Lion King Safari Guides
Lion King Adventures
- Offices In:
-
Canada
United States
Switzerland
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $1,115 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Sarah & Gordon | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
100% recommended - experience of a life time
What an amazing experience! From start to finish our Tanzania trip was organised completely smoothly, from the airport pick up, last minute day tour to Mataruni village to our 7 day safari and stay in Zansibar. Our route from Arusha to Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro was a true adventure and we were so lucky to have Mwita as our guide. His knowledge and wisdom about nature and the wildlife have been incredible. He was able to spot animals whilst driving along the most bumpy roads- he just always seemed to get where the action was. And where necessary he encouraged us to stay patient. We saw 5 river crossings in the Northern Serengeti, an absolute nature spectacle! Plus several lion kills, lions mating and lion cubs and all the Big5. The beauty of the Serengeti and the sheer number of animals is mind blowing. The choice of lodges was also great, we most enjoyed Kuba Kuba and Mara Mara. Mwita also arranged a visit to a Maasai village that felt really authentic - he chose a village where people didn’t try to sell us any souvenirs- it felt very real and authentic and we learnt a lot about the culture of this tribe. Thank you so much for this amazing adventure Mwita, Bright, Pendo and Godwin and the entire Lion King team. Before booking this trip we had spoken to a few more tour companies, some of which were acting as a middle man which reflected in the price and advice. With Lion King you’re dealing with a local tour operator based in Arusha. We couldn’t recommend this company more to anyone who is looking for an unforgettable trip to Tanzania.
IN
Email Arup Sengupta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional, always helpful. Excellent their service throughout the trip.
From very beginning Lion King Adventure help me to make proper itinerary as per my requirements. Their service throughout my trip flawless. The Guide Mr. Freddy very energetic, vast experience and very helpful. We are very happy to experience Tanzania wild savannah grassland and the migration through Mara River with the Lion King Adventure. They always try to make our trip memorable. And yes it is..
US
Email Adam & Hannah | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lion King delivered the trip of a lifetime!
If you are anything like me, when you want to find a recommendation for something or you need some reassurance in the decision you have made, you probably 1) ask friends, family, co-workers, b) read the reviews, or c) sort by user ratings and hope you picked the highest one. My hope is this review will help give you the comfort and confidence you need to book what will likely be the trip of a lifetime with Lion King Adventures.
Our Experience
After reading lots of reviews on both Trip Advisor and Safari Bookings to find the top few safari tour operators, I reach out to four different companies (including Lion King Adventures) and asked them to provide a proposal and an itinerary. From the beginning, Lion King stuck out as the clear number one. The team was super responsive, professional, and very flexible with our requests. The experience we were looking for was not an off the shelf experience, but something tailor made. This is something a couple of the other tour operators were not willing to do, and the one that was, wanted to charge a small fortune. So after a few emails back and forth with Lion King and loads of questions (from us) about the different lodges and parks, we dialed in our safari and landed on a 9 day luxury package. What came next was by far the scariest part of the whole experience and 99% of the reason I am writing this review.... The email from Lion King asking us to wire the money to a Tanzanian bank account...!! You can read the reviews, see the pictures, look at a very professional website and read very professional proposals, but if being asked to wire a fairly significant amount of money to a bank in Africa doesn't make you pause, and I am not sure what will.
... so, we trusted our gut, wired the money and hoped when we landed in Kilimanjaro someone would be there to pick us up. When we landed someone was there to pick us up, and the trip that ensued was the absolute trip of a lifetime and Lion King is the reason for that. If you read no further, just know that if you book with Lion King, book with 100% confidence and know they will absolutely deliver on giving you a once in a lifetime experience.
Our Guide
Our guide, Peter, was phenomenal; he was a wealth of knowledge about the animals, geography, geology and culture. He is also fluent in English and Swahili, which made it super easy to communicate. At the beginning of the safari Peter asked us what we wanted to see, so we laid out our list... Lion eating, Cheetahs, Leopards, baby lions, and the Mara River crossing. To see that list in a lifetime would be an accomplishment, we wanted to see it all in what was essentially seven days in the parks. Peter showed us everything we wanted to see (including the Mara River crossing, which we waited for five hours to see!) and some - we got to see a pride of lions hunt, we saw four leopards, and crossed off everything on the Big Five list. Peter's knowledge of the animals, terrain, and his command of the vehicle allowed him to get us the best angles for pictures and viewing.
When we booked the trip, we did not appreciate how much time you will spend in a Safari vehicle with your guide (at least 10 hours per day) so having someone that is friendly and easy to talk to is important. Besides the game drives, some of the best moments were simply sitting down for lunch to chat about life, culture, sports, etc... The guide is 90%+ the reason you have a great safari, and Peter delivered.
Vehicles
Lion King’s vehicles (Land Cruisers) are well maintained, clean and as comfortable as possible (the African bush is pretty unforgiving…). The vehicles also had charging ports and a refrigerator, which were nice touches. Peter cleaned the vehicle every day and ensured we were well stocked with beer, soda, and water. There is no radio (the only radio is for communicating with other safari guides) or music, which on the long transit journeys (driving between parks or camps) would have been nice. The roads are very bumpy and it's too loud to have a proper conversation, some music would have been great.
Our Lodges
We stayed at the Gran Melia (Arusha), Gibbs Farm, The Four Seasons (two nights), LaMala Kuria Hills (two nights), Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp and Neptune Ngorongoro. I am not going to review each of them, there are plenty of reviews online. All these lodges are world class, with world class accommodations, I would highly recommend every one of them. Sanctuary was a tent camp, but still had running water, electricity, and Wi-Fi.
Gran Melia - Great property with a coffee plantation. The fitness center, pool and spa are definitely the highlights of this resort. The resort overlooks Mt Meru, which is a great 15,000ft peak just outside Arusha. It was a perfect place to recharge after traveling 30+ hours to get there before beginning the safari (I would highly recommend a recovery day before beginning the safari).
Gibbs Farm - Amazing property with farm to table experience. This resort has the best onsite activities of the bunch. The rooms were comfortable with all the amenities you would expect, plus some – including a fireplace and an outdoor shower.
Four Seasons - Their reputation doesn't really need a review... This is just a massive hotel/resort in the Serengeti. Nothing super special about it (it's a very nice luxury resort!), other than it had a fitness center (which we used both days, 10+ hours in the Land Cruiser is a lot of sitting and I think they are the only resort in the Central Serengeti with a fitness center) and the property. The property is located around a couple of active watering holes, so herbs of Elephant, Zebra, Buffalo, etc… just show up throughout the day and night to drink – that was pretty cool.
LaMala Kuria Hills - This place was phenomenal and if you want to see the crossing at the Mara River, this is absolutely the place to stay (even if you don't want to see the crossing, it's a great place to simply enjoy the northern Serengeti). The staff were world class, and the rooms were terrific. The outdoor space for each room was the best of the places we stayed, with a large balcony that overlooked the Serengeti. Each had a large sitting area, an outdoor shower and a private swimming pool.
Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater - For being a tent it was super comfortable (and the temperature dipped to 38°F the night we were there!). There was a gas heater and electric blankets to keep us warm. The food was the best of any place we stayed (the lunch they packed for us the next day was spectacular) and the access to the crater (15-minute drive) is hard to beat.
Neptune Ngorongoro - This place is hard to describe in words. We have been fortunate to travel all over the world, this place is top 10 nicest places we have ever stayed. The resort sits on 50 private acres of farmland and coffee plantation. Almost everything they serve is farm to table. The rooms (they are actually individual houses that are ~900 sq. ft) are amazing with a huge outdoor space.
Final Thoughts….
This is a trip that you probably do once in a lifetime – it’s challenging to get there (30+hrs of travel), there is a lot of organization and planning to sort through (vaccines, visas, special prescriptions like anti-malarial) and it’s expensive. The worst thing would be booking the trip with a safari operator that fails to deliver on their end of the deal – give you the experience of a lifetime. You have to have realistic expectations when you book this adventure, things will happen - these vehicles get beat to hell and you might get a flat tire (we didn’t, but we did get stuck crossing in a stream… it happens, but there were other guides and vehicles ready to help); the faucet water isn’t safe to drink and if you accidentally drink some you might end up with a stomach ache; you are trying to find and watch wild animals – they are wild animals and they do whatever they want… there are no guarantees you will see everything; and at the end of the day, you are literally in the middle of nowhere - anything can happen in the middle of nowhere… These things aside, know that if you book with Lion King Adventures, they will do everything in their power uphold their end of the deal and give you a truly special and unforgettable adventure.
HK
Email Jennifer & Cedric | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Baby Lions, Leopard and Cheetah, a great week with big cats and more!
We had an amazing week with our guide Khalid. He was polite, professional and well-spoken in English. From his 15 years as a safari guide we could see he has a lot of experience and knows all the good spot to find the wildlife. He was also adapting the trip to what we we would like. We wanted to spend as much time as possible looking out for the animals so most of the days we woke up a 5:30 and were some of the last to arrive in the lodge. Khalid was more than happy to do long days and always tried his best the animals.
Some of the highlights of the trip:
- in Tarangire, we have spotted an elephant eating alone close to the road. After waiting for a while he was joined by more and more elephants and we were able to see more than 20 of them up close (so were a meter or 2 away from us).
- in Central Serengeti, we saw a whole pride of lions from very close. There was one male, 7 females including that were nursing around 10 babies. It was amazing to then them a few meters away interacting with each other like that. We also saw a female unsuccessfully hunting a gazelle which was very interesting to see as we were able to observe her approaching for 30 minutes.
- in Central Serengeti, we saw a big male leopard in a tree as well as 4 cheetah (2 males sleeping on one occasion and another day a mother with a juvenile male eating a pray)
- in Northern Serengeti we saw 3 wildebeest crossings. In one of them we even saw crocodiles attacked some of the weaker wildebeest that got carried away from the group by the river.
- in the Lake Manyara, we saw some lions climbing into trees to lookout for prays in the area
We saw many different animals on several occasions on top of the one highlighted above: giraffe, hippos, hyena, jackal, buffalo, zebra, vulture, antilope.
We warmly recommend Lion King Adventure and Khalid!
US
Email Kate | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enock was amazing, best guide you could get
It was amazing and a trip we could never forget, filled with so many animals, beautiful sites and amazing people all led by our great guide Enock - highly recommend
CO
Email Juan & Natalia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excelent!
The best wonderful time in tanzania with lion king. The safari was perfect! We saw a lot of animals. The food, the hotels, everything was wonderful. Anna was great! took care of us! Bright at the airport and Ally, our guide, just wonderfull!, very kind very gentle, with a lot of information. Really recomended experience!
CH
Email Kevin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience in the northern circuit of Tanzania
We were on a private 11 Days Safari with Lion King Adventures this September 2022. Already in the booking process we made very good experiences with the Lion King offices, as they adressed all our questions and advised us well. Lion King Adventures is a local Safari operator not working through an agent and we valued the direct communication through which we could customize the safari to our wishes (and not having to go through a travel agency). We ended up going to Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Lake Natron, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara.
As we arrived in Tanzania we were taken good care of since day 1. We got to know our driver guide Immanuel, a young and very passionate safari guide (speaking good English). He took us through diverse landscapes (and even more diverse roads) and guided us to fantastic sites and animals. We got to see all the big 5, tree-hanging lions and the Great Wildbeest Migration, where we experienced three amazing crossings of the Wildbeests through the Mara River. Immanuel always made us feel safe (while driving and also in general) and appreciated. He communicated well with the other guides in the park and we were amazed how fast he took us to the sites where the interesting animals were spotted. The bush lunches were definitively exceeding our expectations and instead of eating out of a cardbord box we always had a very nice lunch setting with table cloth and real tableware. The car Banzai (the Lion King vehicles are named after Lion King Characters) was always clean and had a lot of space including a charging outlets and a fridge with complimentary drinks, that was very nice. In general, Immanuel also accounted for any additional wishes we had on the road, showed us good places to buy souvenirs and made sure that our timeplan and itinerary was optimized. We really liked his mindset that as we safari bookers spend a lot of money on a safari trip therefore also deserve to get a good service. Also, we really liked Immanuel as a person. ;)
In conclusion, we will definitively recommend Lion King to our friends and for sure be playing with the thought to revisit the beautiful Tanzania at some point.
Email Danielle and Ian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
We found the whole communication and booking at lion king safari brilliant. Pendo was excellent up until the safari and even afterwards when it flight was changed, she quickly helped us organise our travel arrangements.
Derick was our safari guide and he was amazing, he really is the lion king as we saw so many lions each day. We also saw three leopards which apparently is quite rare. If you get Derick as your guide you are in for a real treat as he is brilliant and we couldn't be happier with the experience he provided for us.
Email Ivor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and flexible
I can only highly reccomend Lion King. From the initial conversations via email about the safari organization, up to the actual three day trip,everything went very well. Edi, our guide was very well prepared and professional. He took good care of us and also took the time to explain a lot of things we were seeing . We also had fun together and listened to good music . Karim, our chef, was also very attentive, warm, and prepared delicious food .
I general also a lot of local people confirmed to us that lion king is a good company that takes good care of both their employees and clients. Highly reccoemnded !
US
Email Isha Pamula | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best trip ever
Mr. Gilbert is the best!!! Because, he showed us big cheetahs, leopards almost all the animals in Tanzania. He had very good eyes. He spotted every animal and knew all different varieties of animals. Mr. Gilbert was very kind and even when I annoyed him, he said nothing lol