FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
If you can avoid this company, do it - it will be better for your Tanzanian experience
We booked a safari for 3 nights and 4 days in October 2018. The tent they provided had holes all over and water came inside when it rained. Poor equipement for everything. Food was great though.
To sum up our experience (with the management, not the drivers), if everything is ok then alright, if a problem occurs then it's your loss.
We had a faboulous driver, he showed us many wonderful things, and always went the extra mile to show us what we wanted and caring for us when one of us was sick.
But the management of the company and mainly from the manager : Kassim Abdallah, was one of the worst management I ever seen. The company gave our driven a broken car, that stopped several times during our trip. Every time, our driver tried to fix it (and sometimes paying with his own money!). But what was supposed to happen, happened eventually. On our evening in the Serengeti, the car broke completely. We had to push the car to make it start again, which worked at first, but then it stopped again and for good. So we waited in the car for half a day, in the middle of the wildlife, while our driver was left alone by the company to find a solution for us. Our driver finally found a fellow driver that was able to bring us to our camp for the last night but we never saw our driver again.
We requested the same driver for our last day but they sent another one anyway. What was worse is that the manager, Kassim, did not event try to get in touch with us to keep us updated and to ask us if the arrangments made were ok for us. We were left waiting, not knowing what would happen since our cook did not have any news, and did not speak english enough to explain even if he knew. On our last day, we asked the new driver to take us to the office to speak with the manager but when the new driver called him, we overheard him ordering not to bring us to the office and "offer" our ride back to the airport.
Client service = 0. If I could go back, I would have paid more instead of saving money and be treated as badly as Bobby Tours treated us.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Safari of a lifetime
I have been going to Kenya for safari holidays for some years now and I would not book with anyone other than Gamewatchers.
It's very re-assuring knowing that you are going to be taken care of, from the moment you leave Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, to the moment you are dropped off for your flight home. I like the attention to detail and consideration that they show, with the team in Nairobi working hard behind the scenes to keep your safari superb no matter what is thrown at you. Over the years they've:
1. Kept a vehicle on the other side of the river so we could cross on a footbridge in anticipation of it being too high to drive through safely (it was!)
2. Communicating with the airline to have a flight back to Nairobi wait for us
3. Lent me an SD card when my own one was full
There are also little things, like the guides staying at the airstrip to wave you off as your flight lifts off rather than drive away as soon as you are on the plane.
I wouldn't go anywhere else
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was amazing!
The communications and the service were great...Thank you for your great job!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing Hospitality and beautiful country 10 days safari
First time to visit Uganda but it was worth it though my keen interest was the primate treks and the experience was breath taking. Thank God Roger Advised that its raining in the jungle and i came prepared and didn't slide much, guides were helpful and well informed. Bwindi forest jungle park, Queen Elizabeth park, Kibaale forest park and Murchison falls park were my safari destination. Roads are horrible off the tarmac but the safari car was in good shape. Hope to visit soon with friends
i do recommend WalMark Africa safaris, they were supportive in my itinerary discussions and schedule
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very welcoming and services are good. We are planning another one soon. Keep it up the good spirit.
It was excellent keep up the spirit of the good job
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very knowledgeable & flexible operator who wants to create genuine unique and authentic experience
Thanks for an amazing time! I can highly recommend asking Mpairo and Corinna for suggestions on, how to spend your next safari.
Being very authentic with local Maasai village trip, hiking in the local mountains and a personalised safari trip as you like it, we managed to even making changes on the way (so we could see the elephants and lions one more time
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
You can almost touch the wildlife with your fingers
Masai Mara is a huge reserve. You may travel hours to cross it from one side to another, so it is very important to rely on experienced drivers that can find where the animals are located. Excellent place for lions and cheetahs as the more emblematic species. You may see also elephants and giraffes in reasonable quantities. We have also seen the black rhino, which is quite unusual.
The resorts inside the park are very good, with excellent food and rooms. People is very friendly in all the country.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful safari through northern Botswana!
Our mobile safari for 9 nights with Phillimon, through Moremi, Khwai and Savute was wonderful. Phillimon has an uncanny ability to spot animals and to predict what they will do and where they will go. Our tents were spacious, the food was amazing and to top it all we had elephants, honey badgers and a civet in camp, with lions roaring not far away almost every night. Phillimon is equally at ease explaining scientific facts about the animals and then giving an explanation from the perspective of the local communities. This adds an extra level of interest to the safari. I would definitely recommend Walking Stick Travel and Tours.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3-days tour to Ngorongoro and Serengeti
We organized a 3 days tour with Swahili Paradise tours & Safaris but at the end had a tour guide (driver) and cook from Safari Trackers adventure. It will not be reflected on the quality of the tour, because the tour operators have an agreement to provide the same service. At the moment the business is tough and safari operators organize alliances or group together, otherwise it is difficult to stay profitable. We booked a tour to Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti national parks. According to our schedule we should have gone to Serengeti first and then to Ngorongoro. Instead we joined a group that started a tour earlier at Lake Manyara, had a breakfast and proceeded to Ngorongoro crater. It was a good decision of our driver Charles to visit Ngorongoro first and then Serengeti! The road between Serengeti and Ngorongoro is very bad, so if you start your trip in Serengeti, be prepared for 3 hours of dust! Thus, trust your guide if he offers to start in Ngorongoro.
In 2 days we managed to see almost all animals presented in those national parks: elephant, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, crocodile, olive baboon, leopard, hippo, cheetah, lion, hyena, hyrax, golden jackal, impala, Thomson's gazelle, reedbuck, topi, warthog, Grant's gazelle, hartebeest, dik-dik, Grey crowned crane, Kori bustard, Egyptian goose, vulture, mongoose, agama lizard, Guinea fowl, secretary bird, ostrich, egrets, superb starling and many other small birds. It does not necessary mean that you will see all those animals, if you go another time of the year or even another day, because the animals do not stay at one place and always move, so the drivers will do everything what depends on them but you should be also a bit lucky.
Safari is always a roulette - sometimes you are lucky and see a lot of animals but sometimes you are not and see much less than expected. We could not find a rhino but there are only 50 species left and you can imagine that the probability to spot even one on the territory of 80.000 square kilometers in 5-6 hours is pretty low. However, we have seen how cheetah and pride of lions hunt, we saw a leopard sleeping on a tree, we saw an antelope hidden by a leopard on a tree, elephant family taking a bath, vultures eating zebra and it was more than enough in 3 days!
We stayed in basic tent camps in the tents. Our first night was in Lerai special campsite and the second night in Nyani public campsite. Both campsites were pretty good but the water in the shower is naturally warmed by the sun, so be prepared to take barely warm shower. Sometimes in the night you hear wild animals making different sounds close to the camp but it is very safe. However, you may want to have a light, because it is pretty dark in the night far away from civilization :)
Our chef Apollo is the best! If you have a chance, go with Charles and Apollo! Everyday food was different and very tasty! Apollo was studying cooking in a college for one year. For lunch you get a box with fried chicken, sandwich, 2 fruits, biscuits, juice, chocolate or waffle bar. For dinner we have got one time ginger pumpkin soup (super tasty); rice with carrot and green bean sauce and steamed beef, on the second day it was also a soup and cheese pasta with minced meat gravy. Apollo even made banana fried pasty for dessert. The guys from the group, who started the tour one day earlier in Tarangiri said that they had fish for the first dinner, so the food is very diverse. If you are a vegetarian, I am sure, Apollo can make delicious veggie dishes as well, since he had worked in a hotel earlier. Breakfast was also freshly made every morning: omelette with sausages, pancakes with Nutella or peanut butter, toasts, coffee, tea, cocoa, etc.
The last day we have seen a beautiful sunrise in Serengeti. Milky way in Africa is amazing!
CL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience in walking safari through Okavango Delta
Definitely one of the highlights in our Africa trip, the walking safari in Okavango Delta was simply amazing! The walks through the different islands are an immersive experience, that allows you to really appreciate and understand the fauna and natural environment, much closer than what a game drive feels.
The staff in Walking Stick was incredibly knowledgeable, capable, helpful and really focused on us having an incredible experience, an amazing group of people!
Absolutely recommended!!