IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
On time, supportive
The transfer was excellent. The driver was very kind, supportive and can assist you in case you need. I arrived on time at my destination point
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fast responder, adjusts itinerary based on request and well organized
What an AMAZING safari experience! Well organized, professionally managed and stress free tour with all big 5!
BEST Tour Organizer : We had brief discussion about my tour day before my safari which helped me trust him more. He was very quick responder so I had all my questions answered when I was in the US.
BEST Safari Driver/Guide: Livin Macha is very expert in wild life. He drove extra miles to show us all the animals with a right angel. We saw all big 5!
BEST Service : Food, camps, lodges and crew - everything was perfect! I had best time in camp site sleeping with lions roaring sound. Lodging was clean, with hot water shower and towels. Staff was kind, considerate towards our request. We had extra sleeping bags and mattresses - I used them because it got cold in campsite. Water was supplied.
BIG 5 : saw all big 5, even Rhino! Chita hunting dear, loins hunting dears, failed hunting act by crocodile but chase was very good etc. Colours Africa managed our group very well, we became family and last day was very emotional with our guide. Watching wild animals from so close was the best life experience I could have.
Extra Service: Godlisten was very flexible in adjusting my itinerary. He provided me car pick-up and drop off for my adhoc request.
STRONGLY recommended Safari tour. In Tanzania, you need perfectly organized tour to have best experience.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience across the board
We were a group of two families: 4 parents and 3 children aged 8, 9, and 10. We traveled on a wonderful 9-day safari organized by Jerry Tanzania.
Before choosing to work with Jerry Tanzania, I did a lot of internet research, combing through Google results and reading reviews and advice on several sites. After early interactions with a few candidates, Jerry Tanzania bubbled to the top as my first choice.
Suffice it to say that this turned out to be a *great* choice. At every step of the journey, from itinerary design, to adjustments in reaction to new needs, to the safari itself, our experience with Jeremiah, Shirima, Michael, and the whole Jerry team was wonderful.
Throughout the pre-booking phase, Jeremiah was super patient as I asked questions, sometimes even springing new constraints on him (e.g. flight schedules). A typical safari might be shorter than ours and will include one more park than we visited (we didn’t go to Serengeti). It is a testament to Jeremiah's flexibility and expertise that he was willing and able to design us an unusual itinerary that gave us more time in each park, fewer hours each day in the car with the kids, and a wonderful experience altogether. Jeremiah listened to my ideas and incorporated some of them, but he was also able to say when they didn't make sense. Overall we got very friendly, effective, responsive, and personalized communications.
The day before our safari began, while we were staying in Arusha, Jeremiah and one of our guides, Shirima, personally came to see us. Not only that — one of our suitcases had been lost by the airline, and they personally went to the airport and retrieved the suitcase for us. They even had to negotiate with the airline employees...amazing service. In that meeting, we arranged logistics for the morning departure and discussed preferences and expectations for the whole trip. This gave us comfort and confidence about the trip.
We stayed in 3 lodges: 3 nights in the Tortilis Camp Tarangire, the Escarpment Lodge near Lake Manyara, and Lion’s Paw Camp at Ngorongoro. All were wonderful. Our favorite was Tortilis, where we could hear animals outside our tent at night, but never felt unsafe. Every time I ventured outside the tent, for example to watch “bush television,” someone from the camp staff ended up joining me and making my stay even better. Once we played drums together, another time our son got to practice throwing a Maasai spear! It was the people on staff who made Tortilis our favorite. Lion’s Paw has a beautiful facility, very friendly staff, and great food. Actually they all had great food. The mornings at Lion’s Paw (2200m elevation) in August can be very cold!
The only thing that could have been slightly better about our trip was that we had some short (~30min) delays when entering the national parks. Evidently we had paid our park fees so long ago that the exchange rate had changed, and now the amount paid was listed as one dollar too much — something the parks’ computer systems had trouble dealing with. The first time this was a surprise to all of us, and certainly not anyone’s fault from Jerry Tanzania. By the third time I did feel like maybe it could have been anticipated and dealt with by phone before we arrived that day.
For two families we had two safari vehicles. Though we could have crammed into one large vehicle, this was another recommendation from Jeremiah that I would definitely pass on to others with a similar size party. It gave us flexibility, for example for one car to head back to the lodge early if someone was feeling tired. Thanks to Jeremiah and Shirima and Michael, we did shorter game drives than you might with a typical all-adult party. That said, I was surprised at how long the kids remained engaged every day. They loved the animals. They enjoyed taking their own pictures. They loved being able to stand up in the vehicle as it drives through the bush. Not until our last day did anyone express a wish to go back early.
If you measure the success of your safari by how many different animals you see, ours was a complete success! We saw two cheetahs eating a fresh kill. We saw lions mating. We saw a lone buffalo chasing two lions away. We saw the Big Five and many more. My favorite less-well-known animals were the Serval Cat and the Secretary Bird.
Our guides, Shirima and Michael, were excellent. They were knowledgeable, flexible, accommodating, friendly, everything you want. It was also evident that they really love the animals and the nature in their country, and that they enjoy their jobs. This of course was contagious. I’m not sure if they frequently get families, but they were perfectly happy to accommodate children’s specific needs such as needing more frequent bathroom stops.
