operation team of vervet safari
Vervet Safari and Tours Tanzania
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $189 to $950 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
HK
Email Calvin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
There is no shame but the most shameless operator.
Vervet Safari was the 2nd operator that we selected after we found our 1st selected operator, Qualified Tours Tanzania, was not reliable. (Please refer to the comments under the name of my wife, Teresia) Vervet Safari was referred by my friend who had engaged with Vervet Safari for many years. Hence, we had full confidence with Vervet Safari and their managing director, Basili Augustino. We asked him to arrange a 15-day safari trip for us (9 persons) and fully paid the cost to him 1 month before we departed to Tanzania. The cost was all-inclusive, including accommodation, meals, airport transfer, Safari jeep, driver, fuel, national park fee etc. The first few days' arrangements when we were at Arusha were ok. When we left Arusha, the nightmare began. When we had left Arusha and stayed at Manyara, Basili borrowed from me $200 and promised to return the money to me when we returned from Serengti. In the morning, we departed to Serengeti, Basili suddenly informed me one of the drivers had left, and we had to wait for another driver. We scheduled to depart at 8:00am but delayed for over 2 hours. Due to the delay, we couldn't reach the tent before sunset. More unfortunate was that the head lamps of one of the deeps were malfunction. One of the jeep had to travel in the dark. Fortunately, we reached the tent safely at 20:00 but had wasted one day. After the dinner, we were told the tents fee had not been paid. We had to pay it ourselves. We contacted Basili. He promised to pay it back to me when we returned from Serengti. The next day, we continued our trip in the morning and headed to Northern Serengti. When we almost reached the entrance. the driver told us Basili hadn't paid the park fee. He stalled to resolve it and finally we had to stay overnight at the village outside the park as the park gate was to close at 18:00. We had to find the hotel and pay by ourselves. The next morning. we departed early and reached the entry gate at about 12:00 noon. At that moment, Basili still kept stalling paying the fee. In order to keep our schedule moving, we agreed to pay on behalf of Basili. Basili agreed and promised to pay it back when we returned from Serengti. With the help of the gate manager, we were allowed to pay with our personal credit card. Unfortunately, there was some problem with the payment system. We had to wait for another 2 hours before we could enter the park. When we entered the park, it was almost 16:00. When we reached the tents after a short tour of the park, it was 18:00. We had again wasted another day. We finished our morning game drive the next day and left the Northern Serengti back to Central Serengti at noon. When we reached the park gate, no need to say. we had to pay the fee by ourselves. However, the park manager did not let us pay by ourselves. He said the jeeps were under the name of Vervet Safari, and hence, the fee must be paid by Vervet Safari. We had asked the manager to help to see if there would be another ways, but we were unattended. Finally, we had to stay overnight at the village outside the park again. No need to say, we had to pay the accommodation and meals by ourselves. We were very terrified and left Serengti the next morning. When we reached the accommodation at Manyara, Basili met us and said sorry to us. He also promised everything had been settled and told us not to worry. However, he didn't return the money to me immediately. Instead , he promised to write an agreement to me, promised to return the money to me within 2 weeks after we finished the trip. We thought everything was settled as promised by Basili and kept moving on the journey. Out of our expectations, the fee for culture visits was not paid again. We also need to pay the fuel cost on our way back to Arusha. At the end of our trip, Basili didn't even arrange airport transfer for 7 of our team members.
Conclusively, we had paid USD7,8xx on behalf of Vervet Safari, but up to this moment (6 weeks after the trip), I have not received a dollar from Basili.
From my personal experience, I met 2 unreliable Tanzania local travel agents. One of it was referred by my friend, who had worked with Vervet Safari for years. I am wondering if I am really, very bad luck or there is some .........unethical practices in the industry? Furthermore, the inconsistent park management at the Central and Northern Serengti are another concerns.
I wish my comment would help the other travelers.
LT
Email Paulius Mazylis | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Perfectly Organized & Executed Safari
Working with Basili, the director of Vervet Safari Tours, was smooth and straightforward. He took the time to understand our needs and budget, and then created an itinerary that was perfectly tailored for us. He handled all the arrangements for our trip, including accommodations, permits, transport, local flights, and everything else we needed in Tanzania. The execution was flawless; our guide Musa was incredible and enhanced the entire experience with his charm and knowledge of the parks, culture, wildlife, and everything pertaining to Tanzania. Thank you all for a magical experience.
AR
Email Jimena Lehmann | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing!
The memories of this trip to Tanzania remain clear in our minds; no words can adequately convey this incredible experience. It is genuinely something you must experience. We extend our gratitude to Basili and the team at Vervet Tours and Safaris for their excellent organization and flawless execution. The lodges were stunning, and I saw countless animals. A special thanks goes to our guide Musa for everything. It was an unforgettable and one-of-a-kind experience.
DE
Email Sofia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I highly recommend Vervet Safari Tours for safaris.
We are unconditionally impressed by the wonderful planning and execution of our trip by Vervet Safari Tours. We worked closely with Basili and he is a brilliant and wonderful person to work with. He displayed amazing patience as we changes our minds a lot, but in the end we had an itiernary that we were happy with.
This being our first time in Africa we did not know what to expect, but we are so happy with the outcome as it was flawless. The people are friendly and welcomed us everywhere we went, we also felt safe and in good hands.
The parks were awesome. We managed to visit 4 parks starting with Tarangire, the home of huge elephant herds, great baobabs and many animals along the Tarangire river, We also did Lake Manyara in a day and cannnot forget the tree climbing lions, huge baboob troupes and flamingos in the distant. When we came to Serengeti it was the mother of all safari places! We could not get enough of the park as there was something interesting at every turn.
Our safari could not have been that successful without the support from Martin our guide. He was outstaning as a guide and a careful driver too.
I highly recommend Vervet Safari Tours for safaris.
A Beautiful Once In a Lifetime Experience
We completed a 7 days safari that took us exploring Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro. We are very happy with Basili as her let us customize our trip to include a hot air balloon safari and a visit to the Hadzabe bushmen.
Our safari driver Musa was awesome. He is a professional and knowledgeable person who took our interests first and ensured that we were safe at all times, drove carefully in some not so sane roads, and also respectfully in the parks. He was so passionalte about his job that we fell in love with his way of doing things.
We stayed in some excellent places like Manyara Exclusive Lodge, Serengeti Wild Camp and Arusha Coffee Lodge.
I can sum it all up and say that it was a well planned and executed safari.
Thank you all for an incredible time.
FR
Email Paul Stewart | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I recommend this tour to anyone looking for adventure!
The tour with Vervet Safari Tours a great experience overall. Basili was the reason we had such a great trip, he did amazingly well in planning our trip and did an awesome job because it was flawless.
Our guide Momanyi kept things moving effortlessly, taking us to different wildlife scenes and would let us enjoy each stop and take as many photos as we wanted.
Tanzania itself is absolutely magical land filled with breathtaking landscapes, diverse wildlife species, amazing lodges and wonderful people. I recommend this tour to anyone looking for adventure!
CZ
Email Linda | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventure on Safari
Our recent trip to Tanzania with Vervet Safari Tours was an incredible experience! We had been paired with guide Calistus from the start and he made the trip phenomenal. He was friendly knowldgeable and patient. He made it evident that his purpose was to keep us safe, comfortable and help us enjoy the trip. He was attentive to our sugestions and took them into consideration. We saw lots of different animals in the parks and I observed that Calistus was very respectful towards the animals and everyone. He made sure that the safri vehicle was clean, well stocked with water, refreshments, ensured that the recharging ports were working and generally everything was perfect. He would drive to nice, serene spots and set up for the picnic lunches.
The accommodations were top class and we loved it. The food and the tent rooms were a beautiful experience.
If you are looking for adventure then Tanzania with Vevet Safari Tours is the place to be.
HR
Email Brandlei Boltov | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable Experience
Vervet Safari and Tours is an extremely great local operator to travel with in Tanzania and this comes from our actual experience with them last month.
Basili was very helpful when booking the trip and he was responsible for organizing everything for the trip.
We went to the parks with guide Fadhili and the time of our lives. The wildlife, the landscapes and the people made it such a memorable time.
We loved the Serengeti the best, there was the migration and some dreamy sunsets! Staying in tented camps in the middle of the bush was so cool as we could hear the animals noises as the roamed close by, but knowing that we were safe in the confines of the tent and there were guards patrolling the camp.
I highly recommend Vervet Safari and Tours for the unforgettable experience
Email Mariate Fleming | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Safari
Our trip through Tanzania with Vervet Safari Tours was terrific. We visited Tarangire, Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro in the 8 days we were on safari.
Planning the trip was easy as basili was professional and quick with the responses. In the end we created an itinerary that had all the activities that we wanted. Their charges were also reasonable.
Our guide Baraka deserves special commendation for being all rounded and so outstanding.
His presence made the trip better as he knew all th routes, about the animals and lots of insight about Tanzania. Everyday with him was a day well spent as he led us to new adventures.
All the lodges and tented camp that we were booked in were fabulous. They made us feel welcome, comfortable and had great food.
If I were to do this again, I would still go with Vervet Safari Tours.
FI
Email Ville Kallonen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A treat Fit For A King
Vervet Safari Tours hosted us to a perfect safari experience in Tanzania. We did a mix of wildlife and cultural safari with our guide Baraka and it was everything we wanted and much more.
Baraka was a waking encyclopaedia on the parks, people and Tanzania in general. He had detailed answers for our numerous questions and where he wasnt certain he would let us know. Being around him made the tour intresting and delightful.
The choice of lodge accomodations was worth the extra costs because we were treated like royalty.
I recommend Vervet Safari Tours as the real home of adventure.