50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded all hopes, which were high
I hadn’t realised the distances involved and the quality of the roads, so my chosen itinerary was challenging but am so exceptionally grateful to Yala Safaris for taking it on and their guide, Robert, who went to exceptional lengths to ensure we squeezed every opportunity from my limited time. So clearly proud of his country and exceptionally knowledgeable, I was in great hands. Game safari with elephants, giraffes, a pride of lions, warthog, antelope and in the presence of a Leopard was just the first morning. Afternoon on the Nile with hippos, crocodiles, numerous birds, finished by the fastest waterfall in the world at Murchison finishing Day 1. Day 2 walked near Rhino and her baby on the journey back to Kampala. Day 3, rafted a grade 5 on the Nile at Jinja. Day 4 journeyed to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park forest with lots of sights along the way arriving at Gorilla in the Mist Camp at dusk. Day 5, trecked the forest with local guides and trackers and had the privilege of spending an hour with Mountain Gorillas. Spotted monkeys on journey away and following morning allowed a quick peek at Mburu to see Empala and Zebras before arriving mid day at airport for flight home. I missed a few dinners and even more breakfasts to achieve this but there was never a word of complaint, Robert and Yala truly gave me an experience of a lifetime.
Stunningly different
Namibia is a spectacular country of amazing contrasts in scenery, wildlife and historical culture.
The people are lovely. Thoroughly enjoyed our entire visit.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
8 day Namibia highlights
Wild Wind safaris are highly recommended. Very professional, excellent guide.
Namibia is such a stunning place to visit. Dramatic, ever-changing landscapes, friendly people and incredible wildlife - mainly at Etosha m, but also just throughout the country.
Be prepared for long days spent in the back of a jeep as the distances are big.
US
Unique Madagascar with Great Island Adventure Safaris
We just spent three weeks in Madagascar with Bakoly Razanamiarantsoa the owner of Great Island Adventure Safaris as our guide. We travelled to and from Antananarivo via Paris from the US with four key areas visited:
Rainforests in Andasibe/Mantadia and Ranomafana in the East,
Dry forest and coast at Mahajanga/Ankarafantsika in the West,
The Spiny forests and coast around Ifaty and Toliara in the Southwest
Isalo and Zombitse on the Central plateau
Air Madagascar cancelled a flight which meant us missing a trip to the Masoala peninsula in the Northeast. Transport during our tour was by private 4WD and two internal flights.
The country is heavily deforested with most of the population depending on charcoal for cooking, however the remaining forest ecosystems in the national park areas visited still hold the unique wildlife that Madagascar is famous for. September is just prior to the peak birding months of Oct and Nov, but we saw every species available to us, with over 190 birds, 25+ species of Lemur, and many Chameleons, reptiles, frogs, insects, invertebrates and plants and trees. Eighty percent of every living species on the island is endemic, and many can be seen fairly easily and well in the right habitats. Photography opportunities were excellent, and whilst in September, not all species are highly active as the Austral winter ends, the vast majority of creatures were easy to see.
Friendly people throughout, and for a developing country, great accommodation and eating choices available in all but the more remote rural and wilderness areas. Local food and French style cooking was excellent throughout.
The country offers many options for adventure in addition to the unique wildlife with wilderness camping, trekking, canoeing and rafting all available. Not a traditional African style safari destination, but a fantastic experience nonetheless.
I can highly recommend Bakoly and her Great Island Adventure Safaris for any style or length of adventure.
She and her guides were excellent, expert in the wildlife and culture, and spoke excellent English and French. Drivers used, accommodations selected and meals were all top notch.
A unique destination that needs to be visited before the pressure on the wildlife becomes too great.
Simon
NJ USA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience for my ten year old boy.
We did not know what to expect as this was our first time in Africa. We were met by our guide and began the drive out of Maun to our camp site, roughly three hours away. About ten minutes later, my son quipped "I think I just saw an elephant". Sure enough, we has passed an elephant grazing not two meters by the side of the road. We decided to count the number of elephants we saw but stopped after reaching over 150 on the second day!
The scenery is rather harsh, especially in October, but we saw hippos, zebras, giraffes, lions, hyenas, wild dogs, leopards,
and many different types of herbivores. About the only thing we did not see were cheetahs and water buffaloes.
The tents and camp beds were comfortable and we had our own private toilet and bucket shower attached to our tent. The tent was tidied every morning while we were out on a game drive, and again after our siesta while we were on our afternoon game drive.
Our guide and cook were excellent. Both were clearly passionate about their jobs and we were made to feel like family. We are vegetarians, but each meal was carefully planned, with adequate protein. Our cook used quite a lot of mock meat, which I know is not cheap. In fact, it is just as expensive as meat. We had freshly made bread each morning. At the beginning, there was no hot chocolate but it magically appeared after a couple of days because our guide made sure to pick it up while going back to Maun for another reason.
The highlight for us was to watch as a pride of lions set up a trap for an approaching herd of gnus. The lions blithely walked around our four-wheel drive as they fanned out to steer the herd into the path of the awaiting killers. We did not actually see the kill, but we were able to return quite quickly to see the lions devouring it. As my son said "That was awesome".
My son is 10 years old but at no time did he feel scared or nervous. Our guide made it easy for both of us to take some remarkable photos. I bought a 50-230 zoom lens just for this trip and such a zoom makes the difference as I could take "portraits" of the animals we saw.
A big thank you to Kingfisher Safaris for a memorable trip, which they facilitated even though we missed our original flights due to visa problems and had to delay everything by one week. My impression is that they deal only in quality and recommend them without reservation.
US
50-65 years of age
beautiful trip
My wife and I were very happy with our choice of Fanjove as the end point of a three week Tanzania vacation.This trip exceeded our wildest imagination. We were up close to all the animals we wanted to see with a perfect opportunity to photograph them and to observe their behavior. It was a long flight getting to Kilimanjaro, but well worth it.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great 3-day hike of Mount Meru
We had an absolutely wonderful time doing a 3-day hike of Mt. Meru with African Traits. It was a terrific, shorter alternative to climbing Kili, and had breathtaking views of that famous summit throughout our climb. From the get-go, Godfrey was extremely responsive to all our email requests. He answered all of the questions we had about the trip. We were going to be doing some other travel in East Africa, and were unable to bring sleeping bags or hiking poles with us--Godfrey generously offered to provide us with these at no charge! In addition, his pricing was some of the most competitive of the number of companies I looked at.
When it came to the actual hike, our team did a marvelous job. Our guide John got us safely to the summit of Meru, making sure we never went to fast and exposed ourselves to altitude sickness (pole-pole!). Our cook Martin made us awesome and filling meals--impressive given that all equipment had to be packed up a mountain! And our porters Portie, Polo, and Patcha were also very friendly and helpful; the trip wouldn't have been possible without them!
Godfrey even made the effort to meet us as we were on our way to the airport. He wanted to make sure everything went well for our hike. He clearly takes pride in the work of his company and his employees, and his hard work shows in the experience he delivers to his guests. We won't hesitate to book with African Traits for our next trip to Tanzania!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Amazing 5 days in Uganda.
We spent an AMAZING 5 days with our fantastic driver and guide Alex. We trekked the gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable NP and spent some time enjoying the Wildlife in Queen Elizabeth NP as well as a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel. Alex was very knowledgeable, letting us know the names of the various plants, birds and animals, as well as giving us some historical, factual and cultural information. The roads are rough in Uganda, but at no time did we ever feel compromised or unsafe. Every part of our tour was incredible. In Bwindi, we experienced a family of 16 gorillas (babies, adolescents, blackbacks and a silverback). These beautiful animals walked within a few feet of us. This was absolutely a highlight of our trip. Our time at Queen Elizabeth Park and the Kazinga Channel was also amazing. We saw tree climbing lions, kobs, vultures, elephants, baboons, water buffalo, various birds, hippos, warthogs, crocodiles and an unusual siting of a leopard. Our accommodations were excellent and the communication with Hajarah was seamless.
Thank you so much for a wonderful experience!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing adventure!
The entire trip was amazing! Accommodations were excellent, weather was perfect and everything went very smoothly. We visited 3 national parks, saw over 30 species of animals, and made friendships that will last a lifetime.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Family trip of a lifetime!
Our trip to Kenya with Destination Consultants was simply incredible, & exceeded our expectations in a number of ways.
As context, my wife & I are seasoned travelers having visited over 50 countries in the last 25 years, including 2 prior African safari's. For a number of years we talked about taking our children to Africa to experience the wonders that it has to offer, they are 16 & 13, & this year we made it happen.
Choosing the right safari operator is critical. We looked at a number of US-based companies, & they all provided very glossy professional proposals, however we disliked the fact that they outsource the safari itself, & basically they take a cut for marketing / planning. After going through the planning process, we are so glad that we worked with a local company & not a intermediary. Susan was wonderful with the detailed planning, we didn't get glossy slides(!), but what we did get was 1st-hand knowledge, endless patience, & ultimately the exact itinerary that we wanted for our 14-day trip.
On arrival in Kenya we were met by both Susan & Niko, & it was clear from that moment that we had certainly opted for the right safari operator : Destination Consultants could not have been more professional or welcoming.
Niko drove lots of miles (never a boring moment), we stayed at some incredible locations that they recommended (including small luxury tented camps), saw lots of amazing wildlife, & our children had the experience of a lifetime. We are glad that we entrusted this special trip to Destination Consultants.
At the end of our safari, we flew to Diani for a few nights & the DC team took great care to ensure that our internal connection logistics & transfer to our international return flight worked smoothly.
All-in-all, we can't recommend Destination Consultants highly enough, they offer deep experience, a professional service, detailed attention to what matters, & all done with a smile!...... "when can we go back?".... thats what the children are saying!