Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 31-40 of 85 Reviews
Fatiha   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Feb 5, 2020

Email Fatiha  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

This was the best travel so far, all because the great help of Swahili Paradise Tours! of
4/5

Jimmy our tour guide at Swahili Paradise helped us during every step of this great trip to Tanzania. We could depend on his expertise en sound experience throughout all our wishes and needs! The safari was great, all the time to spot all the animals, our Driver Abdul, very experienced, made the safari an absolute dream come true! I would defenitely recommend this organization as all the guides help you with everything: every hour of the day!

Alisan   –  
Turkey TR
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Jan 14, 2020

Email Alisan  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Amazing tour
5/5

We booked for swahiliparadise safari for budget safari on december 2019 for 3 friends . Before safari contact with Jimmy is very good . We always contacted him when we need assistance . Our plan worked excellent. Driver met us out of airport and we began safari . We were lucky , our guide Steward is the best . Not less but more , he is the best. He is friendly , openmind , warm welcome , smart and very experienced. He made our safari excellent . Thank you for him for a good memories . Our cooker Mohammad is also great person , he always cooked us good foods , he asked us for what he cook and how he cook . Very respectfull and friendly . Thanks for all this guys for they made our safari great . İ recommend them

Barkha   –  
United States US
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Jan 3, 2020

Email Barkha  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

We had a wonderful time at Tremisana and Marc's Treehouse Lodge with the friendly and inviting staff
5/5

We booked a three night safari in South Africa in Kruger National Park using Swahili Paradise Tours and Safaris and were very happy with the experience. The staff at Tremisana and Marc's Treehouse is the highlight of the entire experience- They are friendly, inviting, and very accommodating. The facilities are clean and well maintained though they aren't the most modern. It's hardly a problem because you won't be spending too much time there anyway. You can get Wi-Fi in the common area at each location, but not really anywhere else. The staff is very helpful if you need to find the right adapter to charge your mobile device. The bush walks are a great addition to the safari drives. The guides are very knowledgeable and provide a lot more information about the wildlife and landscapes than you'd ever get from just driving around the area.

Anni   –  
Finland FI
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Jan 3, 2020

Email Anni  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Amazing safari experience
4/5

The operator was very good to communicate with, we got answers quickly before the actual trip. Service was also good, I think the overall experience exceeded our expectations. We saw so many animals and some of them from very close. Good driver and a good chef, we will always remember this trip.

Edua   –  
Hungary HU
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Dec 27, 2019

Email Edua  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Edua and not that of SafariBookings.
A good start with a terrible end game...
2/5

In the beginning everything was good with this company. I have spoken with Jimmy and he was so nice. I paid half part of the money in the summer. Then he told me my reservation is guaranteed. A few months later in September I got an other message and he wanted the other half of the price because my reservation was not guaranteed anymore. I didn’t want to pay everything in advance but finally I just accepted his argument and we wanted to go there.
After everything was ok. In the first few days our safari was amazing with our guide (Christopher). But after when we were going to back Arusha our experience has become terrible. John (Christopher’s boss) called us because something was wrong with the money and fees on the border of Ngorongoro. So we had to pay more 430 dollar. It was the only one way to go back Arusha. Finally John promised us we will meet in Arusha and he will give back our money in cash. Of course it wasn’t true. John just disappeared and when we arrived to Arusha Christopher got out of the car and ran away.
After this experience we realized these guys weren’t from Swahili directly. It was a no and company and Swahili just gave us for them. So I can’t understand what happened exactly that day. But we have a really bad experience with this safari so be careful and don’t pay in advance!!!

Loks   –  
United Arab Emirates AE
Visited: December 2019 Reviewed: Dec 18, 2019

Email Loks  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Loks and not that of SafariBookings.
Change in itinerary, no communication maintained, overall a bad time
3/5

Communicated that pick up will be 07:45 am but the driver appeared at 6:30 and was insisting to join immediately as some other people are waiting. On the way after asking the driver I came to know the itinerary is completely changed and Jimmy didn't inform anything. Picked up from my hotel dropped at another hotel. Picked up by another driver and dropped to a camp in Manyara where I had no itinerary to go. After waiting for 2 hours picked up by the actual safari vehicle at 11 am and drove to Serengeti while the original itinerary was Tarangire for the first day and next day early morning start for Serengeti. The whole day gone driving to Serengeti and reached at 7 pm. No game drive on the first day and lost the whole day in travelling.
They didn't inform that the tents to be pitched by ourselves. Had to do that in the rain at night!
After Serengeti & Ngorongoro, no information received who will pick up and which camp as this group had the last day on Safari.
Finally was dropped to a camp near Manyara. The camp was fantastic, the first time in 3 days was feeling well in Tanzania.
Last day the driver was supposed to pick up at 7:30 am and the driver arrived at 9:30. As I had the flight scheduled at 19:40 from Kilimanjaro airport, one driver was supposed to pick up at the park gate so that others in the group can continue with the safari. No driver arrived. The safari had to end early for others also and drove on the way to Arusha. On the way petrol ran out and the driver was complaining that the safari company didn't pay full amount to fill petrol. Somehow he arranged petrol on a highway garage.
After a drive I meet the driver who is supposed to drop me to Arusha. The driver was driving the car as if its a bullock cart and he was so scared of driving in traffic.
I insisted that I am dropped in the taxi stand for taking a taxi negotiated with good rate for Kilimanjaro airport. I was informed one driver is waiting at Arusha to drop me to the airport and I was in an impression that the drop off could be complementary for making my life so bad for last 4 days! :) The driver dropped me and asked the full amount 40 USD. I could have easily take a taxi from the taxi stand with less fare if I was dropped there and in time!
Overall what is experienced is they are very bad at communication and tour management and do not care about client satisfaction. Although most of the people are good at heart and very simple. They need to improve communication & management.

