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
DK
Email Helle | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent 6-day safari trip (The Great Migration Tour)
We had an absolutely amazing trip with John our driver and guide from Serengeti Smile. We saw so many different habitats and countless animals. John was always very patient with us taking pictures. Accommodations were all good and the food lovely throughout the trip. We can highly recommend Serengeti Smile!
Serengeti Smile is courteous, responsive, and affordable, providing an excellent and friendly guide
We (two couples) had a fantastic time with Serengeti Smile in our 7-day Tanzania safari (Tarangirie, Serengeti/Mara and Ngorongoro) and 5-day Zanzibar beachside holiday. We chose Serengeti Smile as a mid-range provider (even though they are a relatively new company) based initially on the TripAdvisor review score of 5, and then on how reassuring and responsive Frank (the company owner) was in our planning meetings in What’s App and Zoom. He helped us design a customised itinerary that fully covered our various interests, was friendly, courteous and professional right through the organisation process and then during the actual safari, right down to arranging a sunset sail on a dhow in Zanzibar with just a few hours’ notice on our last day.
Our guide Ayubu was also excellent – courteous, friendly, and professional, with excellent driving skills, incredible animal-spotting skills, and a great sense of humour. He clearly knew his way around the parks and had a great rapport with other guides and so was able to get information from them on where they were seeing animals. We must admit that it did take a day or so to gain confidence in his driving skills at what initially seemed to be high-ish speeds over some rough roads. However, after a couple of days we realised he knew what he was doing, as he clearly knew every inch of the many kilometres we travelled. Ayubu was very skilled at placing the vehicle in the best possible place for viewing and photographing animals when there was lots of competition from (sometimes) 10 or more other safari vehicle looking at a lion pride, for example.
Our safari vehicle was a few years old but was comfortable enough with just four of us. Six people and luggage would be a squeeze. Our lodges were also very good, without being 5-star, and the tent camps in Serengeti were impressive in providing roomy spaces with comfortable beds, functional bathrooms, electric lights and even in-tent Wi-Fi facilities, as well as a dining room & bar tent.
And the animals were fantastic – not just the ‘big-ticket’ items like the Big 5, and the wildebeest crossings of the Mara (we saw two!), but the myriad and often ridiculously colourful birds and lizards, the amazing diversity of antelopes and more. Plus, of course, some insight into the lives of the local people – the Maasai with their herds, and the locals in the towns and villages.
Asante Sana
Email Clive | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Made it all about us.
We had an incredible experience with Serengeti Smile.The price was very competitive and accommodations were very good. It's great to have had an excellent guide in Ayubu who was such a fantastic guide that made our trip unforgettable. He was very knowledgeable, real gent, humorous and professional, and his fluency in English was definitely a plus. The fact that Ayubu provided lunch, reference books for different animals including birds plus binoculars in the vehicle also shows that he really took every detail into consideration to insure that my 16yrs Son and I had the best experience possible.
The hotels were of a very good standard, and Frank whom organised our trip was friendly, very communicative, flexible and did his best to accommodate our needs throughout the whole process. We done 6days safari and 4 days in Zanzibar which was also a quality experience from the guided tours to swimming with the dolphins.
Overall, we had an amazing time with Serengeti Smile and Ayubu as our guide. It's clear that they really know how to provide their clients with an unforgettable experience.
Thank you Frank and Ayubu.
Email Kayla & Jaspa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magical experience - great guides, good service and so many animals
My partner and I embarked on our first Safari together. Our expectations were matched by Serengeti smile as a result of their welcoming, informative and chilled service.
They picked us up at our hotel promptly at 8am the first morning, we were greeted with cold bottles of water in the car which I'm sure you can imagine, in the hot weather was very needed! They continued to provide snacks like peanuts and other little bits throughout the day.
As we progressed to the different areas, they provided facts and information about the land, animals and tribes which was good as it adds that educational layer.
The tour guides always seemed like they had our best interest at heart, getting the good spots to see the animals and pointing out little things that we may have missed, for example a Dung beetle pushing a pile of poop with his little friend on it (you can imagine, this is fairly hard to spot in the Serengeti while driving)
I think the experience was good value for money (it was the most cost effective in comparison to the rest of the options), ways in which this trip could be improved is by providing better quality and more thoughtful packed lunch and upgrading the accommodation provided (the first accommodation was a tented camp, which was a great experience but not particularly luxury) however the 2nd lodge was lovely, it had better food options and better facilities. I think my partner and I largely share this opinion due to being foodies and having quite high expectations, so given that I would say the accommodation and food were sufficient but just not up to our standards. I also think that organising the permits well ahead of time would reduce any wait times and delays which in turn would improve the overall experience and make it more seamless.
Nonetheless, we had the most amazing experience - we saw all of the animals except for the Leopard, it was truly magical and we would 100% recommend this to anyone!
US
Email Angela | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Serengeti Smile may this trip unforgettable.
Serengeti Smile is a very professional tour operator. From the minute I book the tour, the communication was excellent. Frank kept us informed at all times and help us to find the best accommodations for our family of 5.
We decided on a private tour since our family is large. Ayub was our driver/ guide. He was excellent!! Professional and knowledgeable. A very friendly traveling companion that makes sure we get informed at all times. His knowledge of the area and eagle-eyed spotting game made our experience unique. We cant' wait to return to Tanzania with Serengeti Smiles.
SA
Email Fadiya | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely organized and a very good company!
Incredibly helpful and amazing team! Godian from head office and our incredible guide Deo who drove us everywhere! Really appreciate his time and enthusiasm and energy very supportive and I highly recommend anyone going on a safari for the first time with him. We got to see almost every single animal we came to see because he took the hard and long routes just for us. Loved everything about this experience and the reasonable pricing.
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!
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.
US
Email Kelly | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
Serengeti Smile gave us an amazing safari experience. Champion, our tour guide, was so knowledgeable about the terrain, animals, and roads (such as they are). The staff at all the accommodations were so friendly and welcoming. We definitely did not go hungry! Champion made the long hours in the vehicle pass quickly. Especially as we saw all of the Big 5 animals…simply awe inspiring. Would highly recommend both Serengeti Smile and Champion for an amazing safari experience!
Excellent in every aspect from beginning to end
Serengeti Smile provided us with an unforgettable experience on our safari adventure in Serengeti.
The organization and service provided by Serengeti Smile were impeccable. From planning to execution, everything went smoothly. The vehicle was comfortable and suitable for the terrain, and Champion ensured we were always safe and comfortable.
Our guide, Champion, was exceptional. His knowledge and passion for nature and wildlife were contagious. Champion took us to breathtaking locations, where we spotted a wide variety of animals, from lions and leopards to elephants and rhinos.
What we loved most was the personalized tour. Champion tailored the experience to our interests and preferences, taking us to off-the-beaten-path locations that other tours don't visit. His dedication and enthusiasm made our experience truly unique.
In short, if you're looking for an unforgettable safari experience in Serengeti, as me and my family were, we highly recommend Serengeti Smile and specially our guide Champion. You won't be disappointed!