65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tarangire National Park by John B
great place, well worth the visit.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
Megan Warrington was our Discover Africa expert. The day after I contacted the company, we scheduled a telephone call to discuss what we wanted on our trip to Africa, our budget, the amount of time we had to spend, and the time of year we wanted to go. Megan immediately prepared an itinerary, which we tweaked a couple of times. Megan routinely reached out to us during the intervening months, to make sure we had no issues. She was always available by email. The trip she put together was very well planned, so we always knew when we would be picked up for the next part of our adventure. I could not have asked for a better planned safari.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Without a doubt, the best tour operator we've ever utilized worldwide.
We've very frequent travelers, and have been to 94 countries, and multiple trips to Africa. I had originally contacted Desert Air Safaris to arrange for private charter flights. I was contacted by Carien Rall Swanepoel, and she offered to make all our arrangements. Carien and the staff of Desert Air Safaris were without a doubt the most professional travel consultants we have ever utilized. Carien arranged our trip with military precision, and made great suggestions that we would surely have missed without her advice. She literally met us at the airport upon our arrival in Namibia. That alone is a testament to her dedications to customer service.
If you love Africa (and we do) I can't recommend enough the many advantages of a private air charter for your travels. First and foremost, you're not limited on luggage. Secondly, there is no time wasted on commercial flights. We were able to visit four countries (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe) with only 15 days in Africa. This would have been impossible using commercial flights. Upon arrival at each airport we were quickly escorted through security and customs. Carien arranged for seamless transfers to our lodges. Even crossing the border at Victoria Falls was arranged in advance, and our guides (Zambia side) literally handed us off to their counterpart in Zimbabwe.
Flying with Desert Air Safaris is a treat upon itself. The pilots were wonderful, and getting to know them was part of the fun of our trip. We started our tour at the &Beyond Desert Lodge, then to Fish River Canyon, Moremi Mountain Camp, Shipwreck Lodge, then on to Little Ongava at Etosha. From there to Chobe Lodge in Botswana, and then to the Royal Livingstone Hotel adjoining Victoria Falls. Our pilots accompanied us along the entire trip.
We're already talking about our next adventure in Africa, and we will surely be using Carien Rall Swanepoel for all travel arrangements and those wonderful pilots of Desert Air Safaris.
MX
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly and responsive. The guides and helpers were truly amazing, super friendly and efficient.
The guides and helpers were truly amazing. Super friendly, super efficient. Nothing failed at all. Excellent food by the cook on the mountain by the way. Angelo, Edgar and Joseph were fantastic. They asked us if there was something they could improve, I could not think of anything. We had a great and human time and I would fully recommend them.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Service & Safari!
My husband and I went on a 7 day/7night comfort safari with African Big Cats Safaris the last week of May, 2024. We had an absolutely amazing trip. Haruna was our awesome guide and driver. He was a wealth of information on animals, plants and birds, as well as the Masai people. He provided us with incredible wildlife viewing that exceeded our expectations. We saw 4 of the Big 5 on our first day in the Serengeti! We had numerous sitings of cheetahs, lions, leopards, all the other standards of baboons, wildebeest, zebras, giraffe, elephants, etc and even the elusive black rhino. Haruna was very kind and compassionate on the day I was not feeling well and stopped many times so we could take a break.
All of the accommodations and meals were excellent.
We met with Emmanuel from African Big Cats at the beginning and again at the end of our safari. He gave us an outline of what to expect on our trip and answered any questions we had. On our return he was kind and genuinely interested in our thoughts and comments on the safari. Such excellent customer service!
After much research, we chose African Big Cats Safaris based on reviews and cost and were not disappointed. We feel we received excellent value for the money and would not hesitate to recommend them. Hopefully we will be fortunate enough to travel with them again in the future. Thank you for providing a trip of a lifetime!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing Guide - Shafino Dominic
Our family traveled to Tanzania from LA and just returned back from an incredible safari planned by Lion King Adventures and their guide, Shafino.
We were provided Shafino Dominic's name from another family from LA who had travelled to Tanzania just a few months prior and told us that Shafino was an amazing guide, and they picked Lion King as their tour organizer after reading all the recommendations on Shafino and specifically requested him. Their words could not be more correct.
Shafino has an incredible amount of experience (25+ years), and we could see all the other guides respected him. He was always timely and knew the best routes to find the animals. We have been to Masai Mara at least 15 times, but what Shafino showed us outshined every trip we have taken. Not only did we see the Big 5 (and even more, the Big 9) and much more up close, but he explained the fauna and flora, including birds and reptiles and how every organism interacts. The migration was an amazing site, and we saw it daily. We have never met a guide with as much knowledge as well as the expertise in finding the animals. One of the rarest sites we saw was a cheetah with 5 baby cubs as soon as he drove us into the Serengeti, and we saw 4 black rhino in the Ngorongoro Crater.
It was a most memorable holiday. Shafino took care of our special request meals, he treated every member of our family with respect, and knew the terrain and the park rules inside out. We have many friends asking us about our safari now that we are back, and we have mentioned to all that Shafino was the reason for our astounding vacation.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing tour, very well organized and planned out!
Serengeti Smile is a great tour operator and provided us with an excellent experience, very comprehensive tour and great time all around. Champion is a great tour guide and answered all the questions we had, made sure to make our program very enjoyable! Overall we really enjoyed our time with Serengeti Smile and the tours throughout our stay in Tanzania and definitely recommend Champion as the tour guide.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional operator and we had an amazing experience
Our tour is amazing, we got to see a lot of wild animals close by and visited local tribes with cultural experience. Champion is our tour guide, he’s very professional and experienced, helped us see the greatest amount of the animals and planned our day perfectly. The schedule Serengeti smile provided is very well-planned. Accommodations are nice with great food & living condition and friendly staff. Highly recommend this operator and our tour guide champion.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing and very well organised trip
We took time out from our business trip to Kigali from UK to visit the gorillas.
The experience of booking the trek with New Horizons was made so easy with timely email replies from Emmanuel to answer all of our questions.
Emmanuel was a great guide arriving to collect us exactly when he said. We had interesting conversations about Rwanda and he answered lots of questions. We felt very safe travelling with him in spite of some demanding terrain to get to our trek starting point. The trek to the gorillas was amazing. A trip we will remember forever.
Thank you New Horizons.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
sekanka is a great safari operator
I recently booked a safari with Sekanka and was absolutely thrilled with the experience. They planned and organized the entire tour superbly. I was picked up from the airport in Maun for a 2-day stay. The adventure started with a breathtaking aerial view of the landscape and wildlife from a small plane, followed by a Mokoro tour on the water. Even before entering the Okavango Delta, we had already seen a wide variety of animals.
The 5-day safari through the Okavango Delta to Kasane was a true adventure. We camped for the first few days, and the Sekanka team exceeded all expectations. Nambers and Ilo took care of everything seamlessly, Matcha had an incredible eye for spotting perfectly camouflaged animals, Nametso prepared the most delicious meals in the bush, and Joe ensured we got everywhere safely.
The trip was filled with spectacular wildlife sightings, including lions, elephants, hippos, leopards, and herds of zebras, buffaloes, and wildebeest. In Kasane, we enjoyed water safaris as well. Sekanka also arranged a trip to Zimbabwe to see the stunning Victoria Falls – a truly spectacular sight.
A huge thank you to the entire Sekanka team – I can’t wait to come back!
