35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Cole, UK, 2015
To summarise briefly, the two lodge exceeded our expectations for different reasons. Paraa Lodge is in a lovely location, beautifully organised, has excellent food, delightful staff and every comfort thoughtfully taken care of. Mweya Safari Lodge location was stunning and the way the lodge integrated with it’s environment was perfect. Neither lodge disappointed us in any way although the food at Mweya was not as good ( but the dinner setting in the out-doors was fun!) but we felt very relaxed and at peace there. Our guides in both places were charming and very knowledgeable.
We were amazed by all the wildlife and saw everything we hoped to see except for a leopard which eluded us despite a long search in Queen Elizabeth national park! Our photos and memories are brilliant!
Primate lodge was extremely comfortable, the food was great and it was a beautiful place to relax in the middle of the forest. We did the chimpanzee forest walk, swamp walk and went on the Crater lake Tour but sadly didn’t have time for a visit to the village community.
We absolutely loved Bwindi forest and are already planning a repeat of the gorilla trekking experience, although we might consider investigating Rwanda next time, just for a change.
Please give my thanks to Carlos for his help and guidance in planning and booking this wonderful holiday. Steve for his outstanding guide service, knowledge and personality.
Regards
S Cole
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
well organized, full of extraordinary, friendly and prepared people
my experience woth focus in africa has been made by voluunter program at Good Hope Prphanage adn by 4 days of safari in the best tanzanian african parks. Focus in Africa is the PERFECT solution if you wanna be a volunteer and a tourist at the same time. Everything is very well organized; everybody is very friendly and ready to help you whatever you need. I lived for a month in one pf the volunteers' house of Focus in Africa, which was a very good, safe and funny solution!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great budget option
Of course it's always daunting arranging a safari from your home country. There are so many options and then there's the worry about scams but we had a good feeling about KBS, mainly due to Esther's friendly, informative and prompt correspondences. We weren't required to pay up front either. For us, we prioritised having a private tour over luxury because of past experiences on group tours where we couldn't see or had to compromise our ideals to accommodate other guests. KBS offered one of the cheapest private options around. Our guide, David, was lovely, considerate, punctual, informative and - importantly - a very safe, responsible driver. The vehicle was fine, not new but in reasonable condition. It did break a fanbelt which David got repaired at our next stop thus not really impacting upon us.
We did 3 nights/4days Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru tour. Masai Mara accom (Sidai camp) was ok in terms of comfort (bed, ensuite hot shower) but not too clean. Breakfast and dinner buffets were good given the remote location but the packed lunches they provided were very poor and didn't cater for vegetarians (bring snacks!). Game drives here were great. David didn’t point out much we couldn't see for ourselves but did use the radio system effectively to find lots of the rarer sightings like lions and cheetahs with kill. A walk around the village (the campsite is not in the park) was interesting but with hindsight we'd have paid a few shillings to get a tour from a local to get a bit more out of the experience. You get plenty of offers and it's cheaper than paying for it as an official activity on your tour.
Lake Nakuru accom was in Chester Hotel which far exceeded our budget expectations. Buffet dinner and breakfast with a great packed lunch. Lake was a good contrast to Mara in terms of scenery. Lots of birdlife, white rhinos, a few flamingos, buffalos, baboons.
Overall we were very content with our experience. Thank you Esther and David!
Here's my blog post on the trip: http://wp.me/p3H1j4-Xz
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An incredible first trip to Africa - we'll be back!
Our trip was organised in such a short amount of time, and upon sending out a few emails to various companies, Rose was the first to reply. She was always so helpful with answering emails and responding to requests, and gave us a truly incredible safari experience in Kenya. Rose really understood what my father and I were looking for from the trip, and took into account specific things like budget and dates to help us get the most out of it. We ended up staying for 3 nights in the gorgeous Encounter Mara camp in Naboisho Conservancy, and then had an additional 2 nights at the luxurious Richard's River Camp, in Olare Orok Conservancy. Rose organised all of our internal flights to and from the Maasai Mara (we had already booked our international ones, although I'm positive she could have helped with those too!) and on our final day coming back from the Mara had arranged a wonderful day visiting the Giraffe Sanctuary, the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, and the Karen Blixen Museum - so we definitely got the most out of our time in Kenya. Rose was such a good contact - she was incredibly knowledgable, and did her best to keep me informed about everything we needed to know. I would not hesitate to use The Luxury Safari Company again.
65+ years of age
Tanzanian Safari
Communication was excellent. We met the tour representative at the beginning and the end of our tour. Our guide was experienced and had excellent knowledge and was friendly. The tour lived up to our expectations and more and the visits to both the Hadzabe tribe and the Masai tribe were wonderful. We also enjoyed the visit to the Ngorongoro Crater especially. Our add-on to Victoria Falls was spectacular.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Kidepo Valley National Park by oemebamo
Less game then the other national parks in Uganda, but the remoteness and scenic beauty makes it worth the (long) trip!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorillas-gorillas-gorillas!
We just did the gorilla trekking at Bwindi, which was truly the highlight of our 3-week-roadtrip! We came up close with the gorillas (this family was one of the first to be habituated to humans), and could observe their behavior for an hour.
The scenery is stunning as well, especially in the morning light! There are some walks (only guided) in the park as well, but we didn't do any of these.
We spent the night in the Buhoma Community Rest Camp, planning on pitching our tent, but we decided to go for a banda as it was pouring rain. This was 100$ per person, which is steep compared to other parks, with shared bathroom and toilet. Besides this, the staff was very friendly and helpful and the food delicious (though quite pricey, too)!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well organised and great value or money
We went to Oldeani via Lake Manyara and back to Arusha via the Serengeti. Great trip which was well organised.
We then climbed to the peak of Mt. Meru. Very impressed with the quality of the refuges and the porters. One of them was the cook and he excelled with the spaghetti alla Bolognese.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Savannah Explorers: the best for your safari experience
My family and I have just returned from a wonderful 5-day safari in northern Tanzania . For this wonderful experience we entrusted to Savannah Explorers that we chose after requesting various cost estimates and we confirm you that we did the right choice.
Savannah Explorers with his manager Roberto arranged a wonderful tour with a careful driver , Ali ' and an excellent guide Corrado who was always available to answer all our questions about animals and life in Tanzania .
Hakuna matata : no problems. The lodges, the tended camp, the jeep, the food were very good and the people were very helpful.
We thought the safari would be tiring and instead it was an exciting experience with intense moments in search of wild animals and moments of quiet rest in the evening having dinner with our friends Corrado e Ali’.
Thanks again to our friends of Savannah Explores!!
US
This experience helped me remember past safaris while introducing different animals and habitats.
Our safari included Masai Mara and Samburu - two totally different environments and experiences. James, our guide was well versed in both and added information about the animals, landscape, trees and differences between the animals in the two parks. How different the animals were when only separated by a few hours drive was intriguing and something I didn't expect. James was very accommodating when requesting specific times for game drives, specific animals that we wanted to see and helped our photography by positioning the vehicle to capture the best angle and in some cases the best light. We have some of the most fantastic shots of leopards. Not something everyone gets to see in the wild. We enjoyed out time with James just getting to know each other and sharing stories as well. We even had the opportunity to recommend James/Odyssey to other people on safari that were planning to return to Samburu. He definitely enhanced our trip and our love for the animals of Africa. Beatrice was our contact for arranging and planning our trip. She was very responsive and very friendly - even through email. So- thank you all for a wonderful trip. We are still sharing photos and stories with our friends.