DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our Zimbabwe trip was fantastic and unforgettable
I wanted to go to Zimbabwe to see the Victoria Waterfalls. My friend didn't have Africa on his to-do list at all but decided to come along. I convinced him that he should experience at least one game drive while we were there. I organized the trip direct with a Hotel (Livingstone Lodge) and a travel company (Cultural Vibes Travel and Tours), both located in Victoria Falls. We stayed at Livingstone Lodge for 5 nights and all the activities we undertook at Victoria Falls were arranged for us by the very friendly and helpful Livingstone Lodge staff. Most organized tours only spend a day or two at the Falls but we were glad we stayed longer. We did a 2-hour guided tour of the Falls in the morning and then stayed on in the Park by ourselves into the afternoon. It's easy to walk around the 16 lookout points on the Zimbabwe side by yourself but it's interesting to also get the history from the guide beforehand. The advantage of staying on, was that in the morning, the mist from the Falls was a lot less, so we got good pictures of the Falls themselves. In the afternoon, there was a lot of mist, so we got great photos with rainbows in them but the Falls were often completely hidden behind the wall of mist. The next day, we did the 30 minute helicopter ride over the Falls - stunning - and we could identify some of the lookout points we'd been at the day before. The Falls are simply a must-see! Another highlight for us were having lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel, which is a luxury Hotel built in colonial style - very elegant! - with a patio that looks towards the Falls. The meal prices were reasonable even for our more budget-oriented finances and the view of the clouds of mist rising above the Falls was absolutely beautiful. We also spontaneously decided to walk across the bridge over the Zambesi river. It is very easy and unbeaurocratic to get a (free) ticket from the Zimbabwean border post allowing you to walk across the bridge and back. There are some great photo opportunities of the Falls from there as well.
The absolute highlight of the trip for both my friend and I turned out to be the game drive part of the trip. We had no idea where to go for that, so we chose a 2-night trip offered by the company Cultural Vibes Travel and Tours. That was the best decision we ever made! The staff were very professional, trustworthy, knowledgeable and organized a totally unforgettable experience for us. They booked us into the Iganyana Luxury Tented Camp which is located next to the Hwange Game Park. We were blown away - everything was just wonderful from the people, to the accommodation, food, the bush atmosphere, the game drives (we ended up going on 2 half-day and 1 whole-day drives). It was magic sitting having dinner in the open-air while a herd of elephants came to drink from the swimming pool (pure water from a bore), and we were lucky to see a herd of hundreds of buffalo wandering past as we sat there having breakfast. The temperature was mainly around 28°C or so but it was a dry heat, so easy to tolerate. We hardly saw any flies or mosquitoes, so that was very comfortable too. Although it was obvious that many of the locals didn't have much money, we felt safe walking around on our own during the day. We were advised not to walk around after dark though, not even in the town of Victoria Falls, because wild animals, especially elephants and lions, often wandered around the outskirts then. Getting around was no problem though, as taxis were reasonably priced and the Hotel also had a driver they organised for us. My friend is now also a huge Zimbabwe fan and is already talking about us going back again at some stage.
LV
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Animal planet alive , not in TV
After several.times visiting Kenya for business i decided finally to go to safari. That was a real experience! Hope to repeat it once again with my family!
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Laura Ligthart
we drove by before we went to Serengeti, so we already experienced the few.
The day we drove in the crater we saw a rhino! the landscape in de the crater is already so diffrent from what we saw the days before. it was really surprising. It felt so cool to drive in the biggest crater in de world!
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Serengeti National Park by Laura Ligthart
The Serengeti was my long time dream, and it came true! We stayed for three nights, and it was more than i expected to see and experience. We were in the Lion King movie!!
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tarangire National Park by Laura Ligthart
We started our safari trip here, and after two ours, we were serrounded by 50 elephants, between the green landscape and the beautiful morning glory flowers. This was my main dream to experience and it already happened only in the first two ours that we started :)
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Hwange National Park by Karen
We were lucky enough on our first game drive, to be able to follow a lion as it tracked, caught, and killed an injured baby buffalo. Also, there were not very many jeeps underway at the Park, so we often had the feeling that we had the Park to ourselves. Even during the lion kill, there were only a maximum of about 5 jeeps there, all distanced far enough apart that everyone could see but it wasn't crowded. It didn't feel at all like an assembly line game drive, which is a feeling I have had at some of the really well-known game parks in Africa, where there can be a big line of jeeps waiting to see something and no jeep can stay and watch for very long. During our game drives at Hwange, we could take our time looking and photographing.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Customer service is what sets Kevic apart!
All safari tour operators pretty much offer the same itineraries and pricing so what sets them apart is the customer service and this is where I was so delighted by Kevic, particularly with our main contact Truffy. She was very responsive from the start and easily customized our itinerary around our travel schedule. Some other tour operators give you proposals with many choices between vehicles, hotels, etc and with layered pricing. I found those to be too complicated and I appreciated that Truffy’s proposal was simple but had everything we wanted including a nice safari vehicle. I asked some questions about hotels I had seen positive reviews on and she was very knowledgeable. In the end, we went with all her recommendations and were so happy with them! The safari lodges in Africa are truly special. A few days before departure, I was worried about recent rains/flooding that might affect our trip but Truffy promptly modified our itinerary to accommodate by having us fly directly into the Masai Mara - an incredible experience. If you’re not too cost sensitive, I would highly recommend especially if you have just arrived from an international flight as you’ll be much more comfortable and well rested for your safari in the Mara.
Our driver John was very attentive and we had a great experience with him as well. He was on time and prepared every day and knew the backroad routes of the parks extremely well. He’s also an exceptional driver (it really takes some skill here) and I always felt safe and confident with him.
Overall, I had an incredible experience with Kevic and would highly recommend them. I typically like to be hands on with vacation planning but I had to squeeze this trip in between some other obligations and Truffy did an amazing job. It’s also so nice to feel safe and confident in the door to door service they provide in Kenya, especially for our first time visiting.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
healing&soothing
We booked a 9-day, 8-night trip with James as our driver. For the first 7 days, we were very happy and grateful to James for his patient explanations about the animals and his enthusiastic efforts in finding them. We also want to thank Dennis for helping us with flight delays. However, there were some issues that made us unhappy, and these seemed to worsen in the last two days:
James' personal state: James seemed to be a bit late every day initially, which we didn't mind at first, but by the eighth day, he seemed quite distracted. While waiting for the elephants to pass, he was even watching TV shows. Additionally, we felt we could have had a priority spot to view the elephants, but it was taken by others.
Tip issue: We initially communicated with James that we would give him the tips on the last day. However, the day before, we felt he was urging us to give them. After giving the tips, he was very late the next day, claiming he was waiting for us in different places, which was quite frustrating.
Duration of Game Drives: According to our communication with James, each day's Game Drive was only five hours, including the time from the hotel and back. However, we met other people who said their Game Drives lasted more than five hours.
Lunch issue on the ninth day in Nairobi: Dennis informed us that James was aware, but James claimed he had no knowledge that our booking included lunch in Nairobi. He even blamed us for not informing him in advance, which led to the possibility of having to eat packed lunches in the car on our way to the airport. The lunch fee was non-refundable. Eventually, after much effort on our part, we managed to have lunch in Nairobi, and for the first time, we saw how fast James could actually drive!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful landscapes and nature, but many hours of distance between parks
It is true that the customer service is very efficient and friendly.In my case I did the tour at the end of May and the parks, especially Nakuru, had many parts without access which It made the experience contraversial, since I could not fully enjoy the parks and no one warned me about this.
On the other hand, the safari adventure depends a lot on the driver, in the first place they assigned me a driver for the first 4 days, who explained the interaction and explanation of animals, itinerary...(Everything a guide should do, he didn't do), but for the last Amboseli park they changed me to another group with another driver Kikitu He changed my experience because of how he treated people, his hospitality, great explanations and lots of laughter. The best driver and travel friend.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well-organised tour with a tenacious driver
Communications with Travel Africa (and their partner Serengeti Tours) was excellent, with good value for money as we were a combined resident and non-resident group. The tour included Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara. Coming out of the rainy season, I was concerned we would see less animals, but our expert driver Omary was well-resourced with his network of drivers, and his years of experience and knowledge, to seek out the Big 5 and more. Omary was an excellent driver on the road and in the park, and he provided excellent information and answers to our questions about the parks, animals, tribes, and Tanzania itself. The jeep was clean, comfortable, and had plenty of water and cold beverages, whilst lunch each day was a selection of cooked dishes (such as rice, meats, beans, chapati, vegetables) which supported the local villages with income. I would endorse Travel Africa and Omary for anyone wanting an unforgettable Safari, with staff who genuinely want you to see the most out of the parks and animals.