Owners Ines & Christopher
Indigo Safaris
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
United States
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, APTA, FGASA & DEMA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $60 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Bev | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This tour operator provides a first class service
Communication with Indigo Safaris was excellent as our trip was planned at the last minute. All our accommodation was beyond our expectations and and the actual safari was just awesome. Thankyou for planning our perfect holiday.
FR
Email Vincent B. & Sarah T. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
P-E-R-F-E-C-T !
My wife and I have booked the 4-Day Selous Ngalawa Safari with Indigo Safaris at the end of October 2019. Our contact was Corinne Bly and she was perfectly professional : efficient, clear and nice. Nevertheless, it's impossible to write a review beyond on Indigo Safaris. It was just the service provider for the booking. The one that has leaded our safari in Tanzania was Bush Routes. But, once again, the service was perfect.
Just on little critical on that point : the information about our service provider during the safari was not clear. Corinne Bly told us that our tour will be conducted by their partner, Ngalawa Camp (the place were we stayed for nights in Selous). Actually, the real service provider was Bush Routes. Corinne Bly also gave us the name and the phone numbers of two contacts from Bush Routes but there was a changing of last minutes for our guide and we were not informed. In short, even if everything was fine, it would be better to be clearer, more transparent on these information, just to reassure the tourists that just dont't really know who they're really dealing with.
For the rest, everything was just perfect. A chance for us, even if we're supposed to share the tour with other tourists , because of a lack of booking on this period, there were just the two of us, with the guide, Romani. He is a truely good person, and professional too. That was one of our best meeting in Tanzania. He was a really good guide, and we've learnt a lot with him. We had the chance to share all those four days with him, including meals at Ngalawa Camp. Discussing with him about everything, even about life in general, was really really interesting and precious.
The program of those four days was nearly perfect and in compliance with what was announced : on the first day, Romani took us at our hotel in Dar es Salam, and we've drived for nearly six hours, across the villages. It was contemplative. After a short rest in Ngalawa Camp, we took a boat for a safari on the river with other tourists from the camp. It was so peaceful, and still contemplative. We've seen a lot of animals and we've watched the sunset on a little island. And the second and the third day, we've driven all the day, from about 7.30 a.m. to 05.00 p.m. in Selous Reserve. How to summarize it : it was just wonderful ! Even if we've read that it's not the most beautiful in Tanzania, and even if there are not all the animals we are expecting to see (for example, no rhinoceros), Selous Reserve is not crowed of tourists, and it's really appreciable. And there are so many things to see ! Contemplative, again and again. A little disappointment about our last day, specially the walk in the reserve. Clearly, it is a truely touristic attraction. It's quite interesting to walk in the bush after two days in the car, learning about trees and animals prints, bones and... poops, but it too formatted. And it's quite unpleasant to face an insisting guide (not Romani, a guide from the reserve) asking for a tip. So, this part of the safari was not necessary, on our opinion. We had more fun on our way back to Dar es Salam . We had two car breakdowns, especially the brakes (!), but it was like a part of the "folklore" : Romani (that is an outstanding driver and also a mechanic) fixed it quite easily, and it was for us a time to stop in a village.
Finally, about Ngalawa Camp, there are only good things to say : when we book a safari, there as so many offers that it hard to know what is good or bad, specially when you have a little budget. However, even with a little budget and a booking for budget tented camp outside Selous Reserve, with no doubt, it was wonderful. Ngalawa Camp is lost in the bush and is a real peaceful place to rest. The view is also contemplative (again, again and again !), and the common places really lovely. At night or in the very morning, to sit on the terrace of the restaurant, having a drink, a dinner or a breakfeast, watching at sunrise or sunset, by candle light, discussing with other people, was truely precious. The staff is incredible and generous, from the manager to the cooker. The food (breakfast, lunch, dinner and water included !) was so good and in quantity. They make you feel at home. As for the budget tented camp, don't be afraid ! These are more bungalows than tented camp : the walls are tented camp, but on a cement slab, with private bathroom. A lovely place for an honeymoon !
We absolutely recommend Ingido Safaris, Bush Routes and Ngalawa Camp !
Email David samms | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic trip to Namibia
Thank you Ines for organising a fantastic trip to Namibia. After working as a tour guide in Africa for Guerba 19 ago years for 5 years I wanted to take my family back to see what I had experienced. To organise a trip to Namibia at fairly sort notice at peak season you did wonders, your speed at replying to any requests, questions and keeping us informed was great. The trip itself was wonderful the only thing we had an issue with and could have been highlighted was when we got to the airport at Heathrow we were informed by Virgin that we needed birth certificates for our children to enter Namibia otherwise we couldn’t board the plane. A hour of frantically making phone calls and getting them scanned and sent to us got it sorted. So just a caution to any one else taking kids under 18 to Namibia. Apart from that everything ran smoothly and was a wonderful experience. The only place we were disappointed with was AfriCat due to our expectations from their website and all the signs as we entered the game park, that we would be seeing a range of African carnivores from Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs to Wild Dogs. In actual fact we were only taken to see 7 captive cheetahs, and their stated aim of the rehabilitation of these animals and was no longer happening. We were charged a lot and felt disappointed with the tour we had.
