50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good and reliable service!
Our safari with Cuckoo was overall excellent, though there were a few exceptions. Everything was exactly as described. Upon our arrival at Victoria Falls Airport, Simon was there to greet us with a sign bearing my name for easy identification. He then escorted us to our lodge, allowing us some time to check in and refresh ourselves. Afterward, Simon took us on a tour of Victoria National Park, providing informative explanations about the falls.
However, it was disappointing that Simon didn't suggest a visit to the Zambia side of the falls, even though we mentioned having obtained the Kaza visa for multiple entries. Another drawback was the extensive travel the next day, requiring a 6-hour round trip to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe from our lodge. The safari experience itself was good, but the long drive in a small car was uncomfortable. We had hoped for a more suitable vehicle like a van or 4x4.
The highlight of our journey with Cuckoo was undoubtedly our visit to Chobe National Park in Botswana. It was conveniently closer to our lodge, approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes away, and we traveled in a spacious van. The adventure, which encompassed both land and water components, was exceptional.
In conclusion, we were generally satisfied with our safari experience, but the extended journeys in small cars and the missed opportunity to view Victoria Falls from the Zambia side were minor drawbacks.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Explorer Kenya is trustworthy, dependable, and provides exceptional service for Kenyan safaris.
This was my first visit to Kenya for a safari vacation and I planned it myself without using a travel agent. I was looking for a car and driver/safari guide to take me around the safari destinations. In doing some online research I came upon the name of Robert Murigi of Explorer Kenya Tours and Travel (WhatsApp: +254 778 170 650; email: [email protected]; website: www.explorerkenya.com ) and let him know I was wanting to go from Nairobi to Amboseli for 2 nights, West Tsavo for 1 night, East Tsavo for 1 night and then dropped off at Diani beach. Robert quoted me a fair price and I booked the trip and paid my deposit. Robert set me up with an amazing driver guide Bernard Njuni (WhatsApp: +254 725 744617;
Calls: +254 798 811 513 ;
email: [email protected]) who picked me up from my Nairobi hotel exactly at the agreed upon time. I was a bit nervous about this part of the trip planning since it was my first time and much depended on the driver being responsible. Bernard was exceptional full stop! He has a deep knowledge of the safari regions, the animal names and behaviors (including the numerous birds), the flora and fauna of the region and the history of Kenya. He is a great communicator and conversationalist and I learned a tremendous amount in a conversational format. I would highly recommend both Bernard and Explorer Kenya to anyone looking for a safari guide and driver. Do not bother hiring a spotter as well as Bernard is an excellent spotter too. I know that Explorer Kenya and Bernard do trips that also include other adventures besides safaris such as mountain climbs and other sporting activities but I don’t know the full extent of those services. Definitely call or email or Whatsapp to Explorer Kenya to plan your next Kenya adventure. You will not be disappointed!
Ashok
Seattle, WA USA
Professionalism is seen in all they do from communication to the driver and the tour guide to tge ga
It was an owesome time with Pumba Tours, we left our hotel in kampala were they arrived on time. And as we hit the road their was professionalism in the driver as he was extra careful. The car was neat and relaxing, we arrived first to the top of the falls and later went to rest in our hotel. In morning it was gamedrive and all tge tour was excellent time as our guide well explained all details we needed to know. We'll done pumba we lookforward to tour again with you.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Tour Experience
I had the best experience with Vibrant Holiday safaris on my trip to Uganda with my family for 3 days in queen Elizabeth national Park, their friendly, kind and experienced.... thank you vibrant, we really appreciate
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable trip to Uganda for gorilla tracking with the best guide!
We booked a three day tour with Frena Adventures to go gorilla tracking and to visit lake Bunyonyi in Uganda from Kigali. Our Guide Gerald picked us up and he was a gem! He did everything to make our trip memorable and special, changed plans for us so we could get the most out of it. In the car he explained so many different things about Uganda, the culture, the people, etc - so we learnt so many new and interesting facts as well. If you have a chance also do the community walk, which was a real eye opener...!
