Safarilink 5Y – SLO from Nairobi Wilson to Zanzibar, Tansania🇹🇿

Today we fly on Safarilink from Nairobi Wilson to Zanzibar. Look forward to a very special view and maybe the smallest toilet in the air.

Departure	21.12.2023 – 14:00
Arrival	21.12.2023 – 15:40
Flighttime	1:40 h
Delay	Keine
Aircraft	De Havilland Dash 8 – 202
travelclass	Economy
seats	1 A & 1 B

Departure Airport

On our onward journey from safari game drives to the relaxing at the beach, we fly on Safarilink from Nairobi Wilson Airport to Zanzibar island. As already mentioned in our review of the flight on AirKenya to Maasai Mara, the airport, also known simply as Wilson, is not a central building, but each airline has its own smaller building with its own check-in. This makes the whole experience extremely relaxed and very personal.

Hot to get there

The best way to get here is by car. You can travel very cheaply by grab or taxi. The airport area is quite extensive and not connected except by the typical small private buses.

We arrived by grab organized transfer from our Fairmont The Norfolk where we stayed the last night.

Once you arrive at the Safarilink building, you walk across a small parking lot and your suitcases are scanned right behind the entrance door. Your luggage will also be weighed directly afterwards. On most routes, a total of 15 kilos (all luggages – including backpacks) is permitted. However, on some exceptional routes – including the one to Zanzibar – you are allowed to take 20 kilos.

A few steps further down the hall you already queue at the Safarilink check-in counter. We are traveling on December 21st and the Christmas spirit is in full swing here. The ladies at the counter are wearing Rudolf Raindeer glitter antlers and are in the best of moods. Checking in is a lot of fun and easygoing. The process itself is quick and professional. The visa is checked and on request we were able to secure seats in the front row of the plane. The suitcases are checked in and later carried to the plane by hand.

Waiting Area / Lounge

The waiting area is located in the same room as the check-in counter and is only separated by the one single gate. Here you will as well find a small store and a bar for refreshments. There is also a proper lounge on the first floor. During our stay, however, it looked rather closed. In any case, nobody went up or down the stairs… As far as we can tell, there is no travel class other than economy with Safarilink.

As we hadn’t eaten anything for lunch yet, we decided on a small snack from the bar. As soon as we had sat down and taken a sip of our drink, all the passengers for our flight were called back to the check-in desk – about an hour before departure, mind you! Slightly irritated, we went back to check-in, where we were told that we still had to go through passport control in order to leave the country and that the boarding process would start at the international terminal. To do this, we had to return to the airport grounds and go through another checkpoint and into the waiting area of the other terminal.

Here we sat for a short time and were called once again to go out onto the apron, past a few hangars and into a central passport control barrack – all accompanied by a Safarilink employee! After the check, we had to walk all the way back to the international waiting room.

We stirred slight confusion by the fact that we had ordered food straight after check-in. However, it wasn’t ready until we had to leave. So after a little discussion with the agent, the food was then delivered to the second waiting room by another member of staff. This in turn caused a few envious glances, as there was no possibility of getting any more food or drinks here.

Boarding

All international flights of Safarilink are boarded from this room. One by one, individual flights were called and taken directly to their aircraft via the only exit onto the apron. After about 20 minutes, we were also called and all our fellow travelers were gathered together before being allowed to leave for boarding.

All our suitcases and bags were then lined up on in front of the aircraft. Everyone had to stand next to theirs and touch it briefly. Only then were they loaded. A very charming way to avoid loading the wrong bags or forgetting individual pieces of luggage.

Welcome

Before boarding, our boarding passes were checked again at the stairs to the aircraft and the flight attendant welcomed us on board in a rather reserved manner. Shortly after everyone was seated, we were handed a bottle of water.

Take-off & Routing

As the airport is very small and the planes can’t hold that many passengers, everything usually runs very quickly and smoothly. As soon as everyone was seated, the door was closed and we taxied off. It took a maximum of 2 minutes to get to the runway – and off we go!

We fly back out over Nairobi National Park in a south-easterly direction. Past Kilimanjaro and straight on to Zanzibar airport. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a route map for this flight. If you know of one – please let me know and leave us a comment. I would be delighted!

Cabin & Seat

The Safarilink DH Dash 8 we are traveling with on this flight has seen better days. But oh well. Honestly we didn’t really expect it to be any different. The cabin consists only of economy seats and is seated in a 2 – 2 configuration. Whereby the last row is a continuous 5-seater row and therefore the passenger in the middle seat has great legroom and a clear view down the entire aisle.

We sat at the first row on the left side (A1 & A2) and had the entire boarding area to stretch our legs. On the right side (A3 & A4) the legroom was a little restricted due to various built-in parts.

Entertainment

There was none on this Safarilink flight. This was not to be expected and, in my opinion, not even necessary, because here too, the best entertainment is the view. The flight captain drew the passengers’ attention to the fantastic view of Kilimanjaro and as soon as you fly over water you can discover beautiful beaches and small islands.

Food, Drinks & Snacks

The range is limited to a bottle of water. But even that is more than on some of the European airlines. So totally fine.

Washroom

Okay. And here’s where it gets bizarre…. I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but this lavatory really is even smaller than in any airplane I’ve ever traveled in. So small, in fact, that the washbasin is outside. It really is almost impossible for corpulent people to get into the washroom on this aircraft!

Service at Safarilink

There was no service per se. The flight attendant pulled the curtain forward immediately after the seatbelt signs were extinguished in order to have a little privacy. This remained the case for the entire flight. Kind of a shame, but also quite understandable.

Arrival

We arrived at Zanzibar airport exactly at the scheduled time of arrival and were able to admire the beautiful islands off the main island from above shortly before landing. The aircraft were assigned an apron position and the bus was already waiting for us as we disembarked.

Destination Airport

When we arrived at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport on Zanzibar, we first had to walk through a kind of tent in order to get to passport control. This was actually quite well set up, but some passengers from an earlier flight obviously didn’t have a visa yet and were literally holding up all the other travelers. As a result, immigration was delayed by a good 20 minutes. Once it was our turn, however, everything went very quickly.

Our suitcases had already arrived on the baggage carousel and so we were able to leave the airport quickly.

Just a quick word about the onward journey: there are a few cab drivers here, but you should avoid those. The risk of being ripped off is quite high. This certainly doesn’t apply to all of them. But caution is still advised. We pre-arranged a driver and were then picked up at the airport. Transportation is actually quite expensive in Zanzibar. So you should bear this in mind when planning your trip. Apps like grab or similar don’t work here. That is why you have to book drivers either via getyourguide or your hotel.

Cost

We both had to be strong here. At 310 euros per person for a one-way ticket, the price for a flight lasting less than 2 hours was already very high. What’s more, we booked really early and there is no service or catering for this price. Incidentally, all the other airlines were at least as expensive or had very inconvenient flight times.

Conclusion

The flight itself is okay and if you want to get from Kenya to Zanzibar this is the fastest way. The price is really high for what you get. But the departure procedure is all the more interesting.

Points

Today we award 8 out of 10 possible points for the flight with Safarilink from Nairobi to Zanzibar. We deduct one point for the price and then another because the catering should be at least a little better for the price.

Recommendation

We can recommend the Safarilink flights for singles, couples and families. There are no real restrictions for any of the groups.

YouTube Review

For more great footage and Fabi’s opinion on this flight, have a look at our YouTube channel.