3-Day Group Tour to the Parks Close to Arusha

Suricata Safaris

4.9/5 – 3,061 Reviews

$660 pp (USD)

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This Tour Is Offered By

Hilary and Martin - owners of Suricata Safaris

Suricata Safaris

4.9/5
(3061 Reviews)

Office In:: Tanzania
Size:: 20-50 employees (Founded in 2016)
Tour Types:: Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
Destinations:: TZ

Hilary and Martin - owners of Suricata Safaris

Suricata Safaris is a company dedicated to higher standards. We provide a unique dream travel experience in Tanzania. Magnificent images and most importantly, amazing wildlife and People. Our trips include Safari tours to the most emblematic parks in Tanzania, hiking experience at Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, Zanzibar beach relaxation and excursions, as well as day tours and excursions to local tribes (Hadzabe [Bushmen], Gidangodigi [Blacksmith], Datoga.

Reviews3,061

Stephen –

Reviewed: Nov 29, 2025

Once in a Lifetime Experience Ruined by Suricata Safaris

1/5

I went on a 3 night/4 day Tanzanian Safari with my animal obsessed 14 year old son.
It was suppose to be a trip of a lifetime however it was spoiled by a disinterested guide (Shabani).

The safari started poorly as the guide wasted an hour by needing to stop at two different gas stations to put air in his tires. That should have been sorted before we started the safari.
We then attempted to enter the Tarangire National Park. However we ended up waiting for another large amount of time as the safari company had not properly filled out their paperwork to enter the park. We watched all the other safari companies enter without stall.

We had 5 other guest in our jeep and we were excited to finally see our first elephant.
We pointed it out and told the guide we wished to stop and take photos however he refused and said he was hungry and we needed to stop for lunch.
We ended up seeing many more elephants that day however if the guide had spent 5 minutes so that we could see our first elephant it would have helped create a better atmosphere in the jeep.

One thing that was established early on was that there was nothing scientific about the guide service.
Most of the time you just drive around in circles waiting for another company to radio where an animal is and then all the different companies converge on the area.
We ended up seeing 4/5 Big Five in the Tarangire that day without much effort.
I'm certain that all the other safari companies no matter the cost would have seen the same animals.

That evening we stayed in the Suricata Boma Lodge which was excellent. Although there was more staff than guest they ALL went out of the way to make the stay special. 5 stars !

Three of the guest in the jeep elected camping so we did end of spending a portion of our time each day driving to and from the different lodgings.
On the 2nd last day the distance between the mid-range and camping was over an hour in each direction which meant earlier wake up times and less time on the actual safaris.

The 2nd day we drove to the Serengeti and the guide again seemed disinterested.
Perhaps he has checked-out after a busy season or needs a vacation but he offered very little throughout the entire safari.
I understand he sees these animals every day but for most of us this is a once in a lifetime experience and could help with at least trying a little enthusiasm.
He was short at times with the other guest and would sigh or voice his displeasure if he was asked to wait a moment longer to take an extra photo.

Surprisingly as we stopped for lunch the 2nd day we realized that between the 7 of us in the jeep we didn't actually know each others names.
You would have thought our guide would have attempted to establish this in the first moments of the safari the day prior.
However it was evident he couldn't care less and made no effort to create a fun experience, he just wanted to get through it.
On each of the four lunches we asked the guide to sit and eat with us but he refused and took his plate elsewhere.

On the 2nd night we stayed at the Tanzania Bush Camps (Simba) which was an amazing experience.
We were dropped off at the Bush Camp by the other Suricata Safari guide (Felix) as Shabani had stayed at the other campsite.

While at the Bush Camp, Felix actually approached our table, sat with us and asked how the dinner/stay was, which was contrary to our experience with Shabani.
The next morning Felix drove us 20 minutes to the campsite to pickup our other members of our group.
On the quick 20 minute drive with Felix we saw a variety of animals which he was happy to stop for.
He genuinely seemed happy to see us happy.

The 3rd day we tactically had my son sit in the front seat beside Shabani with hopes he would actually provide some excitement or new information to my son who is a huge animal fan and its always been his dream to do a safari.
Over the course of the day Shabani made no effort to speak to my son, at one point my son actually fell asleep.

That evening we left the Serengeti and approached the Ngorongoro Crater lookout.
Shabani didn't leave the vehicle. As he sat with his cellphone watching more videos, it was up to us to try to figure out what we looking at.
He then dropped the other group off at the separate camp and then drove us 1 hour away from the group in the opposite direction.
We then had to wait almost another hour for another member of a different Suricata Safari group whose jeep had mechanical issues.

