CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hard to pick, but Tarangire could be my favourite park.
We arrived the night before, staying at the Kirurumu Tented Camp. This was the nicest place we stayed on our trip, but also had the worst road of our trip leading to it. Reception is an elegant, airy building with a central corridor. Glass doors lead into an Internet room and the manager’s office. We were greeted with mango juice and hot cloths, and Maasai porters carried our bags to #10. Steps leading to a concrete verandah, canvas walls with sliding glass doors, three beds with nets, white duvets with colorful cloth blankets at foot of each bed, and a very spacious bathroom, with a flush toilet better than the one we have at home, and 2 sinks with facecloths! Plus a shower with enough hot water for the three of us. Paradise.
We settled in. Maasai men escorted us through darkening paths to the dining tent, which was surrounded with bushes covered in what looked like blue petunias. We had our best meal yet. A scrumptious butternut squash soup, tender pork chops in a tasty brown sauce, with lightly cooked green beans, carrots, and potato slices. An apricot walnut crumble cake for dessert. And the dining tent is fun, beautifully set with Maasai necklaces forming the placemats. Because the kitchen is in a separate building, they use silver plate covers to transport dishes. Great service – and playful. The waiter counted us in - 1, 2, 3 - and we would simultaneously remove the plate cover to reveal the food underneath. There is also a comfortable couch and a library of African books. So glad to have two nights here.
Tarangire National Park has a really nice entrance gate - well tended gardens, clean bathrooms, and a very tall wooden observation platform.
We begin the game drive. The weather is cool, and intermittently overcast. First off we see waterbucks. Then two different varieties of giraffe, a hilarious family of striped mongoose and two families of warthogs that let us take a good look at them before they trotted off - one had really big tusks. Then a family of dwarf yellow mongoose living in a termite mound. Speaking of which, termite mounds were everywhere, as were weaver nests, hanging from all the trees.
The Baobab trees are wonderful, looking very elvish to me. The grass long and green. Flowering bushes everywhere, covered in white petunia-like blossoms with delicate pink interiors. Little blue and yellow flowers by the side of the road, acacia trees, baobab trees, palm trees. The whole impression is of lushness and fertility.
We notice several vehicles gathered in the distance. Over we go. A female lion is wandering among the vehicles. Then we see the dead buffalo about 10 feet off the road. We notice some entrails and various organs about 5 feet from the road, and a big hole in the rear end of the buffalo. The female lion crosses the road and disappears into a thicket about 30 feet away.
A flock of African white-backed vultures arrive - why do they always pick the bare ugly trees? It’s like vulture central-casting. A Ranger Safaris' vehicle drives off the road, over to the thicket where the lioness had gone. A guide in another vehicle says there are more than 10 lions including a male in there. I was disgusted by the off-roading, but at least no one followed them.
The other vehicles leave and we settle in to wait. Thadei (our wonderful Safari Infinity guide) says the vultures will eventually go to the buffalo and that will draw the lions out. We back away from the carcass to give the vultures space. Sure enough, they start to circle! Eventually a couple of them land. We hear a loud grumble from the lion area, and look to see three females and a male emerge from the thicket. The vultures depart quickly.
The lions slowly make their way down to the carcass, with the male lion spraying copiously on his way. We notice a fourth lioness that must have been in the tall grass by the carcass all along. A female lion poops in the road and scrapes dirt over it like a cat. Then all five of them range themselves a yard or two from the carcass and just lie in the grass. Gerry says it’s a sentry system! One of the females returns to the clump - maybe there are cubs there.
One lioness nuzzles against another, purring. She then goes over to the male lion, licks him, rubs against him, then lies down and waves her tail enticingly. He licks her. She gets up, walks off and he follows. I hear a tourist say "they are going to get a room". But no, they just lie down a few feet from each other and start to doze, looking comfortable. We remain another 15 minutes or so, then decide to move on and check back later.
First thing we run into is a huge troop of baboons. There are many, many babies, including one that looks less than a week old. Some run along beside their moms, others ride on their backs, and still others cling to their mother's bellies. They are going to cross the river. It’s a wonderful sight - hundreds of baboons crossing the water, a few even walking on two feet. Some skirmishes, lots of squealing, shrieking and chucking sounds. The great baboon migration. Four reddish elephants in the background looking majestic.
