rhbphoto

After a year off, planning our next African trip. Going to Tanzania and have 12 days. Trying to figure out whether we should plan a few days in Zanzibar at the end or just keep doing the parks. It is certainly romantic to say you've been there and we enjoy food, so the spice part is interesting and who can argue with the ocean and palm trees. However, you can always get to a beach/island but doing game drives/lodges are special. Just looking for input and/or ideas. Thank you.

Nelson

We spent about 5 weeks in Tanzania some years back including maybe 5 nights on Zanzibar, split between a beach resort and a couple Stonetown nights. We had fun in Stonetown but the beach and resort didn't do much for us. We generally love tropical beaches and islands, but as you note there are other places for that, and the safari lodges are really special. We did go on a spice tour and that was good, and had some great meals in town. But given you only have 12 days I'd probably pass and spend more time at the game parks.

Greenhorn

With only 12 days - spend them all in the game parks or if you must, do 10 days in the game parks and 2 days in Stonetown - it is fascinating - the beaches not so much.

rhbphoto

Yes, we were leaning to bypass Zanzibar. When we were in Kenya we ended a few days in Mombasa, though nice we could,'ve easily stayed in the bush. Tsavo was quite interesting. We'll leave the beaches for a trip to Madagascar. Thanks all, stay well.

TheSafariSpecialist

Hi rhbphoto - I would say it depends on the safari itinerary that you have planned so far and to some extent your budget (nights in Zanzibar are generally going to cost less than extra nights on safari). For example if you are travelling in July - Sept and are spending time in central Serengeti then I would definitely use extra nights to add northern Serengeti for the migration. Personally I would always choose safari nights over Zanzibar nights - I love Zanzibar (spent a year living there) but there's nothing compares to safari unless you are a big beach or dive enthusiast.