FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good safari
Thanks Michael for this great time. We had the chance to view many animals. Maybe we would have like to see a bite more of the local life in villages (massai, etc) but it was great anyway! I definitely advise Nothern circuit for your safari.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome 12-day Kenya & Tanzania Safari
We did the "12-day best of Kenya and Tanzania Safari” end of September/beginning October 2016 with Absolute Holiday Safaris and we had a great time. As a note, you will get lost in the thousands of companies, but a lot of the safari companies are actually the same (I think Big Time safaris and another one is the same as Absolute). We started in Nairobi, where we were picked up at the airport (be it a bit late) and the day after for our safari. Mind that you will be taken to the office first to pay and transfer to the safari van. Traveling with a backpack is recommended, you don’t have to walk with your luggage a lot, but it will fit in the vehicles a lot better. Obviously visa, vaccinations (yellow fever is mandatory) are required and malaria pills recommended. After this safari we went to Zanzibar on our own, highly recommend Demani Lodge in Paje, and Stone Town is good for shopping. I've reviewed Kenya and Tanzania separately below, with as a main message: the Kenya part was awesome with a great guide, the Tanzania was good too but the experience suffered from bad management.
Kenya (Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli): As we had seen his name mentioned in good reviews, we requested Patrick as our guide. We were very happy he could guide our trip, we felt very well taken care off and he made sure we saw all the animals and he was in touch with all the other guides through his radio. This part we travelled in a Nissan 4x4 pop-up van, which was actually quite comfortable. We travelled with 7 for a few days (which is a bit crowded) and 5 for the most part. Travel times in between parks can be long, with a big part of it on dirt roads (ladies, consider bringing a sports bra). The tented camps were a lot better than expected with actual beds and private bathrooms (including the one in Amboseli, which gets bad reviews online - we stayed in the wooden cabins which were great), and food was simple but really not bad and there was lots of it. Do bring some snacks, because there is not a lot of opportunities to buy something on the way and ‘picnic lunches’ are not great. I personally loved Maasai Mara for all the big cats and Amboseli for the elephants and hippos (take note that for Amboseli - in rain season it is just a big lake and animals won’t need to all go to the swamp to cool off so it is less fun). Lake Nakuru was good for views and we saw some (really far away) rhinos too. However, the flamingo’s have left that lake because of flooding. We made a stop and boat ride in Lake Naivasha which was really fun, seeing the hippos and there’s lots of birds if you’re into that. Patrick helped us getting over the border onto the shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania.
Tanzania (Arusha, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater): The Arusha Center Inn hotel (were the office of the safari company is based) is awful, consider getting an upgrade or pick out another) hotel yourself (we did this for our second stay in Arusha). The city itself is not very nice either, not much to see and unsafe. The safari company here (led by a man called Abraham, subcontracted by Absolute Holiday Safaris, we never really found out what the name of this company was, really vague) was not great, bad planning and scheduling all around. We were picked up very late on our first day, and got put with people staying at different places. This meant we all had to wait for each other each day, which made it impossible to get into the parks in time to see the rhinos and lions awake. We had researched our trip extensively and knew the ‘budget camping’ was not for us, so we upgraded to lodges and luxury tented camp. This was one of the best choices we made, these accommodations were fantastic. The lodges in Manyara and the crater were close to the camping site where the others were staying, however, the tented camp in Serengeti was different from what was in our itinerary and an hours drive from the others. Not ok. We travelled in a 4x4 pop-up landrover, which was allright but surprisingly less comfortable than the van. Also, when you’re tall you might want to check whether you can stand up comfortably (I’m 1.82 and just about could in this vehicle). We were with 5 people in total, however, some of the longer drives we had to take the chef in the front seat, which meant we were a bit crammed in the back. Our guide Estomy was allright, he made an effort to make sure we saw all the animals, but I feel like he was a bit to timide and could have taken a stronger standing point at times (‘if you want to see the animals awake we have to be there at 6 and not sleep in’). Also his radio was not working, which really is unacceptable because you’re always the last to know about the animals. I loved the Serengeti, and the crater was cool too. Even though we saw a lot of giraffes in Lake Manyara, it was not a spectacular park (again no flamingo’s and lots of smelly pelicans). When we had to be taken back to Arusha by another car, we waited on a junction for 45min for someone else to join, without any explanation or apologies. Very unprofessional.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Short trip to Zanzibar, but awesome
Everything has been planned nicely and perfectly by Serene-Tours. Special thanks to Max and the entire team. I can highly recommend the services of Serene Tours.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5 unforgettable days in safari with Meru Slopes Tours, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, lake Manyar, Tarangire
Five unforgettable days in safari with Meru Slopes Tours & Safaris, include Serengeti, Ngorongoro, lake Manyara, Tarangire!
At first I could not believe that I get transfer from the airport to the hotel and back, plus overnight at the hotel before and after the safari. But despite the concerns I saw good recommendations, and booked with Geofer Nassari by email after short correspondence. Everything was well organized and I got a good treatment and support from a staff. They answering me for all my questions and solve very fast each issue. In safari I didn't feel the difference between other groups that paid more without hotel before and after and without transfers from and to airport. The only thing I would improve it visit Tarangire and lake Manyara on the same day and not two separate days. This is because they are very close to Arusha and much smaller then Serengeti so half day per each it's enough.
Thanks again to all the staff of Meru Slopes Tours & Safaris and especially to Geofrey Nassari, for five unforgettable days in safari!
NG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our five day safari was simply an exhilirating worthwile trip that we intend to repeat in no distant
Mrs Mwajabu and her driver received us at JNIA in the middle of the night (Sunday 01:00hrs) like long lost family members. By 04:00hrs we hit the road to Mikumi where the ever busy Mwajabu stayed with us till Tuesday when she along with her driver took us back to Dar, boarded us on a light plane to Zanzibar and kept in touch daily for the two days we stayed on the Island. Even though our paid tour ended on Thursday, we were booked into Slipway by Mwajabu and given a no expense tour of Dar. The drivers, especially Fredy and Horizon are just wonderful. Another Hello Tanzania tour is a plan for us in the no distant future, early next year by God's grace.
US
Review about Tarangire National Park by DaveGibsonImages.com
Famous for its tree-climbing lions, I only saw them on the ground. This is where I saw my first-ever leopard which was quite a thrill! Accommodations and food at Tarangire Sopa Lodge was great. Lodge was
US
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by DaveGibsonImages.com
I only spent a day there but recall a jackal, baboons on a termite mound, an elephant and hippos. The weaver colony at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge made for good photos.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Prompt replies
There was a misunderstanding but a one call resolution to Seth resolved it
Had a great time seeing the Serengeti
Overall we had a really enjoyable experience on our safari. Camping in the Serengeti was a truly unique experience. The tour operators themselves were extremely warm and welcoming and really went out of their way to help us with our onward plans. Unfortunately we think our experience of the safari itself was hampered somewhat by the fact we were only two people, so footslopes aggregated us into a larger group with other tour operators in order to make it cost effective for them. For this reason I think we ended up with a guide who is not usually employed by footslopes, and we had some issues there regarding the quality of our tour and its organisation/timeliness. But overall we were satisfied and the footslopes guys were so accommodating and helpful when we returned back to Arusha after our tour. We think going forward they should focus on ensuring they have adequate group sizes for each planned tour so they don't have to put their guests in the hands of other tour operators, thus losing control of the quality of the service and risk unnecessary reputational damage.
50-65 years of age
Cape Town accommodation
Pembury Tours arranged a Waterfront apartment for our week in Cape Town. The accommodation was well situated, comfortable and well equipped. There were communication difficulties within the administration office of the complex, as we needed to make several complaints before action was taken to remedy our wi-fi and air-conditioning issues which were simple when attended to.