of wished to have seen in each area and have hundreds of photos to prove it. Camps were excellent and had to be seen to be believed.

All in all a most memorable experience never to be forgotten.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Only to advise you that Swala Camp is all inclusive. Laundry, drinks and toiletries are included." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall half was very satisfactory and I am grateful to Liz for recommending Kwihala, when I had originally been looking at Mwagusi. I have no hesitation in recommending this lovely camp and will be returning there myself next year! Sand Rivers was my choice because friends had stayed there previously but I would have liked a bit more of the "flavour" of the camp in my discussions with Liz as in hindsight I would have preferred to go elsewhere, plus 5 nights there was too long.

I would also have appreciated a very clear "you must get a visa" as opposed to a recommendation to get one - other African airports issue visas on arrival with no trouble and I had thought Dar es Salaam would be the same - how wrong I was. Suggest you beef up your guidance on this point even more!!" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was very expensive, and therefore not one that we would undertake on a regular basis.

We went to Tanzania to see the wildebeest crossing and to see game. We certainly achieved this and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We had not intended such a long beach stay and would still have preferred an extended safari to the time spent on Mnemba - however we did benefit from a special offer on our stay there.

We really appreciated the fact that we had sole use of a vehicle and guide on all trips apart from the visit to Ngorongoro crater. It enabled us to see more of what we wished, spend all day game viewing if we wished and all the guides were good.

We enjoyed the & Beyond experience and the luxury they provided but would not rush to back to either place - Ngorongoro because the game viewing is necessarily limited and very crowded with other visitors, although the accomodation is wonderful. We felt Mnemba was overpriced because we were not participating in the free diving (which is obviously one of the main assets) and no other replacement such as spa treatments (which were expensive though good) were offered. We enjoyed the snorkelling but not the rough car trip or the mosquito problem.

Both Oliver's and Sayari camps were very good. We liked the accomodation in both. We were sad that, because more camps have been built, our experience in Northern Serengeti was so busy with other vehicles, whereas it is a definite plus from this point of view that Oliver's camp is in the south of the park.

The transfers were managed well on the whole (barring the 2 transfers mentioned) with no difficulty finding our onward journey

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The ratings choice on your form did create difficulty in that there was nothing between Good and Excellent.

Also it does not allow for distinguishing between rating for different flights with the same company" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Generally happy with the whole trip, except for Swahili House

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I do not have any suggestions at present" Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"I had an excellent solo trip. I never felt unsafe and Expert Africa someghow managed to make the transfers go as smoothly as if the trip were in Switzerland!. The logistics were elegantly handled.

I stayed in some wonderful resorts (I especially loved Pole Pole on Mafia Island and Chumbe Island). It was clear that Liz listened to me carefully about what I was looking for in Zanzibar and what I enjoyed.

In Stonetown I stayed at the Zanzibar Coffee House, which was perfect for me." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zanzibar holiday

"This was, perhaps, the most tricky of our seven (to date) trips with Expert Africa in that for the first eight days we were travelling with family who hadn't been to Africa before and we therefore needed to accommodate "first time" expectations while, within the same trip, looking to cater for our own somewhat different objectives.

Expert Africa was able to come up with a 15-day programme which fully met these two sets of objectives." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari