CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

12 days from GBP2,489 to GBP3,089 including flights
Tripcode: AYZ

Countries Visited: Kenya, Tanzania

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Our Clients’ Reviews

Average Review Rating: from 9 reviews.

michele clarke

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written July 2011
The holiday exeeded expectations. Accommodation was luxurious, food mostly excellent with attention to detail which was fantastic. The packed lunches contained enough to feed an army. The Masai Mara was an amazing experience, the safari drives spectacular and the resort at Zanzibar absolutely lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and would go again.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
The wildlife safaris where excellent and the game viewing was amazing. I think seeing a cheetah coming to within 1 metre of our truck was the most thrilling part of the trip.
What did you think of your group leader?
good
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
If you are travelling on a budget, then stock up on alcoholic drinks in stone town as the bar prices are quite high in the zanzibar resort.
Fiona Crozier

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written August 2010
Overall a great holiday and we saw lots, but disappointed with some of the accommodation considering the amount paid and the descriptions in the brochure (and on the relevant websites). Removing the word ‘luxury’ from the hotel / camp descriptions would mean a more accurate picture of what you are going to get.
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What did you think of your group leader?
Robert was a nice man but sometimes his communication style let him down. It was NOT a good idea to have the first 'orientation' talk when we had just arrived off an overnight flight, spent an hour negotiating Nairobi's traffic, and were tired. It should have waited until we got to the hotel and had settled in.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Accommodation.As already mentioned, we were disappointed with some of the accommodation based on the descriptions in the tour information. Kenya. Hotel at Elementaita was in a lovely location but the joining instructions call them luxury rooms - I'd say comfortable - not luxury (not as good as hotel in Nairobi). The food was mixed - buffet good, set menu not so good, picnic boxes pretty diabolical. Staff helpful and we had a great walk with Joseph Kicheche: great location, food, staff good but the accommodation was NOT luxury - cramped tents, short beds, very little space for luggage (even on the Kicheche website it says the tents in the private camp are luxury). It was very disappointing that we were unable to do guided bush walk due to one member of staff being ill - surely there was someone from the main camp who could have filled in? We also didn’t realise that Kicheche was so far from the Mara River and outside of the Masai Mara park itself – meant a long drive to see the part of the river where the wildebeest mass to cross the river and that we could only go there once. As we had to leave when the weather closed in we didn’t get a chance to go back which was a shame. Zanzibar. Swahili House Hotel in Stone Town - great location – shame the first room we were shown had one huge bed and one tiny one – in terms of twin rooms the bed situation was not ideal. Fumba Beach Lodge - fantastic location, excellent food and nice staff. The bar service could be improved – it took a long time to get served in the evening and it would have been nice to have some gentle music / a bit more atmosphere. Working out bills at the end (for food, drinks and spa treatments) was a bit tortuous – just as well we checked all the chits as they hadn’t included some spa treatments on our bill (but put them onto other people’s bills). GuidesRobert (tour leader) see above for comments. Rafael was fantastic and we were glad that we were in ‘his’ van had him for the Kenya part of the trip. The vehicle was well maintained and he kept it clean throughout; he was knowledgeable and good at spotting animals and the radio to communicate with other guides was working (apparently not in the other van).
Paul Reynoldson

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written September 2009
Overall a great trip, we had a fantastic time. The Masai Mara was incredible and Zanzibar exactly what we wanted, i.e. chill out for a few days!
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
See lions on our first foray into the Mara was a great start to being in the area. Also the day we spent by the Mara river was just amazing. We were a few days late for the great migration but they were still thousands of animals about, pretty awe inspring stuff.
What did you think of your group leader?
Charles was first class and was ably assited by Robert. They both tried very hard for us to see qas muhc as possible. We only missed out on cheetah and leopard and saw lots of lions so can't grumble too much. They organised everything very well and were very accomodating of the group.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
If you are thinking about doing this trip and can't quite make your mind up, my advice would be DO IT!!! It really is holiday of a lifetime stuff. We had one disspointment along the way and that was a slight debacle around the hot air balloon ride but even then the rest of it was so good it wasn't too bad.
Don't get too concerned about the mosquito's - we didnt see that many at all which was a relief.
Take most of you money in Dollars, and you will spend a bit more than you think - drinks were fairly expensive at the camp in the Mara (which is incredible by the way!) and at the lodge in Zanzibar.
Book the Ballon ride when you get there - see below.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Exodus does need to look at the hot air ballon ride. It is an expensive thing to do and call me naive but i expected there to be no problem with it actually taking place.....We did as we we told and booked prior to going on the trip wheras some of the others booked through Charles when we were there. it turned out that they had a wonderful experience and the Balloon went up without a hitch whereas our trip was ultimately cancelled because of the wind. The reason for this is that the launch site for us is basically in a poor area and the pilot had said that he hadn't been up for the ten days before we went! The other guys, although they had to travel further (and get up earlier to get there), took off from a site that was better protected from the wind near the Mara river and had more things to see in any case. We were really disappointed on the day as we had built ourselves up for an amazing experience only to be let down because it was a rubbish take off site.
Lynn Woods

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written January 2009
I went on this trip without any expectations. I have a fantastic time. Saw more animals than I ever thought I would and met some great people in the group. Zanzibar was fantastic and to spend New Years Eve in a sailing regatta with the locals will be something I will remember for a long time.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing Rhino's on Christmas Day.
Seeing dolphins in the wild for the first time.
Sailing regatta with the locals from the Fumba village on New Years Eve.
Dinner on the beach on our last night at Funba Beach Resort.
What did you think of your group leader?
Robert was full of knowledge about the animals.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Find out about tipping from your guide. It would be useful to take some small notes with you as everyone expects a tip.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thanks - I had such a great Christmas and New Year. It certainly beat being at home where everyone seemed to be ill. I would recommend this trip to anyone who wants to experience a trip of a lifetime.
Corinna Jones

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written September 2008
It was a super holiday - I would definitely recommend it. Camping in the Mara was a real highlight - lots of lion cubs! All the animals (except the leopard) showed up on cue and the cheetah even posed for photos! (Oh - and we loved the warthogs and gnus too - I highly reccommned you listen to the Flanders and Swan songs in preparation.... ) The campsite there was amazing - the accommodation was much better than I had imagined, and the staff were great. Fumba lodge in Zanzibar was also beautiful. We went in August and I was very pleasantly surprised by the temperature in Kenya, it was cool at night and not too hot during the day - low twenties? There were also virtually no mozzies which was lovely. I particularly enjoyed the excursion to see the hippos in lake navaisha - which wasn't an official trip on the notes, but it was really worth doing - ask your guides! The only thing I would change is the day in Stone Town - it wasn't a great town - and I would have rather spent the extra day camping in the Mara or perhaps at a different beach in Zanzibar...
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
ooh I can't decide!
What did you think of your group leader?
The trip leaders were both helpful and informative.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
The only nightmare was checking in for our flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi. You stand in the sun in the heat of the day, queueing, and then they completely ignored us for 30 minutes when we reached the front of the queue - until a man in the group stood at the front (we were a group of girls). We made the flight with about 3 minutes to spare... So put the boys at the front of the queue - and get them to tip the check in staff a couple of dollars or you won't get through on time!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
It is worth knowing that the campsite has electricity (and Kenya/Tanzania have english style plugs) so you can recharge camera batteries with no hassle.
Phil D

CLASSIC KENYA SAFARI & ZANZIBAR

Written March 2008
An extremely well put together holiday which, given the location, had unexpected elements of luxury along the way. I felt that the holiday had been ordered so that we could acclimatise slowly, which was appreciated.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
I can't pin just a single one down. The lodge in Zanzibar was incredible and arriving there was a big surprise - it's that good! Seeing our first big cats was an obvious contender. Sitting out eating a full english in the middle of nowhere after the hot air balloon ride was a fantastic experience. However, I think our nights in the camp were the real high points: we were a bit nervous about what we'd find at the camp, but the tents were fantastic and later on, sitting round a fire drinking wine and then eating (fabulous food!) under the clear, black sky was something I will always remember.
What did you think of your group leader?
Fantastic. Great fun, very diligent, thoughtful of our safety and incredibly knowledgeable. All of the staff who looked after us, especially at the camp, were amazing. They even made a big deal of a birthday while we were out there and danced a tribal "birthday" dance. They should be very proud.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
You must do this trip! And if you go, do the hot air balloon ride - it was one of the best things we did. It's expensive but well worth it. Make sure you take plenty of high factor sun cream for Zanzibar too - several of us got burned.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I went in September.
You stay in 5 different locations in total so, while it doesn't seem like you're always on the go, there's a lot going on and I was suprised at how slowly time appeared to go.
The roads are very rough and you do get thrown around quite a lot. There's a lot of dust too. Instead of seeing this as an annoyance though, I found that it added to the charm of the trip - it's really like that in Africa and I appreciated seeing it as it is. It makes you think about your own life.
Finally, take some pens and exercise books for the kids at the school that Exodus sponsors.
Rebecca Gibson

Wouldn't change a thing.....

Written November 2007
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
getting so close to the animals - it was simply incredible
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What did you think of your group leader?
excellent. Robert spotted a lioness eating a kill that the rest of us couldn't see until we were 12ft away from her - amazing and very knowledgable
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
the roads are really bad, so be warned if you suffer from any form of travel sickness - but it is worth it
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I only have 2 critisisms:
1. is that when we were actually doing the game drives a 4x4 jeep would have been even better as they can get places the vans we had couldn't. However, that didn't stop us seeing everything we wanted too!
2. it was chaos at Zanzibar airport and we ended up being re-routed back to Naroibi via Daresalam (sp!) if there had be an Exodus rep at the airport that would have been much much better. It was quite stressful and it was a shame to end such a great holiday on a sour note!
On the positive side of things, the accommodation was fantastic, the food was great, the people were fun, the animals were stunning and the Fumba Beach Resort was perfect. All in all I really wouldn't want to change a thing (except the 2 minor points made above)