Amshar Serengeti Adventures

Lacks organization and needs consistency in services

We recently booked a safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro, followed by a few days in Zanzibar, through Amshar Travel Agency, with destinations we personally selected (Mara River, Central Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Villa Kiva Hotel in Zanzibar).

Overall, the wildlife experience and destinations were absolutely outstanding. Serengeti in August is incredible, and we were lucky enough to witness the Mara River crossing of the wildebeest migration, along with a huge variety of wildlife. The safari experience itself exceeded expectations.

Our safari guide, Major, was excellent throughout the trip. He drove safely, had a great knowledge of wildlife, and shared interesting information without being intrusive. He struck a very good balance between explaining things and giving us privacy, and was consistently patient and professional. A big credit to him.

The safari vehicle was suitable for game drives inside the parks—spacious and comfortable. However, on normal roads it felt quite old and slow.

There were, however, some organizational issues at the start of the trip. Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, we were met by a driver (not our safari guide) who was supposed to take us to Arusha for a same-day flight to Kogatende Airstrip in northern Serengeti. Unfortunately, the agency had not communicated the flight details or timing to him. When we arrived at the airport, the driver was unsure about the situation and even asked if we had the tickets.

This created confusion and stress, and only at that point did we receive the airline booking confirmation via WhatsApp from the agency. We then realized we had only about 30 minutes until boarding. Despite going through security and trying to make it, we unfortunately missed the flight.

The agency did try to resolve the situation afterwards, and arranged for us to be taken to a hotel in Arusha, with a new flight scheduled for the next morning. As a result, we lost half a day of our safari itinerary. While apologies were given, there was no form of compensation or gesture offered for the inconvenience.

The hotel in Arusha was average, slightly unorganized, and the food was also below expectations.

The following day, everything continued smoothly and we began the safari properly with Major.

The camps during the safari were mid-range tented camps. Heritage Mara Camp was decent but fairly average. Kon Tiki Serengeti Camp was excellent, both in comfort and overall experience. Ngorongoro Wild Camp was acceptable, but located quite far from the crater without a clear advantage to justify the long drive.

Food quality varied depending on the camp, since breakfast and dinner were taken there, while lunch was provided as boxed meals during the day. The lunch boxes did not match what was described in the itinerary (which mentioned more “fine dining” picnic-style meals), and were quite basic overall. Kon Tiki Camp offered the best food experience among the camps.

In Zanzibar, Villa Kiva Hotel fully met expectations. The location is beautiful, right on the beach with sunbeds just steps from the sea. Service was good, and the food—mostly à la carte—was excellent. Special compliments to the chef.

In summary, the wildlife experience and guide were outstanding, and Zanzibar was a very relaxing and high-quality stay. However, better organization, clearer communication, and more consistency in services would significantly improve the overall experience with the agency.