Hamadi Ningaa - Founder, Face of Africa Adventures
Face of Africa Adventures
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $1,700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Cyndi V. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Face of Africa Adventure far exceeded all of our expectations!
Going to Africa had been on our wish list for decades. It is one of those big life trips that we said we’d take someday, but the thought of it was always somewhat daunting because of the expense, preparation time and distance. So for these, and a variety of other reasons, we waited. Well, this year, our circumstances aligned and our ‘someday’ finally came. This past July, my husband and I joined a safari group, led by Hamadi Ningaa and the guides from Face of Africa Adventure.
Logistics: There were 21 of us traveling together as a group, and I’m sure the logistics had to be complicated, to say the least! But Face of Africa expertly handled every detail of our safari. In the beginning, they sent us pre-trip emails including FAQs, itinerary details, and packing lists. (Hamadi answered my questions and emails personally). Face of Africa staff met us at the airport when we first arrived, guided us each day on safari, and transported us back to the airport for our flights back home at the end of our adventure. During our safari (ours was a seven day journey) our accommodations and meals for each day had been pre-planned and arranged so we had no worries. All we had to do was enjoy the sights and sounds of the wild.
The safari itself: The Face of Africa guides coordinated our four vehicles so that we stayed in close contact with one another. The guides were excellent ambassadors of their country and of the game parks. They greeted each of us every day with excitement and a sense of humor. They were all expert spotters, showing us and teaching us about the wildlife we came to see, even pointing out animals and birds that weren’t immediately visible. Hamadi and his guides were professional, polite, and patient. When one member of our group needed extra help in getting in and out of the vehicles, the drivers were attentive and treated her with extra gentleness and care.
I believe that our trip was a great success, specifically because we had Hamadi and the guides of Face of Africa as our hosts. If you’re planning a safari, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. This was our first trip to Africa, but if we ever have the good fortune to return, we won’t hesitate to join Face of Africa Adventure again!
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Email gargi chugh | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
EXCEPTIONALLY BRILLIANT AND FUN GUIDES!
This was my first time visiting Africa. I was worried about what the transportation, accommodation and food would be like. I am a vegetarian and was especially worried if my dietary restrictions would be met during this trip. I was however, blown away by the quality of arrangements. We had the Company drivers waiting to pick us up from the Airport. All the hotels that we stayed at were VERY clean and WAY more luxurious than what I am used to. And the food was YUMM!!! We had a HUGE buffet spread for dinner everyday. We took packed lunches on Safari so we can get more time in the National Parks. The arrangements overall were very safe and comfortable. Most of the accommodations that were provided to us had a GREAT view. It was breathtaking to wake up to the views of the National Parks every day. We would have Giraffes and Zebras just walking outside our campgrounds at some places within Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Can you believe hearing hyenas laugh and Lians roar in the middle of the night, and yet have the safety of your tent and have a guard for each tent?? It was UHHHMAZING!!
Now coming to the BEST part of working with Face of Africa - the wonderful Guides. They are one of the nicest people I have met in my life! We had enough days in . Africa to form a bond with them, they went out of they way to help us if we needed some meds in the middle of nowhere or when we wanted to take a restroom stop every one hour. They sand and Danced with us and made the trip exceptionally memorable for us. I went with a nature journaling group that heavily focuses on research, so mind it, people knew a LOT about the wildlife and Geology already, but the guides took what we knew to the next level by providing so much more context and information to everything. They were very very very knowledgable and experienced. I enjoyed hearing about the Maasai tribes and animal behaviors from them. I cannot wait to make more trips to Africa and hire these guys for my adventure every single time in the future. They felt like family in a foreign world! Thank you so much for making our trip so memorable, Face of Africa Team!
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Email Elizabeth | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience, great service, knowledgeable guides
This was our family's first time coming to Africa, and Face of Africa Adventures made the experience one we will remember forever. We came as part of an artist group from California whose goal was to sketch, draw, and journal about the area (led by naturalist and field guide author John Muir Laws: www.johnmuirlaws.com) The pre-trip planning with Face of Africa Adventures was excellent, with regular email communication with detailed information. Face of Africa Adventures met us at the airport, helped us through the visa process, and transported us to our hotel. We enjoyed a 6-night safari, staying in comfortable tent camps and beautiful lodges, with delicious meals prepared for us every day. The service throughout the trip was outstanding, with hotels and lodges that greeted us each day, took our luggage to and from our rooms, and took good care of us. The Face of Africa Adventures guides were friendly, helpful, eager, and patient with our group and our many questions as they led us on wonderful explorations of Tarangire, the Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro Crater, among other beautiful places. They did their best to get us close to wildlife while being respectful of these creatures, never engaging in behavior that would upset the animals. (On our trip, we saw some guides from other companies clapping or calling out to elephants and other animals to try to get them to turn around for their clients to get a good photo, but our guides would never do that, thank goodness.) They worked very hard from early morning to after dark, safely driving us, talking with us, and laughing with us the whole time. They shared their wisdom and knowledge about the spectacular plants, trees, birds, and mammals we saw and greatly enriched our experience. We would gladly go on another adventure with Face of Africa Adventures!
