Ten days in Madagascar
I love photographing birds, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find many birds I had never seen before. The highlight was a flock of Madagascan Olive Bee-Eaters right in the centre of Antananarivo. I arrived in Antananarivo spending five nights there. Although it was the middle of winter I found myself wearing shorts and t-shirts by the middle of most days. Beautiful sunshine. Antananarivo is beautiful from several vantage points with canals running through it while being surrounded by pretty mountains. The architecture is a unique combination of old European style, complimented by countless ageing French motor vehicles, and more random Madagascan shacks. People are obviously very poor compared to first world nations, but they remain outwardly content with their way of life. It's a challenging confronting country to visit and yet, at the same time, heartwarming to see people happily going about their daily lives worlds apart from the worlds most tourists come from. I spent five nights in my brother's home in Antananarivo. Then we adventured to a small resort on the shores of Lake Mantasoa. The 65km drive was incredibly scenic and took us about two and a half hours. Road conditions were generally good, only requiring us to go very slowly in a couple of places. Traffic congestion entering and/or exiting Antananarivo is a challenge. But once you break free from the city it's easy enough. Our accomodation was right on the shore of Lake Mantasoa and was very affordable, perfectly clean, and incredibly relaxing. I couldn't have wished for better in Australia, let alone Madagascar. We had a wonderful relaxing stay. We mostly self-catered, having found everything anyone could need in a very well stocked Shoprite Supermarket in Antananarivo. However we did eat out at a Swiss-themed Restaurant (yes Switzerland in the middle of Madagascar) near Lake Mantasoa and our meal was great value and delicious. Nicely presented too.
Highlights from this visit included relaxing walks on the shores of Lake Mantasoa; beautiful birds; beautiful sunny weather in the middle of Winter. And being Winter Mosquitos were generally not a problem. I've visited previously and on previous visit highlights included amazing experiences with Lemurs at a Lemur park and also in the wilds of a rain forrest. Lemurs are gorgeous and can be quite sociable. We explored some truly beautiful rain forests (a good four hour drive from Antananarivo). Madagascar has no dangerous poisonous snakes so one can enjoy walking searching for lemurs, chameleons, and many beautiful birds without fear of being bitten. I do intend to return.
I benefited greatly from my brother's local knowledge and his ability to navigate the roads and understand the way local traffic operates. If you are used to driving on the right hand side of the road then it certainly helps. Despite that I would recommend travelling with a local tour operator or someone with local driving experience. The crazy variety of vehicles all the way from bicycles to human-propelled carts to donkey carts and large trucks and the haphazard way they navigate is amazing to see and photograph. I would recommend being a passenger with a camera (or phone) ready to take photographs than being a driver in Antananarivo. Having said that, most road users are friendly so if you must drive, just be ready to take it slow!
US
Experience level: first safari
it was very good trip with go explore safaris in tanzania
I would be so naïve if I had never planned this trip to Tanzania with this company after a period of searching on trip advisor and other travel websites I found go explore safaris and sent them my trip request for me and my daughters as they had gotten holidays from there college and I decided to plan for them a trip to Africa. Tanzania was the main destination so brian was the main correspondence person who responded to all my emails, he gave us a very nice tailor made trip proposal for 11 days in Tanzania visiting all the top destinations in Tanzania. so after a few emails and couple of questions we trusted this company and made our trip meet our expectations. my kids were so happy we had the very best of the trip we visited tarangire national park, Serengeti, lake manyara and Ngorongoro reserve which were so much full of wildlife and the evolving masai cultural visit in olpopongi in Arusha the lodges we slept in were very nice and clean me and my kids shared a very nice family room at Serengeti Serena lodge which had the best views in the plains hamza our guide was a very experienced driver guide and had a lot of information about his country and was happy sharing every moment making the trip so much fun I definitely have to recommend the services of your company to anyone travelling here in east Africa and looking forward to coming back to track the gorillas in uganda.
3 day Amboseli trip was a dream I have had and it did not disappoint.
