Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs S from Swindon

"Beho Beho is something special. The Bandas are just fantastic. The food and ranger enthusiasm was equally as amazing. From a realistic perspective because of the relatively remote location you don't bump into other vehicles which is a real positive, the downside is that during the evening drives the wildlife can be quite scarce so we tended to do afternoon walking safaris instead and drives in the morning. As this is the dry season there are stacks of elephant in the woods behind beho but for big cat lovers you have to go to Manze which is a fair drive away (worth it though to see the prides but it is a long bumpy drive out).

From a packing viewpoint they do a great job with your laundry. My world travelled trousers came back cleaner than I've seen them for years albeit took a bit longer than we thought.

Beho Beho do supply good quality shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/body lotion/mossie spray/hairdryer so you really do not need to load up too much weight on toiletries. Worth knowing as toiletries can take up a fair amount of weight even with travel sizes.

They do have tsetse flies nearby, one morning we were being eaten alive which was horrid."

"Mwembi Ruins is a great place for a hop over before Chumbe. You literally roll out of bed and saunter down the jetty to the boat. The hotel itself is under new management as of a month ago. We met Dolf the new manager. He is working hard on staff training so I would expect this place to pick up its game soon. Food and service were both good but just need a bit more energy and personality.

Lovely sunset location. Tides permitting also a great location for tidal walks. The grounds and ruins themselves were a lot smaller than we expected but with a bit of love and attention this could be a fab location to blend a low key beach relaxation with a splash of Stone Town."

"Unique difficult to grade rooms as they are not 'standard'!.

Chumbe was something else - beautiful, has a conscience, uber relaxing, unique. 3 nights perfect. You could get away with 2 but may miss the lovely tidal walks as the tidal flow is quite extreme. I would say this is a lovely contrast to Beho Beho.

Took my husband a little time to get used to a composting toilet but they do somehow make this quite quaint.

You don't need a hairdryer - there is no electricity supply in the huts.

They also supply a shower & hair organic cleaner and lemongrass antibug balm so again you don't need to pack loads of this stuff. We didn't get any mossie bites there usually quite breezy which helps. The food was incredible. Hassan the chef does an amazing job with a wide variety of extremely delicious food. Not a hamburger, pizza or chip in sight!

The snorkelling was a really good compromise to diving. The coral gardens are just astonishing with a large variety of marine life so a good interest if you like splashing around.

We did suggest looking at a collaboration with Mwembi to look at luggage deposit so you can just take the essentials whist at chumbe and leave the rest at mwembi. The local ladies make all sorts of recycled and fabric goods so maybe they could make some transfer bags to keep unnecessary weight down? Vera the ops manager in Chumbe was keen to look at this as an option and as Dolf is new in Mwembi feel sure he would be open to looking at mutually beneficial collaborations."

"The Serena in Stone was a really good choice. It may be a bigger hotel but is still steeped in history with great service and restful rooms.

Also the best sunsets we saw in Tanzania. Relatively expensive to eat in the hotel but this is a great way to combine the madness of Stone Town with some peace and quiet. Loads of good quality restaurants are nearby - we had lunch in the Monsoon and would have liked to have gone back for an evening meal as it was so good.

The hotel also have a private beach which is by a free 20 min shuttle so you also get to see some of Zanzibars countryside. The only thing to we aware of is that immediately next door is a HUGE Hyatt hotel currently being built around the clock. This is making the local neighbourhood less than pretty as its currently wrapped in scaffolding and tarpaulin. We also expect this when complete to ruin the views from the Serena terrace restaurant as this will tower over the top.

If you want to go, go very quickly! Hairdryer and good quality toiletries again supplied so no need to overload packing."