Serengeti Smile Team
Serengeti Smile
- Office In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2020)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board & AMREY Flying Doctors Insurance
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $500 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
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Email John C | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent !!!!! Our guide John & Serengeti Smile safaris. 05.31-06.14.25
A+++++. John/ John Paul/ “Johnny” did an outstanding job as our guide on a 2-week family safari for 6. Three generations of grandparents, parents and pre-teen children. Customized itinerary from Serengeti Smile…from Kilimanjaro area, Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro, Central Serengeti & Western Serengeti. Great accommodations and food. From luxury lodges to tented glamping, a wide range of overnight experiences. Excellent and varied activities itinerary.
John Paul knocked it ‘out of the park’, with new lifetime memories and new highlights every day. Lions, cheetahs, leopards, rhinos, elephants, hippos, Great Migration of wildebeest and zebra, cape buffalo, hyenas, jackals, monkeys, baboons, crocs, gazelle, antelope, giraffes, warthogs, mongoose, etc. etc. Nature hikes with rangers, bush hikes with tribes, village interaction with other tribes, hot air balloon safari, and so much more!
We are seasoned travelers and have had numerous private guide and custom itinerary travel experiences. John and Seregenti Smile are awesome! Thanks for creating wonderful family memories 😊
CA
Email Christina Hawkshaw | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Champion was an exceptional tour guide—knowledgeable, passionate, and genuinely committed!
Our tour with Serengeti Smile was truly unforgettable, and I can’t recommend them highly enough. From the very beginning, communication was smooth and professional—Serengeti Smile was quick to respond to questions, provided clear details about the itinerary, and made us feel well-prepared and welcomed. Champions service (our guide) throughout the tour was outstanding; he was not only friendly and approachable but also incredibly knowledgeable, sharing fascinating insights that brought each stop to life in a way only a true local expert can.
The safari experience was beyond anything we imagined. Thanks to Champion’s incredible tracking skills and deep knowledge of animal behavior, we were able to spot the Big Five—plus countless other animals, including giraffes, zebras, hippos, and even a cheetah's on the hunt. He always positioned the vehicle perfectly for photos and knew just when to wait patiently for something special to happen.
Champion’s reliability gave us complete peace of mind. Every pickup was on time, every transition seamless, and he handled every detail with calm confidence, which made the experience completely stress-free. The tour itself was perfectly paced and thoughtfully organized, balancing iconic highlights with hidden gems we would never have discovered on our own. We also felt that the tour was great value for money—there was so much packed into the day, and the quality of the experience far exceeded our expectations.
If you're looking for a tour company that combines professionalism, enthusiasm, and genuine care for their guests, Serengeti Smile & Champion are the one!
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Email Angela K. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Champion for the win!
We had an incredible time with Champion as our guide for 5 days. He was punctual, knowledgeable and ensured we got to see ALL the animals. We were never rushed, and he always made sure we were satisfied at the end of every day. Serengeti Smiles was a great company to book with and we had a wonderful time exploring Tanzania!
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Email Justin Kopta | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Champion Delivers an Outstanding Performance!
First, this experience was absolutely phenomenal. This is a premier guide service. In keeping with the quality of the service, the guide's name was Champion.
The trip started off at Tarangire. According to the guide, who used a food analogy to describe the sequence and build-up of destinations included in the trip, Tarangire is the appetizer. Many giraffes, elephants, zebras, and myriad animals at this park. Driving around in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser, it is very easy to see the animals and maintain a panoramic view (360 degrees) with the pop-top. The vehicle has windows throughout, easily accommodates 6 pax in individual seats, contains a cooler with waters and refreshments, and is quite comfortable during the 12 hour game drives. Overall, the vehicle was exceptional!
Next on the menu was the entree, or main course...Serengeti National Park. Driving through Ngorongoro (to get to Serengeti), there were giraffes, zebras, hyenas, gazelle, impalas, leopards, and many other animals. The vehicle traverses the bumpy roads with relative ease and comfort. Many opportunities for photos, pitstops, and washroom breaks. Additionally, the Maasai villages are accessible to travelers. Highly recommend visiting the Maasai as they have a complicated but intimate history with the Ngorongoro crater and surrounding lands.
