RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable, polite, ready to cooperate.
My husband and I were on a private three-day safari. I booked the tour from Moscow, made in advance payment. The trip itself began with us being picked up from our hotel in Zanzibar and returned to the same place three days later. Everything was organized at the highest level. The guides met us at every point and accompanied us throughout the entire route, helped with shopping, prompted, advised and waited while we took hundreds of photos against the backdrop of Kilimanjaro;)) The manager was always in touch and promptly resolved all issues that arose. In just one day of safari, our wonderful guide found all the big cats living in the Serengeti. I want to say a huge thanks all for organizing! In these three days, we lived another little life!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible experience! Abandoned in South Africa after full payment
Horrible Experience – Abandoned in South Africa by Southern African Tours
We had a devastating experience with Southern African Tours, run by Craig and Bianca. We began planning our trip with them over a year in advance, starting in September 2024, for our visit in September 2025. Our payment schedule was as follows:
• First deposit: September 2024
• Second payment (local flights): November 2024
• Final payment: June 2025
Initially, communication with Bianca was good — she was responsive and professional until just after our second payment. After that, she became increasingly difficult to reach. Messages and emails often went unanswered for days or even weeks, and she frequently claimed to be “too busy” to talk.
The worst began right before our departure:
• 5 days before the trip, we asked for a group call to finalize the itinerary. She said “Monday,” then ghosted us.
• The day before departure, we urgently requested our pickup and flight information for our trip to Kruger National Park. No response.
• Upon arriving in Johannesburg, we discovered no local flight reservation was made — we had to book and pay out of pocket, on the spot.
• When we got to our first lodge, we were told our reservation had just been made the day before, and they wouldn’t let us stay unless we paid again for the first two nights.
• The next part of our stay was also a disaster — no transportation or accommodations were arranged, and again, we had to make and pay for our own arrangements.
• Later, we flew from Kruger to Cape Town, only to find out no flights had been booked there either. Once again, we covered everything ourselves.
Essentially, they took our full payment and provided none of the agreed-upon services. We were left stranded multiple times and had to rebook everything ourselves.
We read other reviews that mentioned similar issues but were reassured when we saw Southern African Tours respond defensively, blaming customers or claiming miscommunication. Now we know the truth — do not trust the reviews or their responses.
👉 Based on our experience, we strongly advise against using Southern African Tours.
👉 We felt let down by Craig and Bianca and would not recommend dealing with them.
👉 After paying, we felt abandoned and unsupported during our trip.”
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organised exciting safari
Josh Dreamland gave a very professional and personal service from Elizabeth who was very helpful and promptly communicative on Whatspp. She was instrumental in setting up a perfect customised itinerary for us which included the great migration followed by an awesome adventure and animal sightings in the Serengeti. It was also interesting to visit the other landscapes of the Ngorongoro caldera, Lake Manyara and the Tarangire National Parks over our trip of 6 days & 5 nights.
Safaris are expensive but Josh Dreamland appears to offer reasonable value compared to others for a truly amazing holiday and life experience. As a family of 4 we really appreciated the private safari just for us with more space to move around in the jeep. I’m so happy we did this as a family, it was our best family holiday experience by far! I’ve never seen the kids so excited and interested in all the wildlife and experience of Tanzania and Africa
Our safari guide, Godfrey, was experienced, polite and friendly who expertly knew where to look for the animals and had good knowledge about their behaviour. He positioned the jeep in the best vantage points to view the animals. He appeared well-connected and respected by other guides, which also helped locate the animals. We were surprised of how many animals we managed to see with the game drives continuously enthralling us with the variety and abundance of different animals along the way. The accommodation and meals were of a high standard and we were particularly impressed with the luxury camping in the Serengeti!
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
John was knowledgable, reliable, flexible and a strong communicator.
John was very responsive in working with our group (of 11) leader to plan a great safari experience. Our drivers were excellent at handling the vehicles and in providing commentary on the animals. We saw the Big Five and so many more - every game drive was a new experience. Our lodging was uniformly excellent as well. We really lucked out finding John to plan and guide our trip.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Trip
We had a fantastic time on our safari.
We had organised a 10 day tour starting in Kenya and ending at Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
I dealt with Felix who was very responsive and helped us create an itinerary which suited our needs and made some great suggestions.
We were met at the airport by our first driver, who was very friendly and helpful. He and our next driver helped us navigate the land border with Tanzania which was very quick and a smooth process. Our Tanzania driver provided us with a lot of knowledge and facts, and was with us until he dropped us off at the airport.
The safari was fantastic, where we saw all the major animals across multiple parks. Our guides always made great effort to show us as much as possible as get as close to the animals as possible.
Would most definitely recommend.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A great guarantee
We travel in the west part of Tanzania. We rent car and driver with them. We can suggest them, because they are correct , reapectable and in time.
Our driver , Pasqual, has got great experience in drive and to take care of us. It was also for him the First Time in that area, but he manages the worst Roads and my contact with local in the best way.
The most relevant thing Is i could begin contact with agency months ago before my departing and they answer me in everything. They do all they Say in their program.
They are Always in time.
They made Easy and safe my experience.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gosheni Safaris Africa is an outstanding tour operator—organized, trustworthy, and guided by experts
I had an amazing safari with Gosheni Safaris Africa! The communication was clear and reliable, the service excellent, and the trip was great value for money. Everything was well-organized, and I always felt safe and cared for. A big thank you to James, our guide, who was knowledgeable, friendly, and made the experience unforgettable. Highly recommend Gosheni Safaris – and especially James!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tuma was fantastic, informative, and kind. He made the whole experience!
We chose the mid-luxury option for our 5 day honeymoon, our expert was Julie and guide was Tuma.
-Julie was really helpful in giving us iterative feedback on how we mapped and utilized the time and budget for maximum enjoyment!
-Mid-luxury was perfect, the accommodations were way nicer than I expected - they were clean, stylistic, excellent food and service. We were sad to leave each place. Each place was slightly different, and it's hard to choose our favorite!
-One thing that stood out to me was the car that Brilliant Safari used. A safari is essentially a multi-day roadtrip in rugged terrain, so having a really comfortable and modern and safe car is really critical. Our car was the best one we saw!
-As a vegetarian, I was a little nervous about the food options, but I was really well taken care of. Things were well-flavored, healthy, and balanced.
-The experience itself was amazing. Tuma knew what we were interested in seeing, and spent time teaching us and answering all our questions. He was willing to wake up early when we wanted to, stay later when we wanted to, noticed when we were feeling tired, etc.
-Speaking of Tuma, I highly recommend him! He was a legend on the road and seemed to train so many folks, so it was nice to be with someone so well experiened.
-After evaluating almost 10 safari companies, we chose Brilliant because of the value and Julie's responsiveness and approachability. After the safari, I'm so glad we did that!
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable memories
Just back from an amazing 3-day safari in Masai Mara with Kevin Mimi 🦁🐆🦒 Truly unforgettable as I finally managed to spot a cheetah TWICE and so many wildlife! He never rushed us and always took the time to find the best spots. Every drive felt special from watching big cats up close to the countless giraffes, zebras, and wildebeest around us. His patience and good attitude made the whole experience incredible!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great tour company with best guide ever Johnson
Did the 4 day.3 night safari with Johnson staying in Amboseli and Tsavo West and Tsavo East... Accomodations and food were very nice... Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge in West Tsavo was my favorite on the trip with great food and the best hotel waterhole I ever stayed at in Africa with so much wildlife. Voi Safari Lodge in East Tsavo was also very nice with a very nice waterhole too... Sentrim Amboseli Lodge was my my least favorite as it was a lower standard than the other lodges and much colder at night with a thin tent only.... Had a White Toyota van not a Landcruiser, but it was very comfortable and nice and would say for this tour totally unnecessary to pay more for a Landcruiser... Johnson was the best guide ever and could find animals from very far away and was super nice and friendly with perfect english so definitely ask for him if possible....