US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Twice perfect. Second trip to Africa with perfect accommodations.
The communication from Darren and crew is probably the best part of my experience. (No, my safari at Senalala in SA was the best part.)Even while I'm on holiday he is available and standing by. We toured in 4 countries over two weeks and our transfers, accommodations and experiences were all top notch. I highly recommend Compass Odyssey to all! This was my second trip to Africa, both planned and scheduled by Compass, and everything was flawless. I hope visit Morocco some day and will be calling Compass for that trip too.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was really the best and memorable Safari for the whole crew
You were absolutely the best,very helpful and professional drivers who answered alllllllll our questions.We'll definately be back sooooon.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service, would definitely recommend to anyone.
Ute from Roho Ya Chui was absolutely fantastic in constantly communicating with me and keeping me updated on our booking for my very first safari. She helped me pick a lodge which exceeded my expectations, was luxurious, and overall everything I could have imagined and more. The safari was the best part of my brother and I's trip to South Africa. I shopped around many tour companies and I am so glad that I found Roho Ya Chui and would definitely use them again next time I come to Africa (which we are already planning another trip for!).
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
very friendly and experienced guide! we always felt in good hands
With our guide Haron we managed to see the Big 5 in the first two days at masai Mara! We got really good spots for our photos and truly enjoy the game driving. He also had an ipad handy with all the pictures and key infor of each animal we were seing. If you want to be in the company of a mature, friendly and experienced guide you should definitely consider him!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tour operator is good. The fact that they subcontract out the driving/facilitators creates problems.
We got what we paid for, so the following is not a complaint, but information that you may wish to use to improve your experience. Please note: subcontactors/drivers are not usually directly employed by the tour company, so get phone numbers that you can use in each country, and use local SIM cards.
1. Communications can be improved significantly, as we did not have a local telephone number to call when we went from Kenya to Tanzania - the border crossing "facilitator" was hopeless and left us to stand in the sun waiting for a bus we did not personally have tickets for. A local was kind enough to ring the Kenya phone number we had, and the company then verbally kicked the "facilitator" into fixing the issue.
2. The 2WD small vehicles used in Kenya are very uncomfortable for tall people like me (195cm or so), and get bogged easily - pay for an upgrade to 4WD Landcruiser safari vehicle if it is offered at a fair price. 2WD is adequate, incidentally, but expect the driving to be faster on the rough roads than you would expect. There were only 4WD Landcruisers in the Tanzania part of the trip, and they are much nicer, with plenty of head-room when the pop-top roof is open for animal viewing and photographing.
3. Water is supposed to be supplied on safari - it often wasn't in Kenya. I got a dozen bottles of water for myself and my wife, and the other passengers were so thirsty that they nicked most of them. I do not blame the passengers, incidentally. Water in Kenya was a problem, not in Tanzania.
4. Hot water was not often available for showers.
5. "Eco" camps that we used TRIED to do well, and in Kenya were at lease moderately comfortable (with beds) - but did not care that the roof leaked water onto the bed during a storm. The ones in Tanzania were camps (i.e. tents that were not waterproof , sleeping bags that needed fixing and washing, no hot water for showers, oh, and no towels supplied if we decided to have cold shower). Pay for upgrade in Tanzania, please.
6. i.e. Kenya basic cars, adequate accommodation; Tanzania much better cars, terrible accommodation. Even in the Serengeti there are proper hotels near the camps - pay for an upgrade if you hate tents and boring food, trust me. The tour company can juggle just about any request.
7. Finally, some changes were made without our permission, such as the order we saw some parks, and where we were staying or camping. We did, however, go to each and every place we were supposed to see, just out of order a bit.
Overall, I have to say that the tour operators are extremely competent, offer good value for money, and can accommodate almost any changes within reason.
(It was not my first safari, but the camping issues and my age has made it my last, as I am not a kid anymore and I have now seen what I want to see in Africa - don't let this affect you, as I am just commenting. Also 2 fellow travellers were a pain in the arse, complaining again and again about everything from not seeing lions feeding (they mostly rest during the day), to not getting the photos up close that they wanted IMMEDIATELY, wanting to change drivers because he could not arrange for a pair of binoculars to be returned {left, by them, in another vehicle} IMMEDIATELY, and so on. Animals move, so opportunities change, they were carrying a 65x zoom camera so should not be bitching about the photos of animals being too far away. My Nikon and 200mm lens was more than enough, and sometimes we were so close to animals (especially lions) that I had to change to a 18-55mm lens. I got photos of everything from lions in trees, leopards, cheetah, spotted hyenas, all sorts of herbivores imaginable, flamingos (2 types, up close) and more. In fact I photographed even more variety of animals than I expected (and expectations were high), and was simply blown away by the Serengeti migration. The animal numbers are simply staggering over a vast area. Seeing Kilimanjaro is fantastic, as was the photographs of elephants with Kilimanjaro in the background. Good trip, recommended highly, and my comments are just for your information should you want to do a similar 2 week Kenya/Tanzania budget trip.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don’t book with this criminal. This tour never happened. He never even showed up.
If I could leave zero stars I would. Michael was very responsive when we were booking our trip but once we booked he was less and less available.
We arrived in Tanzania for our 4 day safari and no one ever showed up. We also have a 3 day gorilla trek in uganda booked with all the flights etc. doubt he will show up for that either. Originally he tried to have us send money through western union, good thing I didn’t and my credit card is going to work on disputing the whole charge.
KR
Responsible and professional
Fanuel, the owner of the operator was very professional accomodating. He was very prompt and efficient in communication.
My mon was sick during the trip and he took care of her by giving extra help. The accomodation was nice and calm in nature and the food at the lodge was very satisfactory.
My comment for improvement would be that there was a quite long wait between the schedule, which is understandable in some occasions given the circumstances and location of the national park. It would be better if this is informed to the customers in advance.
Oversall, Discovery Safari is a reliable tour company and recommendable.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Road trip of a lifetime!
We just returned from our 22-day family road trip to The Kalahari, Richtersveld and West Coast in South Africa.
We contacted Chinky at Go Self Drive with our idea and she put our idea into reality and drafted an amazing itinerary for us.
She liaised closely with us during the booking process and kept us updated on all the accommodation booked.
Prior to our trip she delivered our comprehensive travel package, which contained directions, information on where we were staying and what to do as well as a road atlas.
Our family had such a wonderful time and would book our next road trip with Go Self Drive in a heartbeat.
Thank you and keep up the great work!
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Safari
Christopher is a very experienced guide, and the right decision for this trip to East Africa was to choose him. He's going to give us a different perspective so that we can see the animals from all sides. He said he didn't want us to just take some pictures, more to enjoy. We are very honored to be the first Chinese customer of his company. I hope his company will become better and better. If I come to Tanzania next time, I will continue to look for him as my guide.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime. Served all our needs beyond expectations and tour guide was best ever!
Blue Crane was a pleasure to work with arranging a tour that fit our needs, they were very accommodating. We were a family of 5 on a tight schedule over the Christmas holiday and luckily starting booking in April. We did the six night tour (2 nights in the desert, 2 Swakopmund and 2 in Etosha.) The desert lodge, was wonderful, an oasis in the desert with lovely warm and welcoming staff and great food.(we had 2 vegetarians and a vegan and they were plenty of options) We upgraded to the Strand hotel in Swakopmund, which was a real treat and worth the splurge. Traudy (Blue Crane)was wonderful and even made our dinner reservations in Swakopmund at Jetty 1904 and The Tug, both were amazing. The Etosha park lodges, were clean and nicer than I expected. I must say the best part of the trip was our tour guide, Sammy. Sammy is an amazing person, who exudes kindness, it felt like he was part of our family. He picked us up at the airport with a huge smile and was with us to the end, never missing a thing. He was so knowledgeable about everything; the history, the animals, the birds, the fauna and flora, the mountains and the stars (we received a great astronomy lesson in the desert). He knew all the great spots to go to and when to go to avoid crowds and the heat. He really made this a trip of a lifetime for our family. My only regret was that we did not have more time to spend. I would have enjoyed an extra day in each spot. I guess we will have to visit again. We saw loads of animals and birds. The landscapes were also breath taking. Blue Crane didn't miss a beat. Highly recommend this company and Sammy!