TN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great tour and a great guide
The tour was great, Masai Mara was everything we expected it to be and more: Wildebeest, Antelopes, Cheetah, Leopards, Hippos, Elephants, Lion cubs, sunrise over the hills... Lake Nakuru was also lovely.
Gibson, our guide and driver was perfect
HK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful and interesting 8-days safari and 5-days Mt. Kilimanjaro mountain trekking
Safari - thanks to our wonderful driver and chef! Wonderful and interesting people. Driver (he was also the guide) is good at finding the best spots for photo-shooting. He has good eyes and see animals far away and hence drove to the best spots for watching. Chef gavve us a lot of pleasant surprises in delicious food, especially made a birthday cake for one of our members during the safari trip and it was afreat surprise to her as well as others taking dinner in the canteen of the campsite. Will miss them.
Mountain trekking - Great crew of 9 members to serve us (two). Without the encouragement by our two great mountain guides, we would not be able to make it to the summit! Just one minor comment, for food and especially for our Chinese/asians, it might be nice (to have a better appetite in high attitude) to have some sort of congee or soup noodles for our meal as it is easier to swallow and digest. Anyway, it's our fault not telling our great chef about this earlier for them to prepare the materials before the trekking.
Overall : Mr. Hamad, the responsible person of Face of Africa Adventures is a very responsible man and he visited the campsites several time to make sure that we were satisfied with the service. He also went with us to the start point of our trekking and met us at the gate when we finished the trekking. We whole-heartedly thanked him for his service. Overall, Tanzania is a loverly country, with great places to visit. You can see all that you want to see in the safari (the Big Five) and reach the top of Africa (almost exhausted)! At least once in a lifetime experience.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience, but a horrible, bumpy ride.
AbsoluteHolidaySafari offers safari trips where you get a lot of value for your money. We chose a 3 day safari in Maasai Mara, and really looked forward to it. We were picked up at the airport and driven to our hotel on our first day in Nairobi, which saved us a lot of hassle finding taxis at the airport. They also picked us up on the first day from the safari and to the office where we met up with the others we were sharing a car with.
I was expecting like a range rover safari van, but when the trip is as cheap as ours was (300$ pr. pax) we had to settle for a Toyota van with 9 seats. And trust me, the trip to Maasai Mara and during our safari was horrible. If I could choose again, I would spend a little more money to get a better car, but we made the best out of it.
The safari in general was amazing!! We had Richard as our driver, and he's sort of the veteran of all drivers. He really gave us a nice experience and we got to see so many animals. We saw cheetahs 2 times, which we learned was very rare, and a lot of lions, elephants and other animals. You really get to see all the animals you want to on this trip, and if you're going on a safari to see animals and not for luxury, I would highly recommend this trip.
The beds are hard, the facilities are on a low standard, but not too bad. The food was okay, but as others have written here, there can be quite long gaps between every meal, so you should bring some snacks. And remember to bring water, you only get 1 litre per day, which is NOT enough...
We really enjoyed our trip and got to know some really nice people during our stay at the camp. If it's your first time on safari, this is a very nice tour that is affordable, where you still get to see so many animals.
FR
Review about Addo Elephant National Park by pixpeeper
Addo seemed very tame after our week in Kruger. It is quite beautiful and hilly. Accommodation was very comfortable but seeing the wildlife proved a lot more difficult because of the bushes. We waited for one whole day to see our first elephants.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Competences, knowledge and Customer care
Very good, everythings respect our aspectatives. Timing and distances daily ok
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
We had a very nice tour to Mikumi NP, a Masai Village, Ruaha NP & Iringa. Everything was arranged well.
The staff is really great and very helpful. We had a great cook and wonderful drivers. Really loved them all! The only minus was the poor maintenance of the jeeps. We unfortunately had several breakdowns.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good experience. good service.
Everything was great except the prices that were too high compare to the lodge price
Adventure in Namibia on a Self Drive Tour
Date of trip: 2 June-14 June 2016
Location: Southern Namibia (Windhoek, Fish River Canyon, Ai Ais, Luderitz, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Windhoek)
Type: Self Drive
Overall Rating: Very Good
In general, Impala Tours did a very good job. We were met at the airport and transported to our hotel. There was a briefing, with wine, where we went over the route maps and were introduced to the vehicle - a 4-wheel drive Toyota Hilux with a canopy. The vehicle was in good condition and got us where we needed to go. The electric refrigerator and table included with the vehicle were nice additions. The driving route involved tar and well maintained gravel roads.
Overall the accommodations and food were excellent. If you enjoy meat, the game - kudu, impala, sprinkbok - were plentiful and a real treat.
Helpful tips:
1. If you are not a seasoned road-warrior (we're not), travel with a GPS or Google the directions. This would provide detailed directions in town (mostly) and accurate mileages on the road that were not always evident from the maps/instructions we were given.
2. For accommodations in coastal towns, request a hotel with a sea view.
3. For optional tours book early. The Bogenfels tour required at least 10 days pre-booking.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Experience, Good people
Our Safari Vacation was great with Kichaka Tours. They arranged our travel in a most logical manner & we enjoyed our 8 days tour. There was personal attention & follow up from them & our driver / guide was just great!!! He knew each trail & where/when to visit for better experience.
We are thankful to them.
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A good budget option, but with some small flaws that could easily be avoided.
Made some great memories.
On the first days we went to Masai Mara and saw the great migration. I think we must have seen a million wildebest, and some of them crossed the mara river. We also saw lions, elephants, leopard, buffalos, cheetas, giraffe, sebras, ostriches, hippos, crocodiles, antilopes, warthogs and more.
On day three we went to Lake Naivasha for a boat ride. It was very beautiful, and well worth it. Not so many animals, but we saw hippos, sebras, wildebeest, and many birds. The main reason for going is the beauty of it.
On day four we went for a drive around lake Nakuru. Also a beatiful lake. The lake is famous for its massive number of flamingos, but unfortunately there was not many this time. However we saw rhinos, lions, baboons, sebras, giraffes, warthogs, antilopes, wildebeest, and more.
On day five we went to Devils Gate. We rentet bicycles and rode them through part of the national park with a guide. This was fantastic. On the bikes we past by many animals, and felt closer to them than in the safari car. We rode by gjiraffes, warthogs, buffalos, antilopes, baboons and sebras. In the end of the bike tour we went in to Hells gate canyon, that was very beautiful. The canyon is very narrow some places, and has natural hotsprings.
On day six and seven we was at Amboseli. This is maybe the best place to see elephants in the entire world, and is very scenic because of the dramatic view of mt Kilimanjaro. Here we saw more than hundred elephants, and the elephants was not so shy of humans, as many other places. This is a very beautiful place. We also saw some hyenas, sebras, gjiraffes, antilopes, hippos, baboons and more.
The food in general was ok. At the hotels and camps it was ok or even good, but we ate three times at the safari junction where the food was terrible. The accomodation, although budget was better than expected.
Miti Mingi Eco Camp in Masai Mara was right by the parks gate and rustic. The tents was quite big and had working hot shower, but no electricity. Some of the bedsheets should be thrown away. But overall a good camp with a very genuine safari feeling. The food was ok. We had two nights here.
Hotel Citymax in Nakuru was a nice and clean hotel with good food. We had two nights here.
Taphe Guest house in Naivasha was a nice quiet place. Friendly area, 15 minutes walk from town. However we did have a big outbreak of mold in our room. The food here was the best on the trip. We had one night here.
Kimana camp Amboseli was the best of the two camps. We stayed in a nice cabin with electricity and hot shower. The food was good, and both the cabin and restaurant had a nice view of mt Kilimanjaro.
The safari car was a rebuildt Hiace. The roof was liftet when on safari.
What could be better?
-The driving, especially the last 100km towards Masai Mara and in Masai Mara was terrifying. But to be fair, some of the people in our group did enjoy the ride.
-The day we where going to check in at Naivash we drove past Naivasha for 45 minutes, to eat at a restaurant at the safari junction. Everyone agreed that this place had terrible food, so why drive 2*45 minutes to eat here.
-Information was some times inaccurate. We where informed that biking in Hells gate would cost extra. The price given was the renting of the bike. But when we arrived we realized that in addition we had to pay to be allowed to bike in the park. And we also had to pay a bike guide.
The comunication was ok, but the information was not always accurate.
In Nairobi, Ancient Wild Safaris booked a table for us at Carnivore restaurant. We where told we had to pay in usd and that the price of 100 usd includet food and non alcoholic beverages. I also asked if this includet a provison for the company, or if this was the price the company had to pay the restaurant. I was told that this was the price the company had to pay the restaurant, so we decided to give something extra to the company for arranging it. Especially since it seems like it is a one person company. Arriving at the restaurant we found out that the price was lower, we did not have to pay in usd, and it did not include non-alcoholic beverages. We think it is very reasonable that the company takes a fee for arranging things like this, but doing it like this was not ok.