our staff at jackpot office in arusha
Jackpot Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & IGS-http://interpretiveguidessociety.org/
- Tour Types:
- Budget camping tours that can start every day (clients assist with camp chores)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Gijs | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organized and fun Kilimanjaro expedition
With a group of 5 friends we booked our Kilimanjaro expedition through Jackpot Safaris. Andrew was our contact person and he was friendly and well-organized every step of the way. Two days before departure we had a briefing together with Andrew and the 3 guides who would be leading our trek - this made us comfortable to know everything was taken care of and we had all equipment necessary.
The expedition went very well. Livingstone, the lead guide ensured that everything was well organized and regularly checked up on our health status. This ensured that all 5 of us made it to the summit on a cloudless morning with great views. Fighting the altitude sickness was though, however, we think taking the 6-day Machame route worked well with a day of acclimatization.
Coming down the mountain we had a great last lunch, thanked all the porters, cooks and guides and back at Jackpot Safaris Andrew was there to hand out our certificates. Thanks Andrew, Linvingstone and the whole crew!
Top notch quality!
We had a three safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro and it was excellent. They made sure we saw all the animals we could and prepared great food. Their prices were very appealing to the budget travellers that we were but they still gave us top quality service. Can't recommend enough!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good time, good people, good price!
A friend and I did a 4-days safari (Lake Manyara, Serengueti and Ngorongoro) in september'14.
We had a great time! Our guide and driver was excellent and we spot the big five and much more! We appreciated his knowledge and his hability to spot animals in the far far distance! The cook was also very good, and he could adapted easily to the vegetarian menu (I forgot to tell them in advance).
The car was quite old but comfortable enough (except under the rain because the windows didn't close properly).
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kilimanjaro, Sanzibar & Safari
Jackpot Safaris and especially it's owner Andrew Malalika became a good friend of mine, since I was to Tanzania in 2002 for the first time. At this time, before Andrew founded Jackpot Safaris, we're on Safari for 4 Weeks and it was an unbelievable and great experience. 10 years later I went to Tanzania again and booked a Kilimanjaro Hike with Jackpot. I can highly recommend Andrew and his employees: very friendly, very attentive and very experienced. This made my second trip with Jackpot also unforgettable. And of course, if I'll go a third time, I'll book at Jackpot Safaris.
US
Email Marcelia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly Recommend Jackpot!
This was our first safari experience and Yessin did a fantastic job. He was patient, paid attention to the animals we were hoping to see and kept in contact with other drivers to find out about any sightings. He was able to give us information on all animals we saw with basics and fun facts. He was fully prepared, flexible and catered to what worked for us. The whole process was easy and well done from reservation to dropping us off at the airport. Lodging was very comfortable, clean and we loved the buffet meals. It was nice to have a nice mix of familiar and local food choices. There was no lacking of food on our trip, the box lunch was more than enough. Wifi connection was OK, not the best and only in common areas. (Yes, I know, it's better to unplug!) All locals were super friendly and made an effort to speak to us in English because we couldn't get past "asante" and "jambo" in swahili. We will definitely call on Jackpot tours again.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic experience at Tarangire and Arusha NP
We are very happy to meet Andrew & his team and the trips they arranged for us were beyond our expectations. So we selected them twice, for an overnight trip to Tarangire NP, which was really amazing to stay in a tented camp and so close to all the sounds of the night. The next day we had a tour through the game resort and saw a lot of the wildlife, even lions. The 2nd trip was a one day experience inside the Arusha NP and it was brilliant but so different in terms of nature and wildlife. If you ever planning a safari, we could recommend jackpot and will do so ourselves for the next time.
Email Helen andrew | under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent safari
we just finished 5 days safari trip with jackpot safaris,we would like to share our excellent experience with striking as an excellent local family run safari company,our guide on safari was with a lot of knowledge on the wild animals,the history and a lot of other information he gave us.