We see a male ostrich with pink neck and legs - mating-ready apparently.
Lunch at the Matete lookout. The river is far below us. We watch a herd of elephants cross it as we eat. I am happy to see a green apple in my box. I put it and a bag of peanuts aside. Thadei leaves the table. Suddenly there is a thump and I look up to see a vervet monkey springing away, my green apple clenched firmly in his mouth. He lands on the fence across from me. Nick and I are in fits of laughter - nicely played, monkey!
The rest of the day is an easy pace. Just looking around. We see two battling waterbucks, a turquoise kingfisher, a hamercop stork, two monitor lizards swimming around, a saddle beak stork, a beautiful blue roller, flocks of teeny orange birds that look like flying poppies, a dik-dik, and a tawny eagle.
I love this park. The rolling hills, the trees, the river, the flowers. It's like a classic picture of Africa. Near the river, there are tall single stalks with one delicate purple blossom on top. The Tarangire River seemed to be drying up fast – it was flat and winding, but with a big expanse of sand on either side.
I want to watch some elephants for a while. This is not so easy. Two big ones cover themselves in mud, but they move away as soon as they are done. Thadei says the elephants here are wary of people, since they sometimes come into conflict with the agriculturalists outside the park. It's not surprising - even a single elephant could pretty much ruin a crop.
One elephant even looks like it might charge. We move on, find another group down the track, and watch some mothers and babies for a while. A little one rests its head on Mom's leg. Awww.
We decide to go back and see what's happening in lion land. To our utter delight, there are three small cubs tearing away at the organs on the ground, which are looking surprisingly fresh after a day in the sun. The kittens have a pretty hard time chewing - they don't seem to be able to get much of a mouthful.
The poor buffalo is looking emptier. There is another big hole near its neck. There are MANY flies. Only one female lion is nearby. We surmise the rest of them must be back in the bush fort.
Sure enough, slowly they emerge and come down to join the party. We count six juveniles, and three females. The cubs wander off to some nearby water, and are joined by the juveniles and one of the moms.
Three females start chewing on the buffalo. There is a small altercation. Two of them leave, and one remains tugging and scraping at the carcass. Clearly there is a hole in the side we can't see - she sticks her head inside and we can hear the chewing. Every time she pulls it out we see the blood on her face.
She tries to turn the carcass over by using its leg as a lever. It's too hard for her, and she looks around for help. Everyone is at the water. The male lion emerges from the thicket, and paces his way down to the lower field, spraying vigorously every few yards. He makes a wide circle, and then lies down near the crowd at the water.
The female lion is clearly going to succeed in turning the buffalo over. It seems we could stay there watching all night, because there is still a lot of buffalo to eat, and many lions to eat it. Not to mention the vultures. But the afternoon is getting on, and even though it is our last game drive, we want to have time for a shower and beer before supper and packing. Reluctantly we move off and go back to the lodge, stopping only briefly to check out a male and female buffalo weaver.
We return to camp around 5, happy to have a little time in our lovely tent before supper. We all shower, and sit on the porch with a beer, chatting and looking at photos.
Supper tonight is cream of pumpkin soup, Tilapia, and crème caramel. Not as delicious as the night before, but still good. Thadei drops in just as we are leaving. We arrange to leave at 8 am the next day. Can't believe the safari is ending!
Review about Kenya by ninara
Wildlife is abundant and diverse in national parks. Scenery is typically African, exotic for the European tourists.
KW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Wildlife Safari Destination!
Tanzania has many national parks... Serengeti been the pick of them. Accommodations are quite good & standard over here. One could easily be disguised as Africa not having good accommodation but its surprisingly cool. African Hospitality is really good. We had booked our tour through Zed Safaris & they did a pretty good job!
Also, during the other half of our tour we had been to Zanizibar... just completes our African trip with amazing resorts. Tanzania or Wildlife Safari would be easily one of the best holidays we had or will have. Highly Recommended once in a lifetime!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tanzania by Debbie McGee
We felt safe, and welcome. The people we met were genuinely friendly, our tour operator Safari Infinity was professional and helpful and our guide was fantastic. There seemed to be an effort on the part of the government to make sure the animals and their habitat were protected from the worst excesses of tourism. I would love to go there again.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Affordable Luxury Safari!
