US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good service and great people.
Wonderful experience. We had a great time. Nice food and clean facilities. Most important is all the people who work there are so warm and passionate. Thank you guys.
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla trekking in April 2016
My husband and I did a 3-day gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Gorilla permits were at a discount because they call it a low season. Overall, we were lucky that the day we went for gorilla trekking it never rained yet it had heavily poured the day before. One must have is a nice jacket because Uganda’s weather is the fall of our country , thank you Gorilla tour booking Safaris Ltd team for making this to happen
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An Awesome Family Adventure!
My family had the most wonderful safari in October 2015. We are a family of 5 with boys aged 11, 9 and 6 and it was a fabulous experience for all of us.
Our itinerary was based on the 14 Day Wild Planet Family Safari with additional days spent with family along the way. All organisation and bookings were done by Ryan and Thale, which was awesome.
Coming from Australia, we take for safety for granted and just before leaving I admit I was nervous about taking the family to South Africa. From start to finish, however, we felt safe and well-looked after. I appreciated having a local to drive us around and pass on his knowledge about the country. We travelled around 4000km and every day there was so much to see and do. The van was spacious and comfortable and good for kids. The boys like to be active and are not always patient and quiet but the game drives were designed to suit and the excitement of being in Africa and the amazing wildlife had everyone spellbound. Accommodation was suited to the family and better than we had anticipated; swimming pools in most places we stayed were great for expending energy after a game viewing drive.
Ryan’s knowledge of the country and of the animals was incredible, his assistant Lungisani was great with the boys and lots of fun.
Highlights were
- Game viewing. Managed to see the big five but we learned about all creatures large and small, which had the boys fascinated
- Curio shops along the way for traditional African crafts
- Impromptu Zulu dancing after dinner in Hluhluwe
- uShaka Marine World in Durban - extreme water slides for a change of scene
- The Drakensburg Mountains
We'd be happy for all of our holidays to be African safaris and will definitely choose Wild Planet Safari for our next one. We can recommend Wild Planet Safari for an excellent family adventure!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A safari I will never forget.
I went on a safari with Savannah Jamboree and it was the best.they gave me most friendly service as we toured Maasai mara game reserve.the driver was so friendly,he handled us in the most professional way. i would recommend Savannah Jamboree tours to anybody who wants to have the most enjoyable pocket friendly safari.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best safari company in Tanzania
Predators are extremely professional and offer a world-class safari experience. They have comfortable, very well looked after Land Cruisers and their guides are permanently employed with amazing people skills and knowledge of their country, the different parks as well as wildlife. I can highly recommend you book your safari with them!!!!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect 6 Night Safari in Kenya and Tanzania
As an initial matter, Paul (who I believe is the owner and operator of KETS) is one of the most responsive people on e-mail I've met - which is saying a lot given that I'm an attorney in NYC. This was very much appreciated as my wife and I planned our honeymoon and constantly changed the accommodation and route we wanted to take. KETS is very flexible in that respect as well. We spent two nights in Maasai Mara in Kenya (at Ashnil Mara Lodge), two nights in the Serengeti in Tanzania (Mbalageti Lodge), one night in Ngorongoro (the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge) and one night in Amboseli back in Kenya (at the Ol Tukai Lodge).
In Maasai Mara, we had Daniel as our private driver/guide. He was very easy to speak with, knew the animals and where to find them, and was generally a great guide. Maasai Mara is significantly smaller than the Serengeti, but is beautiful and less regulated than the Tanzania parks - allowing us to get closer looks at the animals. That's not to say that KETS did any offroading or anything, just that there are more off-trail roads that get you closer to the animals. We saw a cheetah with a young one, a leopard with a young one, a lion pride resting after a kill, hyenas and jackals finishing the kill, another attempted kill by a lion at sunset, and huge numbers of elephants. We didn't see tons of wildebeests or zebras, but that came later. And Ashnil Mara lodge was beautiful. A perfect view over the river where you could watch hippos as you ate/drank. And the staff was beyond generous. The food left something to be desired, but not a whole lot KETS can do about that one. One note, and this will be common throughout this review - the drives are long. So be prepared. From Nairobi to Ashnil Mara took us about 6-7 hours. But the last 2-3 hours there is at least animal viewing. There are also a couple of stops where you can look at some African crafts if you're so inclined.
