US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience
African Big Cats was an excellent experience - from planning our custom itinerary to booking the trip from the US, communication was fantastic. ABCS was thorough, friendly, and responsive. From the moment we were picked up at the airport, our guide Festo was amazing. He was super friendly and humble, extremely accommodating, very very knowledgeable about all of the wildlife and cultural experiences we saw and had, and shared a lot of his personal story with us which allowed us to learn a great deal about what life in Tanzania must be like. The safari itself was top notch. Every day, every park, every experience, exceeded our expectations. We saw multiples of all the big five - Festo always seemed to know where to go to find the animals. We even saw a couple animals that he had never seen in his 10 years as a guide. We saw mamas and babies, mating pairs, tons of birds, and had some close encounters with lions, leopards, and lots of elephants. All in all we encountered more than 90 species in 10 days.
Festo cleaned the Land Cruiser every day and kept it well stocked with water, soda, and beer. Throughout our itinerary, Festo was a great communicator and let us set the agenda and make decisions, but gave excellent guidance and recommendations as well. We were out early all but one day and because of this saw some things that others might not have seen who started their days later. The number one highlight for us was to witness a crossing of the Great Migration at the Mara River. A couple thousand wildebeest swimming across the dangerous river and mounting the bank right in front of us and stampeding past the line of Landcruisers - truly a spectacle to behold. And we only got to see it because of the recommendation, expertise, and patience of our guide.
The accommodations were all top tier- clean comfortable friendly and great foods - our favorites were the remote camps which we spent 5 nights in 3 camps. Intimate Camp Zebra was a truly great experience. Kanbi Yo Tembo was another great lodging with unbelievable friendly hosts, great food, and unreal views.
We travel alot as a family and thanks to the team at African Big Cats this was absolutely one of the best experiences of our lives. Highly recommended.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond expectations
If you see this review, please just trust Steve and his team. He will give you a beautiful and beyond expectation experience that you will remember forever.
My friend and I saw the great migration, leopard, lions, millions of giraffes and elephants etc. I have to admit we are pretty lucky but also it’s because of the excellent driving skill and animal knowledge that our driver/guide, Stanley, have.
Apart from seeing animals, we have warm food every meal. I have no complaints about any of the place we stayed. All very good beyond expectations again.
Now thinking back, the plan Steve made is so so so smart. There is no time wasted during the trip and there is a nice balance between adventure and chill time. Only an expert can make this plan. I’m happy I trusted Steve 100%.
I am a very careless person and not very good at details… I am so lucky to have Steve. When I was trying to book the safaris, to be honest, I didn’t do much research. Steve is the first guy I talked to and I also contacted the other company. But that company gives me a robot machine replying feeling. I like the human touch during the talk with Steve so I just chose him… This “irrational” decision turns out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
PL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect
Punctual, well rounded, taking care of their guests, very good and responsible company. I would choose them again.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What a life memory...
We searched at Google on May 2025 for safari to Tarangire and Ngorongoro crater for August 2025 and we random found Simbaland Magic tours...From the first contact through WhatsApp we impressed of the kindness and professionalism of miss Miriam. She organized everything till last detail in order everything to be perfect. We spend 2 days at Tarangire and Ngorongoro crater with our driver Samuel. He was beyond and above and due to his experience 2 times the lions passed exactly in front of our jeep when same time the other jeeps drivers were searching for them with binoculars. Needles to say that we saw all big five and more from very close distance, which made that a life memory. In addition our stay at Suricata which was arranged by miss Miriam was above of our expectations. Thank you for everything and we appreciated your best efforts for our 2 days safari...
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding & flexible support - before and during our trip
From initial communications, through itinerary changes to accommodate flights and interests, Harilala provided prompt, excellent service. Throughout the trip, the main and local guides had fantastic personalities and were excellent when managing rough roads and helping with challenging climbs. Pricing was very good value for what we received in both support and experiences. Madagascar is challenging but amazing and incredibly rewarding. And, don't miss the opportunity to eat at the Mad Zebu. Great food, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I can't recommend Harilala and his team at Madagascar Natural Tours enough.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What an AMAZING experience.
My wife and I went on safari for our honeymoon. We stayed three nights at Linyanti Bush Camp, three nights at Khwai Lediba and two nights at Thorntree River Lodge. Each camp offered a little different experience but the service was exceptional in each location. We especially loved our guides. Taylor, our guide at Linyanti, was amazing and we really enjoyed spending so much time with him. We can say the same for Claudia at Thorntree . As an amateur wildlife photographer, this trip was a bucket list experience for me, and the guides made sure to deliver a memorable experience. We saw all the animals we had hoped to see including a cheetah and a leopard!
