Zanzibar: reviews from our travellers

"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

"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

"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

"Brilliant!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Everything went well from start to finish.

A very good holiday with a good balance between the three locations.

Even though we already had visas for Tanzania we had to stand and wait at immigration while a staff member collected a whole pile of passports and visas and then worked through them interminably slowly!

On arrival in Zanzibar we expected to show our passports and yellow fever vaccination certificates! In the event we just filled in blue cards, gave them to the member of staff, plucked our bags off the carousel and walked out to our transport. (This was Fisherman Tours-their vehicles are very comfortable and they were always punctual)

Having read dreadful accounts of Zanzibar airport (standing in long queues in the heat etc) we were pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is small and cramped but there were no long waits and we left on time." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"It was a lovely trip - the highlight was Ikuka which is a simply wonderful place which we cannot recommend enough - Zanzibar was lovely and Breezes was a very good hotel even if the kite surfing was a little disappointing.

The arrangements by Claire at Expert Africa were excellently done and the itinerary was great ( we would never have know of Ruaha without that knowledge). My sister and brother in law have already booked a Namibia trip with you based on our recommendation." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Our trip was a truly fantastic and we would highly recommend it and Expert Africa to others.

The itinerary worked very well for us. We were met as we were told we would be - in each place and on time.

The choices of accommodation were spectacular, as was the food and service.

And the animals did not disappoint!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would highly recommend Expert Africa. Our dealings with Maruska made our life so much better and she put together a marvellous plan." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall it was a great trip and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on Safari. I forgot to mention that the old vehicles used at Beho Beho need replacing as the seats are very uncomfortable and bad for backs and the winches need dealing with to avoid potentially dangerous situations.

We are unlikely to return to Zanzibar and certainly not to Matemwe Lodge. If we had known how remote it was and how horrid the surroundings were we would not have gone there." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari