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
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great safari with duma!!
The safari we did for 1 week with duma was great. The guide, Ebeneezer, can spot wild animals from incredibly far away. he is a very friendly, knowledgeable and reliable guide. We really enjoyed talking to him about wildlife but not only...he is also keen in speaking about economics, politics and the general situation of Tanzania. We definitely recommend a safari with duma!!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The PERFECT safari experience with an amazing outfit and guide!
I can't say enough great things about our experience with Duma Explore and Shange, our guide. From the moment we arrived they took care of every detail for us. The Duma camp is beautiful, the vehicle is clean & comfortable and the guiding was excellent, definitely ask for Shange if he's available. He has 18 years of experience and was a wonderful person to get to know throughout our trip. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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Email Sam | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wilson Shange was an exceptional and attentive guide. We highly recommend his services.
Duma Explorer Guide Wilson Shange was tremendous. We spent 5 days with him in May. He was very well informed about the area and the wildlife. He is also very well known with numerous contacts in the Arusha area. He is very easy going, thoughtful and extremely helpful and accommodating.
Even prior to our safari, he was accessible and extremely helpful. Two days before our safari, a member of our group needed emergent medical attention. He contacted Shange (his preferred name) who then traveled to the hotel, talked with our companion, suggested (an excellent) hospital, arranged for transportation and then communicated with the hospital staff. When I arrived at the hospital, I was shocked when I learned that Shange was our safari guide. However, I soon learned that this was the type of attention, service and accommodation Shange would provide during our tour.
The safari itself seems to have been from a different world. Being in such close proximity to such magnificent animals and to watch and study their actions and behavior was surreal.
This was our first safari so I can't compare with a safari in the dry season but I felt like we saw a wide variety of wildlife. Maybe not as many animals as in the dry season but the advantage seemed that we often alone. We watched a pack of elephants for about 20 minutes before another safari tour came by and we had an encounter with a lone unruly male elephant for about 15 minutes. That was priceless.
Again, I would highly recommend Shange Wilson and Duma Explorer.
Email Jacqui Whitmore | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing 10 day safari
We booked with Duma in February for a trip this October. Stacy was fantastic about answering all our questions and booking accommodation we requested including specific rooms in hotels as recommended by other trip advisor reviews. This trip was for my 40th birthday and we saved very hard to go and it was worth every penny. We had a private safari.
We were met at the airport by a smiling Isack Msuya, who was a fantastic guide. He has 20 years experience and it shows. His driving was excellent, both on the main roads and in the park. When we went through rivers or mud and the back end of the car slipped he seamlessly slipped into 4 wheel driver and we continued with no pause. We felt safe and secure with him. He cleaned out the Toyota land cruiser everyday and there as plenty of water. As such our windows were always clean. We took our time and did not race around like some of the other companies. Leopard tours in particular always seemed in a rush.
Isaac didn't use the radio to locate wildlife and so we were often viewing wildlife on our own rather than being surrounded by 10 other cars. His spots were amazing. He found a cameleon in a tree whilst driving! How do you spot that. He found us all the big 5. We hoped to see leopards and tigers, but thought this might be tricky and by no means a given. We saw them on the second day, and by the end of our trip we were up to 3 leopards and 5 adult cheetah and 4 babies. We had no idea there would be so many baby animals around. Isack found baby lions, cheetah, warthogs, elephants, giraffe (one was just hours old) hippo everything. The only thing we hoped to see and didn't was the tree lions in Lake Manyara, but there are only about 30-50 left in the park. We saw lions chase and kill, and mating. Isaac had amazing knowledge of every creature and bird we came across and his passion for conservation is amazing.
We didn't know that you could request a guide, and we certainly would recommend Isack to anyone. He was SO friendly and so happy. He met us with a massive smile every morning and it stayed in place all day. He didn't chat for the sake of chatting which we liked, but answered our questions patiently and with interest and enthusiasm and had quite a few funny and interesting tales to tell about his experiences. We had no idea we would see so many wildebeest and zebra. On my birthday we took a balloon ride which was a legacy from my Granny, and it was amazing. It lasted an hour and we saw so much including swooping down over a herd of wildebeest who did the running thing just like you see on the TV, and we heard elephants trumpeting. It was followed by a champagne brunch, where there is plenty of champagne flowing.
I would recommend Northern Serengeti and Tarangire to all as the wildlife are amazing and very plentiful in October and you are away from the crowds of the central Serengeti. That said if you only have a short time, you can and probably will see everything bar Rhino in the centre. Lake Manyara is a completely different park, and were found several companies tried to dissuade us from going here, especially with ending our trip here. You won't see the big 5 here but it is beautiful and we saw elephants, giraffe, hip, baboons, and loads of different birds.
We stayed at Tarangire Safari Lodge in the furthest away tent from he building number 22. We were escorted after dark here and everywhere we went inside the parks. This was a great tent with a proper bed and bathroom, and an amazing view into the valley below where we watched the wildlife. The roar of lions was a little disconcerting. We saw antelope outside our tent and a group of baboons passed by.
In the northern Serengeti which is a long day's drive from Tarangire we stayed at the Bologna camp where the staff couldn't do enough for us, and all your drinks are included. The tent was amazing, and they prepare you a hot shower everyday at your request with 10 mins notice so they can heat the water. Outside our tent were Water buffalo, and the setting was beautiful.
In the central Serengeti we staying at the Serengeti Serena hotel. We requested a top room which had a beautiful view especially at sunset. The staff here were the least friendly and the reception desk rally didn't want to know. They didn't explain anything, and we had no idea we were supposed to wait after dinner to sign a ticket for our drinks, and were made to feel like criminals for walking to the bar after diner. we had assumed giving our room number would have been enough. The security guards and the porter were very friendly.
In the Nogorongo conservation area we stayed at the Sopa Lodge which was beautiful with very friendly staff, and a turndown service which included hot water bottles which we didn't need. We had an upper room with a great view, and if you get here for sunset its very good. We did a crater rim walk which was interesting, but this takes time out of your time in the park. Each fee gives you exactly 24 hours in the park, and we would, with hindsight, have missed the walk and had more time in the crater the next day. Its worth an early morning start too.
Our last night was at the Kirurumu tented lodge, where the staff were lovely but the accommodation whilst initially looking amazing, (you have a tent on top of a building on the cliff edge) actually could do with a fresh coat of paint and some of the wooden boards of the lower balcony were rotting.
The food everywhere was of a good standard and there was at least something for the vegetarian, more if you eat fish. Lunch boxes were massive, and healthy. It would have been nice to see some traditional food rather than European buffets.
We were very sad when the time came to say goodbye to Isack and head back home. It was a fantastic trip and we cannot recommend Isack and Duma more highly.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
We had a wonderful 8-day safari with Duma Explorer. Great driver and guide! He knew very well where to take us so we could see everything we dreamed of seeing! Duma arranged the best places to stay and was so kind to welcome us in their head office in Arusha. We felt very welcome and supported in case we would need anything. They organized a great quality trip!
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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.
US
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.
US
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 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.
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