Hello Nick!
We are back (and safe) from Tanzania and Zanzibar.
We have really enjoyed our trip and I wanted you to know that everything went well!
All the transfers (by car with Multichoice safari and Serene Tours, and by plane with Coastal) were good.
As planed we stayed at our friend's farm in Simanjiro area for 4 nights after our first night at Kia Lodge (which is ok and practical for one night, we did not expect more). The transfer was quite a journey.
We were very pleased with our 2 nights in Manyara Ranch! We were lucky enough to be alone, no other tourists! So we had Alan (the camp manager) for ourselves and did many game drives per day (before breakfast, after breakfast, before dinner and after dinner!). The tents are very nice and we saw lions, elephants, monkeys, zebras, impalas, etc.... Beautiful place!
Then we flew to Zanzibar. The flight with Coastal was just fine.
Next Paradise is a very nice and welcoming Hotel, very clean, very nice and friendly staff, beautiful beach and very good food (fish&seafood).
It was definitely not full as we found ourselves at dinner with just 3 other couples!... We didn't mind at all but it made me wonder why, when I was still looking for the right accommodation/beachfront bungalow in Zanzibar, Stuart from Next Paradise said most beach bungalows were already booked?...
Anyway, all is well and the family beachfront bungalow/rooms was fine, not huge, just one bathroom and quite small bedrooms but comfortable and very nice terrace almost on the beach!
Very nice pool too (although a lot of missing or broken tiles, would need some fixing!...)
Of course the ocean is warm but the "tide issue" is a bit of a shame. If you know about it it's ok.
It was a bit awkward (and tiring) to have all these locals on the beach ask for money or clothes or shoes or sweets... And most of the time in Italian!?.... Anyway, I ended up giving them two tee shirts and one pair of shoes that would very soon be to small for our youngest son.
We also went snorkelling with One Ocean at Matemwe and dolphins joined us and stayed with us in the water! The (French) people in charge of the dive club One Ocean there were not as friendly as we expected (from Paris!...).
Our visit of Stone Town was rather quick but it was sufficient! What a place!... Definitely to be seen.
We have seen quite a few poor places and local markets but this one was definitely unique, very interesting but also a bit scary, like a different planet! We had the pleasure to meet Max (from Serene Tours but also from Switzerland!) who welcomed us there. Small world!
Anyway, sorry for the long message but I thought my feed back might be useful.
Deborah will also give you a feed back I believe.
Thank you again so much for being so professional, efficient and pleasant!
If we decided to go back to Africa I would definitely contact you again and we will tell our friends about your agency.
Actually, do you also work with other countries than Tanzania?
I would love to see the big gorillas one day! And I would like to go to a place that I have heard of in Malawi. Could you take care of that?
And one last question, can you recommend a travel agency for Galapagos? That's also another project/dream of ours!
But not just yet...
Wishing you all the best,
Yaël