Reviews of holidays to Northern Zanzibar

"Our trip was absolutely amazing.

We spent three days on safari at Kiba Point and four nights in Zanzibar at Zuri Zanzibar. The entire trip was flawless. Our transfers and flights were well coordinated and timely. The accommodations and food were all top notch. Could not have asked for a better vacation.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

None. Thanks for all of your assistance in putting this together." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 4 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We are very happy with our experience. Lyndsey was very helpful all times, thanks for your help." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a wonderful trip with many momentous adventures but quite a lot more tedious jeep rides than we had bargained for, especially in the Kenya portion where the distances between camps was several hours on washed out roads only to find out when we arrived that the next activity would be a jeep ride! This was disappointing as I had been quite clear that that what I was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

The biggest issue was that Olivia had not made clear to me the consequences of the rainy season. I thought it just meant that it would rain a bit during the day and we would get wet, something I don't care about. What it really meant is that the bush would be so green and thick that animals would be extremely hard to see, that water would be so readily available everywhere that animals would be widely dispersed across hundreds of thousands of acres, and therefore hard to find, that the bugs would be fierce. and that the normally rough, bumpy roads would be so deeply rutted and washed out hat driving was bone crushing. And, as I noted in my comments about Sarara, some activities such as the Singing Wells, were not possible. No one can control the weather but if I had known what the rainy season was really like I don't think I would have taken the chance of traveling in the shoulder season. Since we were the only guests at a number of places, i felt everybody else had gotten the memo except us!

Also, some of the logistics could have been worked out better. Though the three Samburu camps look equidistant on a map, in fact it made no sense to go to Saruni Rhino last instead of Sarani Samburu, which is quite close to the airstrip.By going there last, it added another 2 and a half hour jeep trip on washed out roads to get back to the airstrip we had just come from two days earlier.

Finally, we were never told that the trip from Saruni Rhino to Plantation Lodge would be over 10 hours. We were shocked to discover on arrival at Kilamijaro that our jeep ride was over 4 hours. I can't believe there was not a scheduled or even charter flight from Kili to Manyara. In any event, no one told us about the length of the trip and we had no food from 8 AM till 6:30 PM expect for the driver's small pack of Pringles. I expected better attention to logistics.

With the exception of Stone Town, all the places we stayed were great. I just wish we had done the trip a different year when we could have done it at the right time." Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"We booked our honeymoon via Expert Africa upon advise from a friend, Expert Africa were brilliant at asking what we wanted from our trip and Lyndsey our travel expert provided us with lots of options to consider. Her advice was honest and thorough and she spent a lot of time with us trying to get the perfect accommodation for our trip. Our honeymoon was simply amazing and we made memories we will never forget. The whole process was excellent and all the travelling and transfers went seamlessly, we had no issues and were well prepared. Our trip consisted of Safari in the Selous in Tanzania staying at Beho Beho – We can’t rate Beho Beho highly enough and there simply aren’t enough words to be able to describe the experience and hospitality we experienced.
The guides and staff are knowledgeable, friendly and fun. The Camp is beautiful and if you are after luxury and comfort you won’t go wrong, the food is some of the best we have ever eaten, there are a few amazing touches at Beho Beho that we won’t ruin for you if you’re thinking of staying. This was our first safari and the personal experience we had far exceeded our expectations, the highlights for us at the camp were seeing a pack of the wild dogs up close as well as the walking safari.
After the Selous we travelled to Zanzibar staying at the Zuri Zanzibar, Zuri means Beautiful in Swahili and the name does not disappoint – again the hospitality and accommodation are stunning, the food is brilliant – if you want a relaxing break on a white beach look no further.

Expert Africa provided us with more than we could have asked for and we couldn’t recommend them enough." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We got the balance of Safari (3 days) and Lazing (6 days) just right and all the properties we stayed at great and as expected.

My reservations about Tanzanian safari are the volume of vehicles around the sighting of a leopard and the crossing; it resembles a traffic jam and the authorities need to place restrictions on the lodges/parks as it did affect the experience.

I would have second thoughts about returning to Tanzania having seen this congestion which I haven't encountered before." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip with Expert Africa was a honeymoon, and our aim when deciding what to do was to try to find a holiday which would be extra special. From start to finish Expert Africa were a pleasure to deal with, and thanks to their insight and advice we ended up with exactly what we wanted.

The clue is in the name - both Liz and Lyndsey were able to tell us exactly what we could expect from each different camp in Tanzania, and each resort in Zanzibar. Their expertise made it very easy to make decisions, when otherwise you mind spend days pouring over reviews, second guessing yourself at every turn.

What we appreciated the most was at no point did we ever felt like we were being 'sold to'. They were extremely honest about every single detail, allowing us to piece together a trip which would suit the kind of people we are.

For example, Ruaha in Tanzania is a staggeringly beautiful place, perfectly combining our desire to see a good degree of game, but without being surrounded by dozens of other vehicles viewing the same things as us at the same time. Yet once there we appreciated it wouldn't suit everyone, as some people may want a higher density of game at their fingertips every moment of every day. That's exactly how Liz described it to us in our very first conversation, even if the place itself exceeded our already lofty expectations.

I'd also add Lyndsey was extremely helpful answering each and every question we had in advance, no matter how small a detail it was. If, like us, you've never done a safari before, it's surprisingly easy to make assumptions about what you'll need, which will probably be completely wrong in reality. Therefore that level of assistance, expertise and detail was really appreciated.

Thanks guys, it was a brilliant trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"As a whole, the trip was fabulous. With Elizabeth's help in the planning stage, I believe that we created a trip with the appropriate number of stops ( not too many) and a perfect mix of interesting, different locations.

The logistics of the vacation were excellent. There was not a single "hitch" in any of our transfers. Each and every guide/driver was gracious, efficient ---- a pleasure to be with.

Thank you for helping to create a great adventure." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"A wonderful trip. Such criticisms as I have made did not in any way detract from our overall enjoyment but you asked for comments so......." Read full review: 46 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Great Trip as stated above.
The interesting one is the comparison between Saruni and Elephant.
We gather most people spend 3 days in Samburu and then move on to the Mara.
Somewhere we find a little busy while Samburu remains relatively quiet.
Most game drives centre around the river on your doorstep at Elephant a good hours drive from Saruni
but for us Saruni had the best location but only just!
These two camps compliment each other perfectly, the big bonus because Saruni is in a concession area it affords night drives something you cannot do at Elephant.
This opens up a whole new amazing nocturnal experience and for me filming a pair of stunning Aardwolf for the second year running was special.
So there you go the choice is yours! Some say the wildlife is better in the Mara and of course there is an element of luck
But we saw Lion everyday inc a mating,Leopards every day,Cheetah and the 5 unique animals that live there (google it!)
Sadly missed the Wild Dogs but only by a few days! And we love this park!

Cheers" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip to Beho Beho in the Selous was fantastic. It might have just been the time of year we travelled, but I don't think I would recommend this as a first safari destination as the game viewing was not as prolific as, say, the Serengheti. We were very pleased that we spent a whole week at this Lodge, not just for the wonderful atmosphere, company and food, but because the first few days we didn't see too much. In a sense this is wrong as there is so much to see, but it was more in the way of landscape and bird life which was truly lovely.

However, towards the end of the stay we saw an enormous amount - it was as though the larger animals had all been off on their own safaris and came back on the same day! So we were driving areas we had visited before and rather than deserted they were heavily populated.

The guiding was superlative and we liked the system the Lodge had of rotating the guides so you went out with each guide and benefitted from the particular enthusiasms and expertise of each.

Kilindi was a lovely chill out place with friendly staff and delicious food - even lots of choice every day for a vegetarian. We had a fabulous time and I would jump at the chance to do it all again and stay at these venues.

Yes, one of our bags arrived two days after us - but people were helpful and this really did not have any negative impact on our trip - in fact, it demonstrated just how much trouble people will go to (Trisha & Heribert at Beho Beho) to ensure you are sorted and inconvenienced to the smallest possible degree." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari