Galloping Safaris Staff with Director
Galloping Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, TATO, TTB & EAWLS
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $225 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Sarah J | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honeymoon Trip of a Lifetime
Walter and Lawrence crafted a perfect itinerary hitting all of Tanzania’s highlights while staying in luxurious accommodations. Our game drives were highly productive seeing all the Big 5, even hard to spot leopards and rhinos due to their keen eye. The Serengeti and the Crater are truly what dreams are made of. Witnessing the Great Migration, sleeping among lions and buffalo and getting a few feet away from lions will leave us with memories to last a lifetime. These packages are not cheap but the caliber of the experience more than outweighed the expense. We are happy to count Walter and Lawrence as friends for life.
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Email Barbara | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely well organized, knowledgeable and careful
The most difficult part of this tour was getting a COVID test BEFORE we got to Tanzania. On the safari, it was a breeze! Walter set up the testing appointments at the airstrip and handed us our hard copy results before we got on the return flight. It couldn’t have been easier. NOW is the time to go! There are hardly any tourists and we saw loads of animals close up and personal, even the elusive cheetahs and leopards. Many lions; many baby animals. Take the balloon ride for extra $$$- it is worth it, and the company even let my brother make up a day he missed due to illness. Our tour guide, Lawrence, has eagle eyes and incredible knowledge of the habits of animals and birds. I felt entirely safe in his hands; he is an excellent driver on rutted roads. Be sure to look for birds- remarkable plumage and colors! The accommodations were top notch with great to excellent food, including gluten free. I have an odd personalized anti- inflammatory diet and never went hungry. The lodges are sublimely soothing- we took a few afternoons just to hang around watching the herds pass by. I even did yoga with an elephant. How about a personalized swimming pool on your porch? No kidding! At Kuria Hills Lodge! We did the luxury tour and it was worth it. These memories will sustain you for years. Go and rejoice in Nature’s wonders!
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Email Ken | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unfortunate Experience
Galloping Safaris took our money for a trip they did not deliver. Our hotels were not booked or paid for in advance, as promised. We chose activities that they did not take us on and did not respond to our questions and requests to have our trip as planned. Walter was avoidant of our texts and phone calls, but offered to meet us in person to make it right and explain himself on our last day in Tanzania. We drove for hours to meet up with him and he never showed. Walter has offered to provide my group a refund of some funds, which we accepted, but he has not followed through with that promise. I strongly urge you to pick a different company for your safari.
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Email Melinda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Broken Promises
I booked a safari though Kenya and Tanzania with Galloping Safaris in 2019. Walter provided a nice itinerary for myself, my husband, and my two best friends. Other providers were less expensive, but Galloping Safaris had great reviews, so I went with it. Walter demanded prompt payment, that the money be wired to him immediately, which we did. The safari took place in February 2020. There were several issues throughout, including Walter and his staff not listening to requests to change small parts of our trip, lying about why we couldn't go to a place we planned to go, and skipping events we had paid for all together. We had paid for two nights at The Four Seasons Serengeti, and Walter instead had our guide take us to a less expensive hotel three hours away, one that was riddled with tsetse flies, without letting us know that we wouldn't be staying at The Four Seasons as planned/paid for. We demanded that they take us to the Four Seasons as planned the next day, but when we arrived the staff at Four Seasons let us know that Walter had not paid for our stay, and we were left sitting in the lobby. They told us that Walter often does this, and they do not extend credit to Galloping Safaris anymore, so we would have to wait until he paid to be taken to our rooms. We asked the Four Seasons staff to confirm the rest of our trip with the hotels in our packet that were booked, and not one of them had been booked or paid for. My guess is that Walter is unable to pay for the current clients' reservations until the future clients give him cash, which is why we were stuck waiting without paid reservations even though we had submitted payment in full to him many months earlier.
When we had issues with the trip Walter ran from us, ignored our calls, had our guide disappear. We drove hours out of the way on our last day of travel to meet up with Walter and settle up our issues, and he never showed up.
Through phone calls and emails Walter acknowledged that he was at fault and owed us a refund, which he never sent. We have contacted him multiple times and its always one excuse after the next.
I have traveled all over the world and have never felt as scammed as I have with Galloping Safaris. I strongly recommend that you book your trip with a more reputable provider.
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Email Deepak Mehta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Name And A Great Game. Outstanding
Walter and his crew ( in our case Emanuel and Lawrence) are truly and gem. We started out months before the scheduled trip as customer and vendor and by the time we left Africa, we were friends and family. We tend to be somewhat demanding travelers and Walter was superb in meeting our needs. Our trip was meticulously planned months in advance with charter flights and 5 start luxury accommodations in N. Serengeti, Tarangiri and Zanzibar. With the exception of one preferred type of accommodating, Walter delivered all. Unfortunately one accommodation was booked and the replacement suggested was top notch. No regrets at all. Walter is a very simple and straightforward owner who communicated well and answered every question we had. He met as upon arrival in Nairobi and flew with us to Tanzania to ensure all was set-up as we desired. We had two vehicles due to the size of our party with two excellent guides, Emanuel and Lawrence. Vehicles were well maintained and very comfortable with charging ports and refrigerators on-board. Both guides were very courteous and knowledgeable of the jungle. Our kids loved them and they enjoyed our kids and us. We stayed at three separate accommodations in Tarangiri, N. Serengeti and Zanzibar. All three were 5 star and with beautiful camps, lodges and villas. All three places had chefs that cooked to our delight and service was top notch. Walter, Emanuel and Lawrence made our 9 night trip special and memorable. I would strongly suggest working with them to create and tailor your itinerary. They will deliver every-time. Reliable, honest and trustworthy with a personal touch. Priceless!!!
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Email Genese and Joseph | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extraordinary 13 Day Luxury Safari
We have just returned home from our 13-day luxury Safari adventure that included Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, and Selous. We are both having a little trouble adjusting to all the loud noises, crowds of people, and that lost connection to the presence of wildlife about us. In short, we had a life changing experience that neither photos nor mere words can convey. However, we can tell you what made the experience and adventure possible was all the careful planning and attention to detail that Galloping Safaris provided. We cannot praise Walter Tenga enough for all that he did for us. As promised, Walter was waiting to personally pick us up when our 5am flight arrived and took us to enjoy a wonderful breakfast. Afterwards he reviewed our itinerary with us making sure that all our needs were met.
We booked this trip eight months in advance for my 50th birthday and our anniversary. As I was somewhat nervous, I sent many emails to Walter, with questions, to which he always promptly and patiently replied with explanations and assurances. Four weeks after booking our air travel with Turkish Air and placing a down payment with Galloping Safaris, we were notified that our outbound flight had been cancelled and that we would have to book a different flight. Through emails exchanged with Walter he offered us alternate solutions so that the rebooking could still be managed within the budget of our Safari. Then in March, after paying for the balance of our trip, we read that Azure Selous, one of the camps on our itinerary had closed because of forest clearing in preparation of construction of a dam. After I frantically sent off an email to Walter, we learned that he had already been finalizing a rebooking at another equally amazing camp. I think in the process of trading emails, Walter came to understand my preferences, and made one last upgrade substituting the &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater lodge for the previous Highlands Camp. That change thrilled me beyond words and our stay there was amazing but more so, Walter had apparently arranged a surprise celebration for our anniversary and my birthday as the staff from &Beyond not only set us a special dinner table but also performed a traditional dance and song for us complete with rose petals thrown over us.
And then, there was our amazing guide - Lawrence. We liked him from the moment we met him. His laugh is infectious, his knowledge of the flora and fauna in-depth, and only surpassed by his keen eyesight at spotting animals. We spent many a happy day on game drives with Lawrence and he somehow always managed to locate various animals and position us for not only wonderful photo shoots but also to enjoy intimate moments with the animals where we could observe their special behavior. Like Walter, we cannot praise Lawrence enough. He was the most gracious guide, and wonderful person, always making us feel very special, and sharing insights into the Tanzanian people. It was tough saying goodbye to him when we flew off to Selous.
We had told Walter that we were looking for memorable experience. With Walter’s planning, Lawrence as a guide, and all the wonderful, friendly, and accommodating staff at all the camps and lodges we stayed, we felt very special and genuinely welcome, and had a trip that was every bit as we had hoped for and even beyond.
There are literally hundreds of tour operators offering all types of packages, consider yourself fortunate if you have discovered Galloping Safaris; book with them if you are looking for your trip of a lifetime.
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.
GR
Email Maria Apostolos | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A truly Honest Review about Galloping Safaris
Well, overall we had a very nice and memorable experience with Galloping Safaris.
We highly recommend this tour operator for any safari trip in Tanzania, especially to couples who are looking for a private luxury trip.
If you are seriously thinking of booking your trip with Galloping Safaris, we suggest you to read this long but very honest and detailed review.
It was our first time in Tanzania and our first safari trip.
Doing it as part of our Honeymoon trip, we wanted a private safari for the two of us with a private guide/driver and we wanted to stay at the most luxurious lodges of Ngorongoro Conservation area, Serengeti, Lake Ndutu, Lake Manyara, Arusha and Kilimanjaro.
We started doing some research on the available Tanzanian Safari tour operators back in October 2018. We discussed over whatsapp chatting and video calls and dozens of emails with at least 6 operators. We needed to be sure as it is a common secret that there are many unprofessional companies that would cheat you in every possible way.
We ended up to Galloping Safaris and to Walter personally as he sounded very certain about what he was promising us. He was very responsive and he did his best to secure for us everything we asked for within the budget we had available.
There are also other operators appearing as experts in luxury private safari tours. But guess what...They are far (even 3 times) more expensive that Galloping Safaris without any extra service of what you will get from Galloping Safaris.
With Galloping Safaris we secured the best deal we could as we manage to spend the amount we had initially in mind while we stayed at the most high-end lodges of the area like. To mention some of them:
&Beyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge
The Highlands Asilia Ngorongoro
Lake Ndutu Luxury Lodge
Kubu Kubu Luxury Lodge
Walter is a very promising professional, he is a hard-selling guy that will earn your trust. He is very well connected to all the Hotels and Lodges Managers. He will try to satisfy all your requests and needs.
Most of the times, he will succeed to do so.
Walter kept for us the best Safari driver, Joshua, a 37-year old guy with a 17 year experience on game-drive in Tanzania. Very adventurous, excellent english speaker, very knowledgeable about everything regarding the area, seasonal trends, animals, plantation, people and tribes, safari secrets. We visited the Maasai village where we had an amazing experience there. We had a very good time with Joshua as we were discussing with him throughout our trip spending with him at least 6 hours per day. He was very fun but also very careful and cautious at the same time. He was an amazing driver with an outstanding instinct about where we should be driven in order to see lions, cheetahs, hippos, wildebeest, elephants, zebras, giraffes etc.
We spent with Joshua the first 4 days of our main safari trip in Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Ndutu.
Over the last 2 days, visiting Lake Manyara, Arusha and Kilimanjaro for hiking, we had another guide/driver named Kennedy. He was very kind and helpful and fun but he didn't have the excitement and the instinct of Joshua nor he was such a good driver.
One negative comment is that although we have asked for 2 pairs of binoculars to find inside the Safari 4x4 truck and we received a written confirmation about it, there was only one pair and in a very bad condition. So, when we came across to animals that were far away we could not enjoy them not even with binoculars.
Apart from the Safari trip, we planned to spend 5 days to Zanzibar prior to safari. We asked Walter from Galloping safaris to make a research on 5-star beachfront resorts. The truth is that by the time (beginning of November 2018) we started looking for hotel in Zanzibar, the best resorts seemed to be already fully booked for the period of New Year's eve.
Our options were extremely limited. Walter managed to reserve a room at Neptune Pwani Beach Resort and spa which was a 5-star resort. We asked for a Sea front Ocean View Room and we received a written confirmation from Galloping Safaris about it.
However, when we arrived at the hotel, the front desk personnel had no idea about the room we had booked and pre-paid the 35% amount of it via deposit.
Unfortunately, the room was terrible and it did not correspond to a 5-star accommodation. We wouldn't rate it not even as a 3-star.
No adequate light blocking when the curtains were closed as the fabric was not blackout. We could not stay in bed and sleep after 7 am. We managed to stick some black plastic bags on the windows but again the problem was still there as there were other windows high enough that we could not close.
Another aspect of the poor accommodation and room amenities was the bathroom and toilet. In fact it was open space with the remaining room and the bedroom as there wasn't any wall or door to close only some wooden grilles with open gaps in between the wooden components. As a result, it was impossible to have any privacy inside the bathroom or the toilet. Not convenient at all for newly married couples...
