Safari Magic - explore, experience and enjoy
Maasai Wanderings
- Located In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $280 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Alejandra | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Couldn't have asked for better!
The company is amazing not only it feels good that they treat their workers well, that they help the community but that they do a superb job making sure everything is taking care of , even the little unexpected things that happen while traveling. I really have absoluto nothing bad to say about this company and my trip to both Kilimanjaro summit and safari. 100% recommended
Email Maggie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
So many dreams come true with amazing experiences!
We booked with ‘Maasai Wanderings’ after emailing several other Australian reviewers, feeling very cautious because we’d just lost $$ with ‘It Started in Africa’ tour company, which we believe is now before the courts in Arusha. Donna was truly helpful as we changed and re-changed our plans, trying to balance our budget. She was very prompt in responding to emails, a life-saver as we only had 2wks to go! We’re also very appreciative of Donna’s offer to give us the tour at cost, because of our previous bad experience. This we declined, hoping to be covered by insurance, but truly appreciated her kindness.
Our driver/guide was Godwin for our 8 day trip in Tanzania, and he was amazing with his knowledge of animals and the bush. He also had a terrific laugh! Like others have said, the guide makes the trip and Godwin was very patient, funny, informative and intuitive to our needs, and flexible with arrangements. This was no usual tourist safari as I was returning with my husband to the country of my birth, and we spent time looking for a previous home and workplace, and another full day travelling on very rough roads because I wanted to follow up on a project my father had been involved in. We drove from Arusha to Dodoma, then through Iringa to the Ruaha National Park (finally through to Dar-es-Salaam), all long drives because we wanted to SEE the country rather than fly over it!
Our animal time was spent with 4 days in Ruaha National Park and a visit to Mikumi NP. We saw most big animals but weren’t ticking off lists, so spent long periods at rivers and waterholes watching the behaviour of elephant herds digging in river beds for water, and a lengthy, fascinating interaction between a small herd of elephant and large pride of lion with their cubs. Godwin anticipated animal behaviour well, so we were always safely at the right place each time something happened. He also spent time writing down information for us, and talking us through some lesser known facts about the animals we saw. We had fun guessing if an elephant was left or right handed, judging from the damage to baobabs! Godwin was also conscious of the environment, stopping to pick up plastic and rubbish in the parks. We thoroughly recommend Maasai Wanderings and would have no hesitation in booking them again, should we be so lucky! Thank you Donna and crew for a wonderful experience following our shaky start with another company.
Email Rosie Richardson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolutely brilliant organisation
We were a group of 4 who did a 7 day safari in Tanzania with Maasai Wanderings. Firstly, email communication before we arrived was fast and helpful - we all felt really confident about our trip.
The trip itself was very well organised, and even better than we had anticipated. Accommodation, 4WD, meals etc were all excellent. Our Driver / Guide was what really made Maasai Wanderings stand out though. Mody was perfect in every way - knowledgeable, passionate, friendly, in tune with what we wanted (i.e. knew when we were sick of it and ready to get back to camp!), and just a nice guy.
Maasai Wanderings go above and beyond. A few days after we left Tanzania, I realised I had left a necklace at a camp in the Serengeti. This camp was in the middle of no where and relied on satellite phones. I figured I had said goodbye to this necklace, but thought I may as well contact Maasai Wanderings about it.
Not only did Donna get back to me immediately, saying they'd found the necklace at the camp, but she arranged for it to be transported back to Arusha by 4WD, and she is posting it to me. Unbelievable service.
Do not hesitate - book your safari with Maasai Wanderings.
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Email Sabrina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
My husband, our friend, and I just got back from an amazing 2 week trip with Maasai Wanderings. We started planning the trip over a year ago, and from the first time contacting Donna she was always very quick to respond and answered all of questions thoroughly.
Our trip started at Tarangire National Park. We spent 2 nights in a tented camp within the park. It was an amazing experience to sit around the camp fire at night and see the herds of wildebeest coming in close to the camp. We then moved on to Ngorongoro Crater. We spent 2 nights at the Plantation Lodge. It was refreshing to have a stay at the lodge in the middle of the trip. The lodge had great accommodations including a wonderful swimming pool and a great deck by the bar which was perfect for a cocktail after a long day. After the crater we moved onto the Serengeti. There we spent 3 nights in a tented camp within the park. All of the places we stayed had damp towels to wipe off the dust and refreshing juice for us everyday when we arrived after a long day of game drives. The food at all locations was great. We usually had breakfast and dinner in the camps/lodge and then took box lunches with us to eat while on the game drive. We really appreciated Donna's suggestion to stay at the lodge in the middle of the trip. While the camps were amazing, had very comfortable beds, spacious tents and amazing service, it was nice to feel a little more pampered for a couple of nights in the middle of the trip.
Our guide Simon was amazing! The guide is such a key element to the trip, as you spend a lot of time with the guide, and we still can't believe how lucky we were to have Simon. He knew so much about the animals and worked hard to make sure we saw all of the animals we wanted to see. We got to see "the big 5" as well as a cheetah with cubs, several herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River, and many more. Simon always made sure we had anything we needed for the game drives and was so much fun to spend time with.
After our time on safari we moved on to Zanzibar for some relaxing beach time. I had told Donna that we were all interested in scuba diving and she booked us at the resort that had a top notch dive center on the grounds. We spent out time relaxing by the pool, floating in the ocean and enjoying several great dives. And once again the food and service were amazing.
Everything about the trip exceeded all of our expectations. I can't say this is a once in a lifetime trip since we are already starting to save up to come back in a couple years, and we will definitely be using Maasai Wanderings again.
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Email Alex | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Trip of a Lifetime!