The drive from Ashnil Mara to the Mbalageti lodge in Serengeti was the longest drive. It was a full day. Although we stopped for lunch across the Tanzania border that was probably unnecessary (and I think KETS recognized it too, as Paul mentioned that for future tours they would not be making that stop). Without that two hour stop, we would have been in the park much earlier. Also of note, Kenyan drivers are not allowed to drive in Tanzania (well, they can, but it's a ridiculously expensive process). So we switched from Dan to Oswald (Ozzie) at the border. Ozzie was phenomenal. Very personable and again very good with the animals and working with the numerous other safari cars to do everything they can to show you the animals you want to see most. For us, that was cheetahs and Ozzie went out of his way to find them for us (four of them in fact...). The Mbalageti lodge is the most beautiful one we stayed in with views that can't be matched. And the western part of the Serengeti park is really beautiful with thousands of wildebeests and zebras. Can't say enough about that lodge and well worth the long drive from Maasai Mara. Even with the drives, we would strongly, strongly recommend seeing both Maasai Mara and the Serengeti.
After our second night at Mbalageti, we had a long drive to Ngorongoro (probably another 5 hour drive). But this one is the easiest drive as it's all in the park. And the central part of the Serengeti is a great chance to see leopards (we were lucky enough to see two). The arrival at Ngorongoro is incredibly impressive. And the crater offers your best chance to see the elusive rhino. The Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge left quite a bit to be desired, but I'm not sure what KETS can do about that. There are only a couple of lodges there and it does have an incredible view - the rooms are just very outdated and not the most comfortable. That might be an area where you look to fork up a bit more money for a four-star lodge if that's the kind of trip you're looking for.
Amboseli could probably be skipped. Ol Tukai is a gorgeous lodge, but if that's your last stop, you'll have already seen most everything that Amboseli has to offer except views of Kilimanjaro. It breaks up the drive a bit from Ngorongoro, but I think if we did it all over again, we might have skipped that stop. Ol Tukai is gorgeous though - so definitely not a bad place to just relax after a long safari. We switched drivers again at the border (from Ozzie to Duncan). We didn't have much time with Duncan since we were winding down and largely chose to relax instead of go on game drives in Amboseli. But he certainly seemed knowledgeable of the animals/area and fell in line with the other KETS drivers we had.
Long winded, I know. So to summarize, KETS was everything we had hoped for and could have expected. We would strongly, strongly recommend KETS to those of you looking for a Kenya and Tanzania safari!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Book Bella!
In August 2014 we had Bella as our tourguide on our trip through Uganda.
If you have plans to go to Uganda, I can highly recommend Bella.
Bella knows everything from Uganda, the animals, culture and everyone knows Bella.
She is a very warm person, always smiling and having fun. But also very professional.
If you book Bella as your tourguide, you will definitely have a great time!
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not satisfied
Please do not book at Krugerpark.com. We had booked the 3-days Safari. After several email contact we succeed to let them know we will drive by ourself inside the gate to the camp. That was no problem they said. Arriving at the gate we had to pay to enter the gate again (R560) The gate fee was in the package we booked, so we already paid for it. Arriving at the camp, nobody knows about us. There was no reservation. Tried to chat with Krugerpark.com, nobody responded. Then we call them, I couldn't understand a word they where saying because of the bad connection. They called me back and gave a reservation number. (The calles costed me R300) Back to the reception, nothing to find again even with the reservation number. Asked the reception if they can contact Krugerpark.com for us. Finally the found something. Krugerpark.com called the driver and he picked us up finally, already to late for our first game drive. Back in Holland again I started contact Krugerpark.com to get our money back for the gate fee and my telephone costs. Pff not funny anymore, I think I had to explain 10x what happened to the same lady. 3 months later (february), sending several reminder emails I finally got an email that they will refund my money. No it is june and I still haven't received any money.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing,unforgettable ,our best tour we ever made in Africa,real Africa!
"The world is a book,and those who do not travel read only a page."
Thank you to Around African Tours for arranging such an amazing trip and "reading" a further page of world..We were hosted well ,our guide made this trip to our highlight of the year!We experienced about Uganda more than we ever expected and for sure we will return !
The communication was excellent ,all our questions have been answered so quickly.Thank you to the whole team!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Trip of a Lifetime.........
On our ten day visit to Tanzania my group of three had the distinct pleasure of having safari guide George Mollel ("Mollel") as our host. This man is amazing.
Seeing "The Big Five" in under three hours, a Croc devouring a Zebra, a Lion taking down a Hyena, a Black Rhino from 25 feet away and a Puff Adder ready to strike were just a few highlights from our unforgettable journey. One hundred fifty Lions, thousands of Wildebeest, 200 birds, swarms of Cape Buffalo, a parade of pachyderm, a pair of Cheetah, seven Leopards & a business of Banded Mongoose were just a few more animals Mollel was always able to find.
During this experience we averaged eleven hours a day on safari, took over 5000 photos & learned about Tanzania's culture, customs and history from Mollel while taking full advantage of his first class customer service.
Our Tanzanian safari was truly the trip of a lifetime & if I'm ever fortunate enough to get back to Africa to do it again, my only choice for safari guide is George Mollel. He's got the eye of an Eagle & the instinct of a tracker.