CA
The best experience I've ever had, physically and emotionally
Words can not express how grateful I am for African traits.
I did the 7 day lemosho route to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.
I would strongly advise anyone and everyone to go with African traits. This company went over and beyond for me multiple times, especially before, during and after my hike was finished. I first learned about this company through word of other people who went with them. I am from Canada and wanted to go through a local company in Africa. I had many options but my decision was easily made with African traits. A few months before I departed for my adventure in Africa I had been messaging Godfrey Willy on many questions and specifics. My first was the price, I am a 22 year old who needed to have a reasonable price. For my experience on mount Kilimanjaro I would have paid double, that's how much I appreciated it. Godfrey (African traits) was very professional with quick responses and detailed answers. The guides, porters and everyone else on the mountain with us were so loving, helpful and caring. Teaching me their language and all about their culture, while giving me facts about any and everything on the mountain. From animals to plants to any other facts you wanted to know. I could write a very long and detailed review but I will leave it to me achieving the top of Mount Kilimanjaro with ease of the help of my guides, and leaving the mountain with my heart full of beauty and new friendships. I would do this again and i still crave the food I ate on the mountain. If you have any questions I would love to answer any of them. Contact me on my email [email protected]
Experience level: first safari
Great experience
This was our 1st time to Kenya. We really enjoyed every moment of it. It surpassed our expectations. Our trip organizer (Kennedy) did a great job arranging everything. All my communication was through email and did not have any issues. He was very flexible with payments and quick at replying back. Our driver (Jackson) for the safari was great and was very knowledgeable. The accommodations were suitable. Food was good as well. Masai mara was a good location. Lake Nakuru - did not see as much, but good for flamingos. Lake Naivasha- great for bird life. Safety was never an issue. Overall great 1st experience.
Fabulous scenery. The Big Five in abundance plus wild African dogs.
I spent two weeks in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve volunteering with the biennial herbivore census through Earthwatch.org. I was trained in how to use a GPS, range finder and compass. For two straight weeks, I spent each morning, dawn till about 10:30 am, hiking through the bush alone accompanied by just one ranger with a big gun. I came within a few meters of lions, a leopard, elephants, both white and black rhino, cape buffalo, zebra and a wide range of other ungulates. The scenery is fantastic. There were many birds but I am not a birder so cannot comment on this. I slept in a tent to the sounds of lions and hyenas. I got to know Zulu rangers and workers despite our limited understanding of each other's language.This opportunity does require that you be in good enough shape to hike up to 9 or 10 miles a day at about 2.5 miles an hour plus be strong enough to get into a tree quickly with a boost from the ranger. I am 68 and a woman and was able to do this trip easily, including getting into a tree. However, I did work out for months in preparation for the trip. Well worth the effort.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Pleasant communication and lots of smiles
Soul of Tanzania was able to give me a suitable package, since I'm traveling alone. Nico guided me through Tarangire and it was the most amazing safari I have ever done. Watch out for those elephants though.. Special thanks to Kim for organising. Would definitely recommend them!
Excellent services, great prices and highly recommended
Excellent communications and detailed explanation of all inquiries.
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience, excellent team, highly recommended!
My friend and I, being two girls, were very careful when organising our trip to Kenya. We were interested in a 3-day safari and reached out to Beacon Safaris because it was highly rated and offered interesting and well priced packages. To our pleasant surprise, they also turned out to be very fast to respond to our original query, and to all our follow-up questions.
Our guide and driver, John, was a real expert in the Safari experience and an excellent driver across the Masai Mara park, taking us to places where we were sure to see the most interesting sights. With his help, we managed to see tons of animals, including all the big five, lion cubs, baby elephants and baby giraffes! Very polite and fun, he was very keen to talk to us about the different animals we would see, their characteristics, habits and particularities, making our trip all the more interesting!
