Hallmark Travel Planners
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- ASTA & KATO
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Charlene Moule | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
18 Day Safari Experience Beyond Expections!
We more than received our money's worth with Hallmark Travel Planners! Levis, our planner, listened to our wants and he did an excellent job communicating all info we needed, coordinating travel, lodging and guides in five countries, not to mention how patient he was with our questions. Our last day he even took us to the airport, instead of the guide. Levis took no chance that a lodge or camp would disappoint, and changed one poorly reported resort for a well-known resort. We are in our sixties and wanted to experience a genuine safari in comfort, AND WE DID! We were met at airports by our guides and never had to be concerned the rest of the trip. They met our every need including bottled water. Our guides were amazing, informative, helpful, protective, and a lot of fun. Our guides each had an uncanny ability to put us on some unusual wildlife sights even surprising our guides.We saw a rare cerval cat, but also experienced 5 cheetah brothers attack 2 wildebeasts, 5 lion brothers with 4 dead cape buffalo. We saw numerous lioness stalkings and chasing warthogs, antelope and wildebeast. Our planner and guides were great! I knew I had chosen the right comany. Thank you so much, Levis and Hallmark Travel Co.
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Email Michelle | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trustworthy and responsible booking company
Communications were efficient and excellent. We always received very speedy replies and confirmation of any further information we sent. Regarding our service, I think we got a little spoiled by our last international tour company who handled all of our Visa requirements before our arrival. With Hallmark, however, we had to handle them all on our own. My ideal set up would have been for our itinerary to include the Visa requirements, types of Visa needed (single journey vs. multiple journey in Kenya), and prices that would let us know the amount of USD we would require. We had brought cash for tips and more than 60% of that cash was quickly used in Visas. We appreciated that our guides took us to ATMs in each country to help us bridge our spending, but it was a general point of concern and stress. Additionally, we had counted on being able to use credit cards at the hotels. We wish we had been informed ahead of time that credit cards were not accepted in Tanzania- requiring more cash. After spending so much on our trip, we just felt like there were too many pricey unexpected expenditures and we could have been better prepared by Hallmark. Our guides were good- some are just drivers but we had two guys who acted more like guides and were knowledgeable about the animals. Many of the roads (even main highways and thoroughfares) are not paved, especially in Tanzania. We were much more comfortable in the Land Cruisers than in the Toyota vans, but apparently the land cruisers are more expensive. Most of our lodging was as expected, except for the AA Lodge that was not as nice as we had hoped. However, it was near the Amboseli park and the animals were worth it.
As for our safaris, we feel so blessed to see everything we wanted, including the Top 5 and the Wildebeests migration. We could not have asked for a better safari!
My only other small complaint was being treated to a local restaurant that did not cater to tourists- although we appreciated the attempt to seek a local experience, within 24hours, both my husband and I were ill and required using our emergency antibiotics to recover. That was a bit of a damper on our vacation and honeymoon!
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Email Patrick Andres | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!
The trip was amazing! This was our first Safari and it lived up to all our expectations and more! From seeing the Big 5 to the Wildebeest migration and so much more. A cheetah even visited us in the Serengeti and jumped up on the hood of our drivers Landcruiser. Getting to add on the Gorilla trekking was a big plus and worth the extra travel. The only downside was being caught unprepared for the Visas to enter each of the three countries we visited. The visas took up much of cash that we had brought with us and we were not clear upon what type of visa to purchase on arrival. It was also a shock that the lodges in Tanzania do not accept credit cards at the Lodges. I wish that this information had been passed onto us in a more direct manner but other than these small matters this trip was unforgettable!
A side note, most drivers were there to get tourists pictures but Freddy our driver in Tanzania was so knowledgeable about the wildlife and helped educate us on all the wildlife.
Also, be aware that game drives in Kenya take place in two types of vehicles on rough roads. A Toyota van and a Toyota Landcruiser. The Landcruiser is much more comfortable for passengers on the roads but it also costs more. Since the roads are so bad, I believe that all tourists should get the Landcruiser.
DE
Email Ingrid Koester | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Informative and pleasant day-trip around Nairobi
After a conference, I had 1 free day to spend in Nairobi. Hallmark Travel Planners made several suggestions of which I chose the National Park, Giraffe Center and the house of Karen Blixen. The driver/guide Josphat was punctual and friendly and very knowledgable about the animals to see in the Park, their habits and behaviour. We had ample time in the Park and still enough for the other attractions, so the tour was well planned. It was an excellent experience.
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Email Alicia Masnikoff | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had some amazing guides and drivers who exceeded our expectations.
Levis was exceptional in his communications with us. We had an amazing safari experience thanks to the team he put together for our safari. We had to make some changes to our itinerary and they accommodated those changes. Would highly recommend Levis and Hallmark Travel Partners.
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Email Maria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First safari experience was great!
This was my first safari experience and I enjoyed every bit of it. Everything that was promised was delivered, driver was always on time and knew How to navigate the park and take us to the best sightings. Accomodations were excellent too. Everything that was promised was delivered. Would recommend 100%
Email Scott & Amanda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A Well Organised amazing experience of a lifetime!!
First of all I would like to thank Levis for his time and efforts in organising and amazing trip. Everything was done via email but Levis made it all very simple, with quick responses. He customised a tour to suit our needs, dates and what we wanted to see.
We visited 3 countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda over 16 days. We managed to see the big 5 several times over. In total we saw over 100 Lions, 8 Cheetahs, 2 Leopards, 4 Rhinos, a Family of 30 Mountain Gorilla's, and countless other magnificent animals and wildlife.
Our guides in All 3 countries were amazing, friendly and very knowledgeable, especially our guide Fred (who was a standout) we had during our time in Tanzania. The accommodation we had, from the tented camps to the lodges were all very good and of a high standard.
We highly recommend Hallmark Travel Planners and would definitely use again.
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Email Simon Weng | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari experience
Professional and personal. Nice itenerary and good arrangement.
CA
Email Marah Stubbert | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Levis is professional, accommodating, and wonderful to work with!
Our trip with Hallmark was absolutely incredible! A friend and I met in Africa for a 10 day tour - Amboseli, Masai Mara and Gorilla trek in Uganda. It was my first tip to Africa, and I was a little concerned because I could only find reviews for Hallmark Travel Planners on the Safaribooking site, nothing on tripadvisor or google reviews, but our trip was incredible and Levis was wonderful to work with. He was very patient and considerate as I explored many options for my itinerary and everything ran smoothly when we arrived. We had one night of heavy rain at Masai Mara that made a road impassible for a few hours. This caused us to miss our flight to Rwanda, but Levis rearranged our flight and hotel immediately and was able to do that without any extra cost, we really appreciated his quick problem solving and communication with our driver. Our guide, Anthony was awesome! He was very knowledgeable about the animals and he worked hard to make sure we had some wonderful experiences in the parks. His English is excellent and so is his sense of humour! We really enjoyed spending the days with him and he gave us lots of space to enjoy our evenings and meals on our own. I would highly recommend Hallmark.
Email Dietmar | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good organized and very friendly atmosphere with a fantastic driver for the gamedrives.
I was always very good informed about any changes of the tour. (Lodge fully booked, roads blocked ...) The safaris were very interesting and the driver did always his best to see the animals quite good.