BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hakuna Matata, wildlife heaven, just a magical journey ...
What an adventure! Hakuna Matata ....
After arriving in Johannesburg and exploring the city for 1 day, we flew to Hoedspruit. We’ve started with the Simbavati Trails Camp with glamping facilities and clear star skies in Greater Kruger (2 nights). We enjoyed encountering animals on short distances from small to big and to learn about their footprints and behaviour. After a scenic walk in the evening, we were surprised with a sunset Gin Tonic and a hot bubble bath under the stars. It was a unique experience in an unfenced Camp, where elephants drink from the swimming pool by night. The food served out of that basic kitchen was 1-star quality and versatile. Thompson is an excellent chef. The facilities were clean, confortable and we had everything we needed or wished for. The staff was outstanding. Donald brightened our days.
After 2 nights, we’ve moved to another area (Klaserie Private Nature Reserve) and the Simbavati Amani Lodge (also 2 nights). We had close encounters with the animals while enjoying the afternoon at the swimming pool. The water hole in front of the lodge is a dream come true. We had the feeling the whole Lion King movie just passed by ;-). In the morning and afternoon we’ve enjoyed fantastical game drives with drinks and snacks in-between. Our guide Julius was amazing. The facilities were luxurious, and we felt very welcome and as part of the Amani family. For us the combination of the Trails Camp and the Lodge with game drives was a perfect fit and the ideal combination between luxury and proximity to nature with close encounters. We always felt safe and got very close to those wild animals.
We definitely recommend Safaribooking and the Simbavati Trails Camp and Amani Lodge. Everyone helped us to make our dreams come true.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience & service! Thanks Richard!
We did a 6- day shared safari and highly recommend Jocky tours for their responsiveness, kindness, and the full safari experience. What a great value!!
From the very beginning Minneh and Eric were very quick to answer all of our questions and organize the reservation and pickup at our Nairobi hotel.
We were in a shared 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser (9 seater) that was in great, clean, new condition/reliable and comfortable. It was perfect weather (no/little rain) and we saw the Big 9 including lots of lions, 2 leopards, rhinos etc even though November wasn’t considered peak/high season to go on a safari.
Our guide Richard was AWESOME. Safe driver and very friendly and informative about all of the animals and the areas we visited. He knew all the places to go to see a variety of animals and we always felt taken care of and listened to if we had requests to stop for the bathroom or to see an animal for longer. Ask for Richard when you go!!
The accommodation was “budget” but we were very comfortable. There were warm showers at the first tented camp which we were not expecting, and the other 2 accommodations were hotels not tented. If you aren’t expecting luxury you will be fine, especially since you don’t have much time at the hotel/camps and most of the time is in the car driving.
Plenty of food to keep you full, never ran out.
Few things to call out that we were not expecting:
- At one point in the tour we had 8 passengers plus the driver in our 4x4 car even though the booking says we’d only have 6 guests max. It was only for 24 hrs so wasn’t the full trip, so not a big deal
- Since it is a shared tour, not all guests on our trip had the same itinerary. So on the way to Lake Nakuru we had to wait for 2 hours while the other guests did a boat tour on Lake Naivasha ($25/pp) that wasn’t included in our tour but we could have paid more to go. It would have been helpful to know before the trip that this as an optional add-on instead of finding out the day before or day of.
Overall an AMAZING experience and would book again with jocky. We were so glad we did a shared tour to save money and meet some awesome fellow travelers. It was fun to share this incredible experience with others.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Easy Travel made this the Best Vacation Ever!
We had an INCREDIBLE safari experience and trip to Tanzania all thanks to Freddy, our Easy Travel Safari Guide and Norah with Easy Travel. A friend recommended Easy Travel and our Safari Guide Freddy and we are SUPER glad that he did that. From the beginning, Norah was super helpful and answered ALL of our questions. (We had a lot.). She would check in with us and followed up to make sure we had the correct paperwork and information to make it into the country easily. Norah even checked in with us by phone halfway through our safari, which was very thoughtful and hospitable.
The moment we landed in Tanzania, it was Hakuna Matata. Freddy picked us up from the Airport and brought us to our hotel. We didn’t have to worry about a thing once we arrived in Tanzania. Easy Travel took care of all the driving and logistics for us, which was very helpful. We met daily to discuss wake up time and agenda for the next day. Freddy even taught us basic Swahili vocabulary words to make our trip better. Our Safari experience would not have been the same without Freddy. We would not have seen all the animals we did without Freddy’s safari experience. He knew where to look for animals and was in constant communication with his colleagues to make sure we were able to see hard to find animals.
We saw more animals than we dreamed we would see. We saw the Big 5 within our first two days of the safari. We saw MANY groups of lions and lion cubs, a leopard, two groups of cheetahs (one group had cheetah cubs), a white rhino and a black rhino, many elephants and babies up close, giraffes up close, zebras and wildebeast migrating, hippos and babies, two Nile Crocodiles, pink flamingos, caraca cat (hard to find), hyenas, warthogs, jackals, vultures and so much more. The Safari vehicle (Toyata Land Cruiser) was very comfortable and perfect for view the animals from the pop top roof.
