East Africa Wild Adventures
- Located In:
-
Canada
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, APTA & Consumer Protection BC
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $480 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Melissa and Anthony Tavolieri-Essex | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most attention to detail and customer service ever experienced
I don’t know where to even start. Africa has long been part of my bucket list for years now. I started researching and planning approx. 2 years prior to taking the trip. I was looking for a luxury safari experience but on a middle class salary lol. Let me say that there were some companies that turned me away due to my budget and what i was looking for in experience. When i came across Alym from East Africa Wild Adventure Safari at the beginning of Covid, he explained to me that he could work with my budget until we were both confident of finding the trip of my dreams. Alym was so patient with me and my requests, so patient that it took 14 proposals ( 14 proposals due to my pickiness lol) before we were both confident we had the trip I was hoping for. But Alym’s patience did not end there. With Covid, we of course had many concerns and questions, and travel does not come without new obstacles. Alym patiently met with us multiple times over zoom to discuss all aspects of our trip such as tipping, currency, immunizations, Covid swabs, entry visa’s etc. It seemed too good to be true. Once on safari, not only did everything go off without a hitch, but Alym and his ground manager in Kenya, Silvia, were constantly available for calls and messaging to guide us should we have any further questions. I shopped around a lot prior to meeting Alym from East Africa Wild, and I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed with this company and their staff. We did not have to think once we set foot on our plane, we literally only had to enjoy the experience, and what an experience it was. It far exceeded any expectations I had, the lodging, the food, the adventure, the people. We also were never without support or left alone to navigate the unfamiliar on our own. There was always a driver waiting, security etc, never did we ever feel unsafe or unsure of what was next on our agenda. Africa is utterly amazing, and I can credit our experience to Alym and his staff for meeting every one of our desires, hopes, and for giving input into things we should try or see, and when a flight was delayed at no fault of East Africa Wild, Alym stepped in and got us a day room at the airport hotel to relax while we waited on our new flight. It was not lost on our group that this was definitely a step up and above what was expected. I cannot say enough about this amazing company, I know you will not be disappointed in any part of Africa and working with this incredible company!!!
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Email Gerry and Steve Atkinson | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing and everything I was looking for.
After many years of dreaming about returning to East Africa, on October 2017 I was searching the web for a special trip to East Africa, I had so many choices of companies that all sounded great, finally narrowed it down to 3, then the real work started with such a big investment of not only time but money we wanted to make very sure that we were doing the right thing.
I finally decided on East Africa Wild but certainly being the type A person that I am I wanted to speak with the owner Alym Bhanji personally.
Alym and I connected by phone in October 2017, I immediately felt comfortable and you know what they say “go with your gut” this certainly felt good to me.
My Husband and I made the big decision and proceeded with many phone conversations with Alym as this was not only a trip of a lifetime we were planning but a very special revisit to the land I was raised in 60 + years ago.
I wanted to make sure we covered all the territory of my childhood along with it being the first time experience for my husband we were adding on a trip to Victoria Falls and Trekking with the Gorillas in Uganda.
Alym was always available by phone to plan this with us also along with becoming a new Father during these months.
Our trip was finalized with all the details for July 2018 and there were many of them, we were covering flights to Victoria Falls, tour of the falls, Sunset cruising on the Zambezi river with a 3 day stay before flying on to Entebbe. By the 5th day we were trekking with the Gorilla’s in Bwindi forest.
Moving on to Kenya via transferring through Nairobi we arrived at Amboseli National Park for a 3 day stay with our first of many game drives. Then on to Nanyuki the town I lived in for a memory lane trip along with an emotional goal of spreading my fathers and younger brothers’ ashes in a river coming down from MT Kenya and some on the plains on Ol Pejeta at sunset.
After an already very full schedule of 12 days we were now on to the Masai Mara for a wonderful 6 days of game drives with our wonderful and as far as I am concerned, the best guide ever, Newton Njane.
Newton actually joined us in Nairobi on the 8 day of our trip and was our full time guide for the following 2 weeks. While we flew conveniently from one place to another he actually would drive for hours to carry our excess luggage (I imagine not really in his job description) but between him and Alym they were out to accommodate us as very best they could.
All the accommodations were arranged for us and were very lovely but our most favourites were in Amoseli National Park, Kibo Safari Camp, in Ol Pejeta, Sweetwaters Tented Camp and on the Mara, Mara Sarova Game Camp and Ngenche Safari Camp (Last one was our absolute best) right by the Mara River with the hippos and absolutely first class service. Many thanks to Camp Manager. Paul Maina, his excellent staff and warriors that kept us safe at all times.
We finished up our trip with 2 days in Mombasa, did not enjoy this but it was also on my memory lane list as my family vacationed there with us in 1959. Many changes, very busy and dirty, I would not recommend this.
We arrived home after a wonderful and physically challenging 21 day trip exhausted (10 lbs lighter) but oh so delighted with lots of great memories (and more than 4,000 photos). We made the right choice picking Alym owner of Ease Africa Wild, you can well imagine the coordination and time it took for him to get this itinerary together for us and it all went off without any hiccups.
We would highly recommend Alym and his company along with his chosen guides for us, Jason Japan in Uganda who had a favourite saying as we rattled and rolled through the countryside “Everybody OK?” This we quoted often in remembrance of his wonderful character. Our many shorter term guides in between our transfers were wonderful to us and our very special guide, Newton who immediately knew what as a photographer I was looking for, we traveled many miles together on many full day game drives and saw just about every animal Kenya has to offer us.
We do want to repeat this trip again providing our age or money does not deplete us first and the very first thing I would do is phoning Alym and getting ‘OUR’ Newton for our guide.
Thank you Alym for our lifetime experience and as we have discussed recently, we will keep in touch and possibly enjoy a visit while in Vancouver next July.
Gerry and Steve Atkinson
Canada 2018
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Email Tyler Becks | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Some of the best service I've ever experienced
The safari with East Africa Wild blew my expectations out of the water. I chose them because Paul was so communicative, helpful, and friendly over the phone. In person was even better. Paul helped me with the entire itinerary, picked me up from the airport, and joked with me like a friend. The stay in Masai Mara was beautiful, the tent was great with mosquito nets, the Masai staff were friendly, and the 3-course meals were delicious. And that's not to mention all the crazy animals I saw! I can't recommend this company enough.
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Email Teresa and Mike | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
East Africa Wild Adventures created an Incredible Journey for Us!
I don't even know where to begin. Our recent trip to East Africa was so incredible and way beyond any expectation we had. East Africa Wild Adventures custom tailored this trip for us down to the finest detail. The budget was reasonable and every day we felt we received a greater value than our investment. Alym took such good care of us, we could even feel his presence (checking in with the guides) while we were away. I highly recommend this company and cannot begin to describe how perfect our trip was. We have no doubt that Alym was the reason everything went so well. Never a delay, the itinerary was perfect and our guides were amazing, knowledgeable and seemingly well connected. The accommodations were perfect and the days perfectly planned. We are very grateful we found this company to plan our incredible trip to east Africa!
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Email Samantha | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A trip of a lifetime
I think my family and I will remember this trip for years to come. From the initial planning stages with Alym to the execution, it was seamless and everything was managed for us. Our trip was Kenya - Tanzania - Zanzibar. Alym was also available vita email/text 24/7, we ran into issues missing flights, he was able to communicate to ground staff. All the selected hotels provided the safari experience we were looking for. I highly recommend the Morani Tent at Serena Sweet Waters in Ol Pajeta. Crescent Island is a must do for all, you get up close to all the animals in their natural habitat. We had some GI troubles at the start of our Tanzania portion, I would not recommend eating in Arusha unless you have a stomach of steel. Eating at all our Hotels is highly recommended. Don't eat at "the Eight"!! Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti was the coolest animal finding mission we could have had. And to end our trip off, 3 days on the coast of Zanzibar. The weather was perfect, we have many memories that we will cherish! Thanks East Africa Wild.
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Email Dennis | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Couldn't have been better!
Hadn't been planning on going to Tanzania but all of a sudden a business opportunity appeared. As soon as it was confirmed that i would be going to Tanzania, a friend said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a safari and that i should take my kids with me. Before I knew what was happening, my 23 year old daughter had agreed to accompany her dad although her two older brothers were uninterested. So, we had like three weeks to decide on how we were going to do this over the hectic Christmas vacation into early January..
I started to negotiate with one company but when it came down to making a significant payment, I all of a sudden became concerned about Internet scams and started to look for another company that had more reviews on the SafariBookings website. Although I subsequently was advised that all of the companies listed with SafariBookings are reputable and reliable , my search lead me to East Africa Wild Adventures, primarily because they had an office in Vancouver with a number I could dial and a person I could talk to. That person was Alym Bhanji who picked up the phone right away and made me feel he was a person I could trust. I asked Alym to review an itinerary I had been offered and to give me a quote. He was very knowledgeable about the safari business and quickly offered me a range of itineraries from which to chose. After a bit of mixing and matching and asking Alym for advice with respect to which combination of accommodations was best, we chose to stay two nights at the Sopa and two nights at Serengeti View mobile camp. The Sopa was a wonderful way to start while Alym felt that the mobile camp would provide a more "in Africa" feel to the safari. I felt very comfortable following his suggestions. They seemed to make sense.
Now, these safaris aren't cheap but when you come to realize that the lodges are pretty much 5 star hotels in the middle of nowhere with what must be astronomical provisioning costs, you start to understand, The camps are not as high class although the permanent camps have running water and electricity but all of these have to have everything hauled in over the Serengeti Super Highways which were little more than mud tracks and rivers in many places when my daughter and i were there in January.
