Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"I had a fantastic trip. The safari camps had excellent facilities and the guides were particularly good.

It was exactly what I was looking for.

The staff and guides had obviously been primed to know what I was interested in and were superb throughout.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I would like to add that Claire saved me from a minor catastrophe when she spotted that I had booked my own flights home for the wrong day, which meant that she could make additional arrangements." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"A trip that far exceeded all our expectations. Brilliantly planned by Jessica and everything went flawlessly. I can see now why Africa is addictive and I cannot wait to be back!" Read full review: 6 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Our safari was wonderful, a truly memorable trip.

The three camps that we stayed in were all somewhat different in terms of the environment and complimented each other very well. What was consistent at all three Nomad camps was the excellent service provided. It was clear to us that Nomad is an exceptional company which manages its' operation very well. The staff were all highly motivated and enthusiastic about working for Nomad.

The result was that our safari holiday was most enjoyable in every respect; the camps were in great locations, the tents were very comfortable, the food was interesting and delicious, and the guides outstanding.

We would not hesitate to recommend them." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"10/10" Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip was amazing and Jessica was there to answer any questions and help with any changes we requested.


Suggestions for improvement:

One thing we thought was we almost would have rather done beach then Safari as we were so tired on the Safari from traveling. But we didn’t want to miss anything. This is probably only an issue for people coming from the US though!" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our first safari and we wanted to use an experienced company to arrange things for us. After a lot of research we chose Expert Africa and were glad that we did. Jessica listened to everything we asked for and planned the perfect trip. When we did have a small issue with a hotel transfer in Zanzibar, she quickly fixed it for us and kept us informed throughout.

All the accommodation and staff at Asilia Africa were exceptional, we could not have asked for anything better. The guides were all extremely knowledgeable and really cared that we had the best safari experience possible. The rooms were beautiful and so luxurious. The food was delicious and plentiful (perhaps bordering on too plentiful!).

Our time at Kilindi was very relaxing and just what we needed after a busy 10 days on safari." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"From the first conversation with Richard we thought the level of service from Expert Africa was outstanding. The attention to detail and the diligent way the many paperwork requirements were set out was faultless.

Every question was answered in depth and very helpfully and all the recommendations were accurate.

Having spent 30+ years in the travel industry it was a delight to travel with another company who understand and practice the highest levels of customer service that we always tried to do.

Well done one and all

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Really I don't. It seemed like we were travelling under the wing of a class outfit who did the ground work so well we didn't need much help overseas at all.

The icing on the cake was that we happened to be lucky enough to have the best guide at Little Governors. From talking to other guests who had minor frustrations with their guides, we soon realised that Tom was giving us a masterclass in how to be the perfect guide." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 6 on a Kenya safari

"Thank you to Tam for arranging our booking!

We had the most amazing time and would not hesitate to use Expert Africa for our planning again. The (many) flight and taxi transfers all worked perfectly. It is great peace of mind having the transfers arranged by a professional team who know the respectable companies to use and means of booking...especially after meeting people who had booked their own flights from Zan - Dar es Salam but at the desk, they were told their tickets were not recognised and they had to charter their own flight to make their International flight!

It was our first safari and we had no idea what to expect in the quieter south Selous park but we saw more wildlife than we ever imagined (even on the day we arrived) and so few cars. It was perfect! The camp and every member of the Selous Impala team were just amazing." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"This was the trip of a lifetime. We wanted something really special and unique, as it was my 10 year work anniversary and sabbatical, and the team at Expert Africa delivered in a big way. Thank you Lyndsey!

The lodge recommendations were 100% on point; we knew it was going to be great, but we were still blown away by the places and the unique experiences Expert Africa lined up for this trip. It's rare that you do a 2.5 week holiday and everything just works, but in this case it's true. And the logistics could have been a nightmare, as we didn't spend more than 3 nights in any one location, but every transfer, every flight all went smoothly!

I think the real difference-maker was in how seamless the experience was. From the moment we flew into Nairobi until our quite literally boarding for departure back to the US the team at Expert Africa and their partners in Kenya and Tanzania made sure everything went without any trouble. Even a short delay at a local airstrip was met with surprise and delight as instead of being picked up by car for a 2-hour drive a private plane showed up and we had our own 15 min flight to the lodge - very cool!

In hindsight would we have done anything differently? Maybe, starting with just doing more of what Lyndsey said to do. :)

In all seriousness she guided us towards an amazingly unconstrained experience and we are tremendously grateful. If you are willing to commit the resources it is amazing what is possible when working with Expert Africa.