My first Tanzania trip was with Maasai Wanderings 11 years ago. Donna and Nas were so amazing then, when I finally decided to tackle Mt. Kilimanjaro, there was no doubt in my mind I would be working with them again. What initially would have been a mere 8-day trip turned into 3 weeks of awe-inspiring experience.
Anna, who arranged our itinerary was extremely responsive and after hearing of our interests, created the perfect itinerary.
My first leg of the trip was to hike Mt Kilimanjaro. As a solo female hiker, my chief guide, Holson, and his team of porters made me feel safe during the hike and at camp. They were courteous, funny and very respectful. Second week, I met a friend who joined me in Arusha to begin our amazing 8-day tour that included Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We saw so many animals including all of the 'Big 5'. Some of my favorite viewings were baby elephants playing in the water and Wildebeest migration. Our guide and driver, Godwin, was so knowledgeable about all the animals, their behavior and overall history of the parks, we were fortunate to get some of the best education of the wild life.
After an incredible experience of climbing Mt. Kili and enjoying the animals, we flew off to Zanzibar for a 4-day relaxation on the beach.
These places were incredible on their own, however, Anna, Donna, Holson, Godwin and the rest of the team definitely enhanced the experience with their knowledge and great customer service. I would highly recommend them and look forward to going back for the third time!
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Email Sharon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Experience - Saw SO MANY Animals
We decided on Maasai Wanderings based on a friend's recommendation. We were amazed at the variety and number of animals that we saw. We chose a private safari. Our guide, Godwin, picked us up at the airport and explained so much about the animals eating, mating, and migration habits. We were able to get really close to many animals and saw hunting, eating and mating activity. We stayed 5 nights in lodges and 3 nights in tents. We visited Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire. If I had it to do over, I might have only picked 3 parks and stayed at least 2 nights in each location - but we requested all 4 parks, and they scheduled exactly what we requested. We enjoyed the visit to a Maasai village, truly an amazing experience. The trip of a lifetime.
Email Katie & Anton | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wow!
We have just returned from a 6 day safari with Maasai Wanderings. To say that we had an amazing time is an understatement! Everything was perfect. Our guide Peter, really made the trip for us. Knowledgeable, funny and flexible to our needs, from the moment he picked us up from Kilimanjaro airport we knew that we had landed ourselves a great guide! We visited Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti and at each part of the safari Peter went 'off the beaten track' following animal prints and his own nose to give the best experience - in many cases we were the only vehicle in the area, which we really appreciated. We went out before sunrise and returned each day after sunset, full of incredible stories and photos. We also managed to see a kill and get up close to feeding lions. If you get a chance to stay in the Naona Moru camp, jump at it. It really was a magical experience, especially waking up at 1am to find a bull elephant grazing 5m away from our tent!
We would not hesitate to recommend Maasai Wanderings and if we are lucky enough to return to Tanzania, Maasai Wanderings will be our first port of call (with a special request for Peter as our guide!)
The perfect honeymoon trip
As part of our honeymoon we have just completed a 5 day safari with Maasai Wanderings, booked through Safari and Beach. During our safari we were accompanied and driven by Yunus. We just wanted to pass on our thanks to both Maasai Wanderings and to Yunus for helping to make our time so brilliant.
From the moment we were collected at Kilimanjaro airport until the time we were dropped off at Seronera, we were impressed with the organisation and preparation. Everything had been planned and accounted for and we didn't have to ask for anything. Yunus was fantastic throughout; he was so informative, friendly and welcoming and made it his mission to help us see and do everything we had dreamt of on safari. We really have have the most wonderful start to our honeymoon and we leave Tanzania with some wonderful memories and a new friend.
We will not hesitate to recommend Maasai Wanderings to our friends and family, and hope to be back ourselves in the not too distant future!
Email Ruth | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most incredible experience
My 3 friends and I booked a safari through Masai Wanderings for January/February this year. To say this was a trip of a lifetime is an understatement! It is something that we have all longed to do and so chose our tour operator wisely, and we really cannot thank them enough. From the moment we landed to drop off, we were looked after. Our tour guide (Muba) was incredible, not only is he an experienced tour guide and driver but he is a photographer too so he was always on hand to mop up all our photographic mistakes! Words really cannot describe just how incredible this trip was, so much so, I am already looking into another one using Masai Wanderings! Highly recommended by my whole group!!
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Email Nav | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari experience
We booked a 6 day Tanzania safari with Masai Wanderings and would highly recommend them. When researching the trip we investigated many different companies, but Masai Wanderings stood out for their very friendly, honest and knowledgable service. Our guide Kwaru was great and with him we toured Tarangire (staying one night at the lovely Sangaiwe tented lodge) and then Ngorogoro crater (staying at Endoro lodge, a lovely lodge set in beautiful grounds). We then caught a small plane to the Northern Serengeti to stay at Kaskaz Mara, the highlight of our trip. This is a perfect "Out of Africa" setting, with luxury tents (with super comfortable beds and hot showers) overlooking the plains. At night the wildebeest and animal noises ensure you don't forget you are in Africa, and the staff (Charles and his team) are friendly and very attentive. We were not expecting much from the food given the camp's remote location, but the Chef consistently prepared delicious and inventive meals. Our guide John took us on game drives in a fantastic open top vehicle, stocked with cold drinks and beer ! He was flexible enough to work around our requirements, and we were lucky enough to see the wildebeest migration across the Mara river. We wished we could have stayed longer but left promising to return, and won't be forgetting this trip for a long time to come. If you are unsure about whether to book with Masai Wanderings - don't be. Donna and the team will ensure you have the trip of a lifetime.