Reply from Swahili Paradise Tours & Safaris
Reply from Swahili Paradise Tours & Safaris
Posted on Dec 30, 2019

By the way Lok the sharing safari can start with any destination but all destination or parks listed on the confirmed list of itinerary MUST BE VISITED, so the group you join was already departed in a day before and it was already in Manyara thsu why we transferred you to Manyara to the meeting point where the group was located at the time being. But you visited all 4 parks and no park was scaped...hope you can confirm this.

Dominique   –  
Switzerland CH
Visited: September 2019 Reviewed: Nov 15, 2019

Email Dominique  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Well organised Safaris for a very good price
5/5

We booked a 10 day Safari in Tanzania southern parks and got a very good offer from Swahili Paradise Tours & Safaris. We never found a comparable price for the tour we wanted to do. The communication was with Jimmy via WhatsApp. That is a very easy and fast way for the bookings. The lodges were really nice and the drivers were also very good. One time we were disappointed with a walking safari that we took part of, as it was not what we expected. We called Jimmy and he made us a new booking for free immediately, and that one was great!
After Safari we went to Mafia island, where Jimmy booked a nice location for us. Apart from the raining weather every day, we enjoyed the island a lot as well. I would recommend Tanzania to everyone who loves Safari and booking with Swahili Paradise Tours & Safaris makes everything quite easy.

Ilari Ilmakangas   –  
Finland FI
Visited: August 2019 Reviewed: Oct 30, 2019

Email Ilari Ilmakangas  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Exellent service and flexibility from the begining to the end
5/5

We were very satisfied for the sales, communication, safari and the services. Flexibility was very nice since we travelled with 4yrs old

Lauren   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: August 2019 Reviewed: Oct 10, 2019

Email Lauren

Saw the big 5, very well organised and eager to please!
5/5

The safari was amazing. We saw everything we wanted to in three days. I don't think anyone else would have got as good service for the price

Lizzie   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: September 2019 Reviewed: Sep 11, 2019

Email Lizzie  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The review below is the personal opinion of Lizzie and not that of SafariBookings.
The ‘guide’ Philemon really let it down
3/5

Communication with Jimmy before the trip was good. We paid a 50% deposit, and the rest the morning of the trip. The best thing about the trip is the price as it was much cheaper than almost all others. I suppose in this case, we got what we paid for. Pick up was well on time and journey was smooth. However, when we arrived, we were put with another group (which we expected) but with another guide called Philemon, which we had not been told about beforehand. We believed we would have Jimmy as our guide as that’s who we’d done our research on, but he didn’t even tell us he wouldn’t be the one taking us. This was really disappointing. It would have been ok if Philemon was a better guide. From the start he told us how much to tip him and the chef, which is a big no and far far too much. He was disinterested in us for the rest of the trip, and was purely a driver, telling us nothing about the animals as we went around. The bottom line is - if you go on safari to the Serengeti/Ngorongoro crater, you will have an amazing time. There are so many animals, and we saw everything up close including lions elephants zebras giraffes gazelles a leopard, birds, hippos wilder beast cheetahs and warthogs. we didn’t see a rhino up close but did as a tiny spot from the viewpoint at the end. However, if you want a guided and attentive tour, this is not the tour for you. Philemon would stop when necessary for most of the trip to let you view the animals, and particularly when other jeeps stopped, but as the trip went on, he got impatient and drove far too fast to see things and wouldn’t stop for animals. This was particularly on the last day, when I was actually shouting at him to stop so we could see what I believed to be elephants in the jungle part of the Ngorongoro crater on our last drive, and he heard me and refused to stop and dangerously went even faster right out of the crater til the end. This was so disappointing to miss the final animals and completely unacceptable as a safari guide. We were all so shocked. One of them might’ve even been a rhino but we’ll never know as he didn’t give us a chance to find out which felt a bit like we’d been robbed of an opportunity. An elephant walking around our campsite right up close when we got back made up for this, but I felt very let down. To top it off, we had asked jimmy to arrange us a lift back to the airport from Arusha, and the driver knew nothing about it so we had to get another. The chef didn’t even say goodbye after he left and we’d tipped him. The animals were amazing, food was pretty good and we saw incredible things, therefore we still had an amazing time. However, this was definitely not down to the ‘guide’ Philemon. The car had also lost suspension on one side which my boyfriend noticed and the driver admitted and had to keep checking which is really quite dangerous. The highlight was being able to get out at a hippo lake and see amazing hippos right up close. Because it was so cheap and the animals were amazing , this deserves 3 stars.

Average User Rating
4.1/5
Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 52
  • 4 star 18
  • 3 star 5
  • 2 star 3
  • 1 star 7
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