We were pleasantly surprised by how great the food was at all times! We enjoyed the morning breakfast by the fire, and lunch and dinner were always wonderful. We especially loved the Boma nights. We loved the community aspect of the Botswana camps, meeting the other guests from around the world, and spending time with the lovely hosts and guides from Botswana. Thorntree River Lodge also had exceptional service, but it was a less communal experience amongst guests. That's not a complaint, just an observation.
This was a pricier vacation than we can typically afford, but the value felt great. We got our money's worth out of the experience and the service, including guides, chefs, housekeepers, bartenders and our hosts, was nothing short of perfect. We felt taken care of from the moment we stepped foot in Botswana all the way through navigating the Zambia/Zimbabwe border to fly back to Cape Town. We simply cannot stop raving about every aspect of our trip, so thank you, ABC!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, local safari tour company with great service
We had an INCREDIBLE trip with Daniel Kisemei, our guide and driver. We took a six-day safari through Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, and Maasai Mara. In the short trip, we saw the Big Five, the Great Migration, and learned a lot about African culture from Daniel, who was born in the Maasai culture. He was extremely knowledgeable and could identify every animal/bird we saw on our trip. He is well educated on all aspects of Kenyan life, including politics, society, and more. I can't recommend him enough. He is a very sincere, genuine, and hardworking guide who will ensure your travel group has a great and safe experience.
Lencer, our travel coordinator, also did an excellent job. She was very responsive at all times. When a hotel had underdelivered on what was agreed up on, she quickly took action to advocate for us.
Awour Escapades is a great, small safari company. My friends and I would recommend them to any foreigners looking to travel to Kenya.
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ideal planner for an idyllic holiday
Dealing with logistics is the last thing I want to worry about during my holiday, and planning for a trip to Africa involves LOGISTICS. African Safari Guru took all that worry out of my hands. They have local knowledge and expertise, and took care of everything. There were small hiccups with local vendors but those were swiftly handled. My family and I were well taken care of every step of the way; starting from airport transfers to guides, to the beautiful accommodations, to well-paced activities to our liking.
Details are handled pre trip when you book the trip, with clear instructions, and prompt replies. Just make sure you communicate clearly with the agent handling your tour plan about your wishes, and they will customize accordingly.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One in a lifetime experience, perfect orchestration
As a couple, we made a private 4 day mid range safari tour with one day coffee and waterfall excursion.
First of all, our pre-safari communication with Shadrack, the manager, was smooth and reactive. He sincerely wishes to make sure your experience is one of a lifetime’s. He met us in person before and after our safari tour to brief before and gather our thoughts and recommendations after.
Secondly, all of our guides were knowledgeable, adaptive, funny and helpful. Special thanks to our guide Fred who was a very good driver, excellent guide (both knowledgeable about the type and description of animals, places to look for them and safety concerns related).
Our accommodation was generally good : both with “glamping” in Serengeti (heritage camp) and Ngorongogo (Ngorongoro Wild Camp) and more European style hotel in Arusha (Arusha planet lodge) and nearby Tarangire National Park (Eileen’s trees inn). All of the hotels personnel were very helpful, friendly and kind. Breakfast and dinner in our accommodation was mostly varied and with some vegetarian options (a little less options in Serengeti heritage camp and ngorongoro but understandable because of the distance from the bigger cities). However, even though we shared in advance that we both were vegetarian, on a few occasion our choice was quite limited with rice and a few raw salad. On a brighter side, we had “unlimited” beer and wine as well as coffee (in powder), water and tea available for us in the van.
We celebrated our first lion sighting with a glass of wine which was memorable.
All in all, we wish we had booked one or two days more than we did because we felt it was not that tiring and enjoyed our time. Thank you again for this lifetime experience. We certainly recommend Meru Slopes tours and safaris. You will not be disappointed! Don’t look any further.
HK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, David is an awesome tour guide
Our tour was amazing! We were able to see the famous wildebeest river crossing and all of the Ugly 5 and Big 4 (minus rhinos) during our tour. Our guide David has been awesome, it has been a delightful experience to spend time with someone who is so passionate about the safari and knows so much about animals. It was our first trip to the east African safari and we can’t wait to come back again with Savannah explorer.