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Sercar Serengeti Wildlife Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2019)
- Member Of:
- TTB, TALA, TANAPA, BRELA & NCAA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $2,000 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
NL
Email Jesse Hartland | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Attentive, Professional and Adaptable organization that puts your safety first above all.
What an experience to remember. Our driver (Nova) had numerous years of experience and you can definitely tell with the knowledge he had about the wildlife in Tanzania. We had loads of questions and he was able to answer all of them. Even when he didn't know the information or ander off the top of his head, he had loads of books ready to refresh his memory and teach us as well. Our experience was a collaborative approach, we asked our driver what he needs from us to ensure the best time possible, he mentioned that all we need is patience and flexibility. With these two principles in mind, we got the most out of our experience. Seeing beautiful animals, both flaura and fauna and even some predator action. All in all, it was one for the books and would highly recommend Serengeti Wildlife for your safari trip!
IL
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Accommodating, professional and amazing
John was amazing since the moment we arrived he greeted us in the hotel and explained us everything. He made sure everything was on the spot and made it very professional the even manage to get us upgraded for the honeymoon and great lodges in the Safari. We really enjoyed our Kilimanjaro and Safari trips. Really recommend and will book again if come back.
IL
Email Dolev | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst experience I've ever had with a tour operator
I traveled with John in August 2025 on a classic eight-day safari trip.
The trip involved serious organizational failures, but most importantly, I am still waiting – five months later – for the return of several thousand dollars that were paid twice and never refunded.
This was neither my first nor my second time in Tanzania, and I am very familiar with how such trips are supposed to be run. At first, John made a pleasant impression and responded quickly to messages, which is why I chose to hire his services. However, already at the very beginning of the trip, he made an utterly unreasonable number of mistakes – mistakes that should not happen even over ten trips. He failed to book some of the hotels, made pricing errors, booked the wrong room types, booked different hotels than those we had agreed upon, and even got reservation dates wrong.
Throughout the entire trip, there was a constant feeling of a complete lack of transparency, as if John was repeatedly trying to mislead me. Even when he came to my hotel in person to try to resolve the issues, it did not help, and the situation only became more frustrating.
All of this is very serious, but the most troubling issue occurred when John asked me to pay again for flights from the Serengeti to Zanzibar – an amount of roughly $3,000 – even though I had already paid him for these flights in advance. He claimed that his bank was giving him problems and promised that the money would be returned to me within a few days.
Five months have now passed. During this entire time, John has not denied that he owes me the money. Instead, he repeatedly promises – almost every week – that he will return it, only to postpone or disappear at the moment he is supposed to pay. This is not a financial dispute or disagreement over services; it is a case of money that was clearly paid twice and never returned.
I waited until now in the hope that the issue would be resolved and deliberately refrained from writing a review, despite the fact that the overall experience alone justified a negative one. Unfortunately, I have now given up and am publishing this review.
I am currently considering filing a formal complaint against John with the relevant authorities so that his license can be revoked.
Anyone reading this review who has made it this far – I strongly recommend staying away from John and not booking anything through him.
Reply from Sercar Serengeti Wildlife Safaris
Posted on Jan 15, 2026Thank you for sharing your feedback. We take all reviews seriously, and we regret that this guest feels dissatisfied with aspects of their experience.
It is important to clarify that this safari was confirmed as a last-minute booking, finalized approximately 72 hours before travel during peak season (August). Many of the luxury lodges and specific room categories normally require reservations of at least one month or more. Despite these constraints, we successfully secured alternative accommodations of comparable standard and delivered the full safari program, including all scheduled game drives and services. That said, we acknowledge that the necessary last-minute adjustments were not aligned with the guest’s expectations, and for that, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused.
Regarding the duplicated payment for internal flights, we acknowledge that the refund process has taken longer than it should have. This delay was not intentional, and we apologize for the frustration it has caused. The matter has remained under follow-up, and we are committed to bringing it to a full and proper resolution.
We would also like to emphasize that this review represents one case among more than 50 verified reviews, with an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars. The majority of our guests report positive experiences, many return to travel with us again, and a significant portion of our business comes through referrals something we value greatly.
Serengeti Wildlife Safaris is a licensed and registered tour operator in Tanzania, and we remain committed to transparency, professionalism, and continuous improvement. We respectfully invite the reviewer to contact us directly so we can finalize the outstanding matter and close this issue constructively.
To future travelers, we encourage you to review our complete review history and judge us by the consistency of our service, our communication, and our long-standing commitment to delivering memorable and responsibly operated safari experiences.
SE
Email Susanna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extremely professional and went the extra mile at all times.
Definitely one of the best safaris I’ve ever done, I have done multiple in Tanzania and this was truly so special and well organised. The organisers went the extra mile to care for us and answered questions 24/7 before and during the trip and made us feel very special. I went with an 18 years old girl on her first trip outside of Europe and even she felt safe and well looked after during the whole trip. Specially our driver Nova did an amazing job. Thanks so much for this unforgettable experience. Definitely recommend.
CH
Email Ray | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
wonderful experience
An unforgettable family experience!
We had an absolutely amazing family safari experience in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. Everything was perfectly organized, and we were lucky enough to see the Big Five, which was a truly magical moment for both adults and children. A huge thank you to John, whose communication was always clear, reassuring, and professional. He was always available and very attentive to our needs, which made the experience even more enjoyable. We leave with incredible memories and highly recommend this adventure!
