Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"Our trip was quite the odyssey. A long itinerary with lots of moving parts.

I was surprised and impressed by Expert Africa who took care of the hiccups and responded quite promptly to take care of the unforeseen circumstances that pop up on a trip like this.

I wish I could book EA for all of my trips, easily the best agency I have ever worked with.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, you are top notch." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 21 on a Tanzania safari

"Brilliant.

The trip had been postponed once because of Covid so I'd waited a long time and was in danger of being disappointed but, really, it was much better than I'd hoped or even imagined.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No suggestions." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"We were very happy with our trip as a whole and the help we got from Lyndsey.

Of course there are always some details. We didn't receive our pre-travel package in time, probably because of Brexit. When we returned we saw that there was only a guide of Zanzibar and not of Tanzania in the package. The covid rules were even easier than you told us. There is a list of countries that should do an extra antigene test when arriving. UK is on that list, the Netherlands not. We found out ourselves but we think in this case Expert Africa is just a bit too UK-minded because we were told that we probably should do that test when arriving. The list is on the Tanzanian government website.

Fisherman Travel did a good job but one driver had a bottle of water for us the other didn't. When arriving on Zanzibar from Dar the driver was too late. So I had to fight off dozens of "helpful" taxi drivers, some became a bit too intrusive so i had to act angry and aggressive to get rid of them. After ten minutes our driver arrived. No big deal but sometimes details are important.

But as we said, this is our second journey with Expert, and we are still very happy with the service and the overall experience." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"Our safari was truly a trip of a lifetime. My husband and I planned this trip as our honeymoon, and it was originally supposed to take place in Summer 2020. When Covid hit, the Expert Africa team made what seemed like a terrible stressful thing (changing our honeymoon plans) a breeze. I cannot speak enough to the professionalism of the Expert Africa team. They rescheduled our trip, and made doing so stress free.

This trip was planned to perfection, and the details all fell into place without a hitch. We are looking forward to planning future safari trips, and I know that I will be coming back to Expert Africa for the knowledge, skill, and genuine kindness we experienced while planning this one. You won't be disappointed if you plan your safari with Expert Africa!

Thank you Olivia for a perfectly planned trip and for giving us a honeymoon we will never forget. I blame you now for the fact that I'm already dreaming up the next opportunity for safari.

It was perfect. Thank you!

And sorry for doing this form over a year after our trip! It's been a crazy year." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our third trip with Expert Africa - I believe it's no coincidence that the Bradt Africa guides are simply the best ones on the market and that Expert Africa are extraordinary in the depth of their knowledge of the situation on the ground and in their capacity to coordinate and synchronise everything to make it an excellent trip for a family with young children.

The team doesn't shy away from having you face some challenging hikes and let you contrast more adventurous camping surroundings with (by then, you feel, properly earned) luxury.

I saw some of the most amazing sights and things in Africa, which I would not have found without the guidance of Expert Africa. And for the unforseeable and unavoidable occasional hick ups, the team is there to help where they can.

I hope Expert Africa stays a well kept secret." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"For a long time we thought we wouldn't be able to have our holiday because of the Coronavirus and as it happens, we had to cancel our visit to Botswana. But with the help of Maruska at Expert Africa we were still able to visit Tanzania and Zanzibar. Everything was very fluid with plans changing almost daily right up until the date of departure (and beyond)! due to airline cancellations because of Covid. However, Maruska was incredibly patient and helpful in identifying solutions and alternatives and she also proactively (and mostly successfully) sought refunds for the parts of the holiday that we couldn't undertake (a couple of lodges in Botswana offered to postpone our bookings but were reluctant to give refunds but they succumbed to Maruska's charms eventually). And although I didn't book our international flights through Expert Africa, Maruska kept an eye on all of our travel arrangements, even whilst we were away, and alerted us when our return flight was cancelled.
The holiday itself was way beyond our expectations partly, I suspect, because there were so few other tourists about. In some of the lodges we visited we were the only guests which meant that we were treated like VIPs. And what lodges! The Lemala camps were excellent and Maruska negotiated a very good deal for us by using only Lemala for our safari accommodation and the deal included our own vehicle and guide throughout, which meant that we could go where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, instead of being tied to a strict timetable for game viewing. As far as the game viewing was concerned, having been told by a couple of friends that their experiences included having to vie for a view of the animals with 100s of other vehicles, we instead found ourselves to be in splendid isolation with almost every animal we saw. The only downside was having to come home." Read full review: 41 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything went very well, it was exactly the kind of experience we were looking for and the children had a blast." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Maruska put together a trip in 3 days and did an exceptional job. We had enormous fun and everything was private as there were very few tourists.....I highly recommend you plan a trip soon....can you imagine walking 80k in the Serengeti and never seeing another tourist or hearing a car.....go now and I promise an incredible experience." Read full review: 28 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything worked very well. We were met and well looked after wherever we went.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No. We hope to travel with you again in the near future." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zanzibar holiday

"We are well travelled but this was one of our best holidays ever.

A great safari experience with a bit of Zanzibar adventure thrown in at the end.

Expert Africa have come up trumps again." Read full review: 23 nights in Africa; 13 on a Kenya safari