Reviews of holidays to Northern Zanzibar

"The Safari was fantastic and our guide, Kevin Mlay, was excellent and really knowledgeable. He knew where to go to give us the best chance of seeing the animals and nothing was too much trouble for him.

When we arrived in Tanzania, the drive from Kilimanjaro to our first village walk was about four hours, which was far too long after a night flight. It might have been better to fly to Arusha rather than Kilimanjaro.

It was just a short drive to Zanzibar airport where were it was the worst part of the holiday. The porters were only interested in grabbing your money. A major, major problem at the end of the holiday was to find that there was a departure tax of £80 to pay! We were not advised of this and had not budgeted for it at all. It was fortunate we had the money put by for our taxi fare from Heathrow to home which we used. That interfered with paying the taxi drive once we got home. Surely Expert Africa must know about this tax but there was no mention of it in any of the information we were given. It really spoilt the end of the holiday." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We love Ruaha and will doubtless go back in the future, Having been twice we will probably not return to Zanzibar although it is convenient for the beach following a week in the Tanzanian Parks. The atmosphere in Z is not great and I have a strong suspicion that a lot of people resent tourists.

I would not recommend transit through Nairobi try to fly direct to Dar.

Congratulations to Fox who held the flight (KA were late) so that we could connect to Jongomero.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. I will use you again." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Thank you again for a brilliant honeymoon. We really enjoy our holiday from start to finish. You really took the stress out. Of organising a holiday where we stayed at several different places so we could just relax." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"The break was exactly what we asked for. It was top quality and we fully enjoyed it.

Very happy customs at a good price." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Wonderful. Great flight fr SFO and back on Emirates, good decision and nice accomodations in Dubai Airport Hotel. Climbed Kili thru G adventure but climb actually run by Zara. Good job but it would be wise to better advise prospective climbers how gruelling it really is, not just the altitude but the trek itself. 3 out of 12 didn't summit.) We then stayed at Twiga Lodge for a week outside Arusha- very very lovely. Paul and Erika were super hosts. We were just licking our wounds after the climb, but after recuperating Paul took us on first an afternoon walk in the neighboring park then a day landrover venture into the park, excellent guide, saw a lot of animals, birds, etc. Then back with G adventure for a week trucking around the Serengetti with a group. Saw a lot- including a black mamba on a branch next to our land cruiser, hello!) and a juvenile bull elephant chase a pride of 15 (really) lions out from under a shade tree next to a water hole, amazing. Then a week on Zanzibar at Ras Ngwui- very lovely, already commented at length about.

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Give Maruska a raise or she will be stolen by another firm. She was wonderful, not just in prep for the trip but also towards the end. She was amazing and unflappable when we e mailed fr zanzibar saying we wanted to cancel pole pole and stay the remainder at ras ngwui. We spent a bit more but it was worth the change and Maruska took a bit of the pain of that away by very quickly processing the resulting refunds for the decreased air costs. Maruska is the type of rep that ANY major corporation wod want to keep content." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"A very memorable trip to Tanzania, with the classic combination of safari and beach.

Everyone should try it once in a lifetime, and we will be back!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip and excellently arranged and put together by Expert Africa.

In addition to the comments above our two safari guides, Fazo (at Tarangire and Ngorongoro) and Godwin (Serengeti) were so friendly, knowledgeable and outstanding at spotting animals. It was a privilege to be with them for our safari.

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On the whole it was very good. I did pay my deposit in early spring though and instead of receiving a reminder about the balance in mid-summer, I just got an email telling me I was late. It's true, I was late but a reminder that it was due would have sufficed.

I would not recommend Zanzibar Palace for honeymooners - there seem to be a couple of newer hotels in Stonetown that are a bit more modern and plush" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was really well paced with enough time in each place to feel like you had enjoyed everything on offer. Also a great mix of relaxation focussed places and camps who excelled at giving a really excellent safarii experience, plus enough time at the end for some culture and history.

I think we both came away feeling we wouldn't have wanted anything else in our honeymoon and wouldn't have changed a thing." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Very good experience, both at Kilindi and in dealing with Liz Wollen, who was very helpful in the planning and during the trip itself.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 2 nights in Africa; 2 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Additional Feedback - Patrick our guide was wonderful sometimes his timekeeping was slightly off but he excelled in everything else, the roads through Rwanda were sometimes very poor especially from Nyungwe to Lake Kivu however it was so scenic. he was so knowledgeable and catered to our whims especially with the gorillas,

We have already recommended Expert Africa to so many people after this trip for both the advisory service before and the quality of the holiday. We had the most wonderful holiday surpassing all our expectations. Thank you so much for arranging it.

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We couldnt fault the service" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Rwanda safari