Thomas is pleasant to be with(we had 5 days together in the jeep)and always with smile an kindness.price for the safari was fairly good based on the quality of services we received was good for the value of money!
jackpot safaris manager Mr malalika can advise and align the trip to the budget you have.we had a day in Tarangire 2 days in Serengeti national park with overnight in safari camp inside the park which is very recommended 1 day in Ngongoro and 1 day in lake Manyara.
during the five days we understood that Thomas is experienced guide in Kilimanjaro,so it was also possible to have a day climb to Kilimanjaro base camp in fair price or even have a full climb for several days with him.we really recommend jackpot safaris and the crews!
5 day safari Lake Manyara Serengeti Ngorongoro Crater.
Booked safari from USA. paid 50% for deposit so I didn't have to carry as much cash to pay balance. The deposit was a knowledged as soon as it was received. I dealt with Andrew who responded immediately and was easy to work with. He also is just a great guy to deal with and talk to. They also took care of hotel arrangements and airport transport. The safari was exceptional with a great guide who was knowledgeable, spoke great English, and was great to be with. The food was very good and the soup each night was exceptional. I had no problems at all. There were 3 of us on safari and everything was cool.
CH
Email Nicolas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I would recommend Jackpot Safaris to my best friends
Where do I start? Planning a safari isn't an easy thing to do. Of course one can read things about the parks, but what really is relevant and valuable is the advice from locals on the current/actual situation. You hardly get this on the internet, you can get it from the operators in Tanzania. Andrew the manager and George the guide were very helpful in this respect, before and during the trip. Without this excellent exchange and advice, I would have ended up wasting my time and doing the wrong things like other people we crossed.
Generally speaking, I think the key factor of success and satisfaction is the operators staff, especially the guide. The equipment, car, food etc. is quite the same for all operators. The size of the company doesn't really matter either. Again, it's all about the knowhow and experience of the staff, don't worry about the rest. If you are thinking about touring without a guide, forget about it. Not that it's not possible, but you will loose an enormous lot of time figuring out how everything works and it will be difficult to communicate with other drivers/guides. Having a guide will make a huge difference. I can confirm that our Guide George was far better at his job than guides of other operators we met.
What else? I wasn't happy about the food to be honest. If I ever go for a tour again I would remember to speak about this before the tour starts. Once the car is packed that is it. You eat what is brought along ( for those camping like we did). I would have preferred African food rather than European food. Besides there are so many things which can and went wrong when an African cook serves European food.
Costs. I still can't figure out why the tours are so expensive. But let me tell you, I researched and negotiated with several operators and finally went with Jackpot for approximately USD 200 per person per day. We stayed at the campsites and slept in tents 5 days / 4 nights. There were two slightly cheaper deals from operators with foreign investors. And a lot of operators with higher prices. If you go on safari and know that it will cost a lot of money, I recommend doing business with local companies! Else a great percentage of your investment will stay in your home country or get transferred to foreign investors.
I would recommend Jackpot Safaris to my best friends. And I would advise them to contact the manager Andrew and do business with him directly rather than going through a travel aganecy in the home country.
DK
Email Julie S. Rasmussen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly, fair and fantastic!
Because of only positive reviews from others, we asked Jackpot Safaris to arrange our Kilimanjaro climb. We didnt regret it! Andrew (the owner) was both fast, friendly and honest in replying to our emails (and many many questions), making us feel safe about the arrangements before leaving. The climb was amazing and the guides Livingstone and Sanga and the rest of the crew did everything to fulfill our needs and to help us achieve Uhuru Peak, while being very attentive of us every step of the way, making sure we were ok and able to continue. Based on this positive experience we used Jackpot Safaris for our 5 day tent-safari as well. Once again, we had a fantastic guide (Yassin) and cook (John) who did all they could to give us an unforgettable experience. And they did! We saw all the Big Five, including being only meters away from both lions, leopards and elephants and seeing vultures and hyenas fight for a dead animal right next to the car. We cannot recommend Jackpot Safaris enough and will definitely use them again if we return to Tanzania.