Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs C from Kent
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
2
Excursions taken
0
Wonderful holiday - thanks
Zanzibar and 1 other country between 29 Nov 2008 and 11 Dec 2008
"Firstly, thank you all very much for organising such a wonderful holiday. The pre-holiday information removed all the usual anxiety of the unknown and, with a few minor exceptions, was very very helpful.
You didnlt ask about Primate Safaris so I have to ass that they were fantastic – our guide was William. What a great guy, he looked after us very well.
Seeing the Gorillas was just amazing – what an experience! The trek wasn't particularly difficult (thankfully), it only took about an hour and 10 minutes in total, and not too hard either. With hindsight we should have done 2 gorilla treks. The Golden Monkeys were interesting but nothing like seeing the gorillas – we were the only people who did the monkey trek, so we had a guide, a trainee guide, two trackers, a porter and two armed guards – and us!!!
A couple of things that are different from your info:
There is an exit charge from Zanzibar Airport of $30 each. We were told that there was no facility to get money from the airport and anyway they would only accept it in US$. What happens if we don't have $60 cash we asked – you get a taxi to Stone Town and get the money, was the reply. Fortunately we had $62 – but I just don't know what would have happened if it had been a Sunday and the banks were shut.
The Spice Tour was $60 EACH – for about 2 & a half hours and 1 hour 20 minutes of that was travelling to and fro. Interesting but not worth £85.
All in all we had a truly wonderful holiday and would not hesitate in recommending Expert Africa. We will certainly be back.
Many thanks"
You didnlt ask about Primate Safaris so I have to ass that they were fantastic – our guide was William. What a great guy, he looked after us very well.
Seeing the Gorillas was just amazing – what an experience! The trek wasn't particularly difficult (thankfully), it only took about an hour and 10 minutes in total, and not too hard either. With hindsight we should have done 2 gorilla treks. The Golden Monkeys were interesting but nothing like seeing the gorillas – we were the only people who did the monkey trek, so we had a guide, a trainee guide, two trackers, a porter and two armed guards – and us!!!
A couple of things that are different from your info:
There is an exit charge from Zanzibar Airport of $30 each. We were told that there was no facility to get money from the airport and anyway they would only accept it in US$. What happens if we don't have $60 cash we asked – you get a taxi to Stone Town and get the money, was the reply. Fortunately we had $62 – but I just don't know what would have happened if it had been a Sunday and the banks were shut.
The Spice Tour was $60 EACH – for about 2 & a half hours and 1 hour 20 minutes of that was travelling to and fro. Interesting but not worth £85.
All in all we had a truly wonderful holiday and would not hesitate in recommending Expert Africa. We will certainly be back.
Many thanks"
Arranged By Claire Scott
Zanzibar Coffee House
"Zanzibar Coffee House review"
2 nights
Arrived
3 Dec 2008
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Poor
Fumba Beach Lodge
"Fumba Beach Lodge review"
6 nights
Arrived
5 Dec 2008
"Almost excellent - but ....
This is a fantastic hotel – loved almost everything about it. The setting is gorgeous, the staff are wonderful, our room (No 1 – a suite) was just magic. Loved the seclusion, the roof terrace, the outdoor showers, the privacy of our own little bit of beach etc etc. The hotel has been designed with privacy in mind – all around are little nooks and crannies where you find a couple of sun beds, or a double hammock.
This is a hotel were management far exceeds expectations – they do things to make your holiday special – things which are neither needed nor expected. For instance, every evening we ate in a different place, the tables are set up around the resort, a couple on the beach, a couple by the pool, in the nooks and crannies – all very romantic and very private.
The restaurant itself is nice, mostly outside on the terrace and I am sure everyone would have been very happy to be eating there but Annmarie and her team put so much effort into making everything special that it takes your breath away. To crown it all, on our last night we had dinner set up on the terrace of our room – complete with personal chef and waitress (portable bbq etc) they cooked us lobster and king prawns etc. Magic.
This place is so lovely that it is hard to say negative things about it – but there are a couple. The pillows are really awful – dirty, badly stained and very lumpy. With no air conditioning and high humidity everyone gets hot and sweaty – and although the sheets and pillow cases are clean and changed often – the pillows are just dreadful.
The mosquito nets over the bed were also very badly stained – lying in bed at night looking at dirty, stained mossie nets and knowing you were lying on dirty stained pillows kind of spoilt it a bit. This was not just our room as it was a bit of a conversation piece around the pool – especially from people who had been to another hotel on the island, and in comparison said they loved Fumba – the feeling was – shame about the general cleanliness.
There was also an issue about the covering of food at breakfast. The bowls of fruit were covered by cling film but all the bread products – rolls, croissants, cakes, bread etc were left uncovered and were swarming with files. WHY!! The staff used to bring candles to try to keep the flies away! At least three people got tummy bugs while we were there (me included and I have the constitution of an ox.
There is no where on the grade system below to express cleanliness."
This is a fantastic hotel – loved almost everything about it. The setting is gorgeous, the staff are wonderful, our room (No 1 – a suite) was just magic. Loved the seclusion, the roof terrace, the outdoor showers, the privacy of our own little bit of beach etc etc. The hotel has been designed with privacy in mind – all around are little nooks and crannies where you find a couple of sun beds, or a double hammock.
This is a hotel were management far exceeds expectations – they do things to make your holiday special – things which are neither needed nor expected. For instance, every evening we ate in a different place, the tables are set up around the resort, a couple on the beach, a couple by the pool, in the nooks and crannies – all very romantic and very private.
The restaurant itself is nice, mostly outside on the terrace and I am sure everyone would have been very happy to be eating there but Annmarie and her team put so much effort into making everything special that it takes your breath away. To crown it all, on our last night we had dinner set up on the terrace of our room – complete with personal chef and waitress (portable bbq etc) they cooked us lobster and king prawns etc. Magic.
This place is so lovely that it is hard to say negative things about it – but there are a couple. The pillows are really awful – dirty, badly stained and very lumpy. With no air conditioning and high humidity everyone gets hot and sweaty – and although the sheets and pillow cases are clean and changed often – the pillows are just dreadful.
The mosquito nets over the bed were also very badly stained – lying in bed at night looking at dirty, stained mossie nets and knowing you were lying on dirty stained pillows kind of spoilt it a bit. This was not just our room as it was a bit of a conversation piece around the pool – especially from people who had been to another hotel on the island, and in comparison said they loved Fumba – the feeling was – shame about the general cleanliness.
There was also an issue about the covering of food at breakfast. The bowls of fruit were covered by cling film but all the bread products – rolls, croissants, cakes, bread etc were left uncovered and were swarming with files. WHY!! The staff used to bring candles to try to keep the flies away! At least three people got tummy bugs while we were there (me included and I have the constitution of an ox.
There is no where on the grade system below to express cleanliness."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
The room was just over 7ft wide. It was quite long which felt like you were living in a corridor. The bathroom was 33 inches wide. We asked if there was another room available but were told that we would have to pay a lot more for a different room – but that there were none available anyway. Don't remember there being an option for upgrading the room but having looked at their website and the brochure both show tantalising snippets of photos, but no proper images of the rooms!
The staff were helpful and breakfast was lovely, but I would not recommend this hotel to a friend."