Join us for your African adventure!
Alika Africa
- Offices In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- Association for Promotion of Tourism to Africa
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $1,500 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
Email Dan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent safari experience in northern Tanzania
DUMA provided an excellent safari which we will remember for a very long time.
We are a family of four with two teenage boys who visited Tanzania at short notice in August 2018. I did a fair bit of research on safari companies in Arusha and emailed a few ahead of our trip. DUMA stood out because of the promptness of replies, their willingness to put together an excellent itinerary based on the budget I told them I had; and the excellent communications throughout. Miriam patiently answered the many questions I had very promptly. Everything worked like clockwork.
They put together an excellent schedule for our 5 day trip at short notice. We visited Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We stayed 2 nights in Karatu at two excellent lodges (Marera Valley Lodge and Country Lodge) and 2 nights in the Serengeti at Kati Kati Tented Camp. All the accommodation surpassed our expectations. Fantastic places to stay with great food.
A special mention should go to our excellent guide, Ebeneezer, who accompanied us throughout. He was a really careful driver and also had an amazing knowledge of the wildlife. He had an uncanny ability of finding the most spectacular animals. We saw the big 5 and then the big 9, amazingly close up! Highlights were the elephants, cheetahs, leopards, lions, hippos, hyenas, jackals, giraffes and, amazingly, a rhino in the middle of the Serengeti, but we saw every animal we could possibly imagine plus lots more. The bird life was another revelation and Ebeneezer identified every bird we pointed out. He gave us really interesting information throughout the trip.
Ebeneezer also went out of his way to make the trip work to our requests. He offered to drive us to the north of the Serengeti to try to find the mass migration (we opted not in the end, because of the length of the drive, but ended up seeing the rhino instead!) He also put in an unscheduled stop for us at the Olduvai Gorge on the way out of the Serengeti, at our request. Finally, aware that our safari was relatively short, he took us out every day from 6am until twilight so we could maximise our wildlife viewing.
Safaris can be quite full-on and 5 days actually worked well for us. DUMA gave good tips ahead of the safari, such as suggesting bringing a buff to help keep dust intake to a minimum on the bumpy, dry roads of the Serengeti (we definitely recommend doing this, or even a proper dust mask!) Our boys absolutely loved the trip, as did we adults. Safaris are never cheap but DUMA seemed to offer good value in comparison to other companies. Finally, there were nice touches like the replica of the land cruiser made out of recycled material given to us at the end of the trip, by which we'll remember it; plus unlimited bottled water throughout. We had a great time. Thank you.
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Email Megan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience!
My husband and I celebrated our tenth anniversary by taking a trip to Tanzania, and we used Duma Explorer to set up our trip. What a great decision that was! I contacted several other operators and I’m sure they’re fine, but we selected Duma because they asked a lot of questions about what we wanted, answered endless questions of mine, and really seemed to get what we were looking for.
I wanted to make sure that we had a combination of activities while we were there – not just being in a vehicle all the time – and Duma made sure that we had exactly that. We had several cultural activities and hikes through our two weeks in Tanzania, and the combination was just perfect.
We started our trip by spending a couple nights in Machame at a lodge that Duma recommended that had a great view of Kilimanjaro. One of the things we wanted to do was to see if we could do some charity work, and Duma recommended the website packforapurpose.org. Through that site we were able to find an orphanage in Moshi, and we spent an afternoon delivering toys and clothes that we’d brought over. It was a great way to start the trip!
The next day our guide picked us up, and we started our safari adventure – two nights in Tarangire, two nights in Lake Natron, three nights in northern Serengeti, two nights in central Serengeti, two nights at the Ngorongoro Crater and one night at Lake Eyasi.
I’ve heard that your guide can make or break your trip, and our guide, Isack Msuya, definitely made it! He was nothing short of phenomenal. It was clear from how other guides interacted with him that he is widely respected. He understands animal behavior so well – we were able to get some terrific pictures because he could predict what the animals were going to do. I have some terrific yawning lion pictures as a result, not to mention a rhino mating, and more! We saw everything that we hoped to see and so much more.
