Good Earth Tours & Safaris
- Located In:
-
United States
Canada
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1995)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, TATO, IMEC, BBB & KPAP
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $220 to $550 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
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Email Alex | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unfortunately, Can’t Recommend
This review is long but explains why we would not recommend GoodEarth after two weeks and two excursions with them. We were on back to back safaris with GoodEarth; we did the Kilimanjaro Machame Route Hike and Serengeti to Masai Mara safari from June 25-July 10. We really REALLY wanted this company to work out for us as we spent collectively nearly $12k (USD) on everything and it seemed promising. However once the tour was handed over to the Arusha based team - things quickly fell apart.
It started at the airport for pickup. We landed 4:30pm on a Sunday and were told we’d be greeted by our driver with our names on a sign. We waited and waited and reached out to all the WhatsApp numbers we were given multiple times before we were informed the hotel driver had the wrong name on the name plate. So we waited for nothing. That was our first impression.
We had sent an email to the Arusha office a week prior to landing about renting gear for Kilimanjaro but they weren’t prepared at all. We had to scramble at 9pm Sunday for our Monday morning climb. The morning of the climb - our tour guide, Fredy, forgot to bring some of the gear with him. On our way to the trailhead he asked US to purchase the gear he forgot to pack. We gave him a stern “No”, then he went and found the cheapest gear possible and it leaked our entire climb. Fredy was nice enough, but an EXTREMELY lazy guide. He needed to make frequent stops, was always late, and didn’t want to do anything for himself. At every meal he would call a porter from across the camp to come serve him food that was right in front of him. The entire time on the mountain we listened to him whining and ordering the porters around. It was deplorable, honestly. The last straw for me was when we missed our highly requested and once-in-a-lifetime sunrise on summit day by an hour because Fredy “didn’t want to be cold”. Luckily, Nestory was the assistant guide and respected our time on the mountain. Most of our hike up and the entire hike down was led by Nestory, as Fredy was too tired, too late, or too slow to meet our needs. We were so grateful Nestory was there and we should’ve insisted on him being lead guide on summit day to make the sunrise. The porters were great, especially Reuben and Ola. And Paul, the chef, was amazing - he even went out of his way to make us local food when we requested it. We were extremely grateful to reach the summit and for the rest of the climbing team.
As an apology, the company paid for our laundry and gave us free hats, which was really nice, but the time and opportunity lost (and money spent) were gone forever.
On our safari we ran into issues with the office apparently not paying the park entrance gate fee, causing an hour delay on our game drive at Serengeti. (Luckily the ranger in the gate office eventually had mercy on us and let us in.) At another gate, GoodEarth somehow didn’t realize the gate didn’t accept cash. So I had to use my personal credit card to pay our entrance. ($320 USD.) We were also delayed at that gate for an hour.
We did send our issues to Ndashy (the manager), but he only referred us back to Rose in the office. Rose was incredibly sweet but perhaps was overworked, hence the disorganization and mistakes.
No matter which company you choose, the type of guide you get is the luck of the draw. Your guide makes or breaks your experience… During our Serengeti safari we had Elias, who checked in with us frequently and made sure we were ok. He wasn’t quite as charismatic as other guides we’ve had, but he’s good. If you’re the quiet type, he could be a nice fit. Elias also helped me surprise my husband with the hot air balloon ride I had secretly booked to celebrate our anniversary. He was so clever in helping me convince my husband we were going for an late night/early morning game drive and I’m forever grateful to him for that! My husband had no idea and the surprise was priceless. We can’t recommend our Masai Mara guide - I’ll leave it there.
Maybe we were just very unlucky with GoodEarth. But it was significant enough for us to not choose them again or recommend them to loved ones. Beside that, obviously the animals and nature were absolutely unforgettable and we hope to visit Serengeti again…
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Email Michelle Steele | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Organized Safari Company
Our meet and greet at the Kilimanjaro airport was so friendly and helpful and put us immediately at our ease. The Tour Guide Joseph whom we spent the week with could not have been more approachable, friendly and just went out of his way to make our holiday the best he could.
The accommodations and places we visited were all great.
I would surely recommend the safari with Good Earth Tours for the memorable Africa Safari.
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Email Anitha | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Perfect Personalized Safari Experience!
My wife and I just came back from a 10 days safari in Tanzania and it was AMAZING.
We selected Good Earth Tours as our tour operator and couldn’t be happier with our choice. We had contacted a few other companies but Good Earth Tours was the only one that responded to our many questions in timely manner and gave us appropriate advises all the time.
We stayed in amazing camps and lodges (mostly Serena Hotels) and were all of great service with very nice meals.
We had Moses as our guide. He is very professional and incredibly knowledgeable about the parks, history of the country, the culture, and especially the animals and birds. With his expertise we were able to an insane amount of different species of animals and birds. We were very pleased with both our driver and the safari vehicle.
Would highly recommend Good Earth Tours for its very personalized service without reservation.
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Email Ashley | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari Exceeded Expectations!
Good Earth Tours exceeded our expectations and made our honeymoon truly unforgettable. Everything was taken care of from the moment we arrived at the airport, to the moment we departed. Narry, the co-owner of the company, was very informative and honest. He never pressured us into booking and never misled us, as other tour companies had done. After doing a lot of research, I found that Good Earth Tours offered the best value for the accommodations and game drives we were receiving. Other companies were charging thousands more! Narry made the planning and booking process very easy for us, and I was confident that we would be in good hands. He answered every e-mail and any questions we had very quickly, even on his own personal days off. Upon arrival, Narry went out of his way and took the time to greet us on the first day of our trip! Richard was our tour guide for the week. He was very kind and personable. He ensured that we saw everything we dreamed of seeing on our safari and more! He was extremely knowledgeable. He answered all of our questions and provided us with a lot of information about the animals, villages, and country. He helped make every moment of everyday count, as we enjoyed game drives from sunrise to sunset. Every day was exciting! Richard took us through Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Central Serengeti, and the Northern Serengeti over the course of the week. It was the perfect itinerary for us. We were so fortunate to end our safari by observing huge herds during the Great Migration, and we even saw a huge wildebeest herd crossing the Mara River! Richard ensured that we had the best views and knew exactly where to take us. He was an excellent driver and we always felt safe. We returned home with the most beautiful photographs to show our friends and family. We were very grateful to have Richard with us for the week! Our jeep was very comfortable and was cleaned after each day. Every lodge and camp that Good Earth booked for us was extremely clean, had excellent staff, and amazing food. We were always comfortable and very well fed! We would highly recommend Good Earth tours to anyone looking to book an amazing safari and trip of a lifetime!
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Email Dwight | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome Safari Experience
Just Awesome Trip!
From the point of our first communication with Narry (US office in Tampa) to the moment we made the weeklong safari booking Safari, everything was flawless.
The service was organized at a high level. Transfer from the hotel and back in a comfortable Land Cruiser for a long trip (8 days) in rough roads especially in the Serengeti and Tarangire.
Great organization. Very friendly and helpful staff.
I would highly recommend Good Earth Tours for safari in Tanzania.
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Email Julie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond our expectations!
We went on a safari in Tanzania with Good Earth Tours; and it was an experience that I will never forget- it was by far one of the best experiences of my life.
Everything was quite well planned for us down to fine detail! The accommodations were spectacular and the food exceeded our expectations!
Our tour guide for the Safari (Abdul) was superb; always checking that we were OK and helping us to see all animals and birds we had on our list!
The overall service was excellent and I would highly recommend Good Earth Tours!
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Email S.S. WEST, Tulsa, OK. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Earth Tours and Safari MADE our trip the Best EVER!!
There are NOT enough Good words to say about Good Earth! From our first phone call (Baraka), the excellent, immediate follow up to the Incredible, Beautiful, comfortable lodges with Great food and last, but not least, our Wonderful Guide, Gerald L! We know there is a ton of planning behind the scenes and we were very thankful but being with Gerald, every day, just MADE our trip what it was. His expertise on everything was over the top from every animal, bird, history of the crater, the serengeti and just all of Africa and he Enjoyed teaching us! Gerald's happy and sincere personality made us look forward to each and every day! Their "trucks" were very comfortable and Gerald made sure WE were comfortable and noticed everything we liked to eat and drink so he surprised us daily. On our return, we would not use anyone but Good Earth Tours and we are so grateful for the memories we will have the rest of our days, thanks to Gerald and the entire company!
S.S. West, Tulsa, OK.
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Email John | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Amazing Journey with Good Earth!
From the beginning booking with Baraka who offered suggestions was willing to accomadate to my request it went so very smoothly. Once on the ground Joseph the guide, driver was extremely knowledgeable about the animals, birds and trees. He also seemed able to predict which path the animals would take so that I was in a position to view these wonderful animals. Ausman the cook made some delicious meals a and was a source of information about modern African history. Their colleague Albert, in Kenya was also very knowledgeable and respectful of the animals. This trip far exceeded my expectations. I saw the Big 5 and so very much more. The wildebeest migration is a bit overwhelming so many animals. If I ever make it back to Africa I will be traveling with Good Earth Tours. I will recommend them to my friends and any6interested in Safari.
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Email CMP | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Earth provided exactly the type safari we sought and we had an amazing and wonderful experience
My husband, grandson and I wanted to use a local company for our Tanzanian safari and after researching options on Trip Advisor, we settled on Good Earth Tours and Safaris. I’m grateful that we did. Good Earth provided exactly the type of safari we sought and we had a most amazing and wonderful experience. We were able to completely customize our itinerary, so we stayed exactly the amount of time we wished in each of the four national parks we visited and were able to choose our accommodations in each of the locations (2 tented camps and 2 lodges). Our stellar guide/driver was perfect – professional, experienced, reliable and hospitable. The four of us in his Land Cruiser were a team for the duration of the safari, he handled everything perfectly and his knowledge was truly encyclopedic. Our grandson commented more than once that we never asked him a question that he didn’t know the answer. He always guided us to terrific photo locations and arranged the schedule so that we were there at the right time for the best light. The beautiful trip pictures we have are in large part because of him. Our trip truly was perfect for us and our gratitude is boundless to all the Good Earth staff involved with it. This experience always will be one of the jewels in our travel crown.
CA
Email Lori S | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5-Day Safari
I never dreamed our safari would be as awesome as it was! And thanks go to our Good Earth Tours driver/guide - Aaron Richard. Aaron seemed to have an intuitive sense when it came to finding animals...even the elusive ones, like the rhino, cheetahs, and leopards. He has been a safari guide for 13 years, yet he seemed genuinely as excited to see the animals as we were! We saw pretty much every animal living there; we saw the Big-Five many times over! Zebra's, wildebeast, giraffe, hyenas, lions, cheetah, leopard, rhino, hippo, elephants, birds of all kinds, warthog, fox, turtle, crocs, monkeys, and more! We saw animals eating other animals, animals fighting, playing, sleeping, eating, and animals mating.
If you are going to Africa for a safari and want a guarantee that you will see lots of animals, then book with Good Earth Tours...and ask for Aaron Richard!