We would book our next adventure with Frena anytime - 2 nights and 3 days was way too short. Also the communication with Fred and Gerald was great. Thank you so so much Gerald you made our trip better than we could have imagined! We will see you soon!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Legit local organizer who will make your money count
I was referred to Arch Treks and Safaris by my Kilimanjaro organizer. I'd already requested quotes from at least three other organizers for an 11 day private safari. Arch Trek came in well below what the other groups were quoting and was able to continue to work with me to adjust my itinerary after I was several days into my Safari and had a better idea of what I was interested in. They were able to secure me an amazing driver and ridiculously nice accommodations for a very affordable price (given it was a solo private safari).
Couple of key points when thinking about who to select:
- Local, meaning money stays local and doesn't filter up to some already rich CEO
- Responsive, James at Arch Trek was always quick to respond to me
- Genuine, I felt that they were more interested in making sure I was satisfied than getting money out of me
- They've got some preset tours that are incredibly affordable but they can also customize
Additional thought
- If you can, organize a private tour (e.g. your family, buddies, etc.) I guarantee you'll have a better time that just getting slotted into a group. Although their group tours were very affordable from the prices they quoted me.
- If you can
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dsy trio in Tarangire national park briefed by Daniel
I had a dsy trip in Ngorongoro national Park.
I was happy to visit the park for sure thanks to Daniel who prepared me with a briefing, it was a kind and brief conversation from him and thankyou very much for the informstion provided by the guide about the wild life, i was happy to add up some knowledge about the wildlife, thankyou very much suricata safaris
I really recomend this company in opersting your tour becouse it was beyond my expectatiins.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beware of contract language!
My family’s experience with Go Touch Down for our “safari tour” was a complete disaster. I would absolutely NEVER book with them again, even if offered a trip at a fraction of the cost. They are able to lean heavily on clauses in their stock contract that allow them to entirely modify their itinerary.
Taken directly from the contract: “Go Touch Down shall not be responsible or held liable to secure the originally intended vacation package, which in many cases may not be available or its procurement may not be practicable due to forces of nature, market factors, or other related reasons” and “…when deemed necessary in its sole discretion reserves the right to: (1) cancel any itinerary or any part of it for any reason; (2) make any alterations to the itinerary (including, but not limited to, alterations or substitutions of hotels).”
In other words, they can promise WHATEVER they want and then dump you into whatever itinerary they come up with! I stupidly assumed this was boilerplate language that we’d have no choice but to agree to in order to sign up for any safari. But even if it is common contract language, most of us have to trust that tour companies wouldn’t dare abuse it; our experience with Go Touch Down revealed that this is not a company worthy of our trust.
My story is a long one, but here is the gist of key issues (though there were many more, too numerous to cover in detail). Go Touch Down closed one of our two safari lodges six months before our trip. They did not reveal this to me, but I instead discovered it on my own…even as I was having multiple phone conversations with our agent (the owner’s wife) about our stay at that very lodge because I was trying to make some arrival arrangements. Of note, Go Touch Down manages the lodges they use on their South African tours, so they knew of the closure, and I found they’d actually removed this lodge from a prominent corporate branding image months prior. When I asked our agent about the lodge closure, she became extremely rude and combative. Go Touch Down then used contract language to prevent us from getting a refund even though this was going to cut the safari portion of our trip in half and dump us at a freezing cold trout fishing timeshare they manage instead (this was the unfortunate fate for months of guests; we got last-minute lucky when they opened a new lodge just before our arrival and spared us the fish pond).
While we may have gotten a safari in the end (after so much grief and stress), it wasn’t the one we were sold. The number one reason I chose this tour had been the promise of a maximum of six people on game drives. In fact, the brief Go Town Down self-written bio on social media is “small group tours of max 6 people.” Upon arrival, we discovered that we would have ten people on our game drives – every seat in the truck filled, including the one up with the driver. Those squished into the middle seats could barely see anything, especially since nearly all of our drives were in covered-top vehicles and some fellow passengers were quite tall. Even the most barebones budget safari packages generally guarantee an outside seat. One high-level staff member brought up specifically how unacceptable this was and explained that many game drive vehicles no longer even have middle seats and instead place storage compartments down the middle! (I’m intentionally leaving out specific details like staff titles and names because I don’t want any of these wonderful people to get in trouble – we encountered so many who were very candid with us about their extreme frustration with Go Touch Down, and it is a testament to their own professionalism that they did not take out this frustration on their guests.) The entirety of our Morubisi stay was packed in like this, as was our full day in Kruger (even though in the latter case, we were assured the day prior that we would all ride together to Kruger and that a second game drive vehicle would be waiting to collect half of us for the smaller tour we’d been promised, but this didn’t actually happen).
Once again, Go Touch Down chose to lean heavily on contract language as an excuse. We certainly were not the only ones on our tour who were extremely upset, as many had chosen Go Touch Down for the six-person cap just as we had. One fellow traveler then astutely observed that the final documents we received the week of departure had been tweaked to state that any “outsourced” activities, including game drives, may have more than six people. First of all, Go Touch Down runs the game lodges, so the drives are hardly “outsourced.” Furthermore, this left only the transport from the airport and between lodges as what they’d deem non-outsourced. Who cares how many people we ride from the airport to the hotel with, it’s the game drives where that actually matters!
There were numerous other key advertised features of the tour that never came to fruition. For example, there was supposed to be a cultural music performance that never happened. There was also supposed to be a walking safari, but this was never offered. In addition, we were supposed to traverse the Panorama Route, a famous region of South Africa, when we were going to travel from Humala to Tshukudu. With the closure of Humala, we still faced a six-hour drive (not including a lunch stop), but we lost the morning game drive that was supposed to happen on that day and traveled a rather dull route to Tshukudu without scenic stops. And when we learned we’d be going to Morubisi, we were told of a wide variety of optional activities to choose from, such as a river cruise, to fill the long period between morning and evening game drives. But when we asked about this on site, we were told that only the reserve owner could drive the boat, and he wasn’t available to do so. In the end, there were no activities offered to fill the mid-day hours at Morubisi. Lodge staff were very apologetic and told us that Go Touch Down had frequently shifted financial priorities and was in the process of opening multiple new lodges which was causing not-atypical disruptions that were frustrating for them as well.
To be clear, this review is about Go Touch Down and why I would never recommend booking with them. The staff at the properties were almost uniformly lovely, and they were very candid about their own hatred of Go Touch Down management and about how guests constantly arrive having been entirely misled and taken advantage of. “They only know hotels” said one frustrated high-level staff member who was doing everything possible to give guests the safari experience they thought they’d purchased in the context of a management tour agency that seemed to think we were there for fancy rooms and meals that they attempted to spin as “upgrades.” So if your goal is to book an African safari, I would say this is NOT the company with which to do so – their contract is written in such a way that they may ultimately decide not to bring you to a safari property after all, and even if they do, it doesn’t have to be the safari you were promised.
South Africa is a lovely place, and there were many wonderful staff, animals, meals, fellow tour members, and hotel amenities that allowed us to make the most of our trip despite its many uncertainties and unkept promises. I have a lot of travel experience and love discovering joy in even the worst of situations. But ultimately what it comes down to is that Go Touch Down is a company that repeatedly made excuses for not delivering what we as clients were sold. Maybe they sometimes pull through, but it doesn’t seem like a risk worth taking when there are so many other options out there. This review has nothing to do with whether I would return to South Africa for a safari or whether the lodges we stayed at were nice. It is instead about warning people that there are thousands of actual SAFARI booking agencies, so I would highly recommend staying away from what was in our experience the unreliable, contract-abusing Go Touch Down when booking something as special as a safari.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable 6 day safari with Safari Soles tours and amazing guide Simon aka “The Safari Monster”!
Unforgettable 6 day safari with Safari Soles tours and amazing guide Simon aka “The Safari Monster”!
It was a true safari: bumpy rides, the thrill of seeking for the animals (with succes: the big five, the crossing of the +1000 wildbeest over the river and plenty more!), lodges surrounded with all kinds of animals, good local food, fun and also informative stories about the animals and the Reserves, a lot of laughter with our guide and ofcourse Hakuna Matata.
I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way we are beyond happy that we chose Safari Soles tours and that we had Simon as our guide. He made it a trip to never forget with his knowledge of the reserves and good eye site you won’t miss a thing! Tanzania has a special place in our hearts.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I would do the same thing again
The 3 day safari we booked met our expectations. We saw the Big Five, which of course also includes luck. The accommodation in the camp was simple but sufficient. We would book a safari here again.