East African Safari & Touring Company
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1992)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $230 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Catherine | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
3 day safari and 3 day beach Excellent holida
I have just returned home after a 2 week holiday in Tanzania visiting family and we did a 6 day trip with Eastco . It was not our first trip to East Africa nor will it be our last. We had previously been on safari so as we were visiting family in Tanzania we decided to do a 3 night visit to Tarangire staying at Boundary Hill Lodge and 3 nights on the beach at Tanga. Boundary Hill Lodge was excellent, plenty of wildlife especially birds. The lodge overlooking the savannah below was private, comfortable and the food excellent in the extreme.
We spent a day driving to Tanga from Tarangire and stayed at Eastco's camp right on the beach. What a beautiful spot. The tide in the morning went way out so if you wanted an early morning swim, a walk was required first.
On our last day there it rained all day, really heavy, but this didn't spoil the fun.
The highlights here would've been the walk around the village and the peace and quiet.
The tents were simple but for a beach holiday with sand everywhere what more do you need.
The drive down was interesting with stops at Moshi, Same and Segera. The children loved the fresh fruit bought by the roadside. All in all it was an excellent 6 day trip and Eastco did an excellent job. I work with a lady who has also visited East Africa with Eastco and they also had a fantastic trip.
Tanga is beautiful, and different.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
Simon of East African Safari Co created a wonderful, well-tailored travel safari for our group of 3. We did a long safari of 16 days and he made it very interesting, varied and covered all of the area highlights. We visited five national parks/area and also had numerous interactions with the local population and culture. The staff was outstanding (we LOVED our guide), food was excellent and the lodging was very nice. All of this was done for nearly 1/2 of what other safari companies were charging. Simon was in frequent contact with us over our four months of planning and responded quickly to any questions or needs we had. Overall, we had the best time and highly recommend East African Safari company. We are looking forward to our next trip to eastern Africa and will certainly use EAST Co again in the future.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
EASCO
I was nervous when I got to the Kilimanjaro airport because the phone number I had did not seem to be working. So I was pleased and relieved that a driver, whose name was Cosmas, was waiting for us with a warm smile, a helping hand and bottles of water!
I knew we were staying in Arusha because the overnight multiple flights made it too exhausting to head straight out to the Serengeti. But I had not looked up where we were staying, and so it was a delightful surprise. I had thought we would be staying in a small hotel in town, but we stayed at the Hatari Lodge inside the park, and the lodge and its operators and employees gave us our first impression of what being on Safari is like. And it was hospitality at its best. They met us with warm wash cloths, a deliciously refreshing watermelon ginger concoction, and a friendly explanation that we must close and lock the doors and windows so the monkeys don't come in and steal all our shiny things! In the park, we saw thousands of flamingos, a wart-hog battle, and a walking tour to a beautiful waterfall! Several giraffes greeted us in the morning, munching on trees about 30 feet from out front porch. The monkeys gave us a great show, trying to sneak into the bar, while we were eating breakfast.
The next day Cosmas delivered us to Arusha airport without incident, and we flew on a Cessna Air Caravan over the Ngorogoro Crater to Seronera and there we met James, who was our guide for the rest of the Safari.
James was awesome in every way! We saw all the animals for which the Serengeti is famous and also had the opportunity to take a walk through a small village. Each place we stayed in had its own special charm and the staff always made us feel comfortable and welcome. The food everywhere was quite delicious. Riding around in the Land Rover, free from traffic, seat belts, and surrounded by big open skies and melodious song birds was a delightful, if very dusty experience! I would have hated to have to be seated in a larger tour bus for so many hours a day. Being able to stand up for most of the drive made all the difference to us, and because we were not with others, we could linger longer or hit the road to the next site at will. Also, spending most of the day with James was wonderful as we learned a great deal about the local wild life, a bit about Tanzanian current events, and shared many, many laughs.
If you are afraid of lizards, don't like bumpy roads or dust, and are afraid of getting stuck in mud ruts or having to push a truck for a few steps, then this trip is not for you! We met a young couple who were clearly distressed because they didn't like camping! This made us laugh, because the tent camp we stayed at was so clean, so bug free, had comfortable beds, had indoor toilet and hot shower and had a chef quality meal offered at the end of each day. It's really not roughing it!!! But if you have some adventurous spirit and love the sound of the lions in the distance and the greeting of giraffes and zebras in the morning, then, please, take this amazing trip. And if you can, definitely take it with James!!!
Email Edna Deighton | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari with Eastco
had fantastic holiday with Eastco they were recommend by a family member who travelled with them in 2014. I went in November last year and saw the main parks, Serengeti Ngorongoro and Tarangire.
Am a student so the discounts offered by Eastco made the trip really affordable, We camped in most of the parks except Tarangire where we stayed at Boundary Hill Lodge, awesome lodge with great views. I spent 3 days in Zanzibar at the end,which was amazing!!. Stayed at the Boabab resort right on the beach, great atmosphere.
Highly recommend.
Email Len | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari with Eastco
My wife and I did a 8 day safari with Eastco in Jan. of this year. The trip was excellent.
We had flown into Kilimanjaro International Airport, and after getting our visas we were taken to our Arusha hotel for the first night. The hotel was right in the middle of town so in the evening we walked around a bit and had a meal at a small Indian restaurant very quiet.
In the morning we were collected by our guide and so the safari started.
Tarangire for two nights staying at Boundary Hill Lodge, what can, we say beautiful views, rooms with a verandah overlooking the plains below and a toilet with a view. Elephants and giraffe were easily seen and in the mornings we could see some antelopes easily, thought they were waterbuck, but who knows.
After two nights here we then went to Ngorongoro and stayed at the wildlife lodge right on the rim again amazing views. The highlight here were the Rhinos seen in the afternoon.
Then followed the Serengeti staying in a tented camp, this camp was perfect after Ngorongoro. We stayed here for 4 nights and were able to catch the wildebeest migration in all its glory.
Cheetah and hyena were the highlight of this part of the trip.
The trip was well set up, guide extremely polite and well versed in both wildlife and idle chatter, this made the trip more interesting as we got a bit of an insight into his family and safari life.
The 4x 4 was well maintained and did the trip without a hitch.
All in all the safari was excellent and I would highly recommend this company.
Email Aoife Byrne | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ticked all the boxes and that little bit more... you can have confidence in EAS&TC!
So to try and keep this short and sweet (as I know the hours it takes researching the different Safrai operators, reading reviews etc.. it is almost a full time job!!
Planning the safari
- They say patience is a virtue and it is!! Thankfully Simon of East African Safari had plenty of it as we had questions, questions and more questions and never once did it become a big deal. He was even happy to provide guidance on the areas of our trip that we weren't going to be booking through him. His brochures and itineraries were not as high end as some of the other operators but it is simple things like that that allow him to be the most competitive Safari company, pricewise that I researched (I resarched 8 in great depth.) He provided really honest and solid advice on some other things like visiting an orphanage.
On the Safari
- We were really pleased with our itinerary and got to see everything - except the elusive Rhino but we were just unlucky with the weather and nature has a mind of it's own!!
Our guide
Jimmy looked after us so well over the 5 days went to great lengths on the last day to make sure we saw cheetahs and leopards. He knew everything and dealt with my million questions everyday very well.
Accommodation
We stayed in a mix of tented camps and lodges - all were great but Boundary Hill lodge at Tarangire was stand out - it was beyond our wildest dreams. The beautiful brick lodges, the outside dining and the amazing service made it one of the most special nights of our whole holiday - you actually need to see this place to believe. Our morning walk with the Masai gifted us with a leopard sighting which added to specialness of this gem.
Food
Really good everywhere and plenty of it.. Don't go on Safari expecting Heston style but be assured that you will get great basic food that is full of taste and you will never be left hungry!
The extra stuff that makes a difference
We were a group of three girls travelling together and unfortunately one of the our bags never arrived to Dar Es Saleem. When we explained this to Simon he invited us to his house the day of Safari to drop off the missing baggage form and to chase the bag when we were on Safari. Unfortunately due to the airline's mistake the bag didn't show up over the Safari but Simon had someone trying everyday. The day after we finished safari he organised for us to be collected at our accommodation to collect the form and had a cuppa waiting for us. It's nice to know that an operator will go that extra mile for you, even after payments have been made!!
I would highly recommend East Africa on all fronts!
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Email Jenny & Stan | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
EAS crafted a special off-the-beaten-track hiking and birding safari for us that met every need.
We spent 14 days with our guide in the Pare and Usumbara Mountains. We are in our 70s - relatively fit, but with some extra needs, all of which were so well addressed -- we couldn't have asked for more careful attention. Throughout the trip we had our terrific guide (Bernard Shirima - a first-class bird and game expert, as well as wise in the care and handling of clients ). We had expected more game in the Mkomazi National Park, but rain limited our reach, and being new, the park has not yet built up a large big game population. We did see splendid birds in Mkomazi (we are not seasoned birders, so it was a new experience to see so many stunning birds.)
Unexpected rainfall also kept us from seeing the Chome Nature Reserve, which was on our itinerary. The Tona Lodge, in the Mbaga District, high in the Pare Mountains, was a disappointment, as the mountains were so steep, we were unable to hike anything but paved roads. But that turned out to be a great experience being greeted and welcomed by villagers of every age. We really got a feeling for life in such a village after spending 3 days walking around. (It really helped that Stan speaks fairly decent Swahili- much to the delight of everyone we met!) Tona Lodge was a great disappointment in terms of facilities, food, and service. The view, however, was stupendous!
EAS arranged for local guides to join us in each of the regions we visited - mostly to introduce us to the community and show us where to go hiking/birding. Bernard was our true bird guide, however. In the Western Usumbaras near Lushoto, we stayed comfortably at Mullers' Mountain Lodge - beautifully situated and comfortable (though plagued with hot water problems and food heavier in German style than we would have liked). Our local guides there knew little about the birds other than where to take us, but Bernard helped us find birds (and we enjoyed seeing colobus monkeys). In the Amani Nature Reserve in the Eastern Usumbaras we stayed at a research station and were guided by a very able researcher who taught us much about local birds and his work. The jungle in these mountains was truly spectacular - trees so tall and covered with vines that it was impossible to see the whole. We enjoyed long walks, (even though birds were hard to see in the dense foliage), and did see some spectacular birds. Bernard really taught us a great deal -- not only about the birds, but about how to go about looking for them.
Overall, we realized after the fact that we had not insisted enough on a more specific itinerary with greater clarity ahead of time as to what we could expect to see and do in the Western Usambaras which -- because so off the beaten tourist track -- were not well known by Bernard. I was disappointed not to see more game (in Mkomazi we saw a few giraffes, a bat-eared fox, and the disappearing tails of a few hartebeests). We had a great adventure there getting hit by a sudden downpour and sliding up to the fenders of our safari vehicle in mud. Had to call for a tractor to pull us out, but, Bernard had brought along box lunches, so all was well.
This was our second trip with EAS - we had a splendid safari to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti several years ago, so we already had great respect for their professional preparation and care, as well as the expertise and responsiveness of their guides. I wouldn't go to anyone else, and I hope someday we will come back for another trip with them.
Email Richard | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari capped off by Wild Dogs at Naitolia Camp while on a early morning walk.
My wife and I did a 12 night safari in August 2014 with Eastco (East African Safari and Touring Company) starting in Mwanza and ending at Boundary Hill Lodge Tarangire. The various accommodation were excellent, food great varied and plenty. African soup is special.
The high light of the safari was the night spent at Naitolia camp ( 1 night) and the walk to Boundary Hill Lodge the next morning, we saw while walking wild dogs running along the road in front of us before they slipped off into the bushes and grass. Even our guide was amazed.
Boundary Hill Lodge perched on top of a steep bluff provided beautiful views over the conservation area below. There were a lot of elephants in the area and even some we saw drinking out of the pool.
Boundary Hill also offered Masai village visits and Tinga Tinga painting.
We also stayed at Speke Bay lodge (5 stars) Mbalageti (5 also) We camped at Eastco's Horizon camp, simple, clean but very nice wildlife everywhere but then again this was the Serengeti.
Perhaps the only disappointment on the trip was our stay at Sopa Lodge, I agree the descent road is an advantage but the lodge is extremely large and what I would call part of the institutanlized safari accomodation so often offered by Tour Companies. We preferred the smaller more boutique lodges and camps. These camps are a speciality of an Eastco trip. The communication before the safari was excellent, the service from the guide and all staff at Eastco also excellent. The trip exceeded our expectations to such a degree we have booked a 30 day trip for 2015 again with Eastco.
Simon certainly knows how to design a private trip to suit individual needs.
The 4 x4 was clean and excellent for the type of bush roads we went on.
All in all Tanzania is an excellent safari destination and Eastco (East African Safari and Touring Company)
an excellent Tanzania based tour operator
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Email Cris Powell | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memorable Experience
I just want you all to know that my friends and I had a great time with Eeastco on our trip. It was wonderful, especially since everyone had been nice to us and helped us have a wonderful and memorable experience. Everyone had a great time visiting various sites, walking on safari and seeing Mother Nature in its wild and untamed glory. The guide James was particularly helpful and knowledgeable. Thanks eastcos for the great tour.
IE
Email Cliodhna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari experience
Initial communications were what drew us to Eastco. Simon was responsive and willing to tailor an itinerary to our needs and budget. On arrival we were met by a driver from the company. From that moment everything went to plan and exceeded expectations. Payment was smooth and they even organised a driver to take us around arusha the day before safari. Our driver, James was just fantastic. He was warm, friendly and a great insight into tanzanian life. I would have liked more communication on the slight changes to itinerary and accommodation that happened. That being said everything worked out probably better than the original itinerary as we found Tarangire to be deserted due to bad weather and it didn't really warrant extra time there. James had no problem driving long distances in search of something different and every day we took a lunch box to ensure we got the most from the day. In the Serengeti we always seemed to be perfectly placed to witness something spectacular and we enjoyed our 3 night upgrade to a luxury tented camp.
I would highly recommend Eastco. They know their stuff and nothing was too much trouble for them