We have already referred multiple friends and colleagues to the Expert Africa website and to her directly, it will be fun to see if or when anyone else gets inspired to pick up the phone and book their adventure.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

In terms of improvements it's hard to say; your website is 1st class, Lynsey provided great advise, and payment and such were easy. I think the guides for obtaining visas and such were also easy to follow and made the process simple. The price of the holiday we booked was staggering, but I suppose that was a feature not a bug and mostly our fault. :)

In a perfect world more guidance on where to see villages (Sarara was great for this!) and where to avoid (At Entamanu the Masai are a bit "Disneyland" about it - hard to describe) would have been nice as instead we found ourselves a bit at the mercy of the local lodge managers. "Do you think it's worth visiting a village here?" is a bit of an unfair question, although credit to the team at Serian for the honest answer "no not really, there's better places for that if you want authenticity". We figured it out and are very happy with the results but we should have asked more questions in advance about where to lean into cultural experiences and where to say forget it, just stick to wildlife.

A few thoughts on the trip we booked that I didn't want to drop in reviews as they're somewhat unfair or too individual.

Sarara, Serian and Chem Chem were incredible. Continue to recommend them without hesitation.
-John at Sarara was one of the best drivers and provided an authenticity we found nowhere else, and I wish I lived in Sarara house. It's that nice and we regretted having to leave, even if the wildlife in Samburu isn't as abundant.
-Grace (sp) at Serian was simply talented beyond belief, her and Gisoi (sp) were one of the best guide/ranger duos anywhere. We would go back simply to have her guide us again she's that good!
-Isaac at Chem Chem had 20+ years of experience and it showed, he was such a pro and made the Chem Chem experience complete.

Those three properties are worth the expenditure without any qualifiers or concerns. Lyndsey was 100% right to recommend them and we hope to return to them in 2025.

Entamanu was also so good. I'm torn; we did one day in the crater, and it was so special. Would a second day have made sense? Who knows. Maybe it's too much, maybe not, but it's a lot of coming and going for what is essentially one long day of game drive. So glad we went, so that's a win! I think it just comes down to not having the time and budget to do it all, and this was the right place to shave a day. But we found ourselves thinking now that they have really nice structures to stay in a 2nd day could be worthwhile? Very subjective.

Nimali Mara is a tale of two cities. I left them a great review, and they deserve it! Really special place and the staff, including our butler Bethod (sp) were simply the best! But also worth noting our guided experience there with Moses was just so different lol! I'm talking tie-die sweatshirt, car falling apart (driver had to literally hold his door shut as it wouldn't latch while driving), cooler full of waters and sodas but no bottle opener, etc. it was just such a contrast with how over the top luxury the place itself is. The guy had a heart of gold and tried so hard, so nothing but respect there, but it's worth thinking about given the price point and contrast with the other guided experiences. We are travel veterans so it didn't phase us but I can imagine others really being shaken.

White Sands was also great but there is an element of the hussle in Zanzibar. It reminds me more of visiting the national parks vs. conservancies, they monetize differently (on the go vs. pay up front but then feel insulated from it all). That's ok! I think it was just so different to go from the Chem Chem experience into White Sands and Zanzibar. We wanted Zanzibar so that's on us, but in hindsight Chem Chem should have been the capstone experience, nothing was going to top that. We also didn't quite understand if we were supposed to book our experiences with the local team you sent our way or via the hotel property, but in the end it all worked out so no worries.

Our last day in Nairobi was long but that isn't your fault, the flight was set to depart late (we booked it) and was then delayed further. The guide was so nice and did his best to keep us entertained but by that point it was the end of a long trip and we were cooked. The Karen district is nice but after a few hours there just isn't much to do, but again, not the fault of the team at Expert Africa.

All in all we've now recommended Expert Africa and Lyndsey to multiple parties, as we are comfortable having our name attached to the referral.

We started this journey with you probably close to a year before our travels and are so happy we did, thank you for everything!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We couldn't have been happier with our trip. We felt well looked after by Expert Africa and the service was well above our expectations. Our brief was listened to and heard. Every step of our trip was meticulously organised and perfectly catered to our requests.

The resorts chosen were carefully considerate of our needs and situation as a newly married couple. We even found champagne and a personal note from Lyndsey on our arrival at Beho Beho which delighted us. She had an impeccable knowledge of the resorts and various options available to us and guided us through the trip process, including Visas, vaccinations, travel arrangements etc. This was ideal for us at the time of organising our wedding.

The holiday itself was once in a lifetime for us and we will always treasure the memories we made. We couldn't recommend Expert Africa, Beho Beho and Zuri highly enough. It really was special." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari