Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"Very worthwhile break from work." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Absolutely fantastic!

Thanks so much to Liz for organising our perfect Silver Wedding Anniversary trip, it surpassed all our expectations and was utterly memorable." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 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

"We are hard core independent travellers but booking this trip with Expert Africa has made us re-evaluate the possibility of using this sort of service again. Right from the very beginning, our contact Ellie was superb. Knowledgeable, friendly and patient (I asked and she answered a lot of questions!), she made us feel comfortable and reassured about leaving the responsibility of our holiday in someone else's hands.

It was clear from the start that Expert Africa had spent a lot of time researching the quality and service levels of the guides and hotels they recommended. When Ellie recommended a hotel, she was able to talk about it with confidence and in depth knowledge, which saved me hours researching on various websites. She was also scrupulously honest, making sure I understood the pros and cons of each itinerary or proposition.

I liked the fact that she had done the Rwanda trip herself last year as it gave more credence to what she was saying and cost permitting, I think it is a brilliant idea to have your consultants do as many of the trips as possible so they can speak with authority.

We also felt supported throughout the whole experience (and not just dumped after having paid the cash). When we had a small concern about our transfers in Tanzania, we emailed the info@expertafrica.com email address as we could not remember Ellie's address. This was relayed to her immediately and she responded incredibly quickly, allaying our concerns. This really impressed us and will go a long way to ensuring repeat business for Expert Africa as well as recommendations to our friends.

We are well travelled enough to know that no trip is ever without a hassle or two but one of the reasons we stopped travelling with tour operators is that we felt they relinquished responsibility once we had given them a credit card number. It is the complete opposite with Expert Africa and I loved the fact that you care enough about your customers to give out the mobile details of your staff in case of a real emergency or problem. That speaks volumes about the quality of your operation and your values. Well done Expert Africa, you rock.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

I understand why you levy a credit card surcharge in this economic climate - but it is a pain in the posterior to be honest. We had cash in the bank and were able to fund the trip from a standing start so to speak, but if we hadn't been able to do so, paying the surcharge might have been enough to make us consider an alternative travel company. I appreciate that their service might not have been as good but that might have been the trade off......" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 5 on a Rwanda safari

"Amazing! Our boys declared it the best holiday ever.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No" Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"Generally speaking a fantastic holiday with Selous being the high spot.

Advice from your agent was helpful and informative.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Don't go to Stone Town!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip to Africa far exceeded my expectations. I am not an intrepid but felt very confident before we embarked that all aspects of the trip had been covered so that there were no questions as to where we would be or how we might get to the next stage. This alleviated all anxiety.

It was most encouraging from the start of my planning with Eleanor, that she had been to Tanzania and understood that this was a once in a lifetime trip for us. Now having been there I realize it is not so far out of the ordinary, just in my world.

From our very first discussions I was unsure if our budget would allow us to fully enjoy this trip in the comfort level we would like and Eleanor worked within that budget and custom fit our needs to create what I'm sure will be our best holiday ever.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Honestly, very difficult.

I suppose I would have liked a breakdown of the costs of each leg of our trip so as to be able to compare to other places I have been. For example, 4 nights at Mdonya, 4 nights at Selous, 6 nights Matemwe and then one night Kholle. Coastal did give some information but I wasn't sure if the the dollars quoted were for one or two passengers.

Many thanks, it's been a wonderful experience." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"No criticism of the tour - just that I needed to complete some work that, beyond my control, extended into my holiday time, and ate up alot of the benefit I would have otherwise have had from the trip. But it was a great counterbalance to the nonsense that came my way by email. just that it rendered the really fabulous places I stayed and experiences slightly tarnished.

I would actually like to go again, just to work that clouding out of my mind.....

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep up the site visits - the insight is very helpful. And the managers note it too - one explicitly said that you were one of the most reliable, in informing the clients placed with them, and following up. So well done!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari

"We had a fantastic honeymoon and being our first time in africa and on safari we were totally amazed and are completely hooked. There is nothing that we can fault for the whole experience. We are looking forward to returning to africa and definately to the Unbuntu camp.

Thank you Claire and to all at Expert africa for making our honeymoon so unforgettable.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Keep going as you are." Read full review: 9 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Our overall experience was excellent.

The whole holiday was quite fiddly to plan and Liz did a very good job at interpreting our needs and putting it all together. THe safari part of the holiday in the Selous is to be recommended as we barely saw another truck but saw plenty of wildlife. Then Zanzibar was a lovely relaxing contrast." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari