Nairobi to Zanzibar flights question
Mar 4, 2017, 12:35 pm
#1
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Nairobi to Zanzibar flights question
Hello everyone,
Never been to Africa before, but am going this summer for the first time. I am an avid traveler, but am unsure on the best flight option to get from Nairobi to Zanzibar after my safari. I am taking a Safarilink flight from the safari camp into Wilson airport arriving at 12:15pm. We will have carry-on sized bags. From there I have two options.
1. Stay at Wilson airport and take a 1:15pm AirKenya flight to Kilimanjaro arriving at 2:10pm. Then, take a Precision Air flight at 3:50pm arriving into Zanzibar at 5:10pm. Advantages are that it arrives earlier than option 2 and also doesn't require a taxi ride from Wilson airport to Jomo airport. My main concern is whether I would be able to catch the AirKenya flight at 1:15pm if my Safarilink flight is scheduled to arrive at 12:15pm, just one hour prior. I have been warned that sometimes the arrival time varies depending on which airstrips they have to make pickups at.
2. Take a taxi over to Jomo airport and catch a 3:25pm flight on Kenya Airways to Dar Es Salaam arriving at 4:50pm. Then, take a Precision Air flight at 6:40pm arriving into Zanzibar at 7:10pm. Advantages are that this option is a little cheaper and doesn't have any tight connections (other than the possibly bad traffic getting from Wilson to Jomo). Disadvantages are that it requires a ground transfer in Nairobi between airports and it gets in about two hours later than option 1.
All of the direct flight options are either too early or too late in the evening, otherwise I would consider those (and we want to go straight from the Safari to Zanzibar without doing an overnight in Nairobi).
Never been to Africa before, but am going this summer for the first time. I am an avid traveler, but am unsure on the best flight option to get from Nairobi to Zanzibar after my safari. I am taking a Safarilink flight from the safari camp into Wilson airport arriving at 12:15pm. We will have carry-on sized bags. From there I have two options.
1. Stay at Wilson airport and take a 1:15pm AirKenya flight to Kilimanjaro arriving at 2:10pm. Then, take a Precision Air flight at 3:50pm arriving into Zanzibar at 5:10pm. Advantages are that it arrives earlier than option 2 and also doesn't require a taxi ride from Wilson airport to Jomo airport. My main concern is whether I would be able to catch the AirKenya flight at 1:15pm if my Safarilink flight is scheduled to arrive at 12:15pm, just one hour prior. I have been warned that sometimes the arrival time varies depending on which airstrips they have to make pickups at.
2. Take a taxi over to Jomo airport and catch a 3:25pm flight on Kenya Airways to Dar Es Salaam arriving at 4:50pm. Then, take a Precision Air flight at 6:40pm arriving into Zanzibar at 7:10pm. Advantages are that this option is a little cheaper and doesn't have any tight connections (other than the possibly bad traffic getting from Wilson to Jomo). Disadvantages are that it requires a ground transfer in Nairobi between airports and it gets in about two hours later than option 1.
All of the direct flight options are either too early or too late in the evening, otherwise I would consider those (and we want to go straight from the Safari to Zanzibar without doing an overnight in Nairobi).
Mar 15, 2017, 7:04 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Atlantic Canada
Posts: 130
I always err on the side of caution so personally would opt for #2 to avoid an issue with arrival from the camps. And you have to get from where you arrive to where air Kenya departs. I found the departure areas at Wilson to be quite spread out for the different charters.
I went from Wilson to Jomo in Nov 2016 at about the same arrival time. No issues with traffic. We had arranged a driver in advance.
I went from Wilson to Jomo in Nov 2016 at about the same arrival time. No issues with traffic. We had arranged a driver in advance.