To give you an idea of how awesome Isack is, I’ll share my favourite Isack story. We were coming back to our lodge after hiking Empakai Crater, and stopped at the Ngorongoro Crater over look. There were a lot of vehicles there – probably about 20 – and all the people (and guides) were there taking pictures. Some of them had been in the Crater, and were saying that they hadn’t seen a rhinoceros that day. While we were taking pictures, Isack comes up with his binoculars and says, “Do you see the three rhinos down on the crater floor?”. Sure enough they were there – and no one else had spotted them! Needless to say, Isack made a lot of people happy that day.
A review of Duma isn’t complete without mentioning the Duma camps – Kichuguu, Kiota and Chaka. We stayed in all three, and all three are terrific. They all have their own charms, and there would be no question as to where we would stay when we return to Tanzania. A very nice thoughtful touch was one night when we were at Chaka Camp, the staff baked us a cake, and then came and sang to us since we were celebrating our anniversary.
It was a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary, and Duma made it all easy and such as fun experience.
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Email David | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolute trip of a lifetime with my family - led by the exceptional guides at Duma Explorer!!
My family (10 people) had been planning this trip for a long time. We could not have been more pleased with the results. The guys that led us on safari, Isaac and Alex, were perfect throughout the entire trip. There are so many ways to describe their superb jobs. They were patient, knowledgeable, so cordial and so persistent to be sure we saw what we needed to see throughout the trip. We saw EVERYTHING imaginable, the Big 5 and so much more!! We were always aware of every days plans and times to be ready to hit the road. We had lots of ages represented, from six years old to 70 years plus, and the guys treated everyone with the utmost regard and respect.
I cannot speak more highly about the entire experience from start to finish and the folks at Duma Explorer. Every pre-trip question we asked was answered promptly. We knew what to bring with us and what to expect once we got there. The food, the facilities, the individual hosts at the various lodges we stayed at were just exceptional. This was a trip of a lifetime for sure!!
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Email Susan | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful safari experience exceeded our expectations in all ways.
Ten family members ranging in ages from 6 to 75 years experienced a 9-day safari with Duma Explorer. We traveled in 2 vehicles with two wonderful guides, Isack and Alex, going to parks in Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater. The wildlife we saw was amazing. We saw every animal on our list of "things to see" including lion, cheetah, leopard, elephants, zebras, buffalo, rhino, hippo, wildebeest and much more. Isack and Alex were both knowledgeable and provided us with lots of information about the country, the countryside, the flora and fauna. The lodges and tent camps where we slept were way above my expectations in terms of comfort, service, and food. I was shocked that we had wifi reception in every accommodation. We especially liked Kiota Camp, which is owned by Duma Explorer, where we stayed for 2 nights. The tents were comfortable, luxurious and spacious with a bathroom featuring stone sinks and beautiful wood trimming. The hot water for showers was "on demand", provided by the staff who filled the bags on top of the tent with hot water when we requested it. Duma Explorer was great at meeting the needs of our diverse group. Our trip included 4 walking safaris/hikes and there were options for the oldest or youngest if they chose not to participate in these more active days. As it turned out, everyone participated in everything except for one hike down (and back up) about 1800 feet to the floor of Empaki Crater. When I got home, I made a list of birds and animals that we'd seen and realized that if you're a birder, you should not miss Tarangire National Park, where we saw about half of the almost 100 species of birds that we identified. This was our first safari and it far exceeded my expectations in every way. It was certainly the trip of a lifetime (and we have traveled a lot in North America, South America, Europe, and New Zealand). I highly recommend using Duma Explorer if you are considering a safari in Tanzania.
HK
Email Ricky Lam | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best journey ever!!
My wife and I came back from Tanzania last week. We have been the most enjoyable journey of a lifetime.
First of all, we had thoughtful arrangements by Duma explorer's big boss-Stacy. All accommodation and food are excellent. We are so pleasure that the staff at the place where we stayed know that this time is our honeymoon trip. We were very happy to make arrangements for special preferential services.
Two nights at Kiota Camp was the best stay we had ever stayed in Tanzania. Thanks a lot to the manager and his staff. They were very nice, kind and helpful. We were satisfied with the accommodation that was so comfortable in the wilderness. It’s really wonderful experience.
