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LangiLangi Beach Bungalows is located in Nungwi and is one of the best hotels in the area. The restaurant serves the best food in Nungwi and the staff are just excellent. The pool and beach are the best part of the hotel.
Nungwi, Zanzibar
www.langilangizanzibar.com
A fantastic luxury lodge at reasonable price, on a deserted private beach with white sand and blue sea. Food is amazing and the pool, bar and restaurant areas are great. Huts you stay in are beautifully furnished with breathtaking views of sea and sand. It's quite new I think, so not many people have been there yet - now's the time to go! Also went swimming with whale sharks (awe inspiring!) and picnicked on desert islands.
Flexible cycle schedule taking you round the base of Kilimanjaro, across the plains to the Serengeti and through the cooling shadows of the Rift Valley Wall.
Spectacular scenery, unique cultural experiences and a wildlife safari on top! How can you resist?
www.adsportleisure.com or info@adsportleisure.com
Adventure Sports & Leisure are a company based in Arusha, Tanzania. Responsible tourism is their thing, unique life-changing experiences is their talent! Don't be put off by their website - email them!
Colonial era coffee estate farm set in delightful gardens on edge of Ngorogoro crater. Recommended for its kitchen garden, working farm, setting and stylish accommodation. Go for the new rooms with outdoor showers and verandahs. The food is a cut above.
So lovely you'll probably want two nights - at the Manyara/Ngorogoro stage of your Northern Circuit safari.
Small ecological island reserve 40 minutes off Zanzibar. Only 14 tourists at any time, staying in romantic beach bandas stylishly constructed from natural materials.
One of the finest beaches on Zanzibar, the best food I sampled and superlative nature trails in the mangrove forest and over best coral in east Africa. Relatively expensive but a must for any holiday, particularly a honeymoon.
Kimbilio Lodge is a very new lodge on the Kilwa Masoko Bay. Italian-run and has excellent Mediterannean cuisine. Simple and, at the same time, sophisticated eight bungalows with air conditioning.
The atmosphere is friendly and the managers always managed to fulfil my requirements. I had a great time and superb dives. They have the only diving centre in the area.
I was surprised at the things I was able to do in Kilwa in one week - diving, visiting the Kilwa Ruins, see hippos a short boat ride from the lodge.
I flew in from Dar es Salaam, it was about one hour's flight and drove back to Dar es Salaam, four hours trip on a good road going through beautiful scenery and small traditional villages. It could have been possible to stop at the Selus Game Reserve on the way, but I left it for next time. Overall a wonderful experience.
www.kimbiliolodges.com
tel. + (255) 787211201
300 Km from Dar es Salaam, reachable by plane (Coastal aviation) or car; no need of 4x4
One of the lesser-known parks in Tanzania (dwarfed in size by the Masai Mara and Ngorongoro crater parks), Tarangire is thronged with wildlife towards the end of the dry season. Elephants flock here in their hundreds, and in one day there expect to see lions, leopard, buffalo, fish eagles, dik-dik, mongoose, zebra, wildebeest. The works, in short.
About two hours west of Arusha. Book with one of Arusha's myriad operators and leave as early as you can the next morning to get the best of the morning. Take in nearby Lake Manyara if you need to see a hippo. www.tanzaniaparks.com/tarangire.htm
Have just got back from Tanzania. By total fluke we found a beach (8km long) with only one small (nine-room) lodge - although they don't trade on their 'eco' side it's the most eco place we've found at a mid range price. Their electric is run on biomass, water is solar heated and the place is built from coco-wood (actually a grass apparently) - totally amazing. They have a website at www.mafiaislandtz.com, get there quick before everyone else discovers it.
Little visited and close by, Arusha Park is scenic with great views of (and includes) Mt Meru, and has its own crater, forests and lakes, some laden with salts. There are giraffe, buffalo, colobus, flamingo and lots of birds, and a few hippo left in what was once their biggest home in Tanzania. Quiet and peaceful compared to the main parks.
A few miles east of Arusha on the Moshi road, lots of local safari operators will do a full or half day, or you can climb Meru on a 3 day tough trek
If you fancy a bit of safari when going to Zanzibar, I can recommend Saadani. It's only a few hours' drive from Dar es Salaam, or I believe you can fly if you are flash!
It's got loads of big game such as lions and elephants and the lodge we stayed at was right on the beach.
Saadani Lodge has a website: www.saadanilodge.com
Tel: +255 22 277 3294.
We booked through www.realafrica.co.uk
Shehe bungalows offers very comfortable beach bungalows. They are very close to the white sandy beach.
