Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"All the way through our trip we were grateful to individuals that gave so much to help make our vacation so spectacular. Certain people were left out in the previous feedback. I want to give special thanks and kuddos to our guides in Rwanda, Hussein, our driver guide, as well as the amazing gorilla trekking guides. Fernando was an amazing gorilla trekking quide and teacher who ensured that we had a special, memorable experience watching these amazing creatures but also learned at the same time. How did he manage to learn all of our names in such a short time, incredible! If you have any interest in gorilla trekking I would jump at the chance. It's an experience of a lifetime! And please employ the local people as porters as this helps support them in a positive way instead of poaching.

Don't put off going on safari. So many species are under pressure from humans and habitat loss to survive.

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Thanks to Ellie for her patience with our labored and prolonged itinerary planning. And thanks to Claire when she filled in during Ellie's absence. We benefitted enormously from her knowledge and suggestions.

Thanks so much to all for another amazing and unforgettable trip to Africa that we will never forget!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"I think the ecstatic would be a better description. You didn't ask about the safari. Our tour guide, Ayoub, was fantastic. I had my 86yr old mother with me and he treated her like gold. She was "Beebee" the whole trip and he stopped and got her a stool when he saw that getting out of the jeep was hard for her. I'm pretty sure he had bought new picnic seats and table for us as he was taking the wrapping off of the . He was so knowledgeable and had eagle eyes. He made the trip, I can't say enough good about him. Going with a 15 yr old and and 86 yr old I was a bit concerned but he put us all at ease and was so very ,very nice.

Also Maruska did a great job, we heard of guides who were in the central area worried about finding animals as they were all near us!! thank you for putting us down into the south we saw all the big 5 plus a cheetah, lepoard, lion hunt,elephants fighting, new born wildebeests and huge troops of baboons. Thank you for considering our jet lag and suggesting Arusha Nat pk it was a perfect introduction.

It was to be the trip of a lifetime for my mom and it lived up to its billing and then some. She will never forget it. Thank you.

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No, You did a fantastic job. I have recommended you to my cousin who is planning a trip." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Unfortunately our experience with our guide/driver soured our whole experience. We had a huge sense of relief when we left him to fly for our last few days in Zanzibar. We emailed Expert Africa about the experience we were having while on our trip to flag up how awful we were finding the guide but asked them not to report it until we had finished that leg of the journey because we were concerned that if the guide knew our remaining days were likely to be more unpleasant. We left Tanzania on 22nd Jan and almost three weeks have passed but we haven't as yet had any response to the issues we raised." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our first time to Africa. We were overwhelmed by the vastness of the country, its rich culture wildlife and complexities of its people and history. More of an experience than a holiday, we would probably concentrate on 2 destinations next time as we felt rather tired with all the flights.

One thing is for sure, once you have been Africa stays with you, and you will quite possible never look at the world the same way again!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Based on a 'general idea'of what we wanted - Angela put together an absolutely perfect itinerary for us as a family. Her expert knowledge really guided us in our final choices and she spent plenty of time over quite a few calls discussing different scenarios and timetables of how to organise the trip.

Up to the time of leaving - Angela was regularly answering queries about the trip - always being available to guide and reassure us on preparations." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip was brilliant and we had a fantastic time. We found the wildebeest migration excellent, and saw a huge amount of game in the varying places. Some of it, very special. Our guide, Godwin, provided by Nomad, was great fun and very enjoyable to spend time with. He was also very good at finding the animals. Very much enjoyed the Nomad camp and met some great people. Although, Kirurumu was in a great location, we probably would have preferred to go somewhere not quite so bush, especially after the Nomad experience. We all were ready to have proper showers and toilets! The Crater itself was beautiful and well worth visiting. The good thing about our location was that we could get into the Crater early and avoid some of the crowds.

Zanzibar was great and we really loved Pongwe Beach Hotel. It's a beautiful place with a great bar, restaurant and sitting area. It was very relaxing and we enjoyed walking to a local restaurant for lunch one day. Only negative thing was being in the garden rooms, rather than the sea facing, as they were much better rooms with more breeze. We left one night early so that we could go to Stone town and had a great night there at Emerson Spice. We very much enjoyed Stone Town.

Beho Beho and the Selous were fantastic. Our room had a magnificent view and it was very luxurious. The whole lodge emphasises the luxury and it is very comfortable with great food. Unfortunately, we were the only ones there for the majority of our stay, so it felt a bit empty. However, the managers, guides and staff were extremely friendly and knowledgeable and did their utmost to make us feel at home. We saw a lot of game and did some walking, although it was extremely hot while we were there so could not walk as much as I would have liked.

Once again, Expert Africa organised a brilliant trip for us and everything went extremely smoothly. Only one issue was with Echo Tours in Zanzibar who failed to pick us up on time on two occasions. In their defence, we had changed the times, but had given them plenty of notice." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a lovely time thanks very much.

You recommended fantastic places and we saw unforgettable game thanks to our highly skillful guide Ayoub. It was really his efforts that elevated this trip from dry good to special." Read full review: 8 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"We were in the right place at the wrong time of year, therefore, much of the game had moved away so game viewing was much more difficult with long periods of donating blood to the tsetse flies and not a lot in return." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"Whole trip was excellent.

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No" Read full review: 5 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Very good trip all round, excellent accommodation and very well organised." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari