US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
EXCELLENT OPERATOR: differentiated from the "Big" operators, please read this review
You have read the other GREAT reviews of Ecological Wilderness Adventures and I would agree with them. So I will focus on what differentiates Ecological from the other operators that we came across on our safari. Also, I encourage you to reach out to me if you would like to discuss in detail. Brian and the staff at Ecological Wilderness have my contact email. As a side note, my sister and her husband have PhDs in Biology and have extensive travel experience all over the world. They selected Ecological Wilderness Adventures over many other choices they had!
So Why are they different??
- A smaller operator allows you to have flexibility that you don’t get with the BIG tours
o Ability to adjust start times in the morning, meal times, or stop times
o Ability to tailor your trip to your specific tastes and desires for wildlife or plant life, etc
o Ability to select/ adjust accommodations that match your budget and tastes
o Ability to alter vehicle arrangements for your group as needed
- We interfaced with several other people on safari with BIG operators and commonly heard:
o Most common complaint was being tied to large group and “herded like cattle”
o Other complaint was not having a voice to adjust anything
o Few complained the tours were primarily in a language they didn’t understand if they were a
small party dominated by a larger group
o All we talked to quickly understood the benefit of a smaller operator as soon as we explained it,
often in a “AH HA” moment like a light bulb went off!!
o If you have a small group (aka your family) then you want a great small operator= Ecological
Wilderness Adventures
- Brian and his staff at Ecological are extremely knowledgeable about all types of wildlife and plant
life. This includes big animals to small birds and all type of vegetation.
o Personally, I was stunned at the depth of knowledge but they go to school for years to be such
informed guides
o Even the two Biology PhDs on the trip were extremely impressed
- Brian and staff are wonderful people and great to spend time with
o They were extremely helpful before the trip (how to prepare, what to bring) and answered every
question we had
o During the trip, they were a pleasure to be with and learn from
o They even dealt with our more difficult group members in great fashion
- The accommodations and food were wonderful. The soups were amazing.
- Ecological was great with the children on our trip who ranged in age from my 5 year old daughter
to a 15 year old teenager. All the kids loved the safari and the guides.
Closing comments from me…
First off, GO TO AFRICA!! Tanzania is WONDERFUL!! It is a spectacular experience that should not be missed while it is still unexploited. This was not on my list to do but was the best trip of my life. My family organized the trip and I took my family simply to be part of the group. Now, I can’t wait to return.
Second, as you can read above, I strongly encourage you to use Ecological Wilderness Adventures with Brian and his wonderful staff. They truly are outstanding!!
Finally, as I mentioned before, feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss further. I have already referred many interested parties to Brian with confidence. Enjoy your trip!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb with memorable moments
The experienced that I had for my safari adventure was amazing and incredible, Great availability of the director Mr Sila who follows everything and monitors the quality of their services
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The most wonderful experience!
We had talked about this trip for some time so expectations were high! The whole experience was incredible and was everything we had been looking forward to and more. The accommodation/camps booked were of a high standard. Our guides were fantastic - knowledgeable, informative and fun. Lots of game and wildlife to see. The service we received was outstanding. Food was top notch and we enjoyed our evenings in front of the camp fires etc. Our travel between camps and attractions etc was well timed. All in all one of the best holidays our family has had. Thanks so much.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kanuth Rocks!
This was my second trip with Kanuth Adventures Safaris before my first one to Mikumi National Park. Yet another wonderful trip this time to Selous Game Reserve. It is always fun to go out there to the wilderness with Kanuth and his team. Highly professional, carrying and happy team!!! It was great to be back on a bumpy roads with Kanuth and Tony and 14 volunteers. The boat safari was great with many birds, crocodiles and hippos to be spotted and mind blowing and spectacular sunset over the river! Drive game was intense and with many animals to be seen. You get to see how the reserve changes its colours from the down to dusk. Bush walking was my favourite with the local guide walking bunch of westerners through a crazy jungle. Fun Fun Fun!!! Highly recommend Kanuth for any Safari trips. I myself am planning third one with them to Serengeti this time.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing climb up Mount Kilimanjaro
Trans-Kibo organised a fantastic 5 day climb up Mount Kilimanjaro - everything was planned perfectly - the guides - Aron and Alex - were absolutely fantastic and worked so hard to make sure all 3 of us made it to the top. Our chef Filipo was just awesome as well - delicious food!