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Email Billie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
UNFORGETTABLE!!
This trip delivered much more than I ever expected! We were a group of 21 nature journalists asking our guides/drivers to stop!, backup!, no..backup 2 feet!, whoops, make that 6 feet, now move forward, stop!. Just 10 more minutes so I can finish this sketch...no, I'm not done yet, You can't go I've still got to add color! I rode with each of our guides and all of them were so-o-o-o patient and accommodating and knowledgeable about the animals and terrain. Whenever we asked 'what's that?', they knew. I had a request to find a certain stork and on the last day in the Serengeti, Felix found him for me and patiently waited while I photographed and sketched him. Thank you, Felix! Hamadi and his crew were exceptional! I want to do this again!!!
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Email Laura | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari—five stars
I highly recommend Face of Africa Adventures. The Safari they organized for my group in July 2019 was fantastic. The accommodations were great, everything went super smoothly, and the guides were professional, friendly and they spotted tons of animals and birds. The team is very responsive, and you will have a trip of a lifetime. Five stars.
Email Amy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
We went on a 5 day safari with Face of Africa Adventures and it was truly the trip of a life time.
Hamadi was incredibly responsive and helpful when I was organising and booking the trip. From when we arrived at the airport in Kilimanjaro to when we left we were looked after very well. Everything we had organised with Hamadi happened and ran smoothly meaning we could relax and just enjoy the magical experience of safari.
Our guide Shaffie was experienced and very knowledgeable. We had 5 very full days of travelling and seeing the most beautiful animals and views, we really couldn't have asked for anything more.
I would recommend Face of Africa Adventures.
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Email NACHO GOZALBES PASTOR | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safaris king
Hamadi is the best example of how to rule a safari company; he works hard and does everything he has on his hands to make your experience unforgettable and nice.
As he worked as a porter and in every stage of a safari company he knows what to do and what workers should do.
Adventurous and unique experience !!
Email JBexperience | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience made easy with expert organisation.
Thanks to Face of Africa for accommodating my “last minute” decision to go on a short (two days, one night) safari from Arusha. I got in touch with Hamadi whilst in Arusha and he came to meet me at my hotel. He was very helpful in getting me organised quickly. We worked out a schedule on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday morning 8am, I was on my way. Special thanks to my driver/guide, Dickson, who speaks perfect English and knowledge of the flora and fauna is outstanding. Dickson listened to my specific requests and made sure I got the trip I wanted. I was really pleased with the decision to go to Tarangire National Park on day one, as this turned out to be the better of the two days as far as animal spotting was concerned. Got some great close up encounters with elephants, lions, giraffes and of course, those cheeky civet monkeys who like to steal tourist lunch items! I opted for an upgraded lodge from 3 stars to 4 for a really good deal and the lodge was so lovely it felt like 5 stars. Day two was spent in the beautiful Lake Manyara National Park which was disappointing as I didn’t get to see any hippos but the bountiful bird life made up for the lack of hippos. This day provided a good contrast to the previous day and was so peaceful and relaxing. I came away feeling refreshed and very happy with my adventure photos.
This was a great, value for money trip which was very well organised and everything went to plan. I have no hesitation in recommending Face of Africa for a tailored adventure that will not break the budget but delivers on expectations.
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Email Martin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventurous safari trip!
I had a 5-day/4-night camping safari with FOAA touring Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorogoro. I joined five other people that roughly had the same age like me which made it quite easy to get along with them. We had lots of fun together and shared many interesting stories.
Besides, we had a driver/guide and a cook. The guide was really experienced and knew all the locations where we were able to spot all the Big 5 any many more animals. Our cook always prepared delicious meals - far exceeding my expectations for a camping safari!
During the evening we were setting up tents for a good night's rest at different campsites. As there wasn't any fence around the campsites, it was kind of normal that animals were walking around within the location (e.g. hyenas, buffallos) which made every single night quite adventurous.
Hamadi coordinated everything perfectly from my hotel pickup to the airport dropoff. At the end of the trip he even invited me for a typical African dinner which was really nice.
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Email Rebecca | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceeded our Expectations in Every Way. Way better prices than other operators we compared
I am stationed in Tanzania for a few months , and I still did a LOT of research before I committed to one operator. I wanted the best price for the best safari....is VALUE. It came down to FACE OF AFRICA ADVENTURES. They must have some awesome relationships with the lodges and camps that they use because the prices to include some of these lodges on our tour beat the competition often by hundreds of dollars per night for the same. We did a budget lodge and tented camp safari and it was perfect and a once in a life time experience for us. We did Safari drives every single day and thanks to the driver/guide, it just never got boring. He found so many animals, lots of lions doing the things lions do...and always seem to have his truck in the best position for photography. He really seem to have eagle eyes for finding animals...We saw the Big Five over and over again, and every other animal known to man! Face of Africa provided service second to none, and went over and above any promises made, threefold! The vehicle is perfect...and the staff is friendly and helpful with endless enthusiasm and knowledge! I recommend them heartily!
If you check our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/rtd-thZLq1M, by March 15, 2019 we will have a video on there about the Safari...what we saw, where we stayed etc. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? There are other videos about Tanzania in general too.
