Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs R from Cardiff
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
2
Excursions taken
0
100 hours in Zanzibar
Zanzibar between 30 Aug 2009 and 4 Sep 2009
"The balance between resting and activities, the Indian Ocean coast and Stone Town produced a great 4 days in Zanzibar and we managed to fit in all we had wanted and more.
Fisherman Tours the Expert Africa representatives were really helpful and helped to arrange a Spice Tour (good idea to do on the trip between the east coast and Stone Town) and also a walking tour of Stone Town. It might have been a good idea to have had a list of possible activities that they coudl arrange before leaving home as quite a lot of information was given to you on the trip from the airport to hotel.
Good idea to get a Zantel SIM and 10,000Zsh credit before leaving Stone Town area - we made loads of calls to mobiles and UK and still didn't run out of credit by end of week.
Safari Blue (www.safariblue.net) was a brilliant decision to take up - we read about it at Shooting Star and as total novices had been a bit nervous about doing a day trip with dhow sailing and snorkelling but this was a really well organised but friendly and informal activity and excellent value for money at $55 per preson for an all inclusive whole day of dolphin watching, dhow sailing, coral snorkelling, great food, chilled drinks, a trip in a traditional fishing katamaran, flooded mangrove swimming all in a friendly and helpful atmosphere. Good also to see the company using some of the profits to reinvest in local communities - definitely to be recommended.
Taking a walking tour on first afternoon in Stone Town was a good idea as it meant we enjoyed the subsequent time more as we felt confident about where things were and more happy to venture off the main routes and see more than we would have done if not."
Fisherman Tours the Expert Africa representatives were really helpful and helped to arrange a Spice Tour (good idea to do on the trip between the east coast and Stone Town) and also a walking tour of Stone Town. It might have been a good idea to have had a list of possible activities that they coudl arrange before leaving home as quite a lot of information was given to you on the trip from the airport to hotel.
Good idea to get a Zantel SIM and 10,000Zsh credit before leaving Stone Town area - we made loads of calls to mobiles and UK and still didn't run out of credit by end of week.
Safari Blue (www.safariblue.net) was a brilliant decision to take up - we read about it at Shooting Star and as total novices had been a bit nervous about doing a day trip with dhow sailing and snorkelling but this was a really well organised but friendly and informal activity and excellent value for money at $55 per preson for an all inclusive whole day of dolphin watching, dhow sailing, coral snorkelling, great food, chilled drinks, a trip in a traditional fishing katamaran, flooded mangrove swimming all in a friendly and helpful atmosphere. Good also to see the company using some of the profits to reinvest in local communities - definitely to be recommended.
Taking a walking tour on first afternoon in Stone Town was a good idea as it meant we enjoyed the subsequent time more as we felt confident about where things were and more happy to venture off the main routes and see more than we would have done if not."
Shooting Star Lodge
"Shooting Star Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
31 Aug 2009
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Dhow Palace Hotel
"Dhow Palace Hotel review"
2 nights
Arrived
2 Sep 2009
"Maybe we are comparing with Shooting Star which was so impressive - Dhow Palace was an excellent location to explore Stone Town from although the sister hotel, the Tembo may have been better as it had sea views and looked as if it had been renovated more recently than the Dhow Palace.
Dhow Palace had great original character and very helpful staff but did seem a little tired in places. We did not eat main food here as we preferred to use Forodhani Gardens but did have breakfast which was fine but limited in places - there was fresh fruit but there was no fresh coffee opiton and the fruit juices seemed to be made from concentrates and sweetened."
Dhow Palace had great original character and very helpful staff but did seem a little tired in places. We did not eat main food here as we preferred to use Forodhani Gardens but did have breakfast which was fine but limited in places - there was fresh fruit but there was no fresh coffee opiton and the fruit juices seemed to be made from concentrates and sweetened."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Food was excellent and on the first night they were happy to bring our food over to our accommodation for us to enjoy a candlelit poolside meal. The accommodation was well appointed and had great interiors with local colour and furniture. It was close to the beach and well chosen for our needs and preferences as we noticed that further down the beach were some noisier resorts without the style of Shooting Star.
A walk on Kiwengwa beach was great fun and not too much pressure from the local vendors - in particular it was quieter to walk early morning and to get up soon after sunrise and enjoy the quiet at this time.
We had no need or desire for a TV etc but some way of playing some music would have been great - eg to have been able to connect an MP3 although there could be a risk then of being intefered with by other if too noisy?"