Thomas, Abraham and the guys in the office were really helpful and answered any queries we had before the trip - Could not be happier.
Thank You so much.
CZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We have good experience with this operator - reliable, helpful, friendly.
The communications very good, excellent service - especially our guide James was the best and safari was wonderful.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari/beach honeymoon with the personal touch you can only get from a local company.
Being from England we thought long and hard about the risks of going with a local agent, it was the best decision we could have made. The holiday was perfect with clear information and english speaking drivers meeting us at every point. I was also told that Gecko phoned to check we made it to each location.
I gave Gecko an idea of what we wanted to do and was offered various packages at much better prices then were available in the UK (we did book our own international flights). We stayed at Selous River Camp and Hakuna Matata in Zanzibar both of which were amazing.
I would highly recommend Gecko to other travellers, the communication and overall service was perfect.
Fascinating country
The safari exceeded our expectations - the national parks are well maintained, the people who worked in the lodges are diligent and efficient, the tented camps are a welcome surprise, the variety and concentration of wildlife gave us thrill and chill each day. We passed by local folks and they seem warm and accomodating, they made us feel welcome. I commend the country and people behind conservation groups for preserving the national parks. It made me aware of our responsibility to preserve God's creation so future generation have something to experience. This is a true legacy.
Zanzibar - I was not thrilled when I saw it. I guess I'd been to better white sand beach. But the resort is good, with wide selection of food in dinner buffet. What I did like though is the privacy we had in the beach front despite the resort being fully booked.
Stonetown is a very interesting city, very rich in culture and architecture.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
It was a great experience traveling with Bramwel for a 3-day Safari in Ngorogoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Tarangeri. The beauty of landscapes, animals, and Masai culture is breathtaking. Our guide, Mark is very nice and experienced. He know the animals well and helped us spot all sorts of animals, ranging from lions, giraffes, elephants, to baboons and even bush babies. Our amazing chef, Josephet was feeding us well. We had the best food for these three days since we got in Tanzania after 2 months. The campsite we stayed in was beautiful, clean and comfortable, they even had hot shower! The manager William was super nice and helpful, and most important of all, he gave us a good price.
I would recommend it to anyone and I'm planning on going on a Kilimanjaro Trekking with them.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Totally excellent safari and highly recommendable company !
I did many safaris in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia in the past, together with my safari-guide former husband. The safari I did now in July 2014 with Northern Circuit Adventure is definitely right up there at the top of my list.
As a single mother of two children, ages 15 and 12, I needed to be budget conscious and was not afraid to go for basic camping. The director, Michael, was always quick, efficient and very patient in answering my many emails of questions for a tailor-made safari, always going out of his way to satisfy my wishes and budget. He gave us a very welcome warm meeting at the airport and provided us with a 6-day safari taking in Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngoronoro Crater.
We travelled together with my sister, accompanied by wonderfully patient, competent and friendly guide Elias, our excellent cook Gabriel (best pilau rice I ate in the whole month in Tanzania ! and plenty of other delicious food) and trainee-cook/fun companion for my children, Sweetbart. They were all extremely pleasant and dealt with the couple of much-to-be expected vehicle problems (considering the terrain we travelled and amount of kilometres covered) with totally efficiency, ingenuity and calmness.
We saw an amazing amount of animals, including 3 leopards in 2 days, a pride of 12 lions, herds of elephants passing within 2 metres of our jeep, etc etc. If you can only afford to do one safari in your life, I can assure you that THIS is the place to come ! The lesser-known Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara National Park are also teeming with wildlife and worth a visit.
If it's luxury safari you are after, perhaps Northern Circuit Adventure can also organise that, but in any case, I highly, highly recommend them and am extremely grateful for all they have done for us. THANK YOU !