African adventures are often colourful, but Travellers Choice members took it to a new level recently by combining rolling savannahs and leaping Maasai with Freddie Mercury tributes and exotic pirate haunts.
The group of 10 Choice Award recipients embarked on a journey to exotic Zanzibar and Kenya as guests of The Africa Safari Co. and led by the award-winning tour operator’s Chief Executive Susie Potter, an unrivalled expert with more than 70 visits to the African continent.
The journey began around 40 kilometres off the Tanzanian coast in the idyllic archipelago of Zanzibar – an Indian Ocean trade hub that once served as a port for 17th-century pirates and by the 19th century was a centre of the global spice and ivory trades. Today this unique melting pot of Africa, Arabian, Indian and European cultures offers luxury accommodation surrounded by azure waters, coral reefs and lush tropical vegetation.
As well as enjoying the scenery the group toured historic Stone Town, with its narrow alleyways lined with boutiques, restaurants and bazaars, relaxed on a sunset cruise aboard a traditional dhow, and visited a museum dedicated to Zanzibar’s most famous contemporary son, Freddie Mercury.
For Select World Travel owner, Chip Popescu, the destination was a childhood dream come true.
“As a child growing up in Romania, books were the only way for me to get a look at the outside world,” says Popescu, “I read about the pirates of Zanzibar and always wanted to get to this mysterious destination.
"What’s wonderful is that it didn't disappoint – the historic trading post of Stone Town and the way all the different cultures intertwined was exactly what I had envisaged."
The group then travelled to the Nairobi, from where they flew south for a safari in the Masai Mara game reserve, home to many of Africa’s most celebrated wildlife, along with the red-clothed Maasai and their iconic adamu (jumping dance).
Leah Mullen, owner of Tailor Made Travel Mt Gambier, says that over two days the group spotted 23 lions (including multiple sets of cubs), along with buffalo, giraffes, zebra, elephants, jackals and hippos.
“There wildlife was so abundant that even driving from the airport to our accommodation was full of sightings,” says Mullen. “We joked that it was the best transfer any of us had ever had.”
She says the group also enjoyed its interaction with local Maasai tribesman, who on the last night performed cultural songs and dance.
“They had a great sense of humour, and one of them made us laugh with his Australian impersonation, which included some classic phrases delivered with impressive Australian twang.”
All the Travellers Choice agents taking part in the journey were recipients of Choice Awards, an annual program that recognises those members who make the greatest contribution to the group through preferred supplier sales. Winners are offered a choice of three Reward Trips, each hosted by a preferred supplier partner.