Mazingira Eco - Friendly Safari Guides & Sales
Mazingira
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $226 to $1,005 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email MARCO | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great
We had great experience, from the beautiful hotels to the guide. I recommend Mazingira! Just perfect!
Email ROBIN | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Journey of our Livetimes!
What a Journey! We made the first part of our honeymoon with Mazingira Safari and had the experience of our lives. The contact with Johari was very good from the beginning, she is very nice and made as a custom tour through 3 different national parks. The accommodations the Company picked were outstanding beautiful and clean, we loved every Single minute of our stay. In difference to other companies where we requested an offer, Johari was the nicest one of all competitors and answered very quick and respectfully. Our driver, Thom, was outstanding friendly and is very experienced. He told us things about the animals, what they‘re going to do or where they will walk before it Even happend. Only because of His Knowledge and Patience we were able to See and capture the Most amazing photos and memories during our Trip. Thom also waited for More situations, when other drivers in the Park has leaved the scene, so Most of These amazing Moments we could enjoy Even alone or with maybe 1 or 2 other Cars. Thom knows everything about animals and the environment - ask him everything, he can always give you a detailed answer. His goal was to Start as strangers and end as friends, he sure achieved this goal. Also, he made this journey unforgettable. I can honestly recommend this company!
(P.s.: We’re germans and booked directly from germany without any problems. We always felt safe, secure and respected)
Email ELIZABETH | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caring, dedicated and very knowledgeable
Picked us up on time and Arrived with a big kind smile and energy ready for our adventure
Personalised water bottles were a nice touch and a salute to sustainability
Great sturdy truck which was going to be our vehicle for the next 3 days and this needed to be clean, safe and comfortable
Knew the parks and best way to maximise the days and also amazing ability to spot out animals and position us to see them perfectly
We picked the hotels but overall safaris, food and our guide would equal great value for money!
Highly recommend Mazingira
Thank you for making it an amazing first safari for me.
Email SATYENDRA | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing experience !!
We had booked a 3 nights 4 day safari with Mazingira. Jojo from the office was very prompt in responding to tailor make the journey for us before we landed. Once we landed in Kilimanjaro and were picked up by Thom; our guide it was smooth sailing. His friendly nature, his knowledge of all 3 parks was invaluable in spotting game. The routes he picked in Tarangire and Manyara were perfect . In the crater his spotting skills lead us to a black rhino and a huge male lion which other guides had missed ..it was incredible how he spotted them from far away. Overall a perfect 100% and we are looking forward to our next safari with them in Serengeti in the near future .
HU
Email TOM | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Experience
It was a perfect 3-days safari tour with friends organized by Mazingira, which became one of the most amazing experience in our life.
Our guide Elisante picked us up at the hotel the next morning. We were so glad to have Eli as our guide. He is a true professional, knowledgeable, answering all our questions and very patient. Eli took care of everything we felt really comfortable and safe with him. The game drives were amazing with many many animals :)
Our Mazingira vehicle was a “pop-up roof” Toyota Land Cruiser, which was in a very good condition, well maintained, with built-in refrigerator.
Our accommodation and the food was perfect, everything according to our expectations.
Mazingira is an amazing company to book with and I highly recommend it!! 10/10
SK
Email VIKTOR IVAN | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional, friendly, reliable!!!
It was a perfect 3-days safari tour with friends organized by Mazingira which became one of the most amazing experience in our life. Our contact person was Johari, who helped us in planning the safari.
She is very kind, flexible, patient and knowledgeable. When we arrived in Arusha the day before the tour, she was already waiting for us at the hotel to meet personally and discuss the details of the tour.
Our guide Elisante picked us up at the hotel the next morning. We were so glad to have Eli as our guide. He is a true professional, knowledgable, answering all our questions and very patient. Eli took care of everything we felt really comfortable and safe with him. The game drives were amazing with many many animals :)
Our Mazingira vehicle was a “pop-up roof” Toyota Land Cruiser, which was in a very good condition, well maintained, with built-in refrigerator and the tires were in excellent shape too.
Our accommodation and the food was perfect, everything according to our expectations.
Mazingira is an amazing company to book with and I highly recommend it!! 10/10
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Email JUSTIN | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A perfectly run safari, fun and low-stress
Mazingira brought us on one of the most amazing experiences of our lives! Before even arriving in Tanzania, Johari was in constant communication, adjusting our schedule to fit our requests and clearly communicating what was needed as far as payment.
Johari and our guide David picked us up at the Kilimanjaro Airport and handled everything for us from then onwards. The game drives were amazing, with David pointing out animals we may have missed and explaining various facts about them. One thing I especially appreciated - while some other groups would take their pictures and leave, David knew when it was worth it to park and patiently watch the animals. This led to us seeing some very cool behaviors.
The lodges and tented camps we stayed at were excellent. Mazingira had coordinated everything perfectly, and even communicated that we were on our honeymoon. We had some lovely surprises from the lodges (champaign, cakes, flowers) as a result. It was really a great touch.
The tour was worth every penny and more! Thank you!
The best of the best
Summarizing my review below: the best safari company and the coolest thing we’ve ever done.
BOOKING
We found Mazingira using the Safari Booking website. Jacob quickly responded with a suggested itinerary. We worked together to come up with an itinerary that was within our budget and lodges that were at our comfort level.
