Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"This trip to Tanzania for a safari followed by time relaxing on Zanzibar, was a long-planned trip for my brother and I, and our wives. My wife and I had previous experience of safaris, but my brother did not, so I felt the pressure of "getting it right". We decided to plan it with Expert Africa following a previous very successful trip planned with their help, and I am delighted we made that decision. A meeting with Expert Africa's Olivia helped her to perfectly judge our requirements, and the result was a highly successful holiday that exceeded all our expectations." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"All went to clockwork, thank you.

One small comment was the times on our itinerary were different to Fisherman’s Tours. As such I thought they were late so rang the number on the itinerary for them to check someone was coming. They did arrive 5-10 minutes later, which was just before 6.30am, the time they had down. We were expecting them at 6am.

They did give us their itinerary with the times, down, but I hadn’t read it prior to the pick up.

The driver informed me I had phoned the general manager of Fisherman’s Tours, not the local office! Perhaps it would be worth checking the numbers on your itinerary which is where I got the number from.

Similarly the pick up from Qambani, was at 5am, not 5.30am as on our itinerary.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip, thank you for the organisation and recommendations. The service was excellent, and everything went fine.
Our only struggle, was with tipping, who and how much ! and not having local currency when we arrived. The porters at Zanzibar are quick to strike on the poor inexperienced traveller!!

We took advice from the Siwandu manager, (who was overall excellent) re tipping the staff, but I probably hadn’t read your comments carefully enough. I think we ended up tipping $4-500 dollars over the trip, which I hadn’t really been expecting, so I guess it would help to give a ball park figure to the client initially.

Thank you Chris for spending so long on the phone with me and Lyndsey for putting it all together." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"As mentioned already, somehow the trip exceeded our expectations, even though we had been planning this for years! I am so glad we went with Expert Africa - a well named company. Having all the internal connections sorted out before we left made a big difference to our enjoyment of the trip in that we could relax, knowing everything was covered.

Lyndsey is great - we had a number of calls and countless emails. She always got back to me very quickly (within 24 hours) and provided clear and full reponses to my many questions and requests. Having the same person to work with throughout the process helped greatly and we couldn't have done better than Lyndsey - thank you." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Glorious trip to Kenya and Tanzania, our first visit to those countries. Having travelled in Africa extensively before, the punctuality and efficiency of collections etc was impressive. We thoroughly enjoyed the insight into local culture and the safari opportunities were stunning. All guides very kind and friendly, always keen to please.

Our limited constructive feedback as follows: All camps provided toiletries and washing powder, so no need to bring. Camps advertising laundry services still did not wash underwear (male or female), nor handkerchiefs. Drive to Il Ngwesi from Wilson airport was interesting, but ended up as quite an odyssey as driver did not know the way through Lewa Conservancy to the camp. As no signs available, this ended up as an additional 2 hours of desperately trying to find the camp before dark. All good in the end, but maybe check drivers know their destination before setting off." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 13 on a Kenya safari

"Really happy with this company and the level of service they provided to us for the whole trip - from the pre planning to during and the post the trip. All very professional and if/when i am going back to Africa again i would seriously consider getting a quote off these guys and using them as i was really happy. This was our third trip to Africa and i hope it wont be my last. Keep up the good work." Read full review: 7 nights in Africa; 4 on a Tanzania safari

"We booked our honeymoon via Expert Africa upon advise from a friend, Expert Africa were brilliant at asking what we wanted from our trip and Lyndsey our travel expert provided us with lots of options to consider. Her advice was honest and thorough and she spent a lot of time with us trying to get the perfect accommodation for our trip. Our honeymoon was simply amazing and we made memories we will never forget. The whole process was excellent and all the travelling and transfers went seamlessly, we had no issues and were well prepared. Our trip consisted of Safari in the Selous in Tanzania staying at Beho Beho – We can’t rate Beho Beho highly enough and there simply aren’t enough words to be able to describe the experience and hospitality we experienced.
The guides and staff are knowledgeable, friendly and fun. The Camp is beautiful and if you are after luxury and comfort you won’t go wrong, the food is some of the best we have ever eaten, there are a few amazing touches at Beho Beho that we won’t ruin for you if you’re thinking of staying. This was our first safari and the personal experience we had far exceeded our expectations, the highlights for us at the camp were seeing a pack of the wild dogs up close as well as the walking safari.
After the Selous we travelled to Zanzibar staying at the Zuri Zanzibar, Zuri means Beautiful in Swahili and the name does not disappoint – again the hospitality and accommodation are stunning, the food is brilliant – if you want a relaxing break on a white beach look no further.

Expert Africa provided us with more than we could have asked for and we couldn’t recommend them enough." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday

"this holiday had the perfect combination of a variety of very different contrasting destinations, time to chill out in exquisite lodges, the bustle of a culturally and historically fascinating city, the thrill of travelling to a tiny island group at Mafia - the fun of snorkelling and diving - monkeys, butterflies, coral reef and fish - perfect

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

no I think you were absolutely excellent and you made our holiday very enjoyable and relaxing" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari

"Our trip as a whole was wonderful. I kept joking that I was worried something would go wrong - but nothing did (much to my relief)! It can feel like you have a lot riding on a big trip like a honeymoon, and we were keen to travel somewhere that neither of us had been before.

Overall, everything was seamless, from flights to transfers to the lodges / hotels / resorts themselves. For the most part, everyone we interacted with on the trip was warm, friendly, and eager to help.

Olivia was great - from initial enquiry to the final booking, she was responsive and clearly very knowledgeable about travelling to Tanzania. She managed to accommodate and re-work our itinerary/quote a few times as our dates changed due to work obligations, but managed to find something that worked within our budget and timeframe. We booked our external flights ourselves, but only because we had air miles available to utilize.

The trip was a great mix of safari / wildlife, short city break with some history, and beach holiday." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 5 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Fantastic trip put together on short notice and appreciate the guidance of Richard and others.

I contacted a few other big-name agencies who wanted to provide me with their agenda; Richard listened and put together an agenda for us.

I appreciated the detail in their website and that is what led me to call them (okay, it may be a bit old-fashioned in design, but it is encyclopedic and sometimes that's better than glitz)." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was wonderful. It came about because our eldest son was working in Dar Es Salaam. But we had already used Expert Africa in the past to take our three sons to Namibia. That had been the best family holiday for us. We felt we must use Expert Africa again. I can only say that I am indebted to the knowledge of Lyndsey Marris, and the fact that Expert Africa listens, wants to know what we are looking for, what kind of budget do we have, and then makes carefully thought out suggestions. Lyndsey was so good. Absolutely excellent.

The trip was in every way memorable. Each place we stayed at was great. Lyndsey had provided us with a spot on itinerary. I feel with Expert Africa we are privileged to have people who care about Africa, and who really know it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company. I wish we could return to Africa in the future, but not sure when!

As someone who has lived in Africa and whose work a long time ago(!) was dealing with books for Africa, I feel passionately about it, and two of our three sons have lived there. Chris's books are the best, without a shadow of a doubt. The Zanzibar book is full of rich detail and I left it with Jasper to keep as he is still out in Dar. It is a superb book.

Having time with Jasper in the Selous and on Zanzibar was incredibly special. We will not forget it. Jasper was blown away by the Selous in particular. Thank you, Expert Africa. Our youngest son lived in Botswana; one day I hope to get there, but for now, from the bottom of our hearts, thank-you." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zanzibar holiday