The best agency for Safari in Tanzânia
We done 2 incredible days in Safari by Serengueti Wildlife agency . We visit Tarangire park and Norongoro crater . The excursion was perfect , everything was in time , the places are amazing . The Lodge was great and confortable . The Food during the trip was delicious .
We are grateful to John and his staff
Email Suresh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, personalized safari trip for our family of 4, highlight includes viewing ALL big 5
While finalizing the tour operator we had several options and quotes. Our criteria was to go with a local operator (to support them) at the same time who can provide us personalized and more immersive tour ensuring we learn and experience local culture, flora and fauna. Now that the safari is complete, highly recommend John and his Sercar Serengeti Wildlife Safaris, we couldn't have asked for more.
John and his team were extremely accessible right from the time we sent the inquiry to welcoming us in Tanzania to following up during each day of the safari till the send off from Tanzania. Our safari included Serengeti, Ndutu (calving), Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Manyara.
All the accommodations were booked as expected tailoring it for our family of 4 (sometimes with connected rooms)
Our guide, Emmanuel was a local Maasai with deep knowledge of the local culture, flora and fauna and helped us find, view ALL big 5s. Other highlights include, viewing Cerval, a nocturnal cat few times, viewing Cheetah and cubs in Ndutu, hard to find Rhino in Ngorongoro
We also had strict vegetarian diet preference which was handled by John and his team every day and each of the accommodations.
SE
Email Cristian | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid at all costs if you intend to go to zanzibar
We had a 12 days private tour organized with Serengeti Wildlife Safaris.
The first part of the tour was in mainland Tanzania, with a climb to Kilimanjaro and a safari to ngoro ngoro. The part was good, and close to what was advertised.
However, the leg of the trip to Zanzibar was an absolute nightmare.
They booked the wrong hotel, we paid for a 5 star resort on the beach and they booked for a three star in the middle of a village, which cost a fraction of the price. When we asked to immediately fixed the problem they could not as they had “liquidity issues” so we were left on the Christmas night in the wrong (awful) hotel and had to rebook a new one at our expenses and by ourselves. We were lucky enough to get find a nice bungalow on the beach in a close by hotel, but it was expensive and we had to pay for it and the food, which was supposed to be included in their all-inclusive offer.
On top of that, they were supposed to deliver boat trips that were not organized and never happened, despite them receiving the whole amount agreed upon.
We asked for a partial refund, a symbolic amount of 900 USD (compared to multiple thousands USD we incurred in because of their negligence), they agreed, but after one year we are still waiting for the money, and they constantly play with us saying that they’ll soon send a payment.
They have not behaved as a professional tour operator, absolutely avoid, especially if you intend to got Zanzibar.
Reply from Sercar Serengeti Wildlife Safaris
Posted on Nov 7, 2025Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are truly sorry to hear that parts of your experience did not meet your expectations. At Serengeti Wildlife Safaris, we always aim to deliver exceptional service and unforgettable experiences across all destinations, from the Serengeti plains to Zanzibar’s pristine beaches.
We’re glad to hear you enjoyed your Kilimanjaro climb and safari adventure, and we deeply regret the challenges you encountered with the Zanzibar segment of your trip. Unfortunately, on rare occasions, external booking and availability issues during the peak holiday season can lead to last-minute changes beyond our immediate control. However, we fully acknowledge that this situation caused you inconvenience, and for that, we sincerely apologize.
While we understand your disappointment, we want to assure all future guests that such cases are extremely rare, and our management has since reviewed and strengthened our Zanzibar partnership network and booking systems to ensure this does not happen again.
At Serengeti Wildlife Safaris, client satisfaction is always our top priority, but as with any service, we understand that despite our best efforts, we may not be able to satisfy everyone 100%. What matters most to us is learning, improving, and maintaining honesty and care in how we serve every traveler.
We appreciate your feedback as it helps us grow stronger and better. To our future guests reading this, we remain committed to offering transparent communication, professional service, and authentic Tanzanian experiences trusted by hundreds of happy travelers every year.
Warm regards,
John Danford
Founder & CEO
Serengeti Wildlife Safaris
CN
Email Martin | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great service and flexible schedule
I booked both 6-day Kilimanjaro Machame route and 5-day Safari with the company and it turned out to be a great experience.
I acclimated well in Kilimanjaro and communicated with the guide Ami to descend one day in advance. They helped adjust the route and added one more day of city tour in Arusha without additional fee except for accommodation.
They assigned a guide Sam (for the city part) and it was one of my favourite parts in the full journey to explore the city, which proved to be a great balance between natural scenes and local culture.
The safari was more tiring than I expected to drive on the bumped road. However, the guide Ali was very experienced, like other guides, they all have over ten years of experience, so he could always spotted the animals in distance. He found a serval in Serengeti and it’s a rare experience.
Overall, the trip with Serengeti wildlife safari was a nice and correct choice.
NL
Email Bas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best safari experience I could imagine
So after sending many quotes to alot of companies I decided to go with this company owned by John. The quote looked great but what would await me was even better. Because of the high season some of the accomodations where not available so we had other ones than that we saw on the quote, but they where much better. For the safari we had experienced guides and we where lucky to see the big 5 in 5 days of safari. The guides had a lot of knowledge about flora and founa and also about history and geography, so every question someone asked would be answerd, and they even liked being asked questions because it challenges them to think.
Overall I would really reccomend booking here if you want a unforgettable safari