Our Luxury Safari Jeeps
Mama Savana Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
SA
Email Sarah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible journey and great service
AMAZING. This was the trip of a lifetime to us, and Mama Savana was excellent. Mama Savana delivered to our expectations with their honest communication and high quality service in every aspect:
Planning and communication: right from the start, Alex was very honest, accommodating, understanding, and cooperative. He answered all our questions and listened to all our requests, and built us an amazing custom itinerary to meet all our requirements. The communication started by email, but I would recommend contacting him on whatsapp too especially when confirming the itinerary and cost (for extra security). Closer to the trip start, he kept us informed with the latest entry health checks, forms, visa applications. We were picked up from the airport to the hotel in Nairobi, and Alex called us before the start of our safari to ensure that we were comfortable and had all we needed, and was available on whatsapp for whenever we needed to reach him. There was a miscommunication that led to a change in activities for one day of our safari, and Mama Savana team handled it very professionally and even went as far as to offer us dinner and a city tour after the safari as an apology. Overall, they went above and beyond to ensure that we had the trip of our dreams, and we could not be happier.
Car and driver: Mama savana use 4x4 land cruisers for their safaris. The car fits 7 passengers total, with a fridge for cool water and outlets for charging. The seats were comfortable and our driver never had any trouble navigating the terrain of different parks all over Kenya. Juma (Jay) was our driver during our 10-day trip and we could not have asked for a better driver and guide! He kept the car clean, organized, and smelling fresh despite the dusty game drives. Jay made the long drives very comfortable and fun. He is punctual, respectful, and is taking care of us and accommodating all our requests. We enjoyed his company very much and we already miss him!
Animal viewing: We saw amazing animals during our safari, more than we even expected or hoped to see before our trip! We saw the big 5 and special 5 and had the BEST viewing spots for the river crossing. Jay was a great asset here because of his amazing experience navigating through the parks and spotting animals with unmatched skill. Most times, he’d see the animals from far distances without even needing binoculars. He also made sure to get as close as safely allowed to the animals, and we got AMAZING shots.
Our experience in Kenya has been truly exceptional, and we are very thankful we chose Mama Savana. 100% recommend, you can’t go wrong with them. Ask for Jay!
ES
Email Ander | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excelent
Perfect 5 days safari with a very good price quality, seeing the excelent lodges we have been to. Alex was very helpful answering to all our messages so fast. Our guide Frank was excelent, very friendly and giving us a lot of information during all the safari. He also drove us to see a large amount of animals, making this experience unique. Totally recommended!
IR
Email Vahid Valadoost Tabrizi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent safari&beach experience with Mama savana
My wife and I, after our memorable trip to Kenya decided to visit wild life and beach of beautiful Tanzania. I found a lot of travel agencies in safaribookings.com with a broad range of quality and cost. I connected to a few of them and explain our favourites and budget. Finally, I found Mama Savana as a reliable travel agency who are able to meet our requirements with reasonable price. I communicated with Alex Kenga by WhatsApp for arranging our trip itinerary. I sent a lot of messages to him for every details and he answered all the messages very quickly with valuable information. Finally, he arranged a 3 nights beach trip to Zanzibar and 5 nights safari to Lake Manyara, Tarangire, central and south Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
We, as Iranian passport holders needed visa grant before arriving Tanzania. Alex helped us for the purpose and we could receive the visa grant quickly. Because of US sanctions against Iran, we were not able to money transfer before traveling. Alex accepted to receive money in cash in Tanzania. After 3 nights accommodation and tour in Zanzibar and a domestic flight from Zanzibar to Arusha, we met our safari guide/driver in hotel both for reviewing our safari schedule and money payment. Thank you Alex for trusting us.
The most outstanding advantage of our trip was Allen as our safari guide. Allen applied some small changes in the safari schedule for promoting quality of safari . Allen is a very kind and patient guide/driver with excellent knowledge about nature, history, local culture and animals. He drives safely and does his best to find animals during safari. We saw all big 5 and a lot of more animals and wildlife because of high experience of Allen and his high level commitment. Thank you Allen for your efforts.
Quality of all lodges and tented camps was exactly same as our expectation and even more.
Lunch boxes in 5 days safari were same, we expected more variety. But it was not an important issue in comparison with some very positive points of our whole trip.
DE
Email Laura | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime experience!
WOW! where should we start? From start to end it was one of the most awesome experiences of our life. Organizing the trip with Alex was smooth during all times. He explained everything to us, tailored the trip as we wanted and was always available via WhatsApp to help with every question. We went with the 5 days luxury safari with lodges and tented camps, going to Tarangire, Serengeti and ngorongoro. Mustafa our driver was awesome. Every day absolutely on time, nice and polite and a very secure driver. He has a good knowledge about the flora and fauna and there was not a single question he could not answer. He always accommodated to our needs and wishes. We saw the big 5 and many, many more.
The accommodations were awesome. Kilimamoja exceeded our expectations and sound of silence in the Serengeti was a wonderful place too. The found was always very good and the cold lunch boxes were surprisingly tasty and enough to fill your stomach :) I would highly recommend going on a safari with mama savana.
RU
Email Aleksandr and Anastasia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely high quality professionals which are very frendly and competent!
