20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be my Valentine
I got a chance to have a last minute Valentine's booking in Vicfalls done this past February. From accommodation, dinners to activities everything was planned for me at very short notice...I got to enjoy the experience of the Vicfalls without the hustle of planning anything...Will definetly be having touch the moon tours plan the rest of my holidays
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very personable and made sure our tour experience was catered specifically to us!
We had a wonderful time on our safari! Our communications with manager, Sylwia, were so positive. Everything that we wanted to do was catered to us specifically and we basically made up our own safari experience. Our tour guide was great and the Camp Bastian staff were amazing! Everything was very clean and the food was delicious!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime, the best experience in Ngorongoro crater
Tanzania Roadside Expeditions was a fantastic choice. After contacting them with our very specific request (a single day+night to Ngorongoro crater), we were given a full itinerary for the day, options for what we wanted to see and where we wanted to stay and more.
Upon arrival, we were picked up from the airport, driven to our hotel in Arusha and told the schedule for the next day. Boxed meals were arranged for, and we set off early the next morning to the crater. Our guide, James, was incredibly experienced, well spoken and we could not have asked for a better guide. We spent the day in the crater and James explained to us stories and the backgrounds of each animal. With his perseverance, we were able to see lions within a couple of meters of the vehicle, elephants literal steps away and new animals around every corner. In the evening, we were taken to the Serena Hotel Lodge which overlooks the crater to unwind for the day.
Throughout the journey, James was very considerate and knowledgeable making stops at the best places for souvenirs, currency exchange and even to take pictures by Lake Manyara.
Our experience was fantastic and we can't recommend it enough.
The Fazals
https://i.imgur.com/ZzL0zRN.jpg
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Trip- friendly and knowledgable service and a once in a lifetime experience!
We booked a 5 day Safari for our spring break and could not have been more pleased with the service and experience. From before we arrived we had all our questions answered and had incredible customer service while booking. David our guide for the Safari was absolutely amazing- friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about all the animals we saw. He answered every question we had (and we had a lot!) and we learned so much about the culture of Tanzania as well as the animals. Each stop we made only got better along our trip and we saw so many animals including over 30 lions, a leopard and rhinos! I would highly recommend African Scenic Safari to anyone- it was a once in a lifetime experience due in large part to our wonderful tour guide!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great organization for our Kilimanjaro tour!
Very professional, with timing, service. Very caring and good attention to the details. We joined a group going to Kilimanjaro through Lemosho route. It was perfect and well organized, even when I had some altitude sickness they helped to reach Uhuru peak. Our group of 6 all made it to the top. We would recommend this company to everyone travelling in Tanzania!
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent experience
I used It started in Africa to organize our safari in Tanzania and we couldn't have chosen a better Tour Operator. From my first email, Bernard was extremely helpful and He guided me, listening to my every need and desires, in order to create a custome-made safari, which would fulfil our dreams.
Once in Tanzania, our driver Deo was waiting for us at the airport and he has proven himself a great and very knowledgeable travel companion; thanks to him, we saw so many animals in all kind of situation. We went to Lake Manyara, to Ndutu, to Ngorongoro and to Serengeti. Each of these parks were wonderful and all the lodges and tended camps suggested by Bernard were just outstanding.
So do not hesitate if you want to have a superb experience in Tanzania and enjoy a problemless safari and stay, It started in africa will do everything to help you!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really wonderful, exceeded expectations
The safari tour was really magical, to see so many animals and a fascinating new culture. The tour guides and overall experience was also very positive. The company gave good attention from start to finish and enabled me to get the most out of my two days there. I especially appreciate it when having booked on such short notice.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing tour, perfect guide, private, wonderful stay, great food, perfect comfort, saw the big 4!
Nice and easy, hassle free, no negative experience or surprises. Everyone was adorable, the animals and enclosure is by far the best I've seen
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience for a lifetime!
In December 2017 we were looking for a safari. Since we wanted to contact a company in Arusha directly - instead of hiring a travel agency in Germany - we wrote several emails and tried to find a company which meet our demands. This is really hard as there are soooo many! Once you are on safari you will see all the different logos on the spare tire. Everyday we saw a company we haven't seen before.
ORONGAI is a rather young company. It started their business in October 2017. When we contacted them in December 2017 there weren't many reviews online. Still, the few reviews available were really good.
Martha (email contact of ORONGAI) always answered immediately and tried to satisfy our wishes.
We told Martha all our plans, wishes and price range. After all we booked a safari for 7 days and 6 nights, beginning in February 2018, with a mixture of tented camp and lodges:
- night 1 & 2: Haven Nature Camp
- night 3: Seronera Wildlife Lodge
- night 4 & 5: Ndutu Safari Lodge
- night 6: Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge
On day one we visited Tarangire Nationalpark. On day two we saw Lake Manyara. Day three was a bit traveling all the way to the Centre of Serengeti (Seronera). Day 4 we did some game driving in the Centre of Serengeti and drove to the Ndutu Lake after lunch. We stayed there for day five and the morning of day six and did game driving in the southern part of Serengeti. After lunch on day six we drove to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We did game driving in the crater on our very last day, where we also finished the big five with a rhino.
We had a privat car with our guide. Therefore we were able to decide everything. The speed of traveling in the Nationalpark, wether to move on or stay at some place to do more game driving and observe big herds of elephants or sleeping lion.
This really was the PERFECT SAFARI for us! We had a combination of different parks and different campgrounds and lodges. We really enjoyed the campground because it was really quite, the food was great and we sat together with our amazing guide Isaac. In the lodges the guests and guides sit separately. Something we found strange...
We were super lucky with our Guide Isaac. Isaac is super friendly and funny. He laughs all the time, sings and really is full of energy. We enjoyed every day with him and are super grateful for his amazing job! Also, he is a really experienced driver and guide!
He knew that we wanted to keep up with the park rules and stay on the roads. While other tourists and guide rush all the way through the park and leave the tourist roads we wanted to respect the nature and animals. And for sure we did not regret this choice because we saw 43 lion, 4 leopards (one baby leopard), several Cheetahs and thousands of elephants, zebras, antelopes, giraffes...
The nature and parks are super different. While we saw sooo many elephants in Tarangire Nationalpark, we only saw five elephants in Lake Manyara. Therefore we didn't see any zebras in Tarangire but saw a lot of them in Manyara. Therefore I would not want to miss out on one of them! We would definitely recommend to visit all the parks as the wildlife and vegetation really depends on the weather which can change quickly. Before booking the safari we did some research as we wanted to watch the great migration which - at that time of the year - was supposed to be in Ndutu area. But as we were in that area we realized that there was much more wildlife in the Seronera area because it had rained there a couple of weeks before. Had we focused solely on the Ndutu area, we would probably have been disappointed.
We saw really special things like a leopard in action, a hunting lion etc. Without Isaac we never would have seen all of this. He always knew where he would need to go!
Thank you Isaac and ORONGAI for our amazing safari!
We will never forget this experience and will highly recommend ORONGAI to everyone we know who wants to do a safari in Tansania!
Important advise: take binoculars with you! ORONGAI has some but they aren't too good. We took our own with us and we super happy about that! Even our guide Isaac always searched for animals with our binoculars. Also, bring cash for the payment as there charge you extra if you want to pay with credit card!
Experience level: over 5 safaris
Brilliant personalized trip of a lifetime
We (a grown up family of 5) have just returned in February from a fabulous, unique 7 days in Tanzania thanks to the fantastic organization by Wild Root Safaris. The trip was flawless, seeing the migration and just about every animal and variety of game viewing we could have imagined (eg. Lush vegetation and waterholes in Manyara, silky endless plains in both the central and southern Serengeti and surprisingly fantastic monkeys, giraffes, lakes and mountain scenes in the lesser traveled Arusha National Park. Freddie, our guide, knew everyone, had great knowledge of the animals, birds and vegetation, was never in a rush, always ready to leave early and would let us take time to observe the animals in their natural state (as close as practical) and with plenty of time for photographs (from the best vantage point). Yet we made great time between venues. Our personalized tour was a mixture of basic and luxury accommodation and full of searching for the animals whenever we wanted. A key suggestion is to treat yourself to a stay at Kuba Kuba camp for one night – it is the most remarkable setting in the Serengeti; tented camps are great and don’t be afraid to use the less expensive accommodation outside the parks (Eileen’s Tree house was great) – all food was brilliant; do a balloon trip if you want total serenity and to observe the beauty and expanse of the Serengeti (it is more memorable than just animals); and, when traveling, don’t expect to see animals hunting each other – they live mostly in harmony.
As with others reading this, I am sure when starting you have no idea which company to choose – all reviews on the internet seemed good but after sending a few emails, Wild Root turned out to be very different. The company rang us spontaneously on What’s App and worked with us directly to organize a great itinerary. Mathew a proud co-director from Tanzania, bent over backwards to organize what we wanted, not what the company wanted. They willingly changed venues and costs and also fully explained the costs of every part of the trip. This is really important because Tanzania has endless Park fees and the company cannot avoid these. They also had new spacious well set up vehicles (with the essential 24/7 charging station and fridge). Just a note to others – do not worry about transferring the large amount of funds to Tanzania – it worked seamlessly – just for peace of mind stay in contact with the tour company. Thank you immensely Freddie (we will always be prepared to shout you a beer) and Mathew – your concern for us and the local people is incredible - we are so glad we selected Wild Root. It was truly the trip of a lifetime!