Me and my wife stayed in one of their sea-facing bungalows for four weeks. We liked it a lot. The bungalows are simple but very clean. It also has very friendly and helpful staff.
They also have a lovely beach-front bar and restaurant.
It is located at the southern side of Jambiani village, on the east coast of Zanzibar.
Tel: +255 777 843 622 or +255 713 675 118
www.shehebungalows.co.uk
Although it will break the bank if you do a trip like this too often, a stay at the ultra-luxurious (but not in the least ostentatious) Selous Safari Camp on the Rufiji River is well worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime safari experience or honeymoon.
Described as "tented", rooms are actually fully sealed from creepy crawlies and have a pleasing lack of mosquitoes in this malarial country. The deluxe bathrooms are also a highlight - complete with brass basins, a china loo and outside showers (fenced in, of course).
The tented rooms are arranged around a large lake which keeps the game watching varied as you can take boat trips, bird-watching and fishing excursions, which are far less noisy than the jeep tours and let you become emerged in the incredible untouched landscape.
Dawn game walks and proper camping expeditions are also on offer in this corner of the immense Selous Game Reserve, which isn't too crowded with other tourists.
I stayed here for a week with my girlfriend and I have to say it was the most beautiful beach I have even seen and was the nearest thing to paradise - 16 rooms tucked into a small cove, with an infinity swimming pool to use when the tide is out.
The food was excellent and staff very welcoming. Highly recommended!
www.pongwe.com +255784336181
The dolphins, lovely and wild as they are, won't hang about when 4 motorboats are roaring excitedly towards them. If you want some quality time with them, head to Kizimkazi for 2pm on a dalla-dalla bus, offer the local boys $10 - $15 for snorkel, mask and fins and time with the dolphins, just you and 1 or 2 others. The dolphins will feel more relaxed (the males seem rather non-plussed anyway) and will respond up-close and personal.
Oh, and don't buy any coral or shell souvenirs.
Across from the market in Stone town you will find all the dalla-dallas - the ubiquitous toyota minibuses - just find one with Kizimkazi on the front. Don't forget to ask what time the last dalla-dalla leaves to return to Stone town (usually between 5 - 6pm)
If you're visiting Paje on the East Coast of Zanzibar you have to visit Mr
Chaamu's restaurant.
An enterprising one-man band, he has set up 3 tables under cover on the beach and offers fantastic seafood dishes with traditional breads.
Bring your own beverages and be sure to book in advance as he sources everything on the day.
Also, ask about his early morning fishing trips. He will take up to 4 people out on his boat to catch the restaurant's fish for the day. He then cooks your catch for you and all of this is done at a fraction of the cost of similar trips at nearby
hotels. An absolute highlight of our holiday!
North of the Paje dive site, 10 min walk along the beach
A relaxed beach resort on the stunning Matemwe Beach, which is affordable if you don't want to go all out for the top of the range Matemwe Beach Bungalows. Rooms are on the small side but at $200 a night including dinner, the four beautiful suites are good value. There is fabulous diving and snorkelling to be had on the nearby Mnemba Atoll and the on-site dive centre organises daily trips.
Staff are lovely and friendly, and the food is excellent. The local village is extremely poor, however, and the lodge could do a little more in terms of development work.
For accommodation:
www.matemwebeach.com/
For diving:
www.zanzibaroneocean.com/diving/divesite/mnemba/mnemba.htm
Accommodation tips from our travels throughout Tanzania in 2006.
The Ameg Lodge hotel in Moshi, at the base of the mountain, will organise everything for you. The lady who owns it (Rishi Shan) organises everything with a personal touch. The accommodation, location and catering is first class.
www.ameglodge.com
P.O. Box 247, Moshi, Tanzania
Tel: +255 744 058268
The most beautiful route up Kilimanjaro - don't choose any other route to the top.
The Marangu route is fine if you like walking on motorways. It's like the difference between a 20-year-old single malt and a supermarket blend.
The Machame route is called the whisky route and it certainly lives up to its name. So don't choose the coca cola route, and enjoy this remarkable mountain, as it should be enjoyed.
Just completed a nine day trek to the top of Kilimanjaro. Cannot speak too highly of the Marangu Hotel through whom we booked. They have been organising treks up Kilimanjaro for a long time, have their own guides, porters etc and know how to look after you. They look after their staff well. We saw how some other trekkers were being treated and could see what a good deal we got. Many climb Kilimanjaro nowadays - ours was a bit unusual in that we camped in the crater overnight.
www.maranguhotel.com
Tel: +255 27 275 6594/6361
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