Some of our tour guides and vehicles
Gosheni Safaris Africa
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $175 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
AE
Email Suzie & Youssef | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable Safari experience!
We returned from a fantastic safari with Gosheni, just a couple of weeks ago. We decide on the 5 day (4 nights) trip to the Northern parks, as were extremely keen to see the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. I had emailed a few safari companies recommended on Tripadvisor, however, a lot of them did not respond (which apparently is quite common!) but decided to go with Gosheni as Peter was so helpful and extremely efficient with getting back to me and answering my hundreds of questions!
Before we started our safari, we spent 3 days in Zanzibar, Peter organized return flights for us from Zanzibar to Arusha as part of our trip. Upon arrival at Arusha airport, we were met by the lovely Eddy, our driver and guide for our trip. We then made our way to the Arusha Coffee Lodge, where we were met by Peter to go through our itinerary and answer any further questions, we had. The Coffee shop is beautiful and is part of a very nice but expensive Elewana Collection. We ended up having the buffet lunch in the hotel garden, which is priced at $25 pp but totally worth it.
After lunch, we headed onto the road for our first stop; Tarangire National Park. I had read reviews on Tarangire and had heard that is it a bit of a hidden gem, which a lot of tourists miss out! Within a couple of miles of entering the park, we were greeted by Zebras, later on we even discovered a pack of lions, a heard of elephants and giraffes. Tarangire National Park, actually turned out to be one of our favourite National Parks, maybe because it was the first park but I also because there are much less tourists there. That evening we stayed at the Tarangire Sopa Lodge, which was nice although I think was fully occupied so extremely busy. The food was also quite basic, but sufficient after an exciting day in Tarangire.
The next day we headed off early to the Serengeti National Park. The drive to the Serengeti from Tarangire is long and extremely bumpy, we even managed to get a flat tire on the way! but is totally worth it! The Serengeti is the most beautiful place I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and we were lucky enough to again see a lot of the big 5, in fact, I think the only animal we didn't see on the whole trip was a Cheetah! That evening we stayed at the Serengeti Serena Lodge, which is beautiful and our favourite hotel of the trip. The sunsets from the hotel bar/lounge are out of this world!
At 4am the next morning, we were up and on our way for our hot air balloon experience. This is an expensive extra ($500 pp) but I would highly recommend this. The views from the balloon are obviously outstanding, and the fact that you get to see the sunrise across the Serenegeti plains is just beautiful. Again, we were lucky enough to see a lot of animals - Hippos, lions, Gazelle, Zebras, Eagles, Elephants...the list goes on. The balloon ride is approximately an hour (wind dependent) and we were in a basket with 14 other people. There was 2 balloons in the sky at the same time. Once the balloon lands, you then have a champagne toast and head off for a champagne, English breakfast. The breakfast is simple but adequate.
After breakfast, you are dropped by the balloon trip organisers, to the visitors centre, where you are greeted by your guide and continue with your days game drive..
After our final day in the Serengeti, we headed to Ngorongoro Crater, which is home to two beautiful lakes, one salt water and the other fresh water. It is also home to Flamingos! There is a beautiful picnic spot, that Gosheni take you to, which is right next to the fresh water lake, where you can see Hippos. That evening we stayed at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, which was again beautiful, which breath-taking views of the crater, from your room.
For the final day of our safari, we headed to Lake Manyar National Park, small but nonetheless stunning. Unfortunately, our flight back to Zanzibar was at 3pm that afternoon, so we only had a couple of hours in the park, which was a shame and I would definitely recommend spending more time here, if you can, as again there are fewer tourists and Jeeps.
Overall, we had an incredible time with Gosheni. Peter is extremely helpful and accommodating and really does go out of his way to make your trip fantastic. Our guide and driver Eddy was a lovely, with fantastic knowledge of the animals and birds! I think what makes Gosheni different to the rest of the safari operators, is they are a smaller company (in comparison to like likes of Leopard Tours), which provides you with a more personable service.
We definitely have the safari bug and will hopefully undertake another trip with Peter and Gosheni in the not to near future.
Keep up the good work Peter and the team!
TR
Email Arin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Safari at best price
We are a group of friends. We have talked with many of the Safari Tours from Arusha. We chose Gosheni Adventures since they understand our needs and offered the best possible price. We did 5 days safari 1 night in Tarangire 2 nights in Serengeti and 1 night in Ngorongoro. Our choice was to stay in Luxury lodges and tented camps. And Gosheni Adventures provided us best value for money. They were very helpful during the organization process and also during the safari.
On the other side, our guide Samir was a perfect guide. He was very professional, knowledgeable, warm, and friendly. He made our trip much better! We have completed big five and had a very good time. We felt like he was a part of our group! Thank you Samir!
What can you expect more from a safari?
- Best price
- Professional Guide
- Helpful management team
- Good hotels
- Comfortable Car
We found all at Gosheni Adventures.
Thanks a lot again! We will see each other again!
OM
Email ANA | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just unforgettable¡¡¡¡
From the first to the last moment Gosheni company was completely profesional.
