Ecological Wilderness Adventures
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2005)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TALA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $2,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
EXCELLENT OPERATOR: differentiated from the "Big" operators, please read this review
You have read the other GREAT reviews of Ecological Wilderness Adventures and I would agree with them. So I will focus on what differentiates Ecological from the other operators that we came across on our safari. Also, I encourage you to reach out to me if you would like to discuss in detail. Brian and the staff at Ecological Wilderness have my contact email. As a side note, my sister and her husband have PhDs in Biology and have extensive travel experience all over the world. They selected Ecological Wilderness Adventures over many other choices they had!
So Why are they different??
- A smaller operator allows you to have flexibility that you don’t get with the BIG tours
o Ability to adjust start times in the morning, meal times, or stop times
o Ability to tailor your trip to your specific tastes and desires for wildlife or plant life, etc
o Ability to select/ adjust accommodations that match your budget and tastes
o Ability to alter vehicle arrangements for your group as needed
- We interfaced with several other people on safari with BIG operators and commonly heard:
o Most common complaint was being tied to large group and “herded like cattle”
o Other complaint was not having a voice to adjust anything
o Few complained the tours were primarily in a language they didn’t understand if they were a
small party dominated by a larger group
o All we talked to quickly understood the benefit of a smaller operator as soon as we explained it,
often in a “AH HA” moment like a light bulb went off!!
o If you have a small group (aka your family) then you want a great small operator= Ecological
Wilderness Adventures
- Brian and his staff at Ecological are extremely knowledgeable about all types of wildlife and plant
life. This includes big animals to small birds and all type of vegetation.
o Personally, I was stunned at the depth of knowledge but they go to school for years to be such
informed guides
o Even the two Biology PhDs on the trip were extremely impressed
- Brian and staff are wonderful people and great to spend time with
o They were extremely helpful before the trip (how to prepare, what to bring) and answered every
question we had
o During the trip, they were a pleasure to be with and learn from
o They even dealt with our more difficult group members in great fashion
- The accommodations and food were wonderful. The soups were amazing.
- Ecological was great with the children on our trip who ranged in age from my 5 year old daughter
to a 15 year old teenager. All the kids loved the safari and the guides.
Closing comments from me…
First off, GO TO AFRICA!! Tanzania is WONDERFUL!! It is a spectacular experience that should not be missed while it is still unexploited. This was not on my list to do but was the best trip of my life. My family organized the trip and I took my family simply to be part of the group. Now, I can’t wait to return.
Second, as you can read above, I strongly encourage you to use Ecological Wilderness Adventures with Brian and his wonderful staff. They truly are outstanding!!
Finally, as I mentioned before, feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss further. I have already referred many interested parties to Brian with confidence. Enjoy your trip!!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent safari, highly recommend
We traveled with Ecological Wilderness Adventures in July 2014. We had an excellent time and would highly recommend Ecological to others. Leading up to the trip, Brian was very helpful - always fully answering our questions and responding to emails very quickly. We knew we did not have to worry about organising any aspect of the trip as Brian had it all covered. He planned well for special food needs - with good vegetarian options - and organised a nice birthday cake and celebration for one member of the party - a great surprise!
On the trip, Sammy was our guide and we had a wonderful time from the very beginning. Some of our group had been on many safaris before, and we were impressed with Sammy's guide abilities relative to other trips. He was very adept at finding what we were looking for, and was very patient in seeking out the best animal sightings. He was also a lot of fun and our group enjoyed the trip quite a bit!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari company with local roots
We booked a 6 day lodge safari with Ecological Wilderness Adventures in June.
Brian was very quick to react to all our questions and requests. He is a man with great knowledge about the country, the national parks and the Tanzanian wildlife.
The safari was perfectly planned and we practically didn't need any adaptions. All accommodations had a very high standard. Especially Serengeti Savannah Camp, which is also operated by Brian was a real treat. A camp in the middle of nowhere that made you feel very close to nature, yet offering all the comforts a european traveller can hope for.
Kappia our very knowledgable and friendly safari guide is a great guy. He gave us lots of explanations about wildlife and birds and was also a perfect ambassador for his country. After the 6 days we felt like we had learned a lot about Tanzanian culture, politics and various questions that he never got tired to answer. He also showed us interesting places in Arusha and helped us rearranging the trip spontaneously when I got sick for one day.
With Ecological Wilderness we felt in very good hands and at the same time had the feeling to support a company with local roots, rather than an international corporation.
