65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Life Changing Tour
Hard to adequately describe the epic tour, that fully captures the excitement and exhilaration, that was run by Meanda Uganda. Nick, our tour guide, could not have provided a more interesting, challenging, rewarding, educational and, literally, life changing experience.
Without providing a full map of Uganda we basically covered the full list of National Parks and links between. Nick was as hands on or light touch as we needed, skilfully assessing our experience and confidence (which grew daily) without ever over stretching us. We managed to see close up the 'Big Five', which I am certain was down to Nick's local knowledge and extensive research, and no doubt we would have completely missed on our own.
From the start we felt part of a new family group, with all home comforts provided as part of the package. Early breakfasts watching the sun rise, travelling to each checkpoint with full commentary of the local areas, parks, history, wildlife, evening meals around a campfire under the stars is an experience never forgotten.
I can’t recommend Meanda Uganda more highly if you want the full ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.
US
Professional, kind and patient
The driver assigned to us was so caring respectful and cautious. He blended so well with our teenagers and he is so patient compared to others we have used because we have been going to Africa every year during summer. I would recommend Johnson to anyone using this company.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive, accommodating and timely.
We got to see the Nairobi national park and the David Sheldrick wildlife trust on an open roof land cruiser. The morning game drive was wonderful.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Experience!
Booking our 3-day safari through Porcupine was amazing! Anna was a fantastic host in Arusha and made sure everything ran smoothly. We stayed at her hotel in the city and her daughter showed us around the town before we headed out on our safari. Our guide was fantastic and over the three day we were able to see basically every animal in the Serengeti! The big five, plus others, were all hunted down by our guide Mike, who was constantly on the radio with other guides to help track them down.
The only negative experience (which truly wasn’t a big deal, mainly an observation and slight cause of confusion) was how things seemed to be run by different companies? We booked our Safari through Porcupine, who picked us up and made sure everything went smoothly, but our actual guide worked for a different company. Then, after our Safari, our guide got us a driver to take us back to town, who then gave us to another driver to take us to our hotel. Everyone seemed to be in contact with each other, but it just seemed strange jumping from one car to another and not sticking with the one company the entire time, especially with the little amount of communication that we received each time.
We had one hiccup where our driver was confused on the way back, but we called Anna and she took care of everything, even paying the driver for the extra time he drove us, so we didn’t have to deal with it at all. Overall, we had an incredible time, Anna was amazing and very helpful in all regards. I’d highly recommend them for your trip to the Serengeti!
GU
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well organized safari met all our expectations.
Rose handled our booking. We paid for a mid-luxury safari. It was fairly expensive, but Rose catered well to us and organized a trip that fulfilled our expectations and needs. We were safe and comfortable at all times. The safari vehicles were in excellent condition and very comfortable during our long drives. It was very well organized and all hotels and lodges and transfers were excellent.
Any safari experience is really completely dependent on your tour drivers and guides, regardless of other amenities. Their attitude and customer service makes the safari. I have been on safari in other places where our guides were somewhat care-less and not involved. At Lion King in Tanzania we were blessed to have two guides who were just excellent. They did their very best to cater to 8 of us for 7 days. They made it a very good experience and made sure all of us in the group were personally catered to. They worked hard and kept a very positive attitude. They also had very good comraderie between themselves which kept a very positive vibe. I enquired about their bond and Lion King and they both said that it was endemic within the Lion King culture that all the drivers get along very well and they are all motivated to ensure a very positive safari experience for their guests. That attitude was great because it showed and it can give future guests confidence in using this company. Our drivers were named Saleh and Ozzie - great guys!
Thanks from our group for an excellent safari!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing nature, service, and people. Everything we could've hoped for!
Had an amazing 10-night safari through Lake Natron, Serengeti NP, Ngorogoro Crater, Lake Eyasi cultural tours, and Tarangire NP.
Lake Natron is a bit out-of-the-way and off-the-beaten-path, and is known for its flamingos, shallow water lake, and beautiful sunrises with Mountain Ol Doinyo Lengai in the background. We saw many Maasai people herding sheep and cattle on the drive. Amazing scenery, but expect a 4+ hour drive.
Serengeti lived up to its reputation and more in our time there. We saw 4 of the big 5 (missing only the Black Rhino) in just our first two days - truly amazing. The luxury tented camps are much more "luxury" than "tents" - complete with stand-up showers, hot water, electricity, and importantly no insects or rodents as they're fully enclosed. We never had a bad meal and enjoyed every moment of our game drives.
Ngorogoro Crater is perhaps the most densely populated setting of incredible wild animals I could ever think of. Driving into the Crater when it opened, we were met by two large male lions within 30 seconds, walking right by our car so close I could've touched one. We then saw another pride of ~10 lion cubs playing in the plains with 5 more females sleeping nearby. Shortly thereafter, we completed seeing the big 5 as we saw two black rhinos in the distance, having just taken a mud bath in the crater's lake. Finally, as we were getting hungry and going to the breakfast spot, we were practically escorted for 2 full minutes by a family of elephants. A truly incredible place.
Lake Eyasi was cool - we met the Datoga and Hadzabe tribes (I'm surely misspelling them lol). They are both nomadic people and speak 0 English and very little Swahili, so you need a local guide to translate for you + know where they are at any given time. If desired, you may be able to go hunting in the morning with the Hadzabe tribe using a bow & arrow; we elected not to do this, but it may appeal to some.
Tarangire is known for elephants, but was admittedly a bit underwhelming after going to the Serengeti just because it has a much lower concentration of the Big 5. It is a great place to start your tour but not the best to end it. However, we had great accommodations, and at one point we were literally surrounded by elephants crossing the street around our Land Cruiser (not an exaggeration).
Overall, an amazing place. I will surely be back to the Serengeti + to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro!!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing country with welcoming happy people!
Unsure what to expect but no need to have worried! Extremely safe and welcoming country from the moment we arrived at Kilamanjaro airport where even the visa people were friendly and chatty! Hotel in Arusha of African Safari lodge was another great find, very welcoming staff, lovely room and fabulous food even though it was a small hotel they went above and beyond to make sure we had a good stay! We had booked a Safari with Landsman Experience company which was both slick and professional at all times. We visited Tarangire which was a fantastic day out from Arusha itself. Beautiful scenery, greener than the Serengeti and lots of wildlife to get up close and photograph highly recommended! A light aircraft journey into Serengeti organised by Gerald our travel guide was yet another highlight to see this beautiful area by air! Onto Safari which was amazing loved every minute and had a wonderful stay at the very clean Serena lodges with again great food and lovely welcome. We did a hot air balloon safari booked with Shine balloons which was was an amazing trip with a fantastic pilot called Paddy who made us feel special and safe at all times, finishing with a champagne breakfast and celebratory dance and cake to celebrate our anniversary and a little girls birthday on our trip. All organised with out our knowledge showing the generosity of the people there who really want their customers to have the best time! We also visited Ngorongoro which has spectacular scenery and well worth a visit too!! To finish our trip we flew to Zanzibar and stayed a night in Stone Town! We had an airport pickup organised by the hotel Maru Maru which was so good as he gave us a brief but interesting commentary on the landmarks we passed! Hotel was again excellent and central and we enjoyed time wondering around the streets on our own, everyone was friendly and yes they want you to go in their shop but did allow you to look around without high pressure to buy! We finished off at Nungwi beach it has a stunning beach and interesting village to wander round. We would like to have seen more of this beautiful island and hopefully will be back! In summary don't hesitate to visit you wont be disappointed!
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great adventure
North eastern SA had not only exciting safari but also offer guider tours to diamond mines and Mandela’s old neighbourhood as well as apartheid museum.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime experience
Had a fantastic trip to Tanzania for our anniversary. Tanzania Specialists gave us the trip of a lifetime. Our guide Christian was the best. His expertise and knowledge of the places we visited allowed us to not only see the Big 5, but way more wildlife. He was patient and always allowed us to stay as long as we wanted to get the full experience of the animals. The accommodations were great too especially Sounds of Silence in Serengeti. The hot air balloon ride to see the wildabeast migrating was amazing as well. If you go to Tanzania I would highly recommend Tanzania Specialists and request Christian if you can you will not be disappointed.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
100% recommend - Awesome safari experience
My wife and I went on a 10-day safari and Zanzibar beach holiday in July 2024 – and Serengeti Morning Dew did an amazing job. We’d definitely recommend them to our friends and family.
Albert, our guide, was exceptional. He was incredibly knowledgeable, experienced, adaptable, and friendly. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide for our safari experience.
Sayuni and her team were also great. They did an amazing job organising everything for us. Sayuni answered all our questions quickly, communicated efficiently, and looked after everything for us. She provided multiple quotes and itineraries, as we worked together to customise our safari to suit our needs and what we wanted to do and see. She was also available during our trip if we had any extra questions.
Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better safari experience. Thank you Albert and Sayuni and team!