There is plenty to say about Ubon Safari. They absolutely shine on service and execution and most importantly price. Let me give you a run down. A knowledgeable guide/driver will be waiting for you at the airport in our case it was Kilimanjaro. We did the Lake Manyara/Serengeti/Ngorogoro crater 3 night /4 days all at the Serena Lodges(highly recommended) and we opted for the private jeep(highly recommended). Our guides name was Phillip, he was great and knew the terrain well with over 10 years of experience. Its very important to discuss your desires with him right out of the gates so he can deliver the right safari. We wanted to see all the big animals or as they as they say the big 5. Be prepared to be tossed around as the roads can be bumpy, it is a safari after all. You will encounter an array of animals and majestic landscapes that times out shine the animals. My advice is get up early of possible wear very comfortable clothing that fits loose and have your gourmet breakfast and head out into the wild. You will have box lunches(might want to let them know what you like to eat) on the road and be at your next luxury accommodations by 5-6 pm to relax and unwind.
The Serena Lodges(free wifi)are they way to go if possible(the views are amazing!) The service level is very high and the food is top notch. Ubon will call or email you to make sure your trip is excellent and any issues are resolved. In our case it was seamless and perfect. I really feel you do not have to wait to experience a luxury safari. We are very happy we went and we will be booking another one in the near future. Ubon will make it work for anyone. Lastly animals are unpredictable be patient and it will happen. Hakuna Matata- Don't worry, be happy!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Trip!
Our trip to South Africa exceeded our expectations. The trip was very well organized and the service was excellent. Our experience will bring us back to South Africa. I recommend this travel agency for SA tours. They make sure their customers have the best and safest experience. It is definitely a trip with lifetime memories. SA should be in everyone's list of places to go.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Completely custumer focused and perfect service
We had a wonderfull safari trip to Murchinsonfalls, Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Forest and Lake Mburo and at least to Jinja, after 8 weeks of volunteers work. Our guide was perfect en he pointed out the most beautiful things, animals, birds, bugs, trees and landscapes. It was unforgettable we would like to go back.
Thanks Matoke for this wonderful experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a lifetime! Highly recommend Bramwel
My friends and I recently visited Tanzania for work and decided to do a safari in the area. We were staying in Dar-Es-Salam. We did our research and given the time constraints, we decided to enjoy the Ngorongoro Crater. We made our own flight arrangements from Dar to Arusha. The rest was taken care of Bramwel. William is very responsive and on time with every additional bit of information we asked for. We requested to stay in the Sopa Lodges - Best decision ever.
On Sat morning - We flew from Dar to Arusha. Julius was waiting for us at the airport with packed lunch boxes. He was our tour guide for the trip. He was really engaging and made our experience very memorable. Our flight was delayed a little so we headed straight to the crater. The sopa lodge is a great place! Excellent service and really good food. We spent Sunday exploring the crater, all day long. We drove to Serengeti on Monday with a stopover at the Masai village. We left crater Tuesday with a stop at the Lake Manyara and flight back to Dar on that day.
Overall it was a great trip. We will not trade anything out of this. We definitely recommend Bramwell and sure to use them again if we go on another trip.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience at Nyati Travel
In March of this year I booked with Nyati once again. I am usually very happy with the service that is offered. Friendly staff with a personal touch and well organized tours. I normally find the best ticket prices at Nyati and recently I hired a neat car from them that took me around Harare safely. Highly recommended.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Our last 3 trips with Great Horizon Trails were wonderful!
I have led groups on 2 week trips to Kenya, using Great Horizon Trails. Each one was wonderful, and beyond expectations. We saw an amazing number of animals on each safari. The preparation for the trips were assisted by the professional director and his staff, who were most helpful. The driver guides were knowledgeable and friendly. As our trips include mission work as well as safari, it was gratifying to have adaptability and flexibility built in to our schedule. Most of all, we felt safe and happy throughout, and there was always lots of laughter. We are looking forward to our trip to Kenya this summer, thanks to Great Horizon Trails!