The accommodation was also excellent, with super-polite staff, really good facilities and meals. Its set up allowed for a real safari feel, given that the lights were out at 11pm, that we slept in highly catered tents and were guarded by Masai people.
Overall, Beacon Safaris has been an excellent choice for our safari, what has been an unforgettable experience which we are keen to repeat!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you want to experience Tanzania, this is the organization you want to go with!!
We were climbing Mt Kilimanjaro with a group of 8. The welcoming was warm, the lodge very nice, the whole group guiding us was very friendly (every day the camp was ready at arrival and everybody was welcoming us and telling us we were doing a good job), the equipment (tents) was good, the food amazing! (3 meal courses throughout the whole week!) and the capable and patient guides made sure we all felt safe, healthy and happy during the whole week. After one week together it felt like we climbed with 48 friends in stead of 8. We felt sorry to leave the group, the mountain and the country. i would definitely recommend Herman & crew for exploring Tanzania. We hope to come back.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrific, again !!
This was our third Safari. The organisation again was excellent, the driver(Fay) knows everything we asked about Wildlife(he knows to find where they are...) and all accomodations were superb! In French: Chapeau!
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Committed to serving their clients
We had a most wonderful experience with Good Earth Tours in Tanzania in October 2016. First we did a 4-day climb of Mt.Meru, then a 9-day-climb of Kilimanjaro via the Northern Circuit route, and finally a 3-day "comfortable camping" safari to Tarangire and Ngorongoro, and before, in-between and after each trip we always stayed in the Planet Lodge in Arusha. We were a group of 4 friends on the first and last trip, with a 5th friend joining us for Kilimanjaro only.
When planning the trips, I asked for an offer including the Northern Circuit route on Kilimanjaro, and even though it was not officially mentioned on the website, I soon got a good offer which we were happy to proceed with. On the trips, everyone was always committed to serving us in a great way, always cheerful and eager. We were well-supplied with good food, especially the warm meals were very delicious, so we did not need most of the snacks we had brought along ourselves. Needless to say, we all made it to both summits. The Northern Circuit was a great experience, we were able to avoid all crowds for at least 3 days, being totally alone then.
Our safari guide was extremely knowledgeable and skilled, so thanks to him we had some thrilling wildlife sightings that I believe most other park visitors miss, including seeing endangered species such as cheetahs.
We really loved the Planet Lodge that Good Earth Tours uses: the hotel rooms are actually in small bungalows scattered in a beautiful tropical garden, very peaceful.
I believe we really got an exceptional value-for-money deal with Good Earth Tours and I can highly recommend them.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Etosha, Caprivi, Chobe and Vic Falls - An Exceptional Experience
From the outset of arranging our trip we were very impressed with Nature Travel Namibia and specifically Nick Buys. During the planning stages our emails were always promptly answered with a detailed response provided to any questions we had. Nick was able to adjust the trip itinerary to add on a quick visit to Sossusvlei and to finish up in the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. Every effort was made to satisfy our requests. another appeal is the trips are smaller groups - maximum 6, we were 3.
The tour itself, exceeded our expectations. We were met by our guide Jakes with whom we would spend the next 10 days or so. Jakes was a stellar guide, his ability to spot wildlife, name the wildlife name the wildlife and the many bird species was truly impressive. He is a very personable individual who has a true passion for what he does and this made our time together memorable. Although we had a schedule, we never felt rushed during the trip, we had a number of game drives and there was a good degree of flexibility built in. The vehicle we traveled in was a Toyota Hilux - quite fine for 3 people plus guide. Our accommodation included smaller lodges and a lodge within the Etosha National Park. All completely good in terms of comfort. The food on the trip was plentiful and special dietary requirements were accommodated. The Chobe and Victoria Falls part of the trip were without a guide; however the transfers to each destination were seamless and occurred without any issues. I would definitely recommend Nature Travel Namibia, if you are looking for a smaller group safari, responsive service and an exciting adventure in Namibia.