I highly would recommend then everybody. They are a local company and I just can say good things about then. They take care of you all the time .So trust them one of your most important trips. Our guide was Erasto, he speaks English, French and Spanish, he has been a great guide and he made everything easier. Thanks Gosheny for an memorable days¡¡¡
RO
Email Alexandru Cristian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was perfect i m very happy i choice the goshenisafaris and i recommand to everybody
I think it was the best trip ever in my life , it was a adventure . Communications was good the driver , it was nice with us and i don t have nothing to complain. The GosheniSafaris is was awsome.
US
Email John Markisz | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic 11 day Gosheni Safari
If you are going on safari, Go Gosheni. I wanted to take my nephew on safari for his 20th birthday. We chose the five top agencies, according to the reviews. Itineraries were all similar, but Gosheni gave us three price ranges, depending upon the type of lodges we wanted to stay at. Peter, the head of Gosheni, called me in New York to make sure we had received his quotes and to answer any questions that we may have had. We kept up a continual email correspondence, making occasional changes, until I was convinced that Peter had put together the perfect trip for us. I was not wrong. Peter met us at the airport, took us to our lodging and met us after dinner to go over the itinerary in detail. Our guide was Moses, who did everything but part the Red Sea. Moses was outstanding as a guide and driver. He was able to spot wildlife from quite a distance and always managed to maneuver us up close. We saw the "big five", and were constantly within 6 feet of lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and many other forms of wildlife. Moses was a walking encyclopedia of facts about all of the species we saw. The lodges we stayed at were perfect. All arrangements had been made. We did not encounter a single problem during the entire trip. I recommend Gosheni most highly to anyone who wants a perfect, trouble-free safari.
US
Email Kevin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gosheni + Moses = Awesome
Absolutely amazing experience with Gosheni and our guide, Moses. He was an unbelievable combination of professional, hard-working and talented. Each morning, he was up at the crack of dawn ready for us whenever we were. He took care of all the little details such as making sure to clean the truck each evening, getting our lunch ready and keeping an eye on the weather. I was blown away at his ability to drive us around for 12 hours a day with consistently high energy and off the charts awareness. Whenever I spotted something on the horizon with my binoculars I found that Moses had already seen the animal and identified it with his eagle-eye vision...all the while keeping most of his attention on the road. It was incredible.
I also have to give a shout out to Peter, who did a great job running the business and communicating with us. We were able to set up a customized tour with him via email that was everything we hoped for. He went above and beyond when, as we were driving to the airport and realized that we had left our camera at our hotel, he found a way to get our camera speedily delivered to us at the airport in time for us to still make our flight.
Email Neal | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Honeymoon Experience With Gosheni
My wife and I recently undertook a private safari with Gosheni in Tanzania, as the first leg of our honeymoon (before transferring to Zanzibar). We can’t recommend them highly enough. They were fantastic from start to finish.
I did a reasonable amount of planning regarding my preferred itinerary and accommodation for the safari, and sent a generic request for a quote to a number of Tanzanian safari companies. The request gave a flavour for the type and quality of experience in which I was interested. Gosheni (Peter) was very quick to respond with a detailed proposal (a couple of quite prominent companies failed to reply at all, and one arranged a time to call me to discuss our proposed trip, and then failed to get in touch), and I found that his views/ recommendations matched my own thoughts pretty well. The price was competitive too.
Peter’s helpfulness continued throughout the booking process, and together we tweaked the itinerary over a few weeks before I felt ready to commit to paying the 20% deposit. I must admit that wiring such a reasonably sized amount of money to an account on another continent is a slightly disconcerting experience, but I needn’t have worried. Gosheni are a thoroughly reputable company. Peter was also very accommodating and understanding when a combination of my being away on a work business trip, and a UK bank holiday meant that I sent the final payment in a few days late. His communication with clients is excellent, and he always put me at my ease.
We arrived in Kilimanjaro airport at the end of a long day of travel from London. We were very pleased to see the smiling face of our guide Zadock as we emerged from the terminal building. He carried our bag from his almost brand new (and immaculate) Gosheni Land Cruiser, and we were off to our hotel in the Arusha for our first overnight stay. I will not provide a detailed review of our itinerary and accommodation on here (I will save that for separate, specific reviews for those lodges), as I would rather concentrate on Gosheni. I will provide a summary at the end.
Zadock met us bright and early on our first day. This set the pattern for the week. He was unfailingly punctual (sadly, unlike us!), and always smiling. The Land Cruiser had always been cleaned in the morning (sparkling inside and out – easily the best-presented vehicle we saw in Tanzania), and it was always well-stocked with free water, soft drinks and wine. The hospitality continued as we met Peter at the Gosheni office (we were presented with our very useful Gosheni safari hats), and then we were off on our adventures.