After we arrived back in Arusha, Jeremiah came to see us again and collected feedback about our experience. I was delighted to see that he was listening to how things went and thinking about how he might adjust his recommendations for others in the future.
I felt that the overall experience with Jerry Tanzania was very human. It always felt like we were listened to and watched out for by experts, but even more than that, it felt like we were connecting with real people who also saw us as people, not just customers.
Overall I can only express a hearty, unconditional recommendation for Jerry Tanzania. I don’t write a lot of reviews on the internet, but the experience with Jerry was so good that I want to do what I can to reward that!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari guide out there
My husband and I had a 5 day safari with them. It couldn’t have been better!! John was our guide. He knows all the parks perfectly and could take us to really good spots. We were amazed by him in Serengeti, he made sure that we saw the big 5, and spot all the animals that we were hoping to see. The communication was very easy during the whole process. Before even starting, Frank was always responding to all our questions very quickly and effectively. Thank you guys for everything!! Continue being this excellent :)
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic value for money, really comfortable, good food and accommodating staff.
Our first safari. We were on a budget with limited time. This safari was perfect. The tents were comfortable and even had electric blankets. The food was amazing each night, accommodating dietary requirements. Dinner also included a bottle of wine. The safari was amazing, we were lucky enough to see the big 5. Our tour guide was very informative and took us to all the perfect spots. Before arrival the company was very communicative and able to pick us up to our airport hotel.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
The tours were amazing, so much detail when explaining animals and tracks.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well organised
Was collected from my hotel promptly and Alex whisked me to the Safari Park.
Whilst the animals are well cared for and looked after, this isn't the same as a Safari Tour, but more a Wildlife Park experience where the animals live in large enclosures. This does mean that you can get really up close and personal with them.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Loved it!
Freka African Holidays (Emily) was very flexible in helping us design our itinerary. We asked a few agencies but Freka included the most activities and had the most compatible price. Sometimes we felt a bit insecure about booking directly and paying the deposit and had to ask about our status.
We did a 9-day tour through Uganda and were picked up and dropped off in Rwanda. Our tour included: Lake Mburo (game drives and boat tour), Kibale (chimpanzee trekking and swamp walk), Queen Elizabeth National Park (game drives and boat tour), Bwindi (including gorilla trekking and Batwa experience) and Lake Bunyonyi (boat tour). We choose the budget option for accommodations but they were all very nice and all our food and drinking water was also included. Our guide Frank was friendly, kind and a good driver (O my..., we could not manage to drive those dirt roads ourselves). We really enjoyed our experience in Uganda! And we would recommend it to everyone!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent tour operator with a great personal touch.
As former Airline personnel I travelled a lot to Africa, more specifically Kenya. As our family grew (both in age as in quantity) and was about to travel abroad themselves and my wife and myself were celebrating our 25th honeymoon anniversary (more on that later) we decided to make one last (for now) trip together, and it was quickly decided upon that it had to be Kenya.
My wife took it upon herself to start planning the trip using desktop research. We contacted several tour operators which all, but one (African Travels), said that our planning could not be done. Fortunately we had a great zoom-session with Marijnke (at that moment situated in Kenya) which ended in a very positive way. As we wanted to explore multiple game reserves (Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo East) and travel by car to soak up the local smells etc. our plan meant travelling a lot. However travelling by car means meeting a lot of people and seeing the country in all its aspects which is what we were after. We basically asked Marijnke to come up with a travel scheme matching our original plan whereby the only restriction was that we did not want to sleep in the big tourist resorts, but stay in small, personal and hidden gems. Boy did she succeed!
The days before our departure from Amsterdam where somewhat troubled due to some check-in ticket issues. After contacting African Travels via WhatsApp it was however swiftly dealt with and we were assured that the issue was with the computer system of the airline and that all tickets were valid and good-to-go. This was confirmed during the check-in at the airport.
After arrival at Nairobi we were met by Richard which immediately suggested a change in plan which would save us some travelling time back and forth through Nairobi. Great suggestion Richard, much appreciated. Thnx! We now had some time available to scroll through (a small part of) Nairobi and do some shopping.
The next day we were met by our guide/drive and what would become a good friend Jeff. As we would be travelling together for the next 8 days this would mean spending a lot of time together in close quarters. After driving a few miles Jeff asked if we liked Rock&Roll, well not specifically but some music is always nice. This was the start of a musical underlined journey
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable experience with a reliable company
We did a 10 days private tour across Uganda with TrueVine and we loved it! Our guide Bernard is one of the most honest and trustworthy people I ever met. He is the guide you want for your trip in East Africa: very knowledgeable about the history, the nature and the culture of Uganda, an expert driver and he always did the extra mile to look for the animals. The car we had was strong and we never had problem with it despite most roads in Uganda are not paved. The itinerary was full of places to see and activities and it is completely customizeable according to your preferences. We chose the mid-range accomodations option and we really liked all the hotels we went, all clean closed to the parks and the food was always good. Highlights of the trip were definitely gorillas and chimps. We totally recommend this company for your trip in the pearl of Africa! They organize trips in all east africa and you will be able to include also few countries in your itinerary.