In the original agreement with Davis from Suricata Safaris it was established my 3 nights accommodations were as follows :

1.)Suricata Boma Lodge
2.)Tanzania Bush Camps
3.) either Marera Valley Lodge or Hhando Coffee Lodge

On the 2nd day we saw a sign for the Marera Valley Lodge and Shabani verbally told us we would be staying there on the 3rd night.
However as we were driving into the Karatu area that night he made a left turn into the Inoga Lodge.

Once in the valet area Shabani instructed everyone to get out (5 total guest) and told us this is where we'd be staying.
Although its obvious he knew Suricata Safaris changed the accomI went on a 3 night/4 day Tanzanian Safari with my animal obsessed 14 year old son.
It was suppose to be a trip of a lifetime however it was spoiled by a disinterested guide (Shabani).

The safari started poorly as the guide wasted an hour by needing to stop at two different gas stations to put air in his tires. That should have been sorted before we started the safari. We then attempted to enter the Tarangire National Park. However the we ended up waiting for another large amount of time as the safari company had not properly filled out their paperwork to enter the park. We watched all the other safari companies enter without stall.

We had 5 other guest in our jeep and we were excited to finally see our first elephant. We pointed it out and told the guide we wished to stop and take photos however he refused and said he was hungry and we needed to stop for lunch. We ended up seeing many more elephants that day however if the guide had spent 5 minutes so that we could see our first elephant it would have helped create a better atmosphere in the jeep.

One thing that was established early on was that there was nothing scientific about the guide service. Most of the time you just drive around in circles waiting for another company to radio where an animal is and then all the different companies converge on the area. We ended up seeing 4/5 Big Five in the Tarangire that day without much effort. Im certain that all the other safari companies no matter the cost would have seen the same animals.

That evening we stayed in the Suricata Boma Lodge which was excellent. Although there was more staff than guest they ALL went out of the way to make the stay special. 5 stars !

Three of the guest of the jeep elected camping so we did end of spending a portion of our time each day driving to and from the different lodgings. On the 2nd last day the distance between the mid-range and camping was over an hour in each direction which meant earlier wake up times and less time on the actual safaris.

The 2nd day we drove to the Serengeti and the guide again seemed disinterested. Perhaps he has checked-out after a busy season or needs a vacation but he offered very little throughout the entire safari.
I understand he sees these animals every day but for most of us this is a once in a lifetime experience and could help with at least trying a little enthusiasm.
He was short at times with the other guest and would sigh or voice his displeasure if he was asked to wait a moment longer to take an extra photo.

Surprisingly as we stopped for lunch the 2nd day we realized that between the 7 of us in the jeep we didn't actually know each others names.
You would have thought our guide would have attempted to establish this in the first moments of the safari the day prior.
However it was evident he couldn't care less and made no effort to create a fun experience, he just wanted to get through it.
On each of the four lunches we asked the guide to sit and eat with us but he refused and took his plate elsewhere.

On the 2nd night we stayed at the Tanzania Bush Camps (Simba) which was an amazing experience.
We were dropped off at the Bush Camp by the other Suricata Safari guide (Felix) as Shabani had stayed at the other campsite.

While at the Bush Camp, Felix actually approached our table, sat with us and asked how the dinner/stay was, which was contrary to our experience with Shabani.
The next morning Felix drove us 20 minutes to the campsite to pickup our other members of our group.
On the quick 20 minute drive with Felix we saw a variety of animals which he was happy to stop for.
He genuinely seemed happy to see us happy.

The 3rd day we tactically had my son sit in the front seat beside Shabani with hopes he would actually provide some excitement or new information to my son who is a huge animal fan and its always been his dream to do a safari.
Over the course of the day Shabani made no effort to speak to my son, at one point my son actually fell asleep.

That evening we left the Serengeti and approached the Ngorongoro Crater lookout. Shabani didn't leave the vehicle. As he sat with his cellphone watching more videos, it was up to us to try to figure out what we looking at through the faded signage.
He then dropped the other group off at the separate camp and then drove us 1 hour away from the group in the opposite direction. We then had to wait almost another hour for another member of a different Suricata Safari group whose jeep had mechanical issues.

In the original agreement with Davis from Suricata Safaris it was established my 3 nights accommodations were as follows :

1.)Suricata Boma Lodge
2.)Tanzania Bush Camps
3.) either Marera Valley Lodge or Hhando Coffee Lodge

On the 2nd day we saw a sign for the Marera Valley Lodge and Shabani verbally told us we would be staying there on the 3rd night.
However as we were driving into the Karatu area that night he made a left turn into the Inoga Lodge.

Once in the valet area Shabani instructed everyone to get out (5 total guest) and told us this is where we'd be staying.
Although it was obvious he knew Suricata Safaris changed the accomodations, he made no mention of this beforehand.
Confused and standing in the lobby all 5 of us voiced our displeasure of being in that hotel.
Shabani made absolutely no effort to help with the hotel issue and simply said complain to the company not me before quickly driving off and leaving us in disbelief.

