Reviews of holidays to East Coast Zanzibar

"Overall good trip.

Expert Africa provided excellent seemless and timely pickup and drop-off services from the moment we landed in Africa. With this service, my daughter and I felt very safe; and it also made the trip that much more fun. Eleanor Dunkels did a great job from the time of preparation, advising us what to bring with us and where to go, catering to our requirements.

Please see my photos by clicking here" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Despite some of the slightly negative criticisms on the earlier pages we had an excellent holiday. All connections etc worked well, we saw loads of game and birds - which was why we went.

I believe we picked the right game parks - plenty of game but fewer people, which, again, was what we wanted.

Thanks to Expert Africa for helping to make it happen!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Can't think of anything. We were pleased with the service and information provided.

I've mentioned it before, and I wouldn't want to give the impression that these detracted signicantly from our enjoyment but tetses in Mdonya and the non-availability of walking safaris in Mdonya were slight "hiccups".

Thanks to Liz for all your help." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"The safari element of the holiday was great and with only the problem of the delay with the plane at the start - out of Expert Africa's control - to take the edge of a really good experience. Beho beho was excellent.

Matemwe bungalows were a little disappointing - not as smart as it looked! The location wasn't great as it has a beach with a reef and for most of the day you cannot swim - it would have been nice to have had a beach in the resort so you could walk in for a swim - this is probably the same for all of the resorts on the east coast. Maybe this is common knowledge but not to us.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A good service with all transport and guides as arranged" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"From start to finish, we could never of imagined our trip would haver been this good.
Planning our trip was a joy. We felt as though we were given all the information we could of needed. We were never pushed towards any particular lodge or hotel and were given the time to make our own decisions without being bombarded with emails or phone calls.

Our trip was extremely organised. We were never left waiting or confused. The ground agents were again brilliant. Eco & Culture are a great company. Our tranfers were always on time and their staff were all very knowledgeable. We also booked a couple of trips directly with them which were again very well organised.

We felt every lodge or hotel we stayed at were perfect for us." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"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

"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

"Our trip was excellent, wouldn't change anything, and we had three very different experiences: safari in the Selous, beach paradise at Pongwe and urban madness (and excellent food!) in Stonetown.

Our arrival in Zanzibar was slightly alarming as we were hustled by bag carriers at the airport but that was as bad as it got. Our impression of Jozani forest was that it was a bit of a tourist trap but I don't regret booking it. I wouldn't rave about Eco+Culture as much as some other reviewers but their drivers were reasonably punctual and one was quite informative.

This was certainly the 'trip of a lifetime' and we have some great photos. I booked this as a surprise for my wife and she was very happy she let me do so!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not really." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"This is the second time we have travelled with Expert Africa (and our third time with Sunvil) and I wouldn't hesitate to use your services again. From start to finish Liz could not have been more helpful and knowledgeable – particularly as I had in mind a fairly complicated itinerary built round a special wedding anniversary and including a surprise bush camp night.

Everything went smoothly from start to finish; the accommodation recommendations were spot on; the advice was first class; and all my questions and concerns were answered very promptly. I have recommended Expert Africa to several friends and colleagues, and passed a couple of your cards to fellow travellers along the way!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just one thing: more specific advice on tipping at each place would be helpful, although I realise this is a difficult proposition. We were given a benchmark of $10 per person per day on safari, but when we were at Beho Beho $5–$10 was suggested as appropriate for the lodge staff, but guides were also to be tipped $10 per person per drive/walk. We had already put our tip in the general tips box only to discover that this was for house staff only and that we should tip the guides personally. It was all rather awkward.

We also did not know how much was appropriate as a tip for Thadeo, our 'butler' at Matemwe Retreat, so we just had to guess." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic trip, would recommend Tanzania very highly.

Very well organised, very happy to travel with Expert Africa in the future." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari