50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My driver/guide was excellent. Many opportunities to see wildlife
Sometimes there were short delays in communication but Simon always returned emails
SK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari very nice. But a lot of administration with refund.
Our guide was great. Safari as well. But there was a lot of administration with refund. For example I do not understand why you asked your invoice from me. And refund took too long.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari with a lot of interesting information about animals and the Tanzanian culture.
Communications before departure of the safari went great through whatsapp, they responded really quick and with clear answers to my questions. Also the iternity was very clear and nice. We felt very comfortable during the safari. The guide and driver were great company. The car was amazing. We were with the 2 of us so we had all the space, that was very relaxing. The drive to Mikumi was long (6 hours) but nice. Enought to see during the drive. And when you nearly reach Mikumi NP gate, you can already see some animals like baboons.
Overall, we had a great safari with Kihindo Tours and Safaris and I would defenitely recommend.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari to Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Tarangire
Overall we had a fantastic experience with just a few things that could have been improved upon. Our group of 8 people (ages 14 - 75) booked a 6-day / 5-night safari with EASTCO. First day/night to Ngorongoro, then to Serengeti (2 nights / 2-3 days) and 2 nights / 1 day at Tarangire. I know that numbering is a little confusing, but one blocked-road delay and the transiting between parks makes the "bookkeeping" difficult.
Itinerary: The itinerary was great in many ways, but in the end I wonder if we tried to cram in too much in the amount of time we had. There ended up being a lot of time driving. If I were going to do it again, I would try and stay in each lodging for 2 or more nights. We also had two walks scheduled into our safari. The one ended up being canceled because a stuck water truck blocked our way into the Crater on our first afternoon, so we went the following morning and skipped that hike, but putting in some walks is a really nice way to break up all the driving.
Accommodations: Mostly excellent. Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge - very cool with lovely rooms and an outstanding dining room / loungey area with fireplaces. Turner Camp in Serengeti - Nice tented camp, though apparently the camp had screwed up our reservation. When we arrived they told our guides that they could only host us for one night although we had been booked for two. The guides scrambled and found us a place for the following night in the Serengeti Savannah Camps, one of the Sera campsites. Since the Savannah Camp did not have much warning that we were coming, they were not very prepared for us and many of the staff had gone on holiday. (One of the tents we got was quite below-average compared to the others). But the few staff who were there worked really hard to accommodate us. Both tented camps had showers and flush toilets in the rooms, though limited water as would be expected out there. That seemed very luxurious given the location. The last two nights we were at Boundary Hill Lodge near Tarangire. This place is exceptional with beautiful and interesting rooms (all separate from one another with balconies overlooking the a valley). The staff were excellent. We were supposed to have been at Ol Tukai Manyara for one of the nights but after lots of heavy rain a part of the roof had collapsed and wasn't yet repaired. Though we don't know what we missed, we were very happy to spend two nights at Boundary Hill.
Guides: Our guides both had very sharp eyes and were very informative. Melk was very funny and chatty. Kessy was mostly quiet, though if we asked questions he was more than happy to answer them. Both spent a lot of time on their mobile phones, which, well, it detracted a bit from the experience. Kessy had a radio in his car, which he used a lot as well, though he turned it down when we asked. I realize the guides use the radios to help find game for the clients, but... I don't know, it's a mix. Both were good drivers, although we thought Melk drove way too fast at times (not while on game drives, but during transits between parks). I'm quite certain he could get a job as a stunt driver in the movies! It didn't even make sense since he would then have to stop and wait for Kessy. In any case, I finally requested he slow down, which he did.
Communications:
Pre-trip - Simon mostly responded to our pre-trip emails very promptly, though sometimes it would take a while. I had been on a trip with EASTCO in 2009 and I know there are often internet and phone problems, so I didn't worry too much when this happened. It never happened at any critical, time-sensitive moment. Simon is very friendly and also gave us a LOT of help organizing some pre- and post-safari travel for which he didn't request any compensation. He came out to our hotel to chat and never seemed to be in a hurry. I'm sure his schedule varies throughout the year, but we got a lot of his time and advice for nothing extra.
En route - At times the guides should have been more forthcoming with information. E.g. one day we stopped at a Maasai camp after leaving the Serengeti. Melk had arranged a hike for us to go on there because we had missed our Ngorongoro hike. We should have seen this coming, but after the hike (which was cool and interesting) the Maasai invited us to watch one of their traditional dances, visit the village, see their huts, etc. It was $50/car and we decided, "What the hell, we're here". So it was fun and we learned a lot and got the hard sell to buy some beaded products. We ended up with the Maasai for probably 3 hours. Fine. What we didn't know was that we were 5+ hours from our next lodge and it was already after 3pm. Had we known, we probably would have just skipped this or at least left directly after the hike. As it turned out, we were driving the last part of our day in the dark, we got lost for a while on the last stretch to the lodge and didn't arrive until late. They had been waiting to make dinner so it would be fresh, which was nice, but it meant we had to wait a while. It got to be a very long day.
In general: I have been on two EASTCO safaris now and I am impressed with what Simon delivers, especially at the cost. The park fees make up such a large part of a safari that it seems a really good value to get the fees plus the vehicle, guide/driver, unlimited miles, really nice accommodation, all your food and bottled water. And we saw so much cool stuff! All the "Big 5", including heaps of lions and a mother cheetah & 4 cubs. It was awesome. Good guides will know where to look for what you want to see, and we had that. No guarantees, of course, but we had a less experienced guide at a park in Kenya and it really showed.
People all want different things when they travel, but I would recommend thinking about how much time you want to spend driving and ask those questions when arranging a safari. The nice thing with EASTCO is that you are not on a pre-packaged tour. You can choose your own adventure. Simon will certainly help you choose a good itinerary, but you can weigh in with your preferences of what you'd like to see and do along the way. And then keep in mind that this is kind of the Wild West (or the Wild East). Things will happen along the way that are not really anyone's fault and your trip will likely have some glitches; if you can roll with it the misadventures sometimes make the best stories later on. If I decided to go on a third safari in East Africa, I would certainly go with EASTCO again!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great value for money
Communications were great with foot slopes. We got picked up and dropped off at the airport and they provided us with 2 extra nights at the hotel free of charge. The hotel in Arusha (Venice Hotel) was clean, had AC and even hot showers. The food was average but this was to be expected. The safari itself was excellent. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the jeep getting to and between different parks. Having said that our driver had 15 years of experience which meant that we saw all the animals (including the big 5) we wanted to and had a fantastic time.
GA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Budget Safari
Communication with company was very good prior to safari. They were quickly responsive to any question that we had. Upon arrival, pick-up at the airport was smooth and tour group was able to arrange for in-town transportation for us as we had a full day in Arusha before the start of our safari. The driver was professional and Footslopes arranged for a good price.
Footslopes walked us to an ATM machine and helped us pick out SIM cards and then properly load them on our phones. This was really appreciated.
The safari vehicle was nice and comfortable with a pop-top to be able to take good pictures of the animals.
The wildlife and bird watching was excellent in all of the parks we visited. Our guide was quite knowledgeable about animals and birds.
This is a budget safari and if you're not as worried about dining selections and hot water and more worried about animals and birding, then this is the safari for you.
We do recommend this tour but with the knowledge that it is a budget/value option.
Nice place to see African wildlife
The Zulu Nyala game lodge was a nice place to see many different African wildlife. One thing we noticed early on was that after going into the park a couple of days, we had pretty much seen all they had. We then needed to go to other parks and areas to see different wildlife. The food was excellent. The rooms were just ok, though I'm sure they were fine by African standards.
US
nice one
Tanzania was simply an amazing country to visit , price was a bit pricey but , was totally worth it
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Accurate, friendly, skilled; definitely value for money.
Swift and accurate answers to questions during preparation-phase, friendly and skilled staff and personnel, adequate facilities, good driver/guide, nice cook, good program with adequate adaptation, first two days all by ourselves and thereafter nice companions. Guide responded patiently to our answers and wishes, never impatient or in a hurry. Succeeded in showing us the big, the small and the ugly five.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4 day budget safari
Me and my partner went on a group safari, budget camping for 4 days, visiting Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro crater and we had an wonderful experience. Communication with Foot Slopes was very good throughout the booking, they answered our questions always the same days as we sent them. A driver was already waiting for us when we arrived at the airport and took us to Arusha and the rest of the group (we were a total at 6 persons). Our guide Nickson was very professional and patient (though the group sometimes had different opinions about how much time to spend at different places and animals) and did everything he could to make us see many animals as close as possible. We were lucky to spot a rhino our last day so in the end we saw the big 5, we also spotted giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus, cheetah, warthog, hyena, etc etc. The vehicle was comfortable. Food was OK though personally we would prefer to eat something more local as the chef sometimes failed being a bit too ambitious making us fries, pizza and other "western food" when we all were just craving for rice, chapati, curry, veggies or else. After safari Foot Slopes helped us to find a nice budget hotel in Arusha and the day after they drove us back to the airport for no extra cost. In summary we are really pleased with the safari and the excellent service Nickson and the rest of the team from Foot Slopes offered us. We can warmly recommend them. Have in mind before booking the same 4 day budget safari that it's a lot of distance and many hours driving at bumpy rodes if you want to go to Serengeti NP.
