US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fabulous safari, great people, amazing animals!
We traveled with Earthlife Expeditions and had an amazing 10 days. The wildlife and scenery are over the top. I felt like I was in a National Geographic movie. The accommodations were wonderful- they have all ranges from budget to luxury, the food was good, our guide Joseph was outstanding. This was a trip of a lifetime. I would recommend it to everyone. Just be aware that you are in the wild, with dust and bumpy roads. I just reviewed my pictures from 3 weeks ago and want to go again! It doesn't have to be super expensive.!!!
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good safari in Masai Mara
This was not our first time in Kenya. We booked a 3-day trip to Masai Mara (leaving on a Sunday and coming back on a Tuesday evening). In the park: lots of driving, lots of cars in the same place giving it a slight "mass tourism" feel and lacking "bush feel".
Although there during the peak time for wildebeest migrations, we saw very few. We were told that this is because of the Tanzanian burning off land to avoid wildebeest crossing the border. They are afraid of "loosing the business". Shame really as this man-made factor is not really mentioned on tourist safari websites.
Otherwise, everything was splendid in terms of organisation, driver, accommodation (camp right outside gates of Masai Mara), vegetarian food options... Amazing sceneries. Good value for money and very smooth.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organised and super friendly staff
I had five weeks in Tanzania and used Cross to Africa Safaris in helping me organise a Safari drive in Tarangire NP and hiking Mt Meru. Everything was easy to organise and it all came together smoothly. Being a solo traveller it was great having Cross to Africa help join me into a suitable group for my Tarangire Safari and have a ranger+cook+guide and porters for Mt Meru. It was great. Even though I had already visited some of the other NP, I still found it exciting seeing all the animals and my guide still taught me things about the animals I hadn't learnt on other trips.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't Prefer
Don't prefer this unproffesional company. Owner is too young and he doesn't know how to organise a group tour. He just take money and doesn't give any service.
Once in a lifetime trip to a wonderful place.
Excellent drivers - nothing was too much trouble. We saw a vast range of wildlife - and the drivers took care to make sure we all did so. The Lodge was out of this world - amazing attention to detail - we felt we were staying in a film set! Service above and beyond what we could reasonably have expected when one of the party became very ill on the way to the safari.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exhilarating in every way!
Wow! What an incredible experience it was to climb Kilimanjaro with friends from Barafu Tours. It’s been weeks since my departure and I feel like I still daydream about Tanzania and that beautiful mountain. We couldn’t have done it without the guides and porters that encouraged, supported, and prepared us every step of the way. Our guides were very uplifting as we were challenged the entire journey. I felt confident in their knowledge of the terrain, our health, and our plan of attack! We had a ball talking with them and really getting to know about the country. One of the most inspiring and monumental trips I’ve ever done! Thanks Barafu!!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional, expert game drivers who made the experience unforgettable
Communication with the company prior to safari was fantastic, they tailor made our safari based on our specific requirements. Each day was reviewed at the end and a discussion of how we would like the next day to go. The tour itself exceeded expections. Our driver Jackson had so much knowledge of the park, he was always ahead of the game on finding the animals and we saw some truly magic moments because of this! Tom alway went out of his way to make our trip seamless and stress free. We couldn’t have been happier and would recommend this company to anyway. Thank you so much!
LT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Tanzania and Zanzibar experience
After long time traveling in Tanzania, today i can take this minor time to write for what i had experienced from Tanzania Adventure,
For sure, I traveled to Tanzania just for sighting and getting beautifully photo of Wildebeest in Ndutu
I had unforgettable Safari experience than ever i expected, not only Wildebeest migration but even Tanzania nature and people culture
Guide was great with his knowledge of every animal across, cached a chater from Serengeti to Zanzibar, there was more dramatic luxurious, nice beach, people are friendly and happy to see all us.
We had a chance to test spices in Zanzibar local markets,
Special thanks to this team who are reliable and kind, they made my dream come true
This is from Mr & Mrs Henrik
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The tour guide didn't know where to take us and the tour was poorly organized.
Unfortunately our expensive tour with Vacay Holiday Deals was much worse than expected.
We were told the name and telephone number of the driver that would be picking us up in our hotel in Nairobi about four days prior to arrival. The morning of the pickup, another man picked us up and said that he would be replacing him. Unfortunately he had no idea about the package we had booked. He had to look at our voucher to find out details such as the itinerary (where he should take us, where we would be staying, the fact that fees for parks etc were already included in the high price, the fact that water was included, and that drop-off would not be Nairobi but Iten near Eldoret).
The car was terrible for the Masai Mara. Every other car and especially the jeeps and Land Rovers passed us constantly. It took us much longer to reach the camp than it should have, and we couldn't take some of the roads that other visitors were taking. We had asked about the condition of the vehicle in advance, and we had the confirmation that it was suitable for a visit to the Masai Mara. This is definitely not the case. Even now in the dry season, it was almost impossible to pass some of the roads.
It seems like Vacay hires external drivers with their private cars to drive the tourists around. Both the driver and Vacay try to keep their profit as high as possible, with disregard to the experience of the customer.
The camp (Mara Concord Game Lodge) was excellent. The owner and all employees were very welcoming, and made sure we had a great stay. We had an excellent view of the river, where we could literally see hippos from our window. The food was very good too.
In our previous planning and dealing with Vacay, we had determined that all fees for the parks and conservancy and also the guide would be included in the package. Of course the voluntary tip was not included in this yet.
Nonetheless, on our first day a second man entered the car, and he was never really introduced to us. It seemed like he was supposed to be the guide, but he never said anything to us, nor was he in any way familiar with the park. He sometimes pointed our driver in a random direction, only to find out minutes later that it was a dead-end.
We came to Kenya for our honeymoon in order to see the Great Migration. Since we only took dead-ends, and then couldn't pass one of the rivers (that every Land Rover passed with ease since it was only 20 cm deep), we couldn't get to the section of the Mara River where the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebras takes place. We were told that "there aren't really that many animals in the park anyway," which is hard to believe since the Masai Mara is the reason that many people visit Kenya in the first place, and it is one of the most famous national parks in all of Africa, famous for the herds of animals.
When we said that we would love to see rhinos, we were told that these don't exist in the park (other people told us they saw them, so that can't be true). When I mentioned some information on areas in the park that often have rhinos (which I read in my guide book and online), the "guide" and driver didn't even recognize the names of the areas of the park.
When the guide left after the second day, we were told that we had to pay a fee for his services. This was not about a tip, but an actual fee that we were meant to pay, even though this was already included in our package.
On the third day we were meant to have an early-morning game drive (which is when most of the animals are out anyway). Our driver said "it is cancelled", and simply started driving towards Eldoret.
On the way the car broke down, about 80 km from our destination. We were not surprised, since the terrible old car took quite a beating on the roads. We stood in the roadside in the burning sun for two hours, and then had to pay for part of a taxi ride by some private driver that our driver organized. He explained that Vacay would pay for a small part of the ride, but we had to pay for the other half to reach our destination. Considering the amount we paid for our package this is completely ridiculous.
It is really unfortunate that we made the booking with Vacay for our honeymoon. We specifically didn't go with a budget option, because we wanted to enjoy these special days.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everything was great, and just like we had accorded
Shabani was very helpful from the first time I spoke with him. The Safari was great. Our driver Richard was the best: very nice, and good at his job and he speaks Spanish perfectly . Also our cooker Peter was great. We recommend Spoke African Safari.