The trip was put together at short notice. Dennis our guide was a bit dis-organised at first but his enthusiasm, especially for photography, quickly overcame that. Joshua, his driver and team mate, was someone I would travel anywhere with. He was understanding of our requests regarding the on-going buzz of the radio, stopping to watch birds, and generally a most considerate man. How he negotiated the Nairobi traffic remains a mystery! Amboseli was an amazing experience. Wide open spaces. Great game viewing. Large elephant herds as promised. View of Mt Kilimanjaro would have been excellent except for the overcast weather. Will definitely go again.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trustworthy and responsible booking company
Communications were efficient and excellent. We always received very speedy replies and confirmation of any further information we sent. Regarding our service, I think we got a little spoiled by our last international tour company who handled all of our Visa requirements before our arrival. With Hallmark, however, we had to handle them all on our own. My ideal set up would have been for our itinerary to include the Visa requirements, types of Visa needed (single journey vs. multiple journey in Kenya), and prices that would let us know the amount of USD we would require. We had brought cash for tips and more than 60% of that cash was quickly used in Visas. We appreciated that our guides took us to ATMs in each country to help us bridge our spending, but it was a general point of concern and stress. Additionally, we had counted on being able to use credit cards at the hotels. We wish we had been informed ahead of time that credit cards were not accepted in Tanzania- requiring more cash. After spending so much on our trip, we just felt like there were too many pricey unexpected expenditures and we could have been better prepared by Hallmark. Our guides were good- some are just drivers but we had two guys who acted more like guides and were knowledgeable about the animals. Many of the roads (even main highways and thoroughfares) are not paved, especially in Tanzania. We were much more comfortable in the Land Cruisers than in the Toyota vans, but apparently the land cruisers are more expensive. Most of our lodging was as expected, except for the AA Lodge that was not as nice as we had hoped. However, it was near the Amboseli park and the animals were worth it.
As for our safaris, we feel so blessed to see everything we wanted, including the Top 5 and the Wildebeests migration. We could not have asked for a better safari!
My only other small complaint was being treated to a local restaurant that did not cater to tourists- although we appreciated the attempt to seek a local experience, within 24hours, both my husband and I were ill and required using our emergency antibiotics to recover. That was a bit of a damper on our vacation and honeymoon!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing wildlife, people and food - an unforgettable experience
Loved every minute of the Safari with Walking Stick Safaris. We saw heaps of Wildlife and had a good time with our guide, cook and other camp staff. We stayed for two nights in the Boro area of the Okavango Delta.
My reason for 4 stars rather than 5 stars is that the company and the guide were not always good at communicating and explaining risks. We were on a walking tour so wanted to know exactly what would happen if animals were aggressive or if there was an emergency and these things we not clearly communicated. I have every confidence that the guide knew what they were doing, but guests need to be reassured of what safety measures are in place.
Overall I would recommend going with this small and new company which supports Philimon and his new business, and a whole community through the place that you camp and the other staff.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experts, prepared and reliable
We booked this Safari after viewing other tour operators on safari bookings. For the entire period before the departure, Back to Africa was available for all our explanations.
Moreover, they were on time in every appointment respecting the travel program.
During the safari, we didn't miss anything, we were always safe on the move and the guide was very experienced and reliable.
For another similar experience in future, I would return to them.
Thanks for the experience.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good relation and services
We have plan gorillas tracking and rent a car for 3 weeks . Phionah was really close to our expectations and sympathic. We got a big 4x4 and the car was great regarding African road it as definitely what we needed ! Thanks phionah
MT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An awesome experience.
With the exception of one minor booking mishap, the overall service, lodgings and especially tour guides were fantastic. All three guides were knowledgeable in both the wildlife aspects as well as culturaly prepared. This was my third visit to Kenya in as many years and I believe that is testimony enough of my ratings.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good service and flexible to accommodate our schedule
Face of Africa provided good services, good food and was generally well organised. On time and definitely has a good selection of drivers, they were high caliber and made huge efforts to make our experience unforgettable. Any issue we had was solved either during or after the safari ended. All in all very satisfied.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent
The communication was okay and proper transfer arrangements were in place. The hotel booking was also appropriately done