Reviews of safaris to Ruaha National Park

"Excellent. Have not written much about the parks. While we are glad we visited Ngorongoro and lake Manyara (one person visited these over 30 years ago and they were much different) we would not not return to either. Tarangire, North Serengeti, and Ruaha were all great in their own ways and very much worth the visit, if we were to return we would explore different parts of the very large, diverse, and less trammeled Ruaha. Even with any minor complaints we would do it all again just as it occurred. We have a short slide show (with small camera) should you want a copy. Although we know people were trying to please and we saw the good side, everyone we met was very friendly and clearly took pride in what their country and people had to offer. NB: With a few exceptions, when you asked, you could get quite good, strong coffee rather than the instant coffee often served. Interesting for a major coffee-producing nation. We would consider Expert Africa for any future Africa travel, perhaps Namibia.

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Not much to say here. It was really Ellie who walked us through the process. Well done Ellie." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"We did 3 days in Selous, 3 days in Ruaha, 3 days on Mafia island and 3 days on Chole Mjini. A really good balance with some great game viewing and 'Indian Ocean' activities and a chance to wind down.

The country, the people , the climate, the places we stayed and food and other facilities outstanding - would recommend Tanzania as a holiday destination

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You might want to warn people who go to Mafia that their Marine Park payment receipt will need to be available when they leave" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip was everything we had hoped for and more. We wanted an exceptional holiday to celebrate various milestone birthdays in our family and to enjoy possibly our last family holiday (eldest children 18 and 21).

This holiday provided something for everyone, busy week safari followed by relaxing week on the coast. Perfect exceptional and memorable holiday." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful honeymoon - Tanzania provided the perfect destination and we were very happy with our itinerary, which was a perfect mix of safari and beach.

All our accommodation was luxurious, but Sand Rivers stood out as exceptional." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Thank you Expert Africa for an excellent service and advice we will be booking again." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Excellent trip. I was very pleased with Expert Africa and Maruska; she was very responsive, enthusiastic and accessible via phone & email. All the logistics went smoothly. I will strongly recommend Expert Africa to friends, as well as in internet travel forums." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Great experience, James obviously knows the set up at Kichaka and this was a great benefit in booking the trip.

The team at Kichaka are awesome, they make you feel like the whole of Ruaha is yours to enjoy" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a fabulous trip. Everything went to plan. The wildlife in the Selous was fabulous and we'd love to go back. Ruaha was beautiful and we would return but would either stay at a different camp in February or go back to Mdonya but at a different time of year.

The guides were probably not as well trained as we expected for camps of this quality - they were enthusiastic and friendly, but were not so good at communicating what the plans were for each day, or to establish what we knew, what we wanted to see, what we had seen before etc. Emanuel/Zahor (Manze) and Gerhard (Impala) were the best at communication.

The trip certainly whetted our appetitie for seeing more of Tanzania!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really. You are very good at what you do so keep doing it! The camp managers were all very complimentary about Expert Africa - Barbara (Impala) said that you are the best tour operator she deals with - so keep doing what you are doing!

On feedback, it might make it easier to complete if you had a narrative box against each question to comment on, for example, food, activities etc, rather than one large box at the end. It has certainly taken us rather longer than we had intended to get this completed!

With regard to Mafia it would be helpful to highlight on your website that snorkeling is very much tide dependent, so that anyone who is keen to snorkel might want to check tides and dates to make the most of their time there.

And finally - we would like to thank Angela for organising a very special trip. Some of our feedback might sound a bit negative but we would like to strees that we had a really fabulous time. It's easy with feedback to focus on the things that were not perfect and our comments are intended to highlight those areas where things could be even better. Please don't think that we are 'having a moan' in any way." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 18 on a Tanzania safari

"Very satisfactory doesn't really convey how happy we were with our trip. Everything was excellent. Right from the start when we first contacted Ellie it was obvious that we were dealing with someone who was really doing everything possible to ensure that we had a great holiday and we really did, apart from the fact that she couldn't conjure up sightings of Wild Dog and Whale Shark ( and I'm sure she would have if it were possible!) it really was a memorable holiday which all four of us would happily do again. Particular thanks are due for the recommendation to stay at Butiama Beach on Mafia which really was just the place we were looking for to unwind before returning home. We certainly would have no hesitation in recommending both Ellie and Expert Africa to friends and family and will definitely be contacting them again when next we return to Africa." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"Just another wonderful holiday from Expert Africa.

Ellie was so helpful and her suggestions about where to stay excellent. She also helped so much with the many queries I had and was very patient in helping to sort out the itinerary.

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No suggestions as this is our 5th holiday that you have arranged and I can only say that we have always had excellent service and will certainly use Expert Africa for our next African holiday." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari