US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfectly Planned
The tour was beyond my expectations. Every part of our holiday was carefully planned with amazing destinations.
US
Good
Communication from the company is excellent. Our trip is well organized and the travel guide is very knowledgeable. A good company to have our African adventure!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kindness and competences
We were a group of eleven people. SOS and Mathias guided us through the incredible experience of Tanzanian safari. They were kind and expert.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb!
The tour guide was excellent. Communicated well with his clients and was patient.
He ensured we got the experience we wanted. He is such a Gem!!
Well done Rocky!
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!!