Tanzania – 7-day Pemba Beach Stay with Aiyana Resort & Spa – Private accommodated

Pemba Island Break

came home feeling relaxed refreshed and revitalized, ready to take on the new year, so I feel we had a “real” holiday. All the diving was outstanding with unbelievably excellent visibility. Two dives in particular were very special for me –one was exhilarating flying through the current at Emelio’s back passage and the other was another dive site at Fundu Gap (I think it was Manta Point) where the coral and the fish were superb. The service from all the staff was attentive and caring. Craig and Sam were very professional and excellent dive leaders, as well as being fun, interesting and good company. Elaf created some delicious fish dishes, all meals were so beautifully presented.

Pemba Island, Crater, Central Serengeti, and Tarangire National Park Honeymoon

The Ayana was absolutely stunning, I think probably the nicest resort that either of us have ever stayed at. Gorgeous grounds, gorgeous rooms, lovely staff, and the food blew us away — it was fine dining level, which was even more impressive considering the resort location. We were excited for dinner every night to see what new, interesting, and delicious things were on the menu

The diving was wonderful, very professional and stocked with solid gear, and the small group size (we never had more than four other divers with us) relative to the number of dive guides (two on every trip) was great. We loved our dive guide, who made us feel super comfortable and managed to help us see everything on our bucket list, including a turtle and octopus. The diving was just stunning, unlike anything we had ever seen before, with amazing coral and really interesting walls and ridges. We also really enjoyed the variety of dives, which included a mangrove diving experience. Finally, we appreciated that they would take us to little beaches and coves for surface intervals—a really nice way to spend the time.

Moving on to safari, we were blown away by wildlife that we saw on safari. We had no idea that we would get to see so many animals so consistently. In addition to TONs of giraffes, zebras, hippos, buffalo, baboons, antelope, wildebeest, warthogs, and ostrich, we saw MANY elephants and lions doing a whole variety of activities, including playing in water holes (elephants) and lions hunting successfully, eating a buffalo, and climbing trees, plus a pride of 20 male, female, and baby lions lounging and playing. We also even managed to see a rhino, leopards, and a cheetah, so checked off our full big 5. It was truly beyond our wildest expectations. It felt like at each park we went to, we saw more than the park before. We were glad that we did all three (Ngorogoro, Serengeti, and Tarangire) because each felt unique and different.

Our safari guide was wonderful — so knowledgeable and willing to go above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience, and also just a fun, enjoyable person to spend 5 days with — he felt like a friend by the end.

We really enjoyed all of the lodges and camps that we stayed at on safari. The staff at each were so warm and friendly. Tarangire Ndovu was especially a highlight for us —we enjoyed relaxing at the beautiful pool and common area after a long day on safari, and the tents were super luxurious.

Pemba diving

Christopher arranged a fantastic trip to Pemba where we went scuba diving. Just booked another trip to St Helena in January!

Tanzania trip to Ruaha and Pemba

We were the only 2 passengers into Ruaha and arrived ahead of schedule after a very smooth, easy flight. And essentially we were the only people staying at the River Lodge, so we were treated very well and had our own driver and guide the whole time. I truly enjoyed our stay in Ruaha - it is a beautiful park, particularly after the rain. We had some great lion sightings and even watched them with a kill.
On to Pemba and again the flight was on time, easy flight, etc. The road transfer ride Saray is interesting to watch the scenery go by and our driver was friendly and bought us bananas on the way! We were met with a very-appreciated cold drink and made to feel very welcome. Mum and I snorkelled one day and I kayaked in the mangroves another day. Otherwise we enjoyed watching the view horizontally (that is lying on the couches watching the water). We met some fascinating people from all areas of the globe. It feels like one big happy family at KS, a very relaxed welcoming approach.
So we had a fantastic time. Flights ran on time, the weather was good, and we were very well looked after at both our destinations.

Adam Beach & Safari, Tanzania

3 weeks in Tanzania including safari and time on the coast on Pemba and Zanzibar. Ines really worked well with us suggesting a great trip outline.