Reviews of holidays to East Coast Zanzibar

"I planned my trip two years ago, then COVID struck and I needed to defer.

I was returning to one camp, Namiri, now a lodge - all other destinations were new. The standard of guiding was excellent and I was thrilled by the number and quality of animal sightings. Spending time on Mnemba Island was a perfect and relaxing interlude before ending in Stone Town. Overall, the experience was remarkable, wonderful.

Some of the airstrip transfers were a tad chaotic, but my luggage and I arrived as planned on each occasion. The meet and greet at Kilimanjaro was great and made for a totally stress free experience.

Thank you Expert Africa, and Lyndsey, in particular." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Great trip.

But we should have just stayed in one Northern Serengeti camp as the two were so close. Ideally Sayara for 4-5 night, but with different staff. All guides were great." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Simply wonderful from the moment we arrived in Tanzania.

Never been to Africa before and tents are not our usual accommodation - but this was an exceptional environment and we felt privileged to be so close to the animals we came to see 24/7." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"This was the most amazing trip of our entire life (so far at least). It made us feel special from start to finish.

We almost teared up as we left some of the places. We can't thank Olivia and Jessica enough for helping us create such unforgettable memories.

We could not hope for a better honeymoon.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We really liked the wildlife survey but it could have been more comprehensive." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"From beginning to end our trip was the most excellent experience, and we would like to thank Lyndsay, Sean, Millie, JJ & KK and all of the Team at Manze and a huge thank you to Wilson and his team at Pongwe." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"We were very happy with our trip as a whole and the help we got from Lyndsey.

Of course there are always some details. We didn't receive our pre-travel package in time, probably because of Brexit. When we returned we saw that there was only a guide of Zanzibar and not of Tanzania in the package. The covid rules were even easier than you told us. There is a list of countries that should do an extra antigene test when arriving. UK is on that list, the Netherlands not. We found out ourselves but we think in this case Expert Africa is just a bit too UK-minded because we were told that we probably should do that test when arriving. The list is on the Tanzanian government website.

Fisherman Travel did a good job but one driver had a bottle of water for us the other didn't. When arriving on Zanzibar from Dar the driver was too late. So I had to fight off dozens of "helpful" taxi drivers, some became a bit too intrusive so i had to act angry and aggressive to get rid of them. After ten minutes our driver arrived. No big deal but sometimes details are important.

But as we said, this is our second journey with Expert, and we are still very happy with the service and the overall experience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything worked very well. We were met and well looked after wherever we went.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. We hope to travel with you again in the near future." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Amazing family holiday. A first trip to Africa for 3/4 of us - We felt very well looked after and all arrangements worked well. So pleased with Richard's recommendations for us. Many many thanks." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Kenya safari

"We had a fantastic holiday.

In most cases it exceeded our expectations with just a couple of exceptions. Our 4 days at Lake Manze were brilliant. The game viewing was great, as were the guides, managers and all aspects of the camp. Our 4 days at Old Mdonya were also great. The game viewing was brilliant and so were the guides however we found the present managers at the camps to be a little distant at times and I think the running of the camp would benefit if the managers engaged more with the guests and the staff as was the case with the previous managers.

Pongwe Beach hotel is fantastic in all ways and the whole family thoroughly enjoyed their stay. Generally all our travel arrangements worked well and our flights and transfers were good apart from our final transfer at Dar when the Coastal Shuttle bus failed to turn up and we had to pay out for taxis. All in all a great holiday and one that I would love to repeat at some time in the future." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a brilliant trip to Tanzania, with a great variety of scenery, wildlife and culture.

We appreciated the gentle encouragement to go to 2 separate safari parks as we had been put off visiting Ruaha by the extra cost, but it was worth every penny. The contrast in environment and scenery between Selous and Ruaha was particularly marked during our visit as the rains had come early in Selous but yet to arrive in Ruaha. We hadn't realised quite how striking the differences between the 2 parks and wildlife were. We appreciated that Olivia didn't pressurise us to book a more expensive holiday but we would recommend highlighting these differences explicitly to future customers.

The variety of walking, boat and driven safari was brilliant, with expert guides and drivers able to find/spot wildlife and share insights about every species. Sharing these experiences each night at the communal dining areas was lovely too.

The guidebook sent to us before the trip was a really useful extra and we used it to book a recommended eco-tour to Jambiani village as an extra. The leather travel wallet has a lovely construction but could do with being a tiny bit larger (just an extra centimetre?) to accommodate the A4 documents sent out before the holiday.

The camps, hotels and transfers all worked seamlessly - there were no niggles beyond a minor adventure with an aircraft stuck in the mud at an airstrip after overnight rain. We felt very well looked after at each destination and extend our thanks to every member of the teams for making our holiday so memorable." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari