65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Carolyn
Excellent sightings of elephants in their family groups, splashing and rolling in the large pools, sibling brothers fighting each other by locking their tusks with one another, walking in single file to shadier trees and always checking on the younger elephants. A Park that was green, hilly and well wooded with Acacia trees that gave plenty of shade and opportunities for elephants to scratch themselves against.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience!! Just need more clear communication with the company/tour operators
Beautiful scenery, parks and accommodation. The accommodation was very beautiful and had warm showers and amazing views. We felt like royalty. We saw elephants, lions hippos, lots of birds, lots of monkeys etc. The food was delicious and you get ALOT of delicious food.
I would recommend better communication with the tour operators and the clients. Our itinerary was changed a couple of times without our knowledge and we were a little upset with this. One of the hotels was not available and they wanted to put us in a place that had bad reviews. We did get a nice place in the end but it was a little stressful. We also felt a little pressured to tip every single guide on the gorilla trek, chimp trek and multiple community walks we went on. We spent over $4500 for the tour and didn't think we would need to tip every single person we encountered. I would suggest the tour include tips if this is necessary for Ugandan customs and cultural norms. We didn't mind tipping here and there but every single hotel staff, trekkers, boat crews and cultural guides would have cost us over $1500 USD.
Overall, we had a wonderful time and Uganda is a very beautiful and friendly country.
KR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
excellent but not good compay
very good trip, nice whether and scenery , but not good tour company, when we got there, the tour company raised the price significantly , and changed the accommodation without any prior notice
MV
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good tour with friendly assistance
Overall experience was satisfactory.
From the beginning of booking to the end of tour, Mercy, the tour agent was very supportive with providing decent information. Itinararies of the tour was slightly different/changed from the original but was pretty satisfactory reorganized. Drivers of tours both in Kenya & Tanzania were very friendly and well informative.
Some areas could be improved as below
-provide more detail such as who is coming to pick me up, where exactly take off the shuttle bus
-driver should know the name of guests / I came to pick you up (to avoid picking up wrong guests)
-upgrade chairs for camps in Tanzania / other tours had much better chairs
-lake Manyara NP must be visited before Serengeti as the original itinarariry. After Serengeti & Ngorongoro, Manyara gave less opportunities to see animals due to higher trees.
However, overall good experience & recommend to my friends.
Adaptable in taking my late booking. Driver/guide was friendly and knowledgeable.
Quote document was clear and reflected what we did. My driver, Samuel, was friendly, and knowledgeable. The traffic was particularly bad when we travelled in and out of Kampala, so the 3-4 hour drive quoted is optimistic (ended up closer to 6-7 hours each way).
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very fund 5-day safari
Had a great time with Viva Safaris. Did a 5-day, 4-night safari, with the first night at Tremisana Lodge and the last 3 days at Marc's Treehouse. The various drives and walks to see animals were fantastic. We saw tons of animals and had knowledgeable guides who could tell us a lot about what we were seeing (and find more animals for us). The trip to the animal rehab center was fun, too. All in all, the safari was very well organized by all the Viva Safaris staff. The food provided was also very good, and they were very accommodating with dietary restrictions.
The one negative would be the accommodations. Our room at Tremisana Lodge was in poor condition and the bathroom was basically in the same room as the bed. This may have been an outlier room at Tremisana, but it was still below expectations, particularly since Tremisana is supposed to be one of their nicer lodges. Marc's Treehouse also was a bit disappointing. Only a few of the cabins were true treehouses - the rest were just cabins made of bamboo and tree branches. And because the property is sprawling, some of the cabins are a 10-15 minute walk from the main lodge area, which was inconvenient and difficult to do with suitcases.
The staff at both lodges was fantastic, though, and helpful at all times. Viva was also helpful in planning the trip, and answered all questions ahead of time. Highly recommend using Viva for a South African safari, but I would keep expectations regarding accommodations a bit low.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safaris are tiring, but magical! Zanzibar is relaxing;)
Everything was very good, except the choice of our organizer (hello tanzania) who did not take care of us properly, and made us available old uncomfortable vehicles making safaris less enjoyable ...
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great trip... great price
The communication was excellent- all my questions were answered, before and during the trip. The service was all inclusive- ie transportation, food, bottles of water, tent accommodations, and the evening and morning safari. I even went to the Maasai Village for 1000 extra shillings- worth going! There were some challenges coming back- my friend and I had to come back in two separate vans. Overall it was an awesome trip!
EE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tsavo West National Park by Marju
It is huge area with few tourists, but also animal are quite invisible. Nice to be alone with sun and nature and enjoy peace and red landscape.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip and safari
Very good safari just ashamed we didnt go to serengeti
