50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Judy Foster
Stunningly beautiful - a garden of Eden.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Judy Foster
Small but perfectly formed - amazing ancient trees and interesting lake foreshore. Lots of animals.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Tsavo West National Park by Carol McNutt
The various terrains were spectacular. There was lots of animals. It was interesting to see some of the variations in the animals. The elephants were reddish in color, smaller in size. The giraffes were a darker color.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Nairobi National Park by Carol McNutt
Hard to believe that this amount of wildlife is with in the city limits. It was amazing to see so many different species of animals grazing together on hillsides. A very easy day trip.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Amboseli National Park by Carol McNutt
Just magnificent scenery and abundance of wildlife and birdlife.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gaps in infrastructure, but beautiful wildlife
More than anything, a good guide and driver makes all the difference! We went to Maasai Mara through Perfect Wilderness Tours and Safaris, and Khalifa absolutely made our trip. He was knowledgeable, insightful, funny, and a good driver (despite the extremely rough terrain). More than that, he's fostered good relationships with everyone in and around the park, from rangers to locals to other guides, which gave him an extra edge in creating a memorable experience. If you book with Perfect Wilderness, ask to have him as a guide!
With accommodations, I would recommend skipping the luxury spots and sticking with a basic option. Lenchada Tourist Camp wasn't cushy, but had everything we needed. When you're only going to be there to sleep and have breakfast, it's not worth it to spend the extra money.
One thing I can't recommend is the Maasai cultural experience. If you want to support the tribe beyond your park fees, I would donate to a community fund and skip the show.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful country, lovely people, fantastic safari destination
My son and I had an 8-day Explore the Northern Circuit sarfari with Safari Soles and it was the most amazing experience. Everything was so well-organised and we felt totally looked after, from touching down at Kilimanjaro Airport until we left. We had one night in Arusha to get over the long flight - the Tulia hotel is fine to bookend the safari. We were taken to the art/cultural museum/gallery, which was fascinating, to the Masaai market and then for a sunset hike. Bryson, who owns the business, was there to check everything was OK at the beginning and end of the holiday and to make sure our drivers were there to pick us up at the allocated time. The next day we left on sarfari. Our driver/guide Elias was perfect. He really made the holiday special. So knowledgeable and incredible at finding animals - two pin-pricks on the horizon and somehow he just knew they were rhinos. He was great company throughout, interesting and lovely to chat to and really understood what we wanted from the trip. Half the fun is spotting the animals, but he really delivered. In a few short days we saw two leopard, a cheetah, seven rhino (including a baby), lots of elephants (and several young ones), numerous lions (male, female and cubs), migrating zebra and wildebeest, buffalo, vultures, giraffe, hippo, impala, gazelles, baboons - the list went on and on. We witnessed two female lions separating a zebra from the herd and trying to run it down (unsuccesfully). We visited Tarangire National Park and saw lions resting in a tree (the park is known for it); the Ngorongoro Crater (a Unesco World Heritage site) was truly stunning and the Serengeti was everything I thought it would be. The safari lodges were first rate and exceeded our expectations - we stayed at Farm of Dreams Lodge and Serengeti Safari Lodge - beautiful grounds, large rooms and fantastic staff. The food was superb (very fresh, lots of lovely fish). We also did the day trip to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro with Baltazary - visited coffee growers, walked to a stunning waterfall and swam in a hot spring - again all well-planned and we felt really looked after. In fact, we felt totally safe the whole time we were in Tanzania - everyone was so friendly and the country is stunningly beautiful. I also did the Balloon ride option with Serengeti Balloon Safaris and it was one of those really special moments I'll never forget. If your budget can stretch to it, then you won't regret it. Absolutely could not fault a thing. Would highly recommend this company and would definitely book with them again. In fact, I really can't wait to go back.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bucket list come true
I found myself unexpectedly in Nairobi, originally I had come to Kenya for a medical mission trip but had gotten ill and had to cut short my time there. I love to do wildlife photography and wanted to see Nairobi national park and Amboseli National Park before I had to leave. I contacted. Wilson at Masai Mara train .He was available to do both safaris, he made the arrangements on short notice and I appreciated his flexibility. He was my guardian angel. As a woman traveling alone and having some physical limitations. Wilson was very accommodating. . I told him the kind of pictures I wanted, he and Rufus were so knowledgeable about the animals and the environment and very patient, making sure I was satisfied with the pictures. They even helped another traveler who was stranded. I was so excited to see Mt. Kilamonjaro and so many different animals. I was able to visit Tsalvo west Nation park,Nairobi National Park and Amboseli national park. Each was spectacular, beautiful and different. If I make it back to Kenya, Masai Mara is next on my list!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly and accommodating
My family and I booked a 3 day Safari package with Uwanda Safari to Selous Game Reserve in June 2023 and we were very pleased with the entire experience.
My wife and I have two children aged 10 and 3 so they are quite young to be going on safari but Uwanda really did everything they could to satisfy all of our requests. Even some of the mort difficult ones! My wife feel ill at our hotel the day before the safari was supposed to start and Uwanda were very understanding and helped to delay our start by an additional day giving my wife to recover. They did this at no additional cost and were very understanding.
Our pick-up from the hotel on our first morning was friendly and punctual (not like us!) and got us to the airport in ample time for the flight. When we landed at Mtemere Airstrip we were met literally at the side of the plane by our guide and driver. They were both extremely friendly and welcoming. And also understanding while we took our time to get the kids ready for the day ahead.
During the drive we had a vehicle completely to ourselves and managed to see almost all the animals we wanted to see. Sadly we didn’t get to see a lion but we did see two leopards which we were told was extremely rare. The short stop for coffee and a snack, and the full stop for lunch were great and the food was very nice.
The kids started to get really tired and kranky in the afternoon but again the guide and driver were very accommodating, and the kids soon snapped out of it when we found more animals to look at.
After the tour we were taken to our accommodation at Selous Safari Lodge where we had a large lodge to ourselves with ample space. The staff were extremely friendly and served us delicious home cooked food which was very much needed. Our lodge had two nice showers (one outside) and a double sink and we slept very peacefully.
The next morning we went on a river Safari where we were again greeted by a guide and boat driver, both extremely friendly. On the Safari we saw crocodiles, hippos and many monkeys and birds in the trees on the banks. It was a fantastic experience.
After the boat Safari we were taken through the local village of Mloka by a guide and told a little bit about how to the local people live which was very interesting to see.
At this point we realised that the trip was starting to become a bit much for the children so we politely asked Uwanda if we could return to the hotel a day early. But I must stress that this was entirely down to us and not at all a reflection on the quality of the Safari or the staff involved. Basically our children loved it but they are very young and just didn’t have the energy to complete the third day (the walking Safari). We decided to settle for two magical days instead of risking really breaking them on the third. Though we wish we had had the chance to complete all of the activities.
Once again Uwanda were extremely gracious and understanding and managed to move us on to the return flight on day two, again without any additional charge. I really can’t stress enough how good the company were with our changing demands and ad-hoc requests. They were always understanding and patient and a pleasure to deal with. I can’t recommend them enough.