I can’t state enough the importance of a good guide. They make or break the experience for you. And Zadock from Gosheni was perfect. He is a truly gentle man, happy, welcoming, and intensely focused on his guests’ well-being, and he had become our firm friend by the end of our 5 days together. He is very knowledgeable, with a thirst for learning. He takes every opportunity to read more about his country, its colonial history and wildlife, and to impart that information to guests. His ability to locate and spot wildlife is almost supernatural! And if he can’t locate a specific creature himself, and as a guide of very long-standing, he will be on the radio to his network of friends/ colleagues in the area to understand what animals are around. When other guides saw Zadock, their faces lit up. I think that this is the mark of the man. When I think of Zadock, I think of the giraffe (his favourite animal). He loves this creature because it is social, and because it is peaceful. He is proud to tell you that the giraffe was chosen as the emblem of Tanzania, because it symbolises how the 120+ tribes of his nation come together to live in harmony.
I will provide only two more anecdotes. Firstly, we did a dawn balloon ride over the central region of the Serengeti (it was magical). However, we had been supposed to have conducted this over the Western Corridor. This was entirely the balloon company’s mistake (not Gosheni’s). No matter, Zadock and Peter made the necessary changes to itinerary order, accommodation and flights in order to ensure that we had minimal disruption and little additional travel. Their concern was not all of the extra work and hassle for them, only our well-being/ happiness. Finally, after we had (sadly) said goodbye to Zadock, we flew back to Arusha and transferred by another lovely Gosheni staff member to Kilimanjaro airport. Peter took the time to meet us on our way. He was eager to ensure that the whole trip had been a success, and that we had enjoyed it. This is typical of the ethos of his company.
Please, go and safari. It is a life-enhancing experience. If you do, choose Tanzania. I don’t believe that there is anywhere better. And choose Gosheni. People and companies like these deserve to succeed. You will be safe in their hands.
Summary of Itinerary/ Accommodation:
1. Mount Meru Hotel, Arusha. We were only there for about 8 hours, so difficult to provide an in-depth review. Well located in Arusha. Nice rooms. Lovely breakfast, with a lovely outlook over gardens/ golf course;
2. Tarangire Treetops Lodge. Incredible, intimate luxury in the bush. Beautiful lodges, views, butler service (Jonathan was excellent), delicious fireside meals, Maasai involvement (very touching Maasai ceremony performed for honeymooners), all built around a 500 year-old baobab tree. Out of this world. Marred only by the fact that the evening meal served to our guide Zadock was very poor (not right when guests are delivered such opulent food). Tarangire National Park is excellent. Relatively small, but beautiful, and with a good range of wildlife. Especially noted for its large elephant population;
3. Serena Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater. Breath-taking views of the crater (especially at sunset/ sunrise). More of a hotel than a lodge, so not as intimate as Treetops (the bench-mark). However, the food and service are very good. Ngoronogoro Crater is spectacular. Feels a bit like the Lost World. An ecosystem that is partially cut-off from the rest of Tanzania. Incredible range of wildlife in a small-ish contained space. Great opportunity to see the black rhino (one animal that is not abundant in Tanzania), and also to visit “more authentic” Maasai villages;
4. Kirawira Tented Camp. Right up there with Tarangire Treetops (although slightly less intimate). Lovely pool. Great lodges with fabulous views. A special mention to Charles for the service at meal times. The staff cannot do enough for their guests, and the food is exceptional. We visited this part of the Serengeti (Western Corridor) to see the great migration (which we did). Breath-taking;
5. Serengeti Serena Lodge, Seronera. Our only disappointing camp. The thatched huts are beautiful, and there are some nice little touches for honeymooners (e.g. crocodile made of towels and petals placed on your bed upon arrival). Also, a lovely pool. However, the service at mealtimes is indifferent, and the food at dinner was terrible. Also marred by loud and ignorant guests at an adjoining table (this lodge feels less intimate, with more packed common areas). We did receive an apology from the chef, and they did try to improve things at breakfast and with our lunch-box. Seronera itself is a good part of the Serengeti to spot wildlife, especially elusive leopards and cheetahs;
6. Fight back to Arusha, transfer to Kilimanjaro. Flight to Zanzibar.
Email Hennie Becker | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Safari with Gosheni April 2016 was a unforgettable experience as the guys know what they are doing
With Gosheni the communication in writing were up to date and prompt. The service was outstanding and friendly and very professional. We got more from Gosheni and the Director Peter that we have requested and were utterly surprise by the setting of Acacia Camp. I have not come across better food in the bush over many years of travel. We saw the big 5 and many prides of lions and cats. I will open-heartedly recommend Gosheni all the way.
DE
Email Arman | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It has been a lifetime experience
We had a great Safari in Tanzania with gosheni. Peter and our guide they took great care of us and of our expectations. thanks a lot.
CH
Email Hanspeter Worni | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
very reliable and flexible safari tour agent from Arusha
We (Swiss couple) made a 6 days/5 nights tour with Gosheni under arranging with Arnold Simon and with our excellent driver Zadock. We got a very good fair price, and were very satisfied with the whole service, Driver was punctual was flexible and tried to do fulfill all our needs, We went through Tarangire, Serengeti South, and central, Ngorongoro crater and Lake Manyara Np. The Hotels choosen Maramboi Lodge, Ndutu Kati Kati mobile camp and Rhinolodge were all very good, in all park we saw a lot of animals....more than ever expected.
Only bad Point were the lunchboxes...but even expensive tour agents do use that as well due to no other choice.. WE only can recommend Gosheni to other travellers.