Arriving at the Serengeti, 4 of the Big 5 sere seen within a few hours (Lion, leopard, Elephant, Buffalo). The Serengeti is a massive area and the game drives offer stunning opportunities for photos and natural animal encounters. Because of its size, there were only a few animal encounters that attracted multiple vehicles. The cheetah photo attached attracted 5 other vehicles for viewing, however the guide positioned the vehicle in an excellent spot in order to capture many outstanding photos. He consistently navigated to spots that would offer the best positioning for photo opportunities. Regardless of the animal and regardless of the number of vehicles present, Champion consistently found the best spots to park the vehicle and demonstrated an uncanny ability to find or wait for the special moments. Lions sleeping in the trees, pride of lions with 9 cubs, leopard sleeping in the grass, wildebeest crossing a river, family of elephants on a morning walk, rhinos grazing, and many other once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Next was back to the Ngorongoro crater for dessert. All of the Big 5 were seen within an hour (Leopard, Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo). The crater offers indescribably beautiful photo opportunities and animal encounters. The landscape photo attached was taken in the central part of the crater. The scenery, the number of animals, and the diversity of animals is undeniably breathtaking. All of this made possible by Champion.
Overall, I strongly recommend Serengeti Smile and offer highest marks and support for Champion. He truly made the trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sincerely grateful for his knowledge, driving prowess, hospitality, kindness, and safety-conscious mentality.
Here is a brief list of the animals seen:
- Leopard
- Rhino
- Lion
- Elephant
- Buffalo (cape and water)
- Cheetah
- Hyena
- Giraffe
- Grant Gazelle
- Thomson Gazelle
- Topi
- Waterbuck
- Zebra (common)
- Wildebeest
- Impala
- Hippo
- Crocodile
- Baboon
- Vulture
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Email Fred | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Exceptional Safari Experience!
We’ve had an exceptional Safari experience with Serengeti Smile! Special thanks to our guide Champion!! Champion is kind, caring, funny and goes out of his way to make sure you are having a great time (not to mention his eagle eye for finding all of The Big Five and every other Safari animal!)!!
CN
Email Molly | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very nice Safari
Pius is very professional and dedicated. Especially, he could identify animals from a long distance. For us, the rhinoceros was just a dot, but he recognized it. The 7-day trip was wonderful. We saw all big five, and it was a particularly happy safari.
CN
Email Harry | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
It's a very good company. I'm very satisfied with everything from the guide to the condition of the car.
Email Brian & Nicole | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional safari tour operator offering a first class service for a once in a lifetime experience.
The safari itself was beyond our expectations. Hussein was a great driver, guide and good company for the full 5 days of the safari. His knowledge on everything from the parks, the wildlife and the local community was great and made our safari very interesting and knowledgeable as well as exciting seeing all the animals. Our safari covered 4 national parks, Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Lake Manyara. We loved each of the parks individually as they are so different in terms of landscape, however our personal favourite was the Serengeti. We managed to see a lot of the wildlife and all but the leopard in terms of the Big 5. This wasn’t for the want of trying from Hussein, however. We expected to see various animals with the highlight being the lions. We must have seen between 20-30 lions which was incredible. Overall we could not recommend Serengeti Smile more as a company to provide a once in a lifetime safari. Big thanks in particular to Hussein for making our trip so special!
Email Michael Ilori | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Brilliant, collaborative and experienced
Serengeti smile worked closely and patiently with me to create the most enjoyable holiday itinerary for mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Our safari tour guide lovely man called Walter was incredible. He had in depth knowledge of the wildlife and safari in general and he was instrumental in making the safari run so smoothly. He went out of his way to make sure that we got the best photos and he gave us incredible lessons about the wildlife. He was spectacular!!! A real gentleman. This was my second Tanzanian trip booked with Serengeti Smile. I visited before in 2023 with my son, I had a lovely time with another equally brilliant safari guide called Deo. It was so good that i knew that I just had to get my wife and daughter to have the same experience. So I brought them to Tanzania in 2025. They both said that it was their best holiday ever!!! Thanks Serengeti Smile!!! Africa is a special continent that gives the world so much joy!!! Hopefully this will be reciprocated and Africa respected in the future.
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Email Gabriela | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Serengeti Smile provided an unforgettable safari experience with excellent planning
I had an amazing experience with Serengeti Smile! From the start, the team was incredibly responsive, and Godian did a great job walking me through the itinerary and helping us plan every detail of our safari. Once we arrived, our guide Simon truly made the trip unforgettable—he was kind, knowledgeable, and an extremely safe driver. He executed everything perfectly and made sure we saw and did everything we hoped for. I highly recommend Serengeti Smile for anyone looking for a well-organized, professional, and memorable safari experience!