Chels Travel & Tours
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $750 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
GH
Email Marcus | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome 1-day Safari with the Kids in Ngorongoro
I priced several safaris going to Ngorongoro Crater and Chels ended up being the most affordable. Beatus responded promptly to my inquiry and provided a detailed quote, as well as photos of the actual vehicle we would be using. He arranged to pick us up from the airport and transport us to our AirBnB in Karatu. He also organized a village tour of Mto wa Mbu for us on the day of our arrival. When we arrived in Arusha he was there with our guide Ali to greet us. Ali took us to Mto wa Mbu for the village tour, which was good, but a bit overpriced for what it was, then brought us to the house where we would be staying in in Karatu. The next day, after Ali took us to pick up some boxed lunches, we started our safari in the crater, and it was perfect. We had four kids with us, ages 12, 10, 7, and 5, and they ALL loved it. We saw, elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, water buffaloes, hippos, a million wildebeests of course, and even a black rhino mother with its baby from a distance. My wife's mind was blown, it was great. Ali was an awesome guide, I highly recommend him. My kids loved him and were extremely sad when he dropped us back off at the airport the next day.
SI
Email Jasna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was amazing
I went on 4 days safari with Chels Travel. I will never forget that experience. I told, that I wanna see Big 5. So I did it. Driver was really nice (Gidion), we have such I good time. Camping was really fun, food was delicious (thanks chef Rama).
DE
Email Benno | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memorable for a lifetime
We had picked Chels Travel because their offers looked personal and flexibel. And it was exactly that.
We (myself and my daughter, 20) spent 5 days in Ngorongoro and Serengeti. With Emanuel we had a very nice and good driver, very knowledgeable regarding geology, flora and fauna of the area. Everything went smooth, relaxed.
We had an excellent car. Our contact to organize everything was directly with Velian. She fullfilled all of our requests regarding itinerary and lodges. Reliable and trustworthy. You need somehow a good feeling and confidence to transfer half the price as a down payment. Thanks again Emanuel und Velian for a perfect and most memorable tour! This is a *****recommendation!
FR
Email Matthieu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari
Our Safari was an amazing experience! All people were very nice (Beatus and the guide), and everything was perfectly organized. We recommend Chels for enjoying a perfect safari!
Go with a more experienced company!
We booked a two-week trip which included both Kenya and Tanzania after having multiple, thoroughly detailed e-mail communications with Beatus. While Kenya was smooth sailing, Tanzania was another story. After picking us from the Namanga border, we get to Lake Manyara only to be told by Beatus and his driver that his park entrance "credit card" has expired and if we wouldn't mind using our personal credit card for the entrance fees to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater. I was told I would be reimbursed as soon as we reached Arusha. Long story short, didn't get reimbursed until quite literally our last morning in Tanzania and that too was told part of the reimbursement would have to be in Shillings. If you are looking for efficiency, integrity, and professionalism, this is not the company for you. Again no complaints with our Kenyan tour guide, but I felt that Beatus let us down with Tanzania. From a driver that wouldn't stop yelling down on his cell phone for a majority of our day in Serengeti to the poor hotel selection in Arusha, Beatus tried but wasn't quite successful with living up to his promises while booking with his company. Word of advice: while not mentioned anywhere in the email communications, apparently the expectation is that you google each and every hotel/camps he books you from the itinerary because specifying standard accommodation can still lead you to a god awful, mosquito infested hotel room with a piece of ROOF MISSING. And when you have a problem with that, you are told "I sent you the list of hotels with the itinerary. Why didn't you google them?" Gee why? Because I thought that's why I hired you as my tour coordinator!?! Standard accommodations, the last time I checked, involved an entire roof over my room for sure. Yes Beatus got us a better hotel upon our adamant refusal to stay at that place, but the point is that we should have never been put up there. Overall I think they are perhaps too inexperienced to put together a seamless trip but I did appreciate Beatus trying to resolve our issues. At the end though there were just too many issues in my opinion.
Reply from Chels Travel & Tours
Posted on Sep 26, 2015Hi Kesha,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review for your recent Tanzania and Kenya trip. I am really pleased that overall you both had a wonderful time and you enjoyed all of the services and experience with accommodation throughout your itinerary except the last night accommodation in Arusha was not accepted but I did my level best to change the accommodation quickly on time.
I do apologies for any stress that may have caused by expiration of our prepaid Tanapa cards, it is not often at all that this happens, but your feedback is helpful to ensure that this does not happen again.
Once again, I am really happy that you both had a wonderful time as clearly described by your friend’s review below and we hope to organize another exciting adventure for you both!
Best wishes, Beatus.
Email Alicia H | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent two day safari. Fantastic your guide and very reasonable price!
My friend and I did a 2 day safari with Chels Travel & Tours company, visiting Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater and we had such a fantastic time! At first I was nervous booking the trip with Chels Travel as they are less well known than some of the other bigger tour operators and I had heard horror stories from others about booking with fictional companies in Arusha, but the price was too tempting to miss out on and now I would not hesitate to book again.
Chels Travel is a small, independent company and as such are excellent at tailoring their tours to their individual clients needs. We were on a tight budget and Beatus organised the tour to stay within budget. He was very accommodating of our requests and questions ahead of the tour and on the safari itself he was a fountain of knowledge about the surrounding culture and wildlife. Having now been on a few safaris since, we know quite how excellent Beatus was as a guide / driver. He was a fantastic animal spotter as well as incredible knowledgeable which certainly added to the whole experience. I would certainly recommend Beatus and Chels Travel and Tours to anyone looking to go on a safari in Northern Tanzania.
US
Email Disha | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
2 Weeks in Kenya and Tanzania!
We just returned from a 2-week trip to Kenya and Tanzania organized by Beatus from Chels Travels! While planning the trip, Beatus was patient and informative. We had limited time and we wanted to make the most of it and Beatus made that possible.
The trip itself was definitely memorable and we had a great time in both countries! In Kenya, we had Tony as our guide and he was absolutely wonderful and I can't recommend him enough! We had multiple guides in Tanzania and Beatus to make sure we were taken care of during our stay. Beatus was an excellent guide---he was really informative about the animals, the various sites, and the local culture! We did have some minor issues in Tanzania but, as soon as we spoke to Beatus, he did his best to address them right away and made sure we were happy.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience and the quality of service and attention that we received from Beatus was more than what we expected and it was greatly appreciated!
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unique experience with Beatus in Tarangire & Ngorongoro
We had two perfect days with Beatus in Tarangire & Ngorongoro and enjoyed to learn from him about wildlife, birds, trees etc. Many thanks for this unique experience!!
Amazing experience, true african felling
Our guide was very helpful and cooperative, when we were planning the trip. We were traveling with small children, so we needed to make some adjustment. We still saw the big five and we even did not go to Serengeti. Everything went according to plan and there were no additional costs as the one agreed at the beginning.
US
Email Daniel Hartwig | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good Safari Package
Communications were good.
Staff is very friendly and helpful.
Service was OK. Van trip was kinda stuffy ( sardines in a van ) for the first leg of the trip.
Everything else was good.