Anyway, our itinerary had us flying in from Dar es Salaam where my business meetings took place to Kilimanjaro where we were to be met by our guide Hasan. Never having flown to meet a stranger before, I must admit i was a bit apprehensive but Hasan was standing outside the arrival area with a sign that had our names on it. He smiled and laughed when we met, grabbed our bags and led us to our safari vehicle and we headed towards the Serengeti. Now, it's a bit of a drive from the Kilimanjrao Airport to the Ngorongoro and Serengeti National Parks but you do get a marvelous first hand view of rural African life on the way to and through Arusha and beyond. On this drive we also saw countless zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and buffalo. We were awaken at about 6AM our first day by about eight elephants having breakfast right outside our hotel window. Over the next four days, we saw lions, cheetah and leopard (4 of them!) all with kills. Warthogs, tortoise, crocodile, jackal, impala, dik dik, gazelle and enough hippos to make your head spin along with numerous birds of prey. Our guide, Hasan, had the eyes of a hawk. He noticed all of the leopards up in trees and all about 100 metres away from the road. He would slow and stop and point without the help of binoculars while i would scour the country side for minutes before locating the leopard. Without his keen eyesight, we would have missed an awful lot of animals and without his skillful driving, we may still have been stuck on the serengeti waiting for someone to rescue us!
Before this safari, if you had asked me if i ever planned to go to Africa, I would have answered "Not likely" but now that I have been, i have already told Alym that I want him to help me plan a return visit for next year! When I think of the short period of time I had to plan this safari, I don't know whether there are many operators who could have made it happen. Alym somehow was able to communicate with all the necessary people to make arrangements for what has to be the most interesting vacation i have ever taken. He was also able to make an excellent suggestion for a hotel in downtown Dar es Salaam for the night we returned from safari since our flight out of Dar was scheduled for the next day. It was relatively close to the airport which is a bonus when you take into account the ridiculous traffic jams that are a feature of driving in Dar.
The next most important person is your guide and Hasan was absolutely amazing. When you go, make sure that your guide has a well maintained vehicle and that they know how to drive it 'cause the going can get tough!
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Email Heinz | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply fantastic
What a great job in giving us the ultimate safari experience. Our itinerary was set up with everything that we wanted to check and a few optional tours we could have taken. Before and during our trip there was constant communication where they inquired how we were doing and if there was something that we may require. Our guide was first class and he provided us with a immersive experience regarding the culture and wildlife of Kenya and its many preserves. Our hotels and lodges were first class, and we felt welcomed. I would definitely recommend East Africa Wild Adventures to set up your custom, personalized safari tour. He will do everything possible to make sure your experience is u forgettable.
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35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Expect the Unexpected
East Africa Wild Adventures was simply great. Very experienced, very informative, and wonderfully friendly.
I can't recommend them enough, and have been telling anyone I meet that is interested in a safari (which is almost everyone that I tell about my experience) that they should plan through East Africa Wild Adventures. From the moment we landed in Kenya, we felt absolutely comfortable, happy and taken care of.
I think when most people consider a safari, there are several stock romantic images that come to mind. Wild plains, lions lazing in the grass, certainly herds of various animals crossing your path, but like everything in life it was the unexpected things that truly made this safari a once in a lifetime experience. A wild buffalo bursting out of the grass being pursued by a pride of 20 lions (and escaping), a lion stalking a herd of wildebeasts and using your land rover as cover walking so close you could reach down and touch her, and driving through a migrating herd of zebras and wildebeasts numbering 2 MILLION animals. I have never seen anything like it, and expect I may never again.
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20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing adventure in Kenya!
With such a short amount of time in the country, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get the full breath of Kenya’s natural attractions. But East Africa Wild planned a flawless itinerary, allowing us to see every blockbuster animal and a variety of landscapes in just 5 days. Each camp we stayed at had its own personality and boutique feel. Our safari guide was competent and very knowledgeable. Overall it was an amazing adventure!
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Email Prathna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The most exciting, exhilarating and beautiful experience - already planning my next trip!
I went into the Safari not knowing a single detail about the schedule, transport or lodges thought the duration of the trip. I didn't even know what parks or places we were visiting. I had heard so many good things prior to the trip and was with a group of family and friends that I wasn't too concerned. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised and extremely impressed with the level of service and quality of the experience. It was beyond what I imagined in my wildest dreams. Hotel bookings were made for us. All meals were covered. Transport was safe and on time. The lodges were beyond beautiful ( I didn't want to leave). And most importantly, the ride through the various game parks was incredible. One would expect this, of course, because how could it not be when you are watching lions, elephants and wildebeest in their natural habitat. What enhanced this already beautiful experience, however, was the knowledge and professionalism of the guides. They scanned the parks and spotted out things for us to see. They provided an extremely safe drive, and taught us about the lay of the land. Without the guides, we wouldn't have seen the things we saw. They took us to the right places at the right times. They spotted leopards in trees and cheetahs!! Their expertise was uncanny. The car rides were full of laughter and fun as a result. The vehicles were clean, and the rides were smooth ( as can be). It was a seamless expereicne from start to finish. I never felt unsafe, nor unaccounted for. Questions were answered before they were asked. Thank you East Africa Wild Adventures for the trip of a lifetime.