We would like to pay special compliment to their excellent safari tour guide, Chaduu. During these eight days, he took care of us very well and carefully. In the safari trips, through his professional skills and keen sense of touch, we saw more animals than others. He had the same good visual abilities as a zebra, and his sensitive ability to predict so that we could saw the scene of a rhinoceros and eight lions hunting three antelopes. Chaduu was a pioneer a lot of time, and the tour guides of other companies followed him a lot. He is an animal dictionary and can explain to us at any time that each animal's habits and characteristics are quite professional. I can feel that he is a person who loves nature and loves his job. Thank you for arranging him as our guide.
We love him a lot!
Duma Explorer is the best ever!
AR
Email Luciano | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Safari
We had the best safari ever.
This company ensures your safari is great. We spotted the big 5 and spent an amazing week
Thank you so much
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Email Scott | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible guide, wonderful food, out-of-this-world experience
My wife and I visited Tanzania for the first week of 2018, and we could not have found a better way to see Tanzania than with Duma Explorer. The owners were very accommodating and helped us with our itinerary, even as our plans changed somewhat close to our arrival date, and provided us with an amazing opportunity to visit four of the parks/conservation areas in northern Tanzania. From Arusha we visited Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Oldupai gorge, Serengeti, and Tarangire, all in five days filled with animals. One special highlight was seeing a mother leopard and her cub playing on a fallen branch, very near the road.
Our trip would not have been nearly as memorable without our guide, Alex. I am a professional archaeologist in the US and as a result I have known a lot of guides, scientists, and rangers, but I have never once met someone as accomplished as Alex. His eye for animals was the most impressive skill I've ever seen in anyone working in the wilderness. He could spot and identify things a mile away, even if they were as small as a jackal or a mongoose or a bird. But what was even more incredible was his alertness, no matter the time of day or the conditions. Not only was his skill unparalleled in my experience, but he never missed a beat over the course of five days of game drives. It was truly a privilege to ride with him, and without his expertise we would never have had the experience that we did. On top of all of that, he was very interesting, and great to talk with on the game drives and at the end of every day.
We cannot recommend Duma Explorer, and Alex, highly enough. We count ourselves incredibly lucky to have had the safari that we did, and it was all thanks to them.
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50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of our best private tours anywhere in the world, with a great guide
My wife and I went on a two-week safari with Duma Explorer this April, 2015 and it was a great trip; one of the best private tours we’ve taken anywhere in the world, and at a very good price. The owner Stacy planned the trip and we were guided by Shange. We were initially concerned about spending two weeks with someone in a Land Cruiser, but we particularly liked Shange, who was lively, fun, knowledgeable and particularly good at spotting animals. He has guided Prince Philip and actor Daniel Craig (James Bond). When my wife needed to contact her doctor back in Atlanta he helped her make the call immediately on his own cell phone. He’s one of our favorite guides, ever. He speaks perfect English and gave us a rich sense of Tanzanian culture and wildlife, filled with history and stories. (He has also started his own small school for poor children. He will talk about the school if you ask; we got a chance to see some of the adorable children at the end of the trip.)
It worked well to plan the trip by email and a Skype call to Stacy and we were able to tune the trip to our needs (mostly comfortable tented camps, combining cultural experiences with seeing animals). We stayed the Ndarakwai Ranch in West Kilimanjaro to get over jet lag, Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tarangire National Park, Isoitok Camp in Masaai county near Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge overlooking Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge overlooking the crater, and the Kiota and Chaka camps in the Serengeti. All were comfortable with good food and service.
Our trip was at the end of the rainy season when it’s cooler, less crowded, less dusty and less expensive, but also was sometimes more difficult to see cats in the high grass. (But Shange was able to find a lot, anyway).
Some particular high points of a great trip:
• Walking safari in the Ndarakwai Ranch; we will always remember seeing elephants and giraffes for the first time in nature.
• Spending time with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherer tribe, Datoga tribe and the Masaai near Lake Eyasi. We got a glimpse of how these people live, not very different from centuries ago. Shange and the local guide Hasim were able to visit tribes off the beaten path.
• The Isoitok Camp has extraordinary food and deep commitment to providing clean water to nearby Masaai villages.
• Ngorongoro crater is a Shangri-La for animals; we saw thousands in a few hours.
• The Kiota and Chaka tented camps in the Serengeti, owned by Duma Explorer, were extraordinary: comfortable with remarkable service and a sense of being in the bush, but perfectly safe. Kiota, the newest camp, has hand carved dual sinks in the ensuite bathroom!
