Hi Gemma
Thanks for the email. Siwandu and the Safari were magical. The animals in the Selous and the staff at Siwandu could not have behaved more impeccably! It was just magical. Some photos, taken almost from touching distance, below.
We had a disastrous journey home with Qatar Airways yesterday, so are absolutely knackered. I won’t bore you with all the details but suffice to say, hours spent forced to sit outside Zanzibar airport in the punishing heat, hours in it in the punishing heat, numerous changes to flights that didn’t materialise and subsequent inordinate delays.
Stone Town - thank you for sorting out the sickness situation so effectively. Given the way Zan Tours stepped in, it went reasonably well! Forget the taxi fare, it was minimal. We’re really glad we went to Stone Town and going on the spice tour on the way to Qambani worked perfectly. Jafferji House split opinion, Rob loved its authenticity, but Ellie and I had doubts. I fully accept that Ellie and I need to review our expectations of third world countries! Ellie works for Accenture and they have an office in Dar - I don’t think she’ll be rushing to apply!
We had dinner at Emerson Spice, (highly recommended in almost every guide book) which was in a great location but served uninteresting international food and at 174$ for three, with only one bottle of wine, was really expensive. Other more local restaurants were considerably better and cheaper. Jafferji House’s restaurant was much less expensive and had similar views from the roof terrace.
Qambani, where to start! My choice, not yours! Fabulous property, fabulous location, could so easily be 5+ stars! But....the management there left a lot to be desired! Some staff were exceptional, others indifferent. It was virtually empty most of the time we were there, so they had plenty of staff. It was sold as a property with no written menu and that you can have whatever food you want. All food was very geared to the European market, which seems to be what most guests want, when I suppose we wanted authentic local food. Having said that, when we asked for the local meat, goat, we got it, but cooked ....... with chocolate(!)....in a European style. We should have asked for it cooked in the local style and quickly learnt to be more specific, if we had any requests! The Swahili evening we asked for and got was exceptional! The drink prices were very reasonable, so if you do send other clients, unless they are alcoholics, the $60 charge per person per day is more than a reasonable drinker can consume and, I promise, I did my best!
Overall, we had an absolutely fantastic time and will recommend The Africa specialists to all we can. We really appreciated your knowledge and help throughout.
I hope you feel this feedback is constructive and helps with future customers.
Kind Regards
Lorna
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