MY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money
I got the 4 day 3 nights tour. The tour also includes night 0 and the night where your safari ends so it's quite a good value. They can also do airport transfer for USD25.
The safari is good. The first 2 nights, we stayed in camps. I suggest to bring your travel pillow. We had a budget lodge for the third night. Food is great!
Some tips
- Do bring warm clothes for the cool nights
- bring a scarf or mask for the dusty roads.
- For Tarangire, I recommend you bring insect spray and wear long pants and dress in brighter colors because there are tsetse flies there.
- mind the roof of the jeep - ensure that you keep fixing it to keep it up.
- the Jeep may malfunction at some points, but the guides are equipped to fix them so don't panic.
Enjoy!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Zohar African Safaris meticulously attends to every detail to ensure the best experience possible.
Going on safari with Zohar African Safaris provided the trip of a lifetime! Lilian adeptly guided us as together we planned a two-week trip, one week in Kenya, one week in Tanzania. The idea of traveling from California to East Africa for safari can be daunting. We relied upon Lilian’s extensive experience, and that of her capable team.
We began our adventure with very kind and capable guide James Kimani, and experienced majestic and awe-inspiring wildlife in Ol Pejeta, Lake Navaisha, and Massai Mara. Highlights included seeing many rhinos, and the elusive black rhino, a cheetah eating its prey in a tree, and a hippo mating.
Zohar ensured that we stayed in very comfortable hotels and since we were primarily on safari, we stayed in all-inclusive luxurious “tent” camps—we loved them! We were warmly greeted and pampered by the staff wherever we stayed; this too was an impactful highlight.
We flew to the Serengeti, met by David Raston, an engaging and highly professional safari expert who had been recommended by friends. We traveled from Northern to Central Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. We’ll never forget the awesome Mara River crossings by wildebeests and zebras, while hungry crocodiles lurked in the water—wow! Again, Zohar ensured our stays were quite extraordinary, beautiful and comfortable.
Throughout our two-week adventure the Zohar team checked in with us via WhatsApp. We said our goodbyes in Arusha, flying to Rwanda for a separate missions trip, and felt the continued care and support of the team, even as we moved on to serving in Rwandan schools.
Thank you for everything Lilian, James, David, Jackie, and the Zohar team; God’s blessings upon each of you! We leave pieces of our hearts in East Africa, return with reflections upon the stunning wildlife and profound landscapes we experienced, and most importantly, the beautiful people we met and precious new friends we made
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good safari (&kili) company
After Kilimanjaro, we did safari with sandpipers. It was a nice experience. The manager / owner of the company (Abouh) is exceptional : available, attentive, with good advices.
The guide (simba) was also nice. He didn’t speak a lot but when we asked him some questions about animals, he had a lot of references! The 2 differents cookers were competent. I recommend to travel with his company.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Friendly, knowledgeable team
We had a 3 night trip with Orange to the Masai Mara/Amboseli, including a stay at Jambo Safari Lodge for 2 nights and a train ride across Tsavo towards Mombasa. The van we had, which was just for our group, was functional and as the roads are not that great we got rattled around quite a lot: you get dusty, you get windswept, you might get wet, you might have to hold on tight - but you’re on a Safari in Kenya, it is all part of the experience! Elisha and Cap’n Patrick were our guide and driver and they are delightful people. I asked lots of questions about the wildlife and Elisha was very knowledgeable. Cap’n Patrick always worked hard to ensure we got good views of everything then we would say ‘sawa sawa!’ to move on (learning a few words of Swahili along the way). Our full day in the Mara was magical. We saw so much and the weather was perfect - blue sky, sunshine but not too hot and not many insects either! I had a big smile on my face all day. Highlights for me included families of giraffes and elephants, a cheetah lying nonchalantly beside the road, the beautiful Mara scenery and a male lion with a fresh kill. At a later part of our trip I got in touch with Elisha to see if he could arrange for someone to pick us up at Nairobi, as we had a lot of hours to kill before our flight home, and take us to a couple of Nairobi attractions such as the Giraffe sanctuary and the boardwalk experience (both well worth the effort) and he did just that which was really helpful!! If we did it again we would probably choose an itinerary without quite as much driving time but we had a lot to pack in and only a short time and a small budget to do it. We definitely filled our days and got a taste of different parts of Kenyan life including stopping along the way even popping into a supermarket to get some local snacks. I have great memories of our days in Kenya it was a very full and intense experience and I can recommend Orange for the friendly personal touch they gave us.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honest and reliable
We had an amazing experience. From booking and finding the perfect safari to fit our budget to the communication. We are extremely impressed by Daniel- even after an over payment (our error) he assured us he would have the cash for us once we arrived. He was there with an envelope of cash! Our driver Peter was safe, reliable and able to identify and find every animal we were hoping to see.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Arrangement were fantastic starting from hotel, veg food, safari van and guide.Very well planned .
Tour guide Peter was v knowledgeable, patient and took tonnes of pain in taking us to
Place where animals were present. No disappointment at any stage including veg food.
Value for money in every way.
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tailormade Africa enabled us to achieve the trip of a lifetime.
My wife and I just completed a three week trip to Rwanda and Southern Tanzania and it truly was the trip of a lifetime. We had been keenly looking forward to it for a long time and it exceeded our expectations in every way.