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Email Mark Johnson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We still talk daily about this fantastic trip!!!
We decided to book with Duma after reading Tripadvisor reviews and exchanging e-mails with Duma and a few other tour operators out of Arusha. We felt Duma best offered the type of trip we were looking for, and were easiest to work with, compared to other tour companies we contacted. We not only got the trip we had dreamed of, but even more than we anticipated. A friend of mine who had been on safari in Tanzania a couple of times, plus several other African safaris, suggested an itinerary that focused mainly on the Serengeti, and less (or no) time at other standard places to see. Stacy not only worked with us on that itinerary, but made suggestions that enhanced our plans. We wanted to splurge to do a balloon ride one day, but were willing to sacrifice in other areas to keep our budget in line. Stacy was fantastic at getting to understand us, and make appropriate suggestions for us, to allow us to do just that. Also, we had done a lot of research on Tripadvisor about the various camps in the Serengetti, Tarangire, and the Ngorongoro Crater. Stacy adapted our plans so that we could stay at the camps we felt strongly about, and provided what proved to be sound advice, about some of the other camps we considered. She was even able to get us into a particular tent at one camp - one that was farthest from the dining area, with a view unavailable to other tents. For the record, we stayed in Tarangire at the Tarangire Safari Lodge, we stayed in Serengeti at Duma's Chaka camp, Buffalo Luxury Camp, and Lemala Mara camp, and lastly at Ngorongoro Crater we stayed at the Sopa Lodge.
Being a rather anal engineer, I had many detailed questions about all kinds of things that would pop into my head during our planning, and then after our booking. I am used to planning for contingencies in my job, and many of my questions had to do with oddball "what if" scenarios. We booked our trip in Feb 2014, and until we arrived in Arusha in Oct 2014, I was sending Stacy these types of questions, which she always answered promptly and pleasantly.
Once we landed at Kilimanjaro Airport, the rest of our two weeks in Tanzania was as worry free as could be. Everything went as smoothly as possible. The accommodations were amazing. I gained weight at every camp, because the food was so good (the soups as the first course of most meals was incredible). Duma even made sure we had very little rain during the rainy season!
But, the main reason we booked a safari was to see wildlife, and boy did we see wildlife!! Our terrific guide was Michael Mlolo; a guide with 30 years of experience! He was not only a great guide for the big game (we saw over 100 lions, 11 cheetahs, 5 leopards, and 4 rhinos), but he knew every bird that we saw, and was patient spelling the names so that my wife could write these names down. When we got home, we started going through our photos and tagging them with the different species - we have not found a single instance where Michael's identification does not match what we confirmed on the Web. Michael is a very kind man, but also very protective. And, although we did not leave fluent in Swahili, Michael would always share Swahili words for things with us (Duma for instance is the word for Cheetah!). I'm sure there are plenty of good guides at Duma, but Michael Mlolo must certainly be the best one!! Absolutely, if we ever make it back to Tanzania, we will book with Duma, and request our new friend Michael to be our guide again.
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Email Banugopan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
We (friends) organized a hiking trip to Kilimanjaro with Duma. Since we had extra days we also arranged for 5 day safari. We took the 8 day Lemosho route to Kilimanjaro. The hiking trip was well organized. All our organizing was done through email and Stacy who is one of the owners of the Duma outfit took care all of the email communication and organizing. Once we got there Duma took care of all the organizing and we just followed them. Even morning coffee was brought to our tent both in hiking and safari. Probably all companies do this but we felt like royalty. The three lead guides for kilimanjaro had very good knowledge about the plants and animals during the hiking. Since we booked both hiking and Safari through them, they even picked us up and dropped us back from and to the Kilimanjaro airport. We wanted to cover all the major parks for safari from Arusha. Serenghetti was 8 hrs by road from Arusha. Stacy suggested that we fly from Arusha to Serenghetti to save time in order to spend extra time watching wild life. Boy was that a useful suggestion. It was only a 40 minute propeller plane ride. Jonathan our safari guide picked us up from the serenghetti airport to start our safari. Jonathan our safari guide was very resourceful, he even new the names of all the birds in the parks. We saw lion and Cheetah hunting, Leopard in the trees, Serval on the side of the road and we even got a brief glimpse of the elusive Caracal. We stayed at the Chaka camp managed by Duma. It was an awesome unforgettable experience.