65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Superb service in every way.
Falcon Safaris are highly commendable. The drivers always turned up on time and the guides were very knowledgeable. The company exceeded our expectations and we were made to feel very special. The safaris were amazing, as we saw far more animals than we expected to. The tour of the falls was spectacular and our guide did not rush us, we always had plenty of time for photographs. All in all a magnificent experience.
Very professional, kind and helpful
Our good experience with African Adventure Safaris has started at the very first mail to the company with our intention to do the Uganda safari. Nicholas was extremely efficient in these e-mail communications. He replied promptly and effectively and helped us to plan according to our wishes, and was very flexible in any changes we wished to make. Upon arrival we met Rogers, our driver and guide for the week. Rogers also was very kind, professional and tried to follow our needs and requests as possible. Except from one location, we asked for a budget tour, and we had quite good accommodations with excellent food in all of them. The car was very comfortable and Rogers tried hard that we will get the most from our safari tours. The safaris were excellent – once in a lifetime experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good game drive with Right Choice
When I was looking around for a good tour, I have contacted several tours as their prices all fell within my consideration. I did not consider the tours for which the prices were too high.
I like the Right Choice Tour because the manager George was always provided very quick responses. Based on many researches that I did and experiences from other people that I gathered, I proposed my own route and requirements. George always helped and supported. For example, I really wanted to see is flamingos; I asked if I couldn’t see them at Lake Nakuru, I would want to go to Lake Bogoria. I also asked to add one hour boat ride at Lake Naivasha, etc. In terms of the price, George was very fair. So that’s why I decided to pick this tour group.
My trip was seven days plus the first day of arrival. We were three families going together. We arrived at Nairobi with 3 different times. George picked us one family by another to our hotel without charging us very much. We made a mistake booking the hotel in the center of the city and this was paid for the first night ourselves. We thought that we had some time to sightsee in the city so it would be more convenient to book the hotel there. But we didn’t expect such big traffic from the airport to the city center. It took us two to three hours to get to the hotel from the airport, which got us really exhausted. The hotel also really sucked. It’s 75$/per night and we’ve never lived in such a bad hotel before. It really hit us hard on the head. We didn’t even dare to go out to eat since there were so many homeless beggars on the street so the street looked really unsafe. Not only that, the second day we had to get out of the city center, and encountered the same bad traffic. If we had lived near the airport we would’ve avoided the traffic both times. It would’ve been nice if George could’ve made some suggestions beforehand.
Our game drive ride was a minivan. The vehicle is resilient although it was not as good-looking as the jeeps. We thought that there would be Wi-Fi on the van also the van has a sticker saying Wi-Fi on boat, but there was no Wi-Fi. So we were a bit disappointed about that. Due to the fact that going to every single route took a long time, approximately 4 hours, it would’ve been nice if we had Wi-Fi. Because then we could contact our family and friends about how we were at the moment.
Tom was our driver and he was professional, drove fast but also safely. Every single time we arrived earlier than I expected. He also constantly consoling us that the destination was near and that there were no more bump road ahead. That made us feel more comfortable.
We stayed in Masai Mara National Reserve for three nights. The arranged lodging that George made for us was the Masai Mara Sopa Lodge. It was a very comfortable stay, food was good also. We also had a formal dinner which made us really happy. Everybody said that the lodge and its service were out of their expectations. There was also WiFi in lobby.
During the two-days game drive in Masai Mara. Tom was very fast in finding the animals and was very diligent in helping us finding everything that we wanted to see. Under his guidance, we saw a lot of animals, especially lions. We actually saw lions mating twice and saw male lions many times. We also had a really rare encounter with cheetahs in pre-breakfast game drive. Tom also negotiated with us regarding changes. For example, if we go to see Masai Mara river he suggested us to bring our lunch, so that we save time going back and forth. He also took us to another lodge for resting and eating lunch. The surrounding environment was really nice. He cared about if we were not happy about something by constantly asking us if everything was okay. He was also humorous at times and made us laugh. We really liked him and thought he was an honest person. We were very satisfied with our Game Drive at Masai Mara.
When we left Masai Mara, we went to Lake Nakura and stayed there for one day. George arranged that we stay at Lake Nakuru Lodge. The place was also really good, only that there was an extra charge for WiFi so that was a big disappointing. At Lake Nakuru Park, we have seen black and white rhinocerose. This completed seeing the “Big Five” from our top wish-list for this trip. But I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see the flamingo at Lake Nakuru. Tom drove very far distances and tried to see them on the side of the lake with no luck.
After reading so many other people’s trip diaries, I learnt that apparently the chances nowadays for seeing them at Lake Nakuru is rare. That’s why from the beginning I asked to go to Lake Bogoria if we don’t see flamingo in Lake Nakuru. I thought I have I had a back-up plan that if I couldn’t see them at Lake Nakuru then I’ll try Lake Bogoria. That was what we agreed in the contract. But I wasn’t notified until that point that apparently we had to pay 50$/per person out of our pockets. But that wasn’t what was written in the contract so I hope in the future I would be made clear on this. We did not go Lake Bogoria. I felt upset that the fact that I did so much homework finding them was wasted, especially I have promised my friends we could see them either in lake Nakuru or Bogoria. Another thing is that the trip route that day was not reasonable and I didn’t find this out until we got there. If we came out of Masai Mala we had to go straight to Lake Bogoria to first see the flamingos and then come back to stay at Lake Nakuru, wouldn’t there be a lot more chances. Also from Masai Mala to Lake Nakuru, why did we have to pass Nairobi city center for lunch? Was it because we need settle the accounts? We met a lot of traffic passing through Nairobi again. If in this trip when we settled the contracts, George can be a bit meticulous in helping us fix these little things that would be good.
The last part of the trip we stayed at Amboseli National Park for two days. We wanted to go see Mt. Kilimanjaro. Staying two days was also a back-up plan for me because many people who stayed one day did not get to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. We finally saw Mt. Kilimanjaro on the second day evening and that is really existing and nice. The lodging there that George arranged for us was also really good. It was at Kibo Safari Lodge but too bad that it didn’t have Wi-Fi at all. Compare to Masai Mara, Amboseli National Park didn’t have a lot of exotic animals, mostly elephants so it wasn’t as exciting. But Tom still worked really hard helping us find animals that we’ve never seen before so we still saw a few animals that we haven’t seen at Masai Mara.
We finally successfully finished this entire itinerary. We rate the tour 80 points. Overall it’s pretty good. How many people wanted to go to Africa to see animals, it came true for us!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding safari
I visited Zambia for the first time on a MTT tour with my mother, and could not have been happier with our experience. Leslie from MTT organized a unique safari where we were able to incorporate two different National Parks (South Luangwa and Kafue) and visit some very special areas off the beaten track. The vehicle that was provided for the safari was lovely, and our driver for the duration of the trip was wonderful. Leslie was prompt in all of our correspondence and nothing was left out in the organization of the trip. She has such a wealth of information and experience, and provided us with a truly tailor-made experience. I would recommend MTT to anyone considering a safari, and I will certainly travel with MTT again in the (hopefully near) future.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Chobe National Park by Aaron_PM
With an experienced guide and camping in the park, we had immediate access to the animals and scenery immediately.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not the Africa I was expecting. Awesomely suprised.
The Okavango Delta was a location that we had heard a lot about, but had seen little of. So when we decided to head to Botswana, we put the Delta on our must do list. Was one of the best decisions we made.
From the flight from Kasane airport into the campgrounds, to the drive from the bush runway to our tented site it was spectacular. Three days of seeing all types of animals, Lions and Leopards, to Elephants and Painted Dogs.
I would highly recommend the Delta to anyone who wants to experience ALL of Africa. Also, with the introduction of Rhinos, you can't go wrong!
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari experience
Initial communications were what drew us to Eastco. Simon was responsive and willing to tailor an itinerary to our needs and budget. On arrival we were met by a driver from the company. From that moment everything went to plan and exceeded expectations. Payment was smooth and they even organised a driver to take us around arusha the day before safari. Our driver, James was just fantastic. He was warm, friendly and a great insight into tanzanian life. I would have liked more communication on the slight changes to itinerary and accommodation that happened. That being said everything worked out probably better than the original itinerary as we found Tarangire to be deserted due to bad weather and it didn't really warrant extra time there. James had no problem driving long distances in search of something different and every day we took a lunch box to ensure we got the most from the day. In the Serengeti we always seemed to be perfectly placed to witness something spectacular and we enjoyed our 3 night upgrade to a luxury tented camp.
I would highly recommend Eastco. They know their stuff and nothing was too much trouble for them
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of our best private tours anywhere in the world, with a great guide
My wife and I went on a two-week safari with Duma Explorer this April, 2015 and it was a great trip; one of the best private tours we’ve taken anywhere in the world, and at a very good price. The owner Stacy planned the trip and we were guided by Shange. We were initially concerned about spending two weeks with someone in a Land Cruiser, but we particularly liked Shange, who was lively, fun, knowledgeable and particularly good at spotting animals. He has guided Prince Philip and actor Daniel Craig (James Bond). When my wife needed to contact her doctor back in Atlanta he helped her make the call immediately on his own cell phone. He’s one of our favorite guides, ever. He speaks perfect English and gave us a rich sense of Tanzanian culture and wildlife, filled with history and stories. (He has also started his own small school for poor children. He will talk about the school if you ask; we got a chance to see some of the adorable children at the end of the trip.)
It worked well to plan the trip by email and a Skype call to Stacy and we were able to tune the trip to our needs (mostly comfortable tented camps, combining cultural experiences with seeing animals). We stayed the Ndarakwai Ranch in West Kilimanjaro to get over jet lag, Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tarangire National Park, Isoitok Camp in Masaai county near Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge overlooking Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge overlooking the crater, and the Kiota and Chaka camps in the Serengeti. All were comfortable with good food and service.
Our trip was at the end of the rainy season when it’s cooler, less crowded, less dusty and less expensive, but also was sometimes more difficult to see cats in the high grass. (But Shange was able to find a lot, anyway).
Some particular high points of a great trip:
• Walking safari in the Ndarakwai Ranch; we will always remember seeing elephants and giraffes for the first time in nature.
• Spending time with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherer tribe, Datoga tribe and the Masaai near Lake Eyasi. We got a glimpse of how these people live, not very different from centuries ago. Shange and the local guide Hasim were able to visit tribes off the beaten path.
• The Isoitok Camp has extraordinary food and deep commitment to providing clean water to nearby Masaai villages.
• Ngorongoro crater is a Shangri-La for animals; we saw thousands in a few hours.
• The Kiota and Chaka tented camps in the Serengeti, owned by Duma Explorer, were extraordinary: comfortable with remarkable service and a sense of being in the bush, but perfectly safe. Kiota, the newest camp, has hand carved dual sinks in the ensuite bathroom!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just what I expected and more !
I discovered this young company totally out of random researches and consider myself lucky ! My trek to the Kili was fantastic (Rongai route). I was really well taken care of by Sylvia before and after Kili (she picked me up at the airport with Martin ; they drove me to my couchsurfing adress, picked me there the next day, took me back there after the trek...). As for the trip itself I couldn't dream of a better one especially thanks to my my guide, Ernest, whom I found absolutely delicious, nice, careful and professional. I really enjoyed my week in his company and since he speaks good English we had great discussions all the time.
Concerning the preparation, Joao (mail contact) was a delight and always ready to give all the informations you might need (and even more sometimes). I highly recommand this young company, and also to check out the homestay experiences they offer aswell (I stayed as a volunteer in Majoe village). Thanks guys !
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Formidable and mind-blowing gorilla adventure
I came across gorilla tour booking safaris travel packages on the internet, and I just liked them because the prices were affordable on our side. On our arrival we were picked by a nice guy, Henry, who gave us a brief history of the Pearl of Africa Uganda. He knew the routes so well because we reached at the exactly agreed upon time. We went to Bwindi Impenetrable forest where we had the memories of my life: Seeing gorillas play was so formidable and mind-blowing for us-we never imagined that they enjoy themselves.
Our communication with gorilla tour booking safaris was really awesome. We made a wire money transfer for gorilla permits and accommodation booking; they bought them and sent us scanned copies: we really had a very constructive communication on all matters from food to accommodation, and the tour. They demonstrated such a high level of professionalism, and we enjoyed it.