We planned and booked the trip through Tailormade Africa, our second trip using them. I can't say enough about their help and advice in planning the itinerary and also operationally. We had a broad idea of where we wanted to go, the National parks in Southern Tanzania, but we had very little practical knowledge of those places and absolutely no idea of how to get there. Clyde at Tailormade took our rough idea and crafted the perfect itinerary. However, after he delivered the perfect Tanzania itinerary, we presented him with another challenge. We decided that we wanted to also go to Rwanda to see the gorillas. Clyde enthusiastically gave us advice and options for Rwanda and we finalized that portion of the trip also. After it was finally booked, we decided to shift the whole trip by a week. Clyde demonstrated flexibility and patience with our changes and got everything rebooked without issue.
Having completed the trip, I can say that the destinations, itinerary, accommodations and logistics were all just perfect.
I have to say how important a job Clyde and the Tailormade team did with the complex logistics of this trip. Our itinerary involved 5 charter flights and 11 vehicle transfers, all of which came off without a hitch. I could never have planned or executed all of those logistics on my own and I doubt the ability of many (possible most) travel agencies to have done so well.
We were extremely pleased with all of our accommodations. Not only were they comfortable and beautiful but all of them had great food and service as well. Most importantly the places where we did safaris and treks all had excellent guides.
My understanding is that getting the accommodations/guides and logistic right in some of the out-of-the-way areas we visited is not as straightforward as in the more well-traveled parts of Tanzania. One lodge manager told us that not many travel agents are familiar with his area in Ruaha.
So, we enjoyed wonderful experiences viewing wildlife, met warm and wonderful people and throughout felt well-cared for. It was the trip of a lifetime and something we'll never forget.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic
Tafara was an excellent, fun, kind and informative tour guide. We had a wonderful time with him. He went out of his way to make our experience wonderful.
Archie was also competent and pro active and responsive in setting up our tour.
Many thanks
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing travel planners!
We have worked with Sun Safaris for years and this group has always come through with wonderful suggestions for lodges, always work within my budget, meticulously plan each detail regarding the safari, and quickly respond to all questions.
First, we always have a wish list of options for different lodges (e.g., water hole, buy 3 get 4, animal we want to see, etc.), and Sun Safaris always tries to accommodate. The lodges we were at this past safari in Aug-Sept 2023) were excellent. The first lodge was particularly nice and we are planning to return next year. We have worked with Natasha b/c she is very detail oriented & everything we need to have organized, Natasha has organized! Sun Safaris is very reliable and our travel to and from lodges has always been meticulously planned. The transfers are always smooth, drivers are great, and service exceptional. What we loved about the transfers is that they remembered us from previous travels that Natasha had organized--a great personal touch! We have always been pleased with how Sun Safaris pays particular attention to our budget & finds us great value for the money. We also love how the itineraries are beautifully laid out and clear.
Sun Safaris has been our travel planners of choice, and we can't see going elsewhere for planning safari adventures. Even though we were somewhat late in providing Sun Safaris with our travel dates (we were six months out in planning), Natasha was able to find us great lodges (we were somewhat flexible in our travel dates which helped!)! Thanks so much to Sun Safaris & Natasha especially!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and helpful, Tanzanian side not very good!
We had a 11 days private Kenya and Tanzania safari. Silas is very professional and helpful. He was in his car in the carpark when we arrived. The flight arrival was delayed by one hour but after contacting him on the phone he promptly arrived to get us to our hotel.
The Kenyan part of our safari was excellent. The driver/guide Samuel is a very knowledgeble and a nice guy. But the disaster started the moment we crossed over to the Tanzanian side. We were made to pay $50 each to get the yellow fever certificates at the border. The person just took cash in Euros and filled in the yellow booklet. No vaccination was given. Upon asking for a receipt they gave some vague reasons saying that the internet was not working and that we shall get it by email, which, of course never happened. A Tanzanian driver received us and we started our Tanzanian journey to the Serengeti park. Within about one hour the left rear wheel of the rickety Toyota Land Cruiser just came off while we were driving! Luckily no one was hurt. We were in the middle of nowhere on a village road. The driver managed to change the wheel with the help of few villagers and we resumed our journey. After every 15 minutes of driving the driver had to tighten the screws of the wheel. This happened a few time. Then suddenly that newly changed wheel had a flat tyre! The driver just could not change it. He had to arrange an alternative private transport for us from the nearby village, who was kind enought to take us till the Serengeti gate. In the process we lost many hours. Ultimately we could reach our camp site after 8PM, eight hours after the border crossing!
The new Tanzanian driver gave a very unprofessional and unfriendly impression. The game drives in Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater were excellent. On our fourth night in Tanzania we were dumped in an extremely low level hotel near Lake Manyara. A very depressive place indeed. Certainly the lowest level of acommodation we had during our entire trip. The driver did not know that we needed to make a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. There was no time for that any more. The next day we had to leave for Tangerine National park. The only solace on the Tanzanian side was that the national park game drives were really worth the trouble.
We had a sigh of relief after crossing over to Kenya without much trouble. The last two days in Kenya were very good with game drives in Amboseli, and transfer to Nairobi for our return flight home.
I requested Silas to reconsider his contract with his Tanzanian partner "Seven Wonders Safaris" in Arusha, Tanzania, which prompted him to end his contract with them. Thank God.
I hope this small review is helpful.