US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great Safari at a reasonable price
We did a 7-day mid-range safari in Kenya and Tanzania. It was great to get a flavor of a bigger area, though the distances and different countries to provide some challenges.
Let me start with communication. Mercy is great at keeping the dialogue going, answering questions, and moving the process of booking then being on Safari flowing. She gave me her cell number and offered to take calls at any time, though that was not necessary as email was sufficient.
The most important thing to remember in the process is to be flexible. Issues can arise, but be willing to roll and let the operator work them out. Our trip was not without our share of issues but nothing that slowed us down and they all are minor blips on the overall experience. An important thing I have learned from decades of travel is that the important thing for a tour operator is to handle anything that arises, and Mercy and Wecam did that well. Another thing to keep in mind is that the distances are rather large and travel time can be significant. Traveling from Maasai Mara to Serengeti is basically a whole day affair; we actually crossed on foot one day, but the official immigration offices are miles away. Just be willing to accept this as a cost of the adventure.
Our driver/guides were both excellent, Peter in Kenya and Oswald in Tanzania. They communicated well with us, were amazing at locating animals, and were always ready to help make things flow smoothly. When we booked, I looked at Lake Nakuru as being perhaps a bit of a throw-away park, but we actually saw more variety of wildlife per hour than in any of the bigger name parks. Within the first 30 minutes in Lake Nakuru my wife had a bigger smile than she has had in years. All of the parks, Lake Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro, had moments that we will never forget, and a much of that is due to the quality of the driver/guides.
The trip exceeded our expectations. The facilities were all equal or better than we expected, everything was as communicated and expected, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Jumbokedama
Enjoyed the variety of wildlife,
I have been here twice.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Serengeti National Park by Jumbokedama
Great variety of wildlife! I have visited this park on two occasions.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Selous Game Reserve by Jumbokedama
I think this has been my favorite park so far. Hellish drive on a loooong, bumpy dirt road in order to get there, but the place is remote and there are few visitors. One can see a very wide variety of wildlife, including birds.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Jumbokedama
Lovely area, fantastic views, plenty of big cats.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I was very impressed at the diverse variety of birds! Amazing!
I had a very nice tented camp, hippo camp, and did a river safari my furst evening. Saw several bird species and hippos from very far off. We artived too late to do any decent daytime photography, which was very disappointing.
My guide was excellent, I went with Bushroutes, excellent service, they really took good care of me.
the food was plentiful and tasty, weather was pretty good and all in all I was very satisfied with my 8-day safari in Ruaha, Mikumi amd Selous.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tanzania by Jumbokedama
So many animals, landscape is beautiful, as are the mountains. I climbed Kili and Mt Meru not long ago, amazingly beautiful.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best impressions of Africa
Great tour with excellent guide Richard. Got a lot of positive emotions.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trek to Lake Bunyonyi
We really enjoyed a combination trekking (hiking) and canoeing on beautiful lake Bunyonyi. The views as you hike up the surrounding hills are amazing! Our guide was very good and gave us lots of information and local people, history and customs. The meal at the end of the day was very good too.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Swala Safaris made our honeymoon truly memorable, a professional and friendly safari operator
My wife and I had an absolutely great time on safari with Swala Safaris.
We were on our honeymoon which included Dubai and the Maldives and this was by far our highlight. I can’t recommend them enough. You are definitely making the right decision with Swala Safaris.
Rose from the first email was very prompt and friendly. I wasn’t sure how many days we needed and I kept chopping and changing over a 4 week period and Rose was able to accommodate every request.
Our driver was Felix and if I were you, I would request him from Rose. Through my research, Felix kept popping up and everyone was saying ask for Felix. It was the best decision and he made our safari experience priceless.
Felix’s knowledge of the animals and the areas is amazing. I was amazed at how much he knew and how well he could spot animals from afar. We were extremely lucky to see a crossing at the Mara River and a lioness hunt down not one but two Wilderbeast. That came down to Felix’s intuition.
He answered all my questions (and I had a lot!) with ease and I had a great talk to him about the country’s history, culture and politics. I was equally amazed at his knowledge and passion on those topics. He is very friendly and makes you feel welcome from the get go. His English is great, I never struggled to speak or understand him.
My wife was a little sick on the first few days from the flight over and Felix made sure she was fine every day and didn’t make the days too long, which was great.
Food was delicious. One of the best parts of the safari was the accommodation that Rose organised. We had to pinch ourselves each time we pulled up to the camps and lodges. It’s stuff you see in movies and we were experiencing it!
The Toyota Land Cruiser that was used was an absolute champion. Some of the terrain through the Serengeti is rough but it took it all in its stride and it’s all on how Felix was able to navigate through it all. It was always clean and had cold fresh water for us. We saw heaps of them break down on the way but ours just kept chugging along. We never felt unsafe in it.
In terms of price, it was very reasonable. I wouldn’t say the cheapest but definitely not expensive. I would say you get what you pay for but I felt like we got more for our money. It’s definitely worth the coin.
Overall, the itinerary that Rose proposed was perfect. Perfect amount of travel to each camp/lodges and also more than enough time to explore the national parks to see the animals.
I can’t rave on about them enough! I’ve recommended them to everyone back home in Sydney to do a safari in Tanzania through Swala Safaris!