Thanks again for this wonderful experience!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari of our dreams
This experience was just what we wanted. We learned lots of new information, saw more animals than we could possibly imagine, stayed in comfortable and beautiful locations, ate delicious food, and were so sad to leave our guide at the end. I would highly recommend this company for their incredible professionalism and well tailored itineraries.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Mt Meru-Tarangire-Ngorongoro Safari
I only have great things to say about the personalized service, efforts to adjust to changing itineraries and wildlife movements, and overall content and experience while going on safari with Brian and his Ecological Wilderness Adventuress. He did an amazing job of making our trip incredibly enjoyable, satisfying, comfortable, and worth repeating. His natural history expertise including local culture, environments, and wildlife species were always evident and appreciated by each in our party. Hiking, birds and mammals, and tasting the diversity of local communities were important facets of my trip and he was great at trying to accommodate those needs. Highlights included close encounters with elephants at Tarangire, rhinos and lions in the Ngorongoro, sharing a lunch with Masai children, hiking on Meru, and just relaxing after each incredible day. I will not forget this great adventure and hope that we can enlist his excellent services again and for a much longer time. I highly recommend them. Asante sana, Brian and company!
Email Jim & Eileen Givens | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Adventure with Brian!
Dear Brian,
Thank you for a fantastic safari! Our whole family, including our son, his wife and their two children (ages 11 & 13) said this was the trip of a lifetime. We saw so many animals and had so many great experiences together, thanks to your terrific leadership. As we all agreed, there was at least one amazing highlight every single day!
Your knowledge of the wildlife, geography, local customs and history made this an educational experience for all of us. We appreciate you being so responsive to our family’s needs and interests in planning our itinerary and throughout the safari. You were very patient in answering our many questions, and your good humor added to the fun! The logistics, food and lodging were superb. Each place was special in its own way, and we liked the variety of sites. Even “roughing it” in the tented camps was hardly an inconvenience. Instead, it put us into the middle of the wildlife experience, including looking out of our tent at 2:00 a.m. to see a cape buffalo face to face just a few feet away!
This was not our first safari, but it was one of the best. We will tell all of our friends and acquaintances that if they want to go to Tanzania, they definitely should go with you!
Thanks again and best wishes to your family.
Jim & Eileen Givens
Email Stephen Hadley | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!
I would like to thank Brian and Baraka for putting together a custom 6 day trip of a lifetime for me and Kappia for being an excellent driver, guide, and companion on my trip. For my photography tour, I was taken to all the best wildlife locations , stayed in excellent accommodations with perfect service and world class food. The Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire Parks are unforgettable and the close encounters with a wide variety of wildlife is second to none.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful company! Fabulous experience!
We can't recommend this tour group highly enough! Before our trip, we were easily able to communicate directly with the owner Brian and his colleague in the US, Ken, to customize a two week tour just for the six of us. Sammy was our guide - highly knowledgeable, patient with those of us who kept telling him to stop for yet another picture, reliable, and very entertaining. Sammy could identify every bird and beast we saw, had a great eye for photography, and knew right where to situate our vehicle for the best animal viewing! Brian's tented camp in the Serengeti was one of our favorites - the food was great and the service excellent (including someone to do our laundry!), not to mention the wildebeests and zebras everywhere. We'd highly recommend a trip to Lake Natron where you can see thousands of flamingos and hike to a beautiful waterfall on the Ngerasero River. And be sure to hike down into Empakai Crater. And finally, definitely go hunting with the Bushmen and stop to meet the Datoga tribe. Ecological Wilderness Adventures truly made our trip the experience of a lifetime. Call or email them if you have any questions. They will be quick to respond.
Experience level: first safari
Great safari
Brian is a superb guide with excellent knowledge and skills. He showed us a fantastic array of animals and provided us with much information about the area. His accommodations were fine, food good and staff outstanding. Would love to return.
Email Ingrid | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and always willing to please
Brian was a very knowledgeable and vigilant tour guide. He has a fantastic memory and was able to name the vast variety of birds and animals on our 12 night tour of Tanzania. He does not know how to say 'No' and went out of his way to meet our requests, which exceeded all our expectations.
We saw the Big 5 and the Little 5 and the tour was able to tick all the boxes for my husband and myself. as this was our first trip to Africa. We travelled with another couple, our very good friends from Virginia (USA) and all of us had a fantastic time. The accommodation and food was excellent and the communication from Brian was clear and helpful. I am not a camping person and am generally fussy with my food but I had no complaints. Brian promptly responded to all our emails and text messages and the tour was very well organised. We went on to Kenya to see the wildebeest crossing which was truly amazing. A must see.
This was a trip of a lifetime. Thanks for the memories Brian-it was a memorable trip.