Founder of Dancing Zebra Safari, Jessica Mathews
Dancing Zebra Safari
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2016)
- Member Of:
- Africa Travel Association (ATA) & The International Ecotourism Society (T.I.E.S)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $700 to $2,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Joe H. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing. Simply Amazing.
Just returned from our first safari vacation. WOW. I cannot find the words to adequately describe just how amazing this trip was. Our entire trip took place in Tanzania, starting in Arusha then to Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti. I’ll start with the game drives. I think we just expected to see a few animals through binoculars. I was blown away by the amount and variety of animals as well as the fact that we could get so close to many of them. We saw all the common wildlife as well as ALL of the big five.
Probably the most memorable part of the game drive portion of the entire trip was when we arrived at Lobo airstrip for the Serengeti portion of our trip. Our guide, Mokili, was standing at the door of our airplane when we stepped off. He introduced himself, grabbed our bags and took us to our Land Cruiser. After a few moments of getting to know each other, Moki asked what we most wanted to see. My wife immediately said, “elephants” and we found out that elephants had a special place in Moki’s heart and were his favorite as well. Moki shared some stories of elephant rescues that he had been involved with over the years and we quickly understood why they were so special to him. My answer was “cats”. Moki asked why and I just said that they are usually the hardest to find and it’s rare to see them. Moki told us that our camp was to the left but he heard that about a 45 minute drive to the right, that a cheetah had been seen and wanted to know if we wanted to drive that far to see if she was still there……”yes”. So, we drove 45 minutes and found her, “Super Woman” still there. We learned that she was named “Super Woman” because she had five cubs and that all five had lived to be 8 months old which is extremely rare. We were watching this beautiful girl and noticed about 40 yards away that we could see another cheetah. Not only was it just another one but it was all five of her cubs. Unbelievable.
The next day Moki took us to a spot where we were able to hang out with a pride of 17 lions for about an hour. Just the three of us with 17 lions for an hour within just a few feet of our vehicle. After spending time with the lions, we went to a mud/water hole where we watched five different families of elephants come to cool off with a mud bath.
When we left for this trip, I think our only expectation was to just do game drives all day, every day. What we found was that there was much more to this experience. From the moment we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport, we were treated like royalty. On top of being treated like royalty, each day was filled with little surprises that just set this entire trip apart. I want to describe these little surprises, but it would be like telling the ending of a movie to someone who has not seen it yet. It would ruin it so I will just leave it at that.
I really hate to start saying names because I am sure I will miss someone. There were so many who did so much and worked so hard to make this experience unforgettable. But I will do my best to name as many as I can. First, our host who was our very first contact, Eve. She really set the stage to get this trip off to an awesome start and she was there at the end to make sure we were sent off properly.
Samwel, our butler at Arusha. The man is a mind reader. He knew where we were and what we wanted before we did.
Sembeke, our first guide for our first game drives. A true professional and we consider a friend now.
Mokili, our guide for our Migration Camp/Serengeti drives. The man just knows the animals and has the eye of an eagle. We really enjoyed our time on the drives and spotting animals but even more so, getting to know Moki and hearing his story of how he got to where he is. A story that WE pulled out of him, not that he brought up. A great human being and we hope to see again one day.
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
essentially flawless
The safari that Dancing Zebra planned was probably my favorite vacation/travel of my entire life (although I am only twenty, so take that with a grain of salt). The planning and logistics were outstanding and everything went off without a hitch and without stress. All of the places we stayed exceeded expectations in terms of service, accommodations, and food. Oh my god the food was so good. Our guide Frank was outstanding, funny, talkative, knowledgeable, and a great photographer. And of course, the most important part, the wildlife and game drives. Tanzania was unlike anything else I've ever seen. It actually felt like being in national geographic. I can't recommend Dancing Zebra enough