PAYMENT
Paying for the safari was the only area that I felt uncomfortable with - sending payment via an overseas bank to a foreign company felt risky. However, everything went through and in the end I didn’t have anything to worry about.
SAFARI
A) Guide - Our guide was Leonard (Leo) and we couldn’t recommend him enough. He was always early, had everything ready for us every day and made us feel extremely welcome to his country. He knew every animal and always gave us fun facts about them. He was a safe driver as well and always made us feel safe. One of my favorite parts of our trip was Leo start off the day with a quick summary of what we were about to do and see and where we were headed. He felt like family by the end of the trip. Ask for Leo!
B) Animals - we were lucky to see the big 5, thanks in part of Leo’s experience. If he hadn’t listened to the radio and didn’t have a quick reaction, we would’ve missed the rhino on our last day. Leo knew how to navigate the car close enough to the animals so we could see them clearly and get some great photos.
C) Lodging - each lodge we stayed at offered something unique. The staff at all places we stayed were welcoming and the food, for the most part, was really good. We were on our honeymoon and Jacob had called ahead to the lodges and most had done something special for us (decorated the room, special dessert, welcome gift, etc). Splurge on the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge if you can - the location can’t be beat.
Hands down the best experience of our lives. We highly recommend and if anyone is hesitant, feel free to reach out. I can’t say enough good things about this company, our guide Leo, Jacob or Tanzania.
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Email Chuck | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Communications, Customizable Itinerary, Great Safari and a Terrific Value !
Having been on three African safaris previously, I wanted more than the cookie-cutter safari pre-baked by the larger safari tour agencies. Now I can say I was fortunate to find Mazingira Safaris.
A successful safari requires the confluence of many things: good communication and planning, good food and lodging, good equipment and ultimately a good spotter/driver.
PLANNING
From the beginning, I knew I was in good hands with owner Jacob and planner Johari. Our planning started in late 2019 for a 2020 safari, then Covid arrived and they never complained about re-booking everything for 2021. I asked them to plan a 10-day safari from Arusha to the northern Serengeti for three photographers. They were always so prompt in responding to questions and suggesting itinerary changes. I would email Johari in the evening (U.S. time) and would always have a reply by the next morning when I woke up. We decided on Tarangire NP, Lake Eyasi (Masai, Hadzabe and Datoga encounters), Ndutu, Central Serengti and Northern Serengeti up to the Kenya border. Flying back to Arusha from Kagotende was also a great choice. Good, responsive communications were essential to developing our itinerary and Mazingira was exceptional in communications and planning.
FOOD & LODGING
Having endured my previous safaris in a pup-tent (to save money), it was time for something better - but not exorbitantly better and out of our price range. Mazingira chose some wonderful lodgings for us. The food and service was generally incredible. We often had the entire staff waiting on us because we were the only camp visitors due to Covid keeping most other tourists away. Speaking of Covid, we felt much safer in Tanzania than back in California. Most dining and other encounters were outdoors and there were very few other tourists around.
EQUIPMENT
Given the remoteness and rough dirt roads, you definitely want a well maintained vehicle because they take an incredible beating. Our Mazingira vehicle was a “pop-up roof” Toyota Land Cruiser. The extensive interior padding provided protection from constant jostling on the rough roads. The fridge kept the unlimited Mazingira-supplied drinking water cool. And the tires were all in excellent shape. (This is not always true on other company’s safari vehicles.)
DRIVER/SPOTTER
We were blessed to have “Leo” (Leonard) as our driver - he is a true professional. Always a safe driver yet always eager to position our vehicle for the best photographs and lighting. Always giving accurate answers to our animal questions from memory, then amplifying his response by opening one of his books to let us read it for ourselves! He knew not only the primary and secondary dirt roads, but also the rarely used ones to get us to where the animals were. He did an excellent job of dealing with the washboard dirt roads, clouds of dust from other vehicles and still spotted the elusive leopards and cheetahs.
Our primary trip goal was to photograph the great migration and a Mara river crossing. Leo showed us more animals than we saw on all of our previous safaris. Leo wisely watched several potential river crossings from a high point until one actually happened, then he whisked us down to the perfect vantage point to get our photos of the crocs attacking the wildebeest!
Leo was like our guardian angel, from the time he picked us up at the Kilimanjaro airport until we departed from Kagotende (on the hour-late plane). He was like the most polite, helpful family member you could ask for.
FAVORITE SPOTS
Originally I wondered if 10 days was too much for our itinerary. But each day seemed even better than the previous one and there was not one thing we wish we had skipped. Some pleasant surprises included:
Overnight at Kichuguu (Nyikani) Camp in central Tarangire NP in order to do game drives on the east side of “the swamp” lake. The animals were unbelievably numerous and diverse. It was like a Garden of Eden! Many visitors miss this by not going far enough south.
Most Northern Serengeti tourists hang out at the Mara river. Unfortunately they miss the amazing herds of animals between the river and the Kenya border. Don’t you be one of them.
As our son said, this was truly a Five-Star Safari at less than half the cost of the National Geographic Tour!
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Email SANDRA | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Leonard was unbelievable! He happily guided us 12 hours a day and found animals everywhere.
The tour was unbelievable. Leonard was our driver, guide and he found every animal possible. He knew his animals. He took us around for 12 hours a day. The food was fantastic at the camps and the workers at the camps were kind and helpful. I do not have one negative thing to say about Mazingira. Our gal, Jahari Wilii helped my husband put the tour together. She is easy to work with also.