The breakfast and the food in general in every single restaurant of the hotel was simply terrible, extremely salty and not what you would expect from a 5-star resort. We had paid for an all-inclusive package for alcoholic. However, they charged us for the wine we had over dinner.
The personnel was over all uneducated, not speaking english. Some of them were rude but there were also a couple of exceptions.
In general, our accommodation experience in Zanzibar was terrible and although this was not a Galloping Safaris' fault, we would expect that they would have protected us from experiencing such a terrible stay especially during our honeymoon and new year's eve period.
The positive aspect of Zanzibar was our butler/private guide there named Mussa Hassan from "Zanziplanet Tours & Travel". Mussa is a Galloping Safaris' external colleague who is taking care of the customers visiting Zanzibar. He is an amazing guy in every single aspect. He is very well respected in Zanzibar, very well connected to Hotel and high-end restaurant managers, very adaptable to customer's needs and last minute changes.
We believe that if Galloping Safaris had introduced us to Mussa Hassan and Zanziplanet Tours and Travel early enough, at the time we were searching for our accommodation in Zanzibar, we wouldn't have ended up to Neptune Pwani Resort and Spa as we are sure that Mussa, who lives and operates to Zanzibar, would have found a better solution for us.
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Email Jody | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most of safari was fantastic, but disappointined with Galloping Safari Owner, Walter Tenga.
Our family safari in Ngorogoro and Serengheti with my two young adult children ( 18 and 21) was an incredible experience. Weather, variety and quantity of game viewed, Four Seasons Serengheti Lodge, Balloon ride and our safari tour guide, Kennedy, were all outstanding and lived up to all our expecations and more! I am, however, quite disappointed in Walter Tenga, the owner of Galloping Safaris. Our hotel the first night in Arusha was changed (downgraded) from the hotel documented on our itinerary, without any advance notice of the change. Mr. Tenga described the change as a "mistake". The hotel we stayed at was nice, but not nearly as nice the one stated on our itinerary. During our return from Serengheti to Arusha on the last day, we ran into a problem with our flight. We wer e told a flat tire on our small aircraft would result in over a two hour delay of our flight. I attempted to contact Galloping Safari Tour owner, Walter Tenga, for help. I called his office and cell phone multiple times, but he never answered and I was not able to leave a message. As a result of our delay, we missed a farewell luncheon at beautiful hotel on our last day and shopping time. No alternate lunches were provided, although I had already paid for these meals in our tour package. I contacted Mr. Tenga and requested a refund for our meals, but my request was ignored. Very disappointing. Last but not least, our Galloping Safari driver who took us back to the Killimanjaro airport seemed to misunderstand our flight information. Once I reviewed our departure time with him, he drove at a dangerously high speed to get us there on time. He was stopped by the police because he was driving so fast. When we entered the airport, my kids and I were met by security personnel because of our very late arrival to board our plane. All this made for a very stressful ending to an otherwise wonderful trip.
CH
Email Elisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
The lodges and tent camps were just perfect. Nothing could be better.
Jerry, our guide, is such a nice person. He turned this trip into an amazing experience. We will for sure come back to Tanzania to live this adventure again. We will also recommend this company tour to everyone.
KR
Email Eunjung | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
unforgettable experience!
I have done the game safari in Serengeti couple years ago with my friends. But this time I went with my mom and it was her first time. Our game drive was for 3 nights and was with a private guide Laurence, and the experience was completely different than the last time not only because of the luxurious hotels we stayed in (like four seasons) but also because of the amount of various animals I was able to spot. Laurence was extremely knowledgeable, very nice, and made sure we experienced the best of the best for those days. I saw more animals in one day than altogether last time, including cheetah and leopards. One time we saw more than 10 lions together in a group, once mating, once with their cubs, and altogether I think we saw lions almost 20 times during the trip. I took some videos almost like national geographic films too! We were also fortunate to do balloon safaris and catch the migration of wildebeests and zebras. It was endless scenery of them from the balloon, was able to see all their trails, also spotted a lion from the top. I think we had the best weather and timing to do the balloon safaris, it was certainly worth it.
Upon returning, my mom is already wanting to go back second time and recommending her experience to all of her other friends. Thank you all!