First of all it was a lifetime experience we will never forget. It may be sounds trivial but it is true. We booked 5-days safari which included Serengeti, Ngorongoro caldera and lake Manyara. And every place was fantastic and incredible. It is like you have a trip directly to prehistoric epoch. We have a special gratitude to our guide and driver Amani. He has an exelent knowlege of nature and very high quallity driver so we had a luck to see big-5! Of course it'is not a pure luck. Service and accomodation were million times above our expectations! Booking process was pretty comfortable expecially during the situation with coronavirus, thanks to Alex, our manager. This review should be writed year ago but its better now than never... Thanks to everyone from the MamaSavana Team. So we recomended MamaSavana to every friend of us!
US
Email Krista | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AMAZING! BOOK WITH MAMA SAVANA, NOW!
We absolutely recommend Mama Savana! We did 3 days in Serengeti and 1 day in Ngorongoro and we saw EVERYTHING.
I booked with Mama Savana because Alex was very quick to respond to all of my questions about what/how/where/when we should book. That, coupled with the amazing online reviews was an easy sell.
Now that we have taken our safari, we could not say enough amazing things about our driver, Harun! He was awesome. He asked us what we were looking for and made sure to focus on those things, but also opened our eyes to other awesome things that we didn't even think we cared to see (who knew hippos were so cool?!). We saw thousands of zebras, wildebeest, and antelope. We also saw several giraffe, elephants, buffalo, and many other smaller animals. We only got to see one rhino from far away but that's because they don't like the cars, so it's tough to catch them.. all of the rest of the animals we saw CLOSE UP (like right next to the vehicle). And for the big cats (our main focus) - we saw 2 cheetahs laying about 5 feet from the vehicle, a few leopards up in trees not too far away (saw one come down and up again), and about THIRTY lions! We told Harun lions were our favorite and we got to see 2 different families (male, female, and cubs), several large lions laying a few feet from the vehicle, some in trees, and on the last day we even saw a few lions eating a wildebeest that they had killed. We had seen so much of everything that the last few hours of our safari, we had time to kill so Harun drove us around so I could take photos of baby animals of all kinds! Boring for him and my boyfriend I'm sure, but I was thrilled!
Harun (and the team) really went above and beyond to ensure our satisfaction! After driving us around for 4 days straight, he took us to the market to get a specific souvenir that I wanted, then took us to a local spot for dinner, all before rushing us to the airport.
This is the first review I've ever written for anything in my life - and that's because this experience was once in a lifetime and Alex, Harun, and the rest of the Mama Savana team deserve all of the love!! :)
A few tips for travelers:
- They provide a pair of binoculars (ours did, confirm with Alex), but you'll want one pair per person.
- Bring toilet paper and hand wipes if you prefer to not live without (you eat lunch in the vehicle sometimes, and some bathrooms don't have toilet paper).
- You're in the vehicle all day every day so wear whatever you're comfortable in.. no need to pack boots! I wore sandals and shorts, even as a woman.
- When they ask you if you want to go see the wildebeest migration even though it is the opposite direction, the answer is YES!! It was incredible!!
- Stay at Kubu Kubu lodge for sure! It's amazing. I've stayed in a LOT of hotels and this is one of my favorites, if not my very favorite.
Amazing experience with helpful guide.
Nice private game drives with helpful guide.
After some games in Kenya, we tried out Tanzania for a few days.
The guide spotted two lions on a tree and respected our desire to be there a long time.
Also, we found some females that went on a hunt and followed the whole process, the experience was amazing.
AE
Email Neville | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sensational Serengeti
From the very beginning this was a dream holiday! Alex responded instantly and helped curate an incredible itinerary, with valuable insights into where to stay, budget and what to expect. We chose mid-level price options which included full board and were blown away by just how amazing these were once we hit Tanzanian soil!
Harun our guide was super knowledgeable and hospitable, adding a personal touch to really make it feel like a trip with a friend. There are many safari companies and I’m sure they are all great, but Mama Savana really are well respected and know their business, namely offering a personalised and luxurious experience witnessing the greatest spectacle, the African bush!!
We saw the big 5, countless herds of elephant, prides of lion right up close as well as on the hunt for their prey. Harun guided us and taught us so much we felt connected to each animal. Serengeti and the Crater were highlights and will be memories for life - this was truly an epic holiday and something I will definitely do again one day!!
Thanks Mama Savana for everything. Hakuna Matata
Email Tim | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding company to deal with
We had the trip of a lifetime with Mamasavana who were so personal and responsive. We always felt totally safe in their hands and they ensured that we had a magnificent time. There truly is nothing more they could have done and I have no hesitation in recommending them.
FI
Email Ray | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fast communication, trustworthy, excellent organization
We spent one week in Northern Tanzania. We covered Tangerine, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti national parks.
We chose this operator based on all the good reviews and we have not been disappointed.
Communication with Alex was excellent, as he replied every time very promptly and he was very honest with all his answers. The package price included everything (except of course personal expenses), no hidden fees whatsoever.
All the lodges included very comfortable and clean. No complaints at all. They were better than expected. The food served was very good and portions big.
As guide, we had Joseph who was extremely passionate about his job. Not only he was an excellent driver but he was also very knowledgeable about all the parks, fauna, and flora. Thanks to his excellent spotting skills we ended up seeing more than we had expected.
We had an amazing time and I can definitely recommend Mama Savana if you plan on doing a safari in Tanzania or Kenya. You can trust this company! They do deserve all the 5-star reviews they have. We plan to go back one day again and we won't hesitate to travel with Mama Savana!
(I have also posted this same review on TripAdvisor).