The Inoga Lodge was a definite downgrade and we didn't see any other guest through the duration of the night.
This is obviously the Suricata Safaris attempting to cut corners and save a buck.
This is also a breach of the earlier agreement/contract we made.
As this is the off-season there is no possibility of overbooking.

One couple in our group had holes in their shower floor.
Our door to the room was mostly inoperable and my son had to use the window twice to gain access.
I could put my hand under the door and also on the one side. This was the only hotel where we encountered mosquitos at night (probably through the door openings)

The last day Shabani picked us up at 5:40 am because we had to drive an hour back in the same direction we were earlier to pickup the other group.
We were provided a boxed breakfast rather than a sit-down meal we were accustomed to and Shabani only gave us 10 minutes to eat.
On the drive back towards the Ngorongoro Crater we almost went off the road due to an unnecessary and reckless driving manoeuvre around a truck that was deemed too slow for Shabani.

As we descended into the Ngorongoro Crater Shabani again seemed disinterested/tired/bored.
My teenage son, as for most of the trip provided information about the animals to the other guest of the jeep while Shabani watched videos on his phone.
After 20 minutes we were ready to move on however Shabani would then go into information we had already established through my teenager.
This was happening the whole trip.

For the amount of breaks that he took - that would have been a more appropriate time to go on your cellphone not while your guest are looking for information about the animals.
We found we had to prompt our guide with questions that were already answered just to get him to engage.
It became a joke with the other safari group in Felix jeep who felt bad for us.
They stopped showing us photos and videos they had because our experience was nothing like theirs.
Most of the animals we saw were with binoculars or from a distance as Shabani couldn't care less.
He actually made efforts to drive away from the animals.

The final display was our last moments inside the Ngorongoro Crater, a large elephant walked into the lake, Shabani decided at the time that he needed a break so we sat and watched the other safari groups engage with the elephant.
Shabani said we would see it after his break however he drove away from the elephant and ascended back up the crater in the jeep.
It left our entire group astonished.

As Suricata Safaris provided all meals for the 4 days, to top it all off I developed food poisoning at some point which made two uncomfortable emergency stops on the way back to Arusha which also affected the next part of my holiday in Zanzibar.

I had reached out to Suricata Safaris about my concerns while still on the Safari on November 11.

My immediate response from Davis was "Hello, I am very sorry to hear this from you, allow immidiate to follow up on this and see what transpired for the last minute change"

As of November 27 I am still awaiting a response, which shows how much Suricata Safaris cares about its clients.

Don't make the same mistake I made by choosing Suricata Safaris.

I've included a photo of what most of my Suricata Safari looked like

Sergio Abisambra –

Reviewed: Nov 29, 2025

Really open and attentive guy who knows a lot and wants to make the experience the best

5/5

Really amazing experience, starting with the booking, always attentive and resolving all the doubts, it's clear how organized they are. Once we started, our guide Melita was incredible, knowing all the spots to see the different animals, he was in contact with the rangers by radio so also communicating always where to go.
Also our big chef Salim, he prepared really incredible food so we always had been nourished too so well.
Until the end another staff of suricata (Daniel) he came in to the hotel to see us and ask how was everything and to see if there's something to improve or change.
It was an amazing Safari and suricata made it much better, being so attentive and searching the best to all the group

Klara –

Reviewed: Nov 28, 2025

The best experience

5/5

We had the best safari experience with our guide Melita and our cook Salim. Salim prepared the most delicious meals and was a pleasure to be around. Melita managed to find the Big 5 and was the most fun guide we could wish for.
Thank you!!

Stefano –

Reviewed: Nov 27, 2025

Perfect!

5/5

Everything perfect, excellent accommodation and excellent food. All the Suricata staff has always been available.

Felix exceptional guide.

Aleksander –

Reviewed: Nov 26, 2025

Made me fall in love with Tanzania

5/5

Suricata Safari made me fall in love with Africa, and Tanzania. Everything from when I was picked up on the airport to when I left has been so amazing that it's difficult to spell out in words.

Our guide and driver Charles was very knowledgeable and made sure we saw all the big 5, most of them on several occasions. The chef Mukhucin was amazing and made some of the best and diverse food I have ever tasted. Make sure to tip them well!

The camping spots were very good and most of them even had hot water for showering. I would recommend bringing some earplugs though since the animals can make quite some noise at night. We had everything from small dik-dik to elephants visiting our camps so you really get to get close to the wildlife. Also, if you are going to Ngorongoro, make sure to bring some warm clothes.

The only criticism I have is that when I was going to Serengeti we were a bit late and didn't get that much out of the day, and in Ngorongoro two other people were joining our group and there was an issue with the permit which made us all very late for the crater. They did solve this in a very good way though and I was very pleased with how it all turned out.

I am for sure returning to Tanzania after this experience!