I would recommend Indigo to all my friends and colleagues so thank you again Ines for all your hard work in organising our trip, you gave us a truly wonderful and fantastic trip our family will never forget. We will be booking again with you THANK YOU
Reply from Indigo Safaris
Posted on Aug 20, 2019Hi David, thank you for your feedback, we love making people's travel dreams come true, and Ines and Corinne are specialists in the art.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Okonjima and the Africat Foundation. Okonjima is a lion-free reserve, it is never promoted as a lion area, neither by the reserve or us. The Africat Foundation's lion project is in northern Namibia, and this is explained on their website and in situ.
Okonjima has different optional activities. One is a visit to the foundation, where they explain the conservation challenges facing African felines and other carnivores, and show the facilities they have for hosting injured and orphaned animals. The number and type of animals in house changes constantly and there is no guarantee that their will be any Wild Dogs in for care.
The orphaned cheetah that the clients are guaranteed to see are habituated to humans due to the necessity of being hand-reared and thus cannot be returned to the wild. In fact, the foundation stopped releasing rehabilitated cheetah onto the reserve at the beginning of 2019 due to increased post-release mortality from inter-species competition with the healthy leopard and brown hyena populatons. A link to a report explaining why in more detail can be found here.
https://africat.org/cheetah-research/
Given the conservation challenges facing the declining cheetah population, particularly in Namibia, I'm glad they do what they do, and seeing seven cheetah at once could be considered an excellent opportunity to observe and photograph these beautiful felines, of which there are barely 7000 left, up close.
The 550 Namibian dollar (approximately 37 USD) fee charged per adult (half-price for kids) goes to the running costs of the foundation and the excellent work they do at Okonjima and their northern reserve.
To see leopard, one needs to sign up for the optional leopard tracking game drive. They take place twice daily and involve a 3-hour game drive in an open-sided 4x4, looking for some of the wild leopards that have been collared for research purposes. For some, this is one of the highlights of their Namibian experience, and rounds off a trip nicely as leopard are notoriously hard to see normally, and this activity presents the best chance of seeing them in the wild in the country.
There are also guided and unguided Bush walks in the predator-free area close to the lodge, the unguided walks are free. I believe it's a good place to stop off between Etosha and Windhoek. I will make sure we point out that it is understood that there are no lions there, that Wild Dogs are not always being treated.
Best regards,
Christopher Bartlett
Managing Director
Email Debbie and Derek Payne | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dream come True - 19 day Namibian/Victoria Falls/Botswana Adventure
We would happily recommend indigo safaris to organise your holiday. We had a few ideas on what we would like to do, the accommodation type and travelling we were happy with, but were struggling to put it all together. Ines responded quickly to our request, and sent us ideas on how to collate our trip to Namibia, Victoria falls and Botswanna. We exchanged a few e mails, and, everything fell into place very easily. Payment was simple through a gb account.
Our trip turned out to be be far better than we imagined. Everything went smoothly apart from a delayed flight with Namibian Airways. Our guide Rudi was a star throughout our tour of Namibia. He had a passion for his country and its peoples and wild life which he shared with us throughout our trip. We always felt safe in his care, and he went out of his way to help us enjoy our first visit to Africa. His knowledge of his country was extensive and we were sad to see our trip come to an end. Expect very bumpy roads and long days, with early starts but it was worth every bump to experience such diversity. The landscape is stunning.
After leaving Namibia, we flew to Victoria Falls, which is needless to say a must see. The sunset cruise on the Zambezi is lovely, but our early morning experience of a lion encounter was incredible. It's a must do.
We flew into the Okovango delta in a light aircraft and stayed two nights at Odd balls camp. If you want to have time out this is the place to go! The delta was very low on water but we enjoyed the trekking walks with our guide who again was a fountain of knowledge. We were lucky enough to come across lions on our very last morning.
Thank you Ines, it's been an amazing Trip. Your help and guidance made it happen.
Debbie and Derek Payne
FR
Email wenli | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience! recommended!
In general I am very happy satisfied with the "fish eagle" 10 nights trip, whole new experience,safari itself exceeded my expectation, the guide and chef are very professional,which made the trip unforgettable, I recommend! .... only very small remark, it could be better to tell the participants there is no need to buy drinking water since there is a filter system in the car, as well as the rent of sleeping bag could be charged at the beginning together with the Safari fee
Indigo isn't making trips to Namibia by themselves
I've found the nice reviews of Indigo Safaris looking for a trip to Namibia. To my enquiry about the price for "6-DAY SAFARI & DESERT EXPERIENCE - GROUP ACCOMMODATED" with additional 2 nights pre- and post tour and airport transfer I got 21900 NAD. Only after asking isn't it the tour that costs "from 15720 NAD" (according to indigosafaris.com) we ended with 17800 NAD with additional percentage for paying by card and for conversion to EUR. We corresponded quite long and a had a feeling that something not said. Only after asking direct about the group size, Corinne Bly whom I communicated with, wrote it was not a trip of Indigo Safaris. The tour was good, the guide - perfect, but decide yourself if there's sense to pay commissions for a dealer, - or just look for Chameleon Safaris (or anybody else) when going to Namibia... And it's recommended to ask about the max group size and max places in the vehicle (we were 8 what was optimum, - for the maximal group of 12 the vehicle wouldn't be convenient)
Reply from Indigo Safaris
Posted on May 23, 2019Hi Zivile, thank you for booking with us and leaving a review. Let me deal with your points.
We never claim to operate the tours we sell in Namibia, as a travel agent we sell tours that we have tried and tested, and we NEVER add anything on to the tour price. If the local operator sells at 17800 Namibian dollars, we sell at 17800 Namibian dollars. We make our margin by buying it at a discounted rate, just like any retailer.
The 15720 price was the rate that ended 31 March 2019, and was still current when you made your enquiry, but you booked a tour departing after that date, hence the difference in price. Most tours have seasonal rates. Hence the 17800 rate for the standard tour after 1 April 2019 is the correct price, and understandably adding extra nights and services increases the cost.
By booking through us, you get a range of different locally operated tours to choose from, all trusted partners, with the safety of booking through an international travel specialist. On top of that we can offer a range of extensions and combinations that local partners do not, with completely impartial advice, all combined into one invoice, saving our clients the trouble and cost of making multiple international payments as we can take payment in a range of currencies (USD, GBP, AUD, EUR, ZAR) all at no cost if you pay by bank transfer to one of the currency accounts above. If you choose to pay by card though the secure third party portal we use, the cost varies from 1.4 to 2.9% depending on the currency chosen and the domicile of your card.
Unlike banks and credit card companies, we do not charge a conversion fee or a foreign transaction fee (typically 3%). The rate we use is the rate we buy the foriegn currency at, which is about 1.5% off the mid-market or interbank exchange rate on xe.com, that no bank actually gives, and is generally better by 1.5 to 2% than most high street banks. So our clients get the best exchange rate possible, and if they bank in one of the currencies above, typically they have no bank transfer fee to pay.
Nothing is ever "not said". If you ask about group size for example, we tell you. It is even stated quite clearly in the itinerary on this website. As you wrote here, you asked about the group size she told you. When clients book they all recieve the name and contact details of our partner in-country, as you did. I'm sorry you feel that somehow being given all the information you asked fo
and being given a choice of cost-effective payment methods downgraded the experience you describe as having a perfect guide and an optimum sized group to. 3 out of 5.
Christopher Bartlett, Managing Director, Indigo Safaris.
Email Kaylene | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
100% Perfect!
Right from the first email Ines from Indigo Safaris was amazing. I left things a bit late to organise so availability was the main issue. Ines found lots of options for our trip and worked within our requests. Everything went smoothly,not a single hitch. We did a fly in lodge safari in Botswana before spending a few days in Victoria Falls. All our accommodation was perfectly suited to our small family.
So happy I stumbled across Indigo Safaris and would 100% recommend them
Thank you Ines :-)
PL
Email Lucy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Perfect Botswana tour:)
Everything was really perfectly arranged, all transfers were on time and we were welcomed at the reception desks.
We liked chosen accommodation very much and order of our route was also well thought out.
We appreciate all efforts and the result:)!
Contact was easy, fast, nice and productive:)
Email Neil and Alison | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very happy with trip to Tanzania - Dar, Selous, Stone Town and Zanzibar Beach
We were originally apprehensive as all our trips we arrange direct with each hotel/airline/guide etc
Ones did a great job listening to what we wanted and communicating along the way
The trip went to plan and we were very happy
US
Email Ronna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great tour! Very pleased
We booked a 3 day camping safari in Chobe with indigo safaris. The communication leading up to the trip was very good, clear and no questions left unanswered. Very prompt replies and good follow up. Kalahari tours is who actually serviced the trip and the logistics were perfect. I have absolutely no complaints about our tour and would do it again in a heartbeat. Highly recommended.