Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"My trip was incredible. If I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing. If I ever get a chance to go to Africa again ( I really hope to!) I will absolutely use Expert Africa and Elizabeth Chapman to help me with my planning and booking again!

I am 110% satisfied and will recommend you in Canada!

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Keep up the good work!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"I have not had an opportunity to comment on our guide and this was a real downer.

He was called Hilary and was really dreadful. He was H&S crazy. He would never allow us off the vehicle even in areas where other people were out of theirs, oh except when the vehicle would not start and we had to get out and push it. This happened twice. We know the risks and would never expect to be off vehicle in areas where there is an element of danger, after all this is our 10th safari.
He drove at a snails pace so that he would not actually get very far from camp. Every vehicle in the Serengeti overtook us. Every vehicle we met he stopped to talk to the guide. He spent half an hour one evening trying to extract another vehicle from a ditch, again people in the other vehicles were out of theirs, we were not allowed to do so. Later when my daughter wanted to take photos of a troop of baboons he told her our time was up. Even though he was knowledgagle mainly with regard to animals he rarely imparted information on wildlife unless asked and he was always either on his phone or radio talking to others. The last 3 days he made no attempt to spot game. He would drive past them without stopping as he did not see them.

We only had one sundowner for the whole week. We eat off dirty tables at picnic lunch as he could not be bothered to produce a tablecloth. Outside of this we had a lovely time." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We had a great trip. Everything went smoothly. The driver/guide, Sam, from Primate Safaris was excellent. He was a really nice person with a good sense of humour and was able to tell us lots about Rwanda and answer any questions we had. He was a big help in buying books in Kigali for donating to two schools in Musanze. A visit to the Deaf School and to the pre-school at the Faith Foundation were highlights of our visit in that area (as well as the gorillas of course) He was also able to work with the Park Rangers to have us assigned to a gorilla family that didn't require too much trekking, due to my husband's bad knee.

I would like to suggest that Expert Africa promote the School for the Deaf and also the pre-school run by the Faith Foundation, both in Musanze, if any guests want to take school supplies, children's clothing or sports & games equipment for the local village. A visit to one or both of these places is very rewarding.

Pack for a Purpose is a website that also provides information on what type of things to bring. I find it much more useful than Stuff your Rucksack." Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 15 on a Rwanda safari

"Another great trip to two re-visited destinations. Still like the long stay at a single camp.

Looking back would not change anything - even the driving back to camp peeking though a tiny gap in a rain poncho against driving torrential rain!

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Get me big discounts so that I can go again!!!" Read full review: 14 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

"We had a great time overall, but as always in Africa, plans do not always go directly as you intended, so it is important to remain travel wise.

The safari section of our trip was quite tiring, with early morning game drives and moving camp every couple of days, although this is exactly what we had expected, so were prepared. This was the first time that we had visited Africa during a rainy season, so expected a different experience to our previous trips. It was lovely to save the best safari camp to last and then to relax in Zanzibar for a 3 nights - even though the heat and humidity hit us hard.

It was very helpful to have the experience and suggestions from Expert Africa to help us plan the trip as their knowledge of the individual camps and hotels is extensive.

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This was our seventh trip to Africa booked through Expert Africa, which precisely sums up our view of their expertise.

Looking forward to number eight!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"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

"Wonderful and unforgettable trip. We did so much but also had a chance to relax.

The only slight hitch was the elections which took place on 25 October, causing some disruption in Zanzibar. We had to alter our days for visiting Stonetown and doing our boat cruise. While that wasn't a big deal, I think had there been more violence following the results being announced, we could have had problems getting home. As it was we heard reports of tear gas and demonstrations on 27 October but they did not affect us.

Expert Africa should have let us know in advance that the elections were taking place - date, possible repercussions etc - we may have then decided to do Zanzibar first followed by Selous." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip went quite smoothly.

All arrangements were correct and we experienced no problems with accommodations or transfers." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Thank you Expert Africa for making this trip (to celebrate my 60th) so memorable.

We have had the most wonderful time. Too many highlights to mention.
Fishermans tours are also very reliable, always on time.
It has been worth every penny." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari