Hilary and Martin - owners of Suricata Safaris
Suricata Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2016)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $190 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
IT
Email Claudia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect
I couldn’t have wished more for my safari experience! Our guides Damian, Golden and Amiri were perfect, they left us leaving unforgetteble emotions. Thank you very much!
Email Judy Benjamin | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Rastaman - Best of the Best!
I have already reviewed the actual safari from Suricata, which was an exceptional experience and earned 5 stars. But, what made this an over-the-top memorable safari for me was our guide Rastaman! I have been in the travel and tourism industry for many years so I have a lot of experience with tour operators and guides and have never met anyone like Rastaman. And how lucky for us that he was our guide! Yes, all the basics were seen to but Rasta made everything more special. He taught us about the wildlife, the native trees and plants, and the culture. We learned how to use certain plants for medicine, how the climate changes, and how the animals adapt to it, and how everything is related. I could go on and on. It was an amazing experience. So much more than simply driving around to see wildlife. He brought everything to life for us with genuine warmth, generosity, and kindness. He had me wanting to stay longer and then come back again for more. Any company would be lucky to employ Rastaman and I will be sure to follow him whenever I plan to return to Tanzania. Rastaman was an unexpected gift which added so much to an already wonderful life experience.
AR
Email José Ignacio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An incredible experience!
We booked a 5-day safari covering Tarangire, the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro.
We saw many animals up close. We managed to spot the "Big Five," including the elusive leopard.
The staff's service was outstanding. Pascal, our guide, was always focused on ensuring we enjoyed ourselves; he actively searched for animals and taught us about them. He explains things with passion and expertise, and we learned a lot from him. I appreciate how he constantly strove to show us as many animals as possible and patiently answered the endless questions we asked. I also want to highlight Lucas, who ensured we were as comfortable as possible at the camp every day. He is a fantastic chef, every meal was hearty and delicious.
I recommend spending at least two nights in the Serengeti to truly enjoy this vast park, as the drives between camps can be long. Also, if you choose to visit Tarangire, make sure it is the first stop on your itinerary.
I am incredibly grateful to Suricata!
A note on what to avoid: I do not recommend the Maasai village visit. Fortunately, our group skipped it after hearing unpleasant accounts from others who had gone; they told us the Maasai were only interested in asking for money and selling handicrafts at exorbitant prices.
Regarding the Jevas Hotel, where we stayed for two nights: the breakfast was very basic. One afternoon at the restaurant, we ordered coffee, and—after paying for it—we had to prepare it ourselves (yes, they simply gave us a thermos of hot water and a packet of instant coffee). It is a shame that the hotel falls short of expectations, as it reflects poorly on the service provided by Suricata.
ES
Email Nerea García Amorós | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly, safe driver, knows the area well and always adapts to his clients’ interests.
The guide is very friendly, drives safely, knows the area very well, and does his best to adapt the experience to the interests and preferences of his clients. We saw so many animals, including the Big Five and many more, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful.
CY
Email Stelios | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent in all aspects. Made the experience for us unique.
The experience was really amazing. The tour operator was very well organised and focussed on customers to get the best experience possible. The Safari driver (Gerard) was very nice, helpful, constantly trying to give us the best experience possible, whilst explaining wildlife on the go.
Highly recommended, both the tour operator and the driver.
Email Nikhita | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Anton had great hospitality!
We had such a great experience with Suricata Safari and would absolutely recommend them. We initially chose the company because the pricing was very reasonable, but the experience ended up being much better than we expected.
Our guide, Anton, really made the trip special. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the wildlife and seemed to have an almost unbelievable ability to spot animals that we would have completely missed. He was also very patient and never made us feel rushed, whether we wanted to stop for photos, take a break, or just spend a little longer watching an animal.
We were lucky enough to see an incredible variety of wildlife, including many of the animals we had hoped to see before coming to Tanzania. Anton also gave us so much interesting information about the animals, their behavior, and the ecosystem, which made the game drives much more meaningful than simply seeing the animals from the vehicle.
Everything about the safari felt well organized, and we always knew what to expect for the day. It was an unforgettable experience, and we were very impressed with both Suricata and Anton. I would definitely book with them again!
Email Mana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Anton was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating!
We booked with Suricata primarily because of the competitive prices and good reviews. We had Anton as our guide and he exceeded our expectations. He clearly communicated the plan for the day each day, made sure we stopped when anyone needed a restroom break (or coffee), and most importantly we were able to see all the animals we were expecting to see on safari, and more. Anton also answered all of our questions about animals behavior. We highly recommend this tour.
CH
Email Hans | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari experience with Suricata
My girlfriend and I booked the 6-day mid-range option with Suricata. We did the Tarangire National Park, 2 days in the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Lake Manyara National Park.
Tarangire was a good entry point for our first Safari experience, since it is a little smaller and we already saw a lot of animals on our first day. We had an amazing encounter with a group of elephants we will remember for a lifetime. It was especially cool to do the tour in an open jeep. Our guide, Amos, was a calm and friendly presence and provided us with interesting information on the park and its animals.
Then the main part of our trip started, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. It was absolutely outstanding. We saw all the Big 5 and many animals more. It was too much to put into words. Just the scenery in the Serengeti is astonishing enough. Our guide was Pascal and he did an amazing job. He really went the extra mile for us. His knowledge of the park and its animals was second to none. His driving skills weren‘t too bad either, which is needed on the bumpy roads to Serengeti and within the park itself. I can‘t recommend him enough as a safari guide, you will not be disappointed!
The Lake Manyara National Park was a nice day to finish before we went back to Arusha.
The communication with Suricata around the booking was smooth and professional. All the pick-ups worked as discussed. On the second day, our schedule got changed probably to accommodate the general planning. We only found out about the change kind of by accident at the lodge reception. Better communication in case of changes would be appreciated. But in the end, everything worked out as booked over all, so it was a small inconvenience.
The accomodations were all in the range of what was promised. We really liked the Suricata Boma Lodge especially, a beautiful place. Our highlight was the Tanzania Bush Camp (Simba) in the middle of the Serengeti. Our two nights there were incredible, including hearing lions roaming through the camp in the middle of the night. Camp manager Steve and his entire staff were awesome and they make you feel right at home in the middle of nature!
Overall, we can definitely recommend Suricata as a safari operator.
Email Paul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and memories
Great experience ! The tour went without issues from the moment we got picked up at Kilimanjaro airport to being dropped off back at our hotel in Arusha.
The 4 day safari was amazing ( we saw the big 5 and many more animals) thanks to our tour guide ‘Damian the legend!’
If you are considering doing a safari, I would defiantly recommend Suricata safari.
Thank you Damian and Suricata.
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unorganised amazing experience
When we first booked our safari package with Suricata safaris, we weren’t given any official confirmation of our booking or any extra information on the tour/details/updates. We chased them for any kind of information but didn’t receive anything.
When organising our transfer from our hotel to the first location of safari, again, we weren’t given confirmation but everything was fine as our driver turned up on time and was very friendly and hospitable (Prince - you were great!). Overall through the booking and the journey, communication wasn’t great but that seems to be the way of life here, Hakuna Matata after all!
The safari itself was amazing, we saw all of the big 5 and made some once in a life time memories we’ll keep with us forever. We were so lucky with the group we were put with as we all got on really well and it made the experience even more enjoyable. The accommodations we were staying at were good (Suricata Boma Lodge was exceptional). There was one night where all of us got ill from the food when we were camping in the bush camp but it was still a great experience to camp in the Serengeti.
Due to other people’s flight schedules and them doing one less day safari then us, our itinerary days changed around and we ended up up not getting as much time as we’d have hoped in Ngorongoro crater on the 4th day.
Definitely visit the Masai tribe, we recommend it to learn about their way of life and culture, it’s very eye opening!
On the 5th day, we were with another group which was fine but the quality of the experience definitely took a dive. Firstly, we noticed that it wasn’t a Suricata branded van, it was ‘Serengeti African Tours’ van, so weren’t on Safari with the company we booked with! The chargers didn’t work, the seatbelts were very temperamental, the roof opening wasn’t secure and prone to collapsing. The driver was constantly on his phone, wasn’t helpful in spotting any animals, got the car stuck on a hill so all the passengers had to get out in the middle of the national park. On the way back to our hotel, he stopped at the side of the road to help another tour van but we felt quite unsafe as he’d parked us next to a ditch on a busy road - when other vans came to help we noticed that the driver was putting a large stone behind the wheel to stop it from rolling back but ours didn’t.. He also got into a heated debate on the road with another driver when dropping us back off to our hotel, lots of locals started to surround the car and it made us feel very uncomfortable. Due to this, we felt that the last day was a bit of a waste and in hindsight, we’d have just booked the 4 day tour as we felt it wasn’t worth the money.
One of the main point we’d like to mention is our driver we had for the first 4 days of our tour - Damian. The best of the BEST! We were so lucky to have him as our guide and driver. He was informative, helpful, friendly and we felt safe in his hands during our time with him. You can tell he is very passionate about his job, pleasing his guests and wanting us to see what the parks had to offer us. We were so grateful for him but this became even more apparent when we given another driver for our last day. This 5 star rating is for Damian and if it wasn’t for him and the service he gave us, this rating would definitely be lower!
Overall, we had a great time on safari and would recommend it to anyone! What we would say is, things are very relaxed. Don’t expect things to be confirmed and do expect things to change last minute! You have to go with the flow but also hope you have an amazing tour guide who can really make the experience worth the money.