Tanzania / Zanzibar... anyone been with teens?

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

looking at possibly doing a break here for 2 weeks with a combination of safari style and beachside.
Would love to hear if anyone has been and what they think?

Not with teens but did Safari in Tanzania then a week on Zanzibar. Stone Town is a mildly bustling town with nice cafes, bars and markets. The east coast is very sleepy, remote and poor but there are some sympathetic hotels and guest houses and the beaches are incredible.

I loved it, particularly the beaches at Matemwe on Zanzibar, the Ngorongoro crater on the the mainland and camping in the Serengeti. I also stayed at a place called the E-Unoto retreat which was near Lake Manyara. That was spectacular.

Went with DD, have to be honest and say I didn’t love it. Zanzibar needed a lot of time in the car to see the different bits. The Rock restaurant was good though. Glad we went but not in a hurry to go back.

@Rachie20 thank you for your comments. Did you do a safari in Tanzania as well as a beach holiday in Zanzibar? What was it about the holiday that you didn't like specifically?

@AnitaMani thanks for your comments. Did you find the Ngorongoro crater overrun with safari groups?

We didn’t do the safari as have done one previously in SA.
We found we were a bit too tied to the resort in terms of meals etc. and we like to do stuff so journey time around the island was a bit of a downer. Lovely people though and an interesting place.

@SoTiredNeedHoliday I didn't notice any groups of safari tours anywhere really. The hotel I stayed at at the crater was busy and everybody there was clearly on a tour but once in the crater I didn't see groups of trucks etc

thank you both.

@Anitamani how long was your safari time?

I haven't done a Tanzania safari but I've been to Zanzibar. Have to admit, I didn't love it. Stone Town is interesting but didn't feel massively safe. We got a lot of hassle from people trying to sell to us, got followed, people coming up and saying they knew where we were staying etc.

Also, pick your resort carefully if you want to snorkel/dive. Some of the island has a reef around it which you have to cross to get out to the dive sites. Felt like we were taking our life in our hands as the dive instructors revved the boat to "jump" the reef to avoid getting grounded!

If you do go, make sure you have dinner at Emerson & Green- it's a real experience and was my favourite bit of the trip.

@SoTiredNeedHoliday in the crater I think we were there for 2/3 hours. It was part of a 6 day Safari going to the Serengeti and the crater.

On Zanzibar have a look at the Zanzibar Retreat guest house in Matemwe. It had about 10 rooms when I was there 12 years ago. There was a hotel next door which was a bigger. Stone Town to the East coast was about an hour by car if I remember rightly. I really enjoyed Stone Town, there are some very good cafes and restaurants and the night food market was fun. I likened Stone Town to Marrakesh 30 years ago.

I have done both (although years ago now).

Safaris can be variable - choose your resort carefully, as, apart from actual game drives (taking2/3 hours) there’s not a lot else to do, so you need to like the resort. Game drives are also variable - of course they are wonderful when you see the wildlife you want to, but can be lengthy if all is quiet (and if you are in a group with bored younger children, then excruciating!)

Zanzibar is an odd place. I would agree that it doesn’t always feel too safe, and that there can be a lot of street selling/hassling. I’m glad to hear Emerson and Green is still there - that is a truly extraordinary place, and we’ll worth a visit!

I took my boys 18 and 21 on safari to Tanzania plus a week in Zanzibar and mostly we really loved it.

We did it on a budget so camped - although it was more glamping than camping. We did pay extra to have our own private safari guide which meant it was just the three of us in the jeep when on safari. It only cost a small amount more than a shared jeep and was totally worth it.

As pp said Ngorongoro was just breathtaking - there were a lot of other jeeps there but it is so vast that a lot of the time we were alone. The drivers radio each other if say someone spots a lioness hunting so if something special is happening often you will get 3 or 4 vehicles near to each other but the rest of the time you can usually only see the other vehicles in the distance.

We did five nights on safari and that was about right for us. I think on the last day we were about ready for a bit of R and R after being bounced around in the jeep for five days. Highlights of the safari were a night at Maramboi tented camp where the wild animals literally roamed around the tents and two nights at Naona Moru in the Serengeti, again with animals wandering in and out of camp. These parts were magical and something none of us will ever forget.

Our safari guide had teens of his own and was excellent at holding the boys attention so that helped but to be honest there were so many new and different experiences each day that there really wasn't time for them to get bored. One tip - I took a power pack with me so that we could keep our phones charged up and actually wi-fi was available more than you would have thought so the boys were able to send photos to their dad and friends pretty regularly.

I loved the week in Zanzibar, although we did very little except relax and chill out. We did a couple of day trips but to be honest it was lovely just to kick back and relax after the excitement of the safari. The boys were starting to get restless after about 5 nights though so a week was probably slightly too long for them.

Overall we all loved the safari and would do it again in a heartbeat. In retrospect I would probably have had a slightly shorter time in Zanzibar for the boys, but I could happily have stayed for another week of relaxation/spa/swimming etc...!

If it helps I used a company called Safari and Beach to design the holiday and they were really fabulous. I started with one of their standard itineraries but then customised it to add some parks and leave others. They also have an agent in Tanzania who is on hand if anything goes wrong which I found really reassuring as a woman travelling alone with her sons (albeit adult sons!) in a country I am unfamiliar with.