50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Outstanding Safari Tour Operator
Brett and the team at Sun Safaris have organized two amazing trips for us. The first was to Botswana and Zambia, the second more recent trip to Congo and Zambia. They listened to our interests and requirements and we have had two truly amazing experiences. For the first trip I asked if we could visit camps where we had a good chance of seeing leopard and we did indeed see numerous leopards at 3 of the 4 camps we visited. Brett also made sure we had good birding opportunities at all the camps. Our recent trip to Congo to see Lowland gorillas was remarkable. This is the first year that Wilderness Safari's is fully operational in Congo so we had lots of questions. Brett worked with us and the camp management to make sure all of our questions were answered and we had a good understanding of what to expect. Our second Zambia trip was fantastic with excellent game and birds and the camps were above our expectations. We are already planning our next Safari for 2015 with Brett and the team. I would recommend them highly.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good time, good people, good price!
A friend and I did a 4-days safari (Lake Manyara, Serengueti and Ngorongoro) in september'14.
We had a great time! Our guide and driver was excellent and we spot the big five and much more! We appreciated his knowledge and his hability to spot animals in the far far distance! The cook was also very good, and he could adapted easily to the vegetarian menu (I forgot to tell them in advance).
The car was quite old but comfortable enough (except under the rain because the windows didn't close properly).
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
What a great experience - Tanzania 2014
After travelling to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in 2013 we loved Africa so much that we decided back home to visit another part of Africa. As our first tour was also organized by Gondwana Tours & Safaris, namely Steffi Presske, and it couldn’t be better at all, we also organized the next family trip to Tanzania with this excellent and very personal travel agency. Our trip was as follows:
- Tarangire
- Ngorogoro
- Serengeti
- Crater Highland Trek & climbing the Lengai
- Lake Natron
- Zanzibar
This tour was absolute superb, we enjoyed the wildlife, in particular in Tarangire and Serengeti, the beautiful landscape and the relaxing days on Zanzibar. It must be mentioned that the Crater Highland Trek was our highlight of the tour as you get very close to the Massai and its culture and you travel absolutely off the beaten track. The landscape was fantastic and can’t be described with words!
Gondwana Tours & Safaris is so excellent due to different reasons: they are very responsive and create tailor-made tours to your expectations and have no standard trip. We wanted to see lots of animals, do some (sport) activities and relax at the last part of our trip so that our journey was a perfect match to our hopes. All selected lodges were very nice.
We can absolutely recommend the travel agency and we would love to do our next trip organized by Gondwana Tours & Safaris!!! Thank you, Steffi!
Excellent Safari Operators for your Tanzania Experience
We had a trip of a lifetime in Tanzania thanks to World Tours & Safaris. With Richard's expertise and guidance, our custom itinerary was perfectly suited to our interests and we spotted our two black rhinos in the crater. World Tours made our life long dream to see the black rhino come true, and delivered all of the magnificent seven.
World Tours performed beyond our expectations. Frank was a friendly and patient guide. He was an excellent driver and we felt very safe with him. He made every effort to keep us away from the other tour vehicles, so that we could film the animals. Our chef Zahoro's meals were healthy and delicious.
Frank and Zahoro were very efficient with packing the car and setting up and packing away our tents. We did not feel rushed. Yet they managed time very well and we were able to make the most out of our game drives. We enjoyed their company very much.
World Tours' safaris are animal-orientated with maximum game drives and are great value for money.
Accommodations we stayed at were very good. Clean, quiet, safe and excellent customer service.
We highly recommend anyone interested in going on a safari in East Africa to book a trip with Richard, Frank and Zahoro from World Tours for a truly magical and wild experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime across Tanzania!
Thanks to Sam and his team at Tanzania Travel Company we had a trek of a lifetime and an experience I will never forget. Challenging walking, matched with awesome experiences and wildlife - Sam and his team knew how to organise everything to ensure it was perfect. The little touches, the fun times we had in camp and the knowledge of his guides meant we had such a special experience. I am already planning with Sam a week in which I can return to this amazing and beautiful country with them.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing! - Absolutely made our entire trip!
Matobo National Park was the absolute highlight of our trip to Zimbabwe! The scenery and natural history of the landscape is fascinating and utterly stunning to witness. We were blown away and our experience was made by the tour guide of African Wanderer Safaris, Ian Harmer, who has an incredible knowledge - and lifetime of experience - of the area and poaching culture in the National Park. We were in good company and were well educated by Ian who is wonderfully passionate about rhinos and the wildlife; we felt safe in his guidance as we tracked rhinos and climbed rock formations to view the scenery, seeing many other animals and weird and wonderful plants along the way! After initially booking just one morning out, we changed our plans that afternoon to spend the whole of the next day with Ian. If you go to Matobos Park, you must get at least an afternoon with this guy - he made our trip! Very reasonable prices for the high quality; and drinks, lunch and park fees included in the cost!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, all encompassing safari operator
We thoroughly enjoyed our 8-day Kenya Highlights trip with Odyssey Safaris. Overall, everything was very well organized, making our vacation experience one of the most memorable we've had.
From the very beginning, Mark was extremely responsive to all of my emails and made sure all of my questions were answered before we booked the trip and then before we departed. Once we arrived, our tour guide James was very friendly and knowledgeable and made us feel at ease. We didn't need to worry about anything - all logistics were taken care of (transportation, accommodations, food). Accommodations and food were also good quality overall.
In terms of the actual safari, we saw so much more and got so much closer to the animals than I expected. It was such a rewarding and educational trip. I would highly recommend Odyssey Safaris.
Fantastic Local Company!!
This company offered the best value for money for myself and a group I was organising a trip for. They came in at almost half the cost of international companies.If you are in any way capable of organising flights for yourself I could not recommend this company more. Some international companies rip you off on Kilimanjaro trips.
The hotel we stayed in before and after was beautiful, in the centre of Moshi. The climb itself was well planned out. The porters and staff are amazing. It is very straight forward and there is a real emphasis in this company and with its guides in sharing with and teaching you the culture of Tanzania. We even picked up some Swahili along the way. All 10 of us reached the summit!
If you are not that experienced with mountaineering, the guides will help you every step of the way, and you can also rent gear.
If you pick this company, you know your money is going to a local company, to local guides and it is helping to support them
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A truly special trip with exceptional service and care from TTC.
I have just returned from a trek with Tanzania Travel Company. Starting at the foothills of Mount Longido, a sacred Maasai mountain, our group of 12 trekked across the floor of the Great Rift Valley right to the foothills of the visually stunning Crater Highlands. We walked in the footsteps of ancient Maasai warriors covering a total of 74km in just 4 days. Sam, William and Clement from Tanzania Travel Company were with us every step of the way, keeping us on our feet and moving forward, and teaching us about their beautiful country and its history.
The scenery was breathtaking and the landscape was scattered with Maasai bomas and the people who live in them. We were privileged to meet some of the locals along the way and experience a Maasia market in Kitumbeine. We were constantly surprised by what we saw, I remember leaving camp at sunrise on the second morning and after less than a mile we were face to face with a family of giraffe enjoying breakfast.
We were camping for 5 nights in the wild African bush, but the team at Tanzania Travel Company looked after us so well that we felt at complete comfort and ease from the moment we arrived and every moment of the trip was pure luxury. We were treated to tea and coffee in our tent upon waking in the morning and returned to the camp each day to an ice cold foot bath a warm bush shower. The food was exceptional from African stew to meatballs or Cajun chicken. The chef, Antony cooked an impressive variety and even home baked bread in a hand built underground oven.
When our physical challenge was over we spent a day on a Safari drive at the Ngorongoro Crater, its plains are filled with wildlife and we were spoiled with sightings of lions, hippos and zebra to name a few.
This trip was a truly special one, not only for the scenery, wildlife and interaction with ancient maasai communities, but for the friends we made at Tanzania Travel Company. Every single member of the team went above and beyond to make our trip comfortable and memorable. Tanzania and all of the team at Tanzania Travel Company will have a special place in our hearts, until we return again.
If you’re thinking about visiting Tanzania don’t think about it any longer, book a trip with Tanzania Travel Company. It will be the trip of a lifetime.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Summiting with Eastern Sun
When looking for a company to arrange a Kilimanjaro climb, I must admit I was overwhelmed with the number of operators out there and found it difficult to know which operator could be trusted. After getting a few quotes from various operators, I found Eastern Sun on Safaribookings.com and was impressed with the speed of their responses to my initial emails. I was also impressed with how cheap they came up when compared to other operators. I was a bit nervous that they were so cheap that it was too good to be true, but any concerns I had were soon resolved on the morning of our trek.
Our pick up turned up at our hotel in Arusha at the arranged time and took us on the long drive to the start of the rongai route. The drive took us most of our first day. We were a little put out that we were only told at Marangu gate to kili that plastic bottles are not allowed on the mountain as we had planned to use these. In the end we had to arrange to borrow our guides' bottles. In future I believe this should be made clear in the booking emails. We were also a little annoyed that we had to pay $10pp to hire leccy poles when we thought they were included in the price.
Once we had resolved these issues we continued with our drive north. Once we got out of the jeeps, there was a lot of sitting around, but were soon on our way with the trek. On our first night we were pleastantly surprised with the quality and quantity of food provided by our chef Stephen. Throughout the trek we were well fed and never went hungry once. In terms of water, although I had water treatment pills I was told the water was treated, but later found out it was not. Fortunately we didn't get ill following this mix up (I think its pretty low risk anyway), but had to treat our water for the rest of our trip. For anyone looking to go on a trip, I'd advise taking water treatment pills just in case.
In terms of our guide (Arnold) and assistant guide (godfrey) we were very impressed. Not only did they make great company, but were also informative and made it clear that safety was put first. Our guide measured our heart rate and blood oxygen levels at least once a day and gave excellent advice based on years of experience on the mountain. If you go on a trip and use one of these devices (it takes a reading from your finger) ladies make sure you are not wearing nail varnish as this skews the results. Unfortunately I got bad altitude sickness symptoms at kibo (basically the worst headache i've ever experienced) but arnold's advice to take ibuprofen (I was already taking diamox)worked perfectly and I was able to summit feeling great!It was reassuring to know that Arnold would not have allowed us to summit unless he thought it was safe to do so.
All in all we were impressed with Eastern Sun and despite the minor issues we had, we were impressed with the service we received making it a trip we'll never forget.