We stayed at the Tortilis camps during our Safarj and I cannot say enough good things about the hospitality we experienced there. Everyone was so kind, friendly and went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience. We highly recommend staying at all of the Tortilis camps during your safari!
We also did the guided day hike to Mt Kilamanjaro through Kestra with Easy Travel. It was a fun hike. Kestra was great guide and taught us a few things about the rainforest and Mt Kila along the way. He carried our lunches and rain ponchos and completed all the paperwork for us. Would recommend Kestra as a Day Hike Guide!
Thank you SO much for the trip of a lifetime. We will be recommending Easy Travel and Freddy, Norah and Kestra to all of our friends and family!
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari Adventure
We arranged a 3 day / 2 night safari with Rhys. We were picked up on time at our ship and taken to the border where we were met by Wayne of Endless Summer. We transferred to his vehicle and proceeded to Kruger. We really didn’t know what to expect but the lodge we stayed in worked out to be really nice. The first day we did the afternoon safari with the lodge. We were amazed at the number of animals we saw. Returning to the lodge we were surprised that Wayne, our driver, was also our chef. He had made a beautiful barbecue of beef, lamb and pork. The next morning at 5.00am, Wayne had made coffee for us and we set off with him ( just 4 of us) for our own private tour of that section of Kruger. Wayne was extremely knowledgeable about the animals and the park. We had a good breakfast at a restaurant and continued with the tour until 1.00pm. We had some free time until our lodge organized sunset safari. Another great tour followed by another wonderful meal made by Wayne. The following morning, if you can call 3.30 am morning we got up for the 4.00 am lodge safari. Another great tour, followed by another of Wayne’s culinary masterpieces. We left the lodge around 10.00 am for the drive to Johannesburg airport. We had only gone about 5 miles when we ran into a small traffic jam. To our absolute delight there were 5 or 6 lions lying in the middle of the road refusing to move, an amazing sight. The trip to Johannesburg was smooth and we arrived in good time for our flight. If you are thinking of a safari, you won’t find a better run outfit that Endless Summer.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nice 1-Day trip to Arusha National Park
Our 1- day Walking safari was well organised. We had friendly and helpful guides and it was an overall wunderful experience. The car was well equipped and the lunch was delicious.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible and Unforgettable experience
From our first email exchange with Emperor Safaris, we had a wonderful experience. All of our inquiries were swiftly addressed, and we had complete confidence in the company's ability to handle our travel arrangements.
We definitely suggest this firm and without forgetting an amazing driver, Mr. Khalifa, who was great and made our vacation more enjoyable with his expertise, friendliness, and professionalism.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Moses was fantastic; He is very knowledgeable, helpful and communicates great.
The tour was a good time. Pick up was on time from hotel and then took me to the office in Nairobi to pay. Once everyone arrived we were off! We made frequent stops for interesting views, shops and food. While the drive is long and sometimes bumpy, it is good to see so much of the landscape. I stayed at the Enkorok and I think it was great. The tent had everything needed for a the stay with hot water and consistent electricity. My tent had a view of the landscape which made it so much better. Staff was kind and attentive. The food was mostly Kenyan which is good for foreigners to try. It is a quick drive to the park and one can start seeing animals right away! Moses had a great eye for spotting animals and made sure that everyone had a chance to have a good look. He also went above and beyond and took some members of my group out for a sunrise drive which was beautiful. If you have been on safari before, I think going to lake Navasha is nothing special but if you have not its good to see rhino and a couple other animals. The accommodation at lake navasha was fine for the night but not as great as the Enkorok lodge.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very kind and helpful, but also a bit costly.
Very kind and helpful team. The safari is a bit costly, but the team helps you out in if there is any problem! Very easy and transparent communication!
NG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He is so good and does his job well, i enjoyed my safari and did not want to leave at a point
I got my value for my money, communication and english was so good even with french, he speaks it well. Dickson was my guide and i enjoyed him
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania with Easy Travel is a must!
Short review: These are wonderful people who do an amazing job and there’s no way anyone else is better at what they do.
Long Review: I’ve been fortunate enough to do a lot of things. Shark diving, see the Roman Colosseum, see Machu Picchu, but none of that compares to how amazing this trip was. It was a trip of a lifetime that started with amazing communication with Norah. No matter how many questions we asked and changes we made, she was accommodating the entire time. She also followed up several times to see how we were doing and made sure it was a spectacular time.
For the safari itself, Freddy was our safari guide, and he was the best. He was incredibly nice, helped us learn some Swahili, answered 100’s of questions and made sure we felt like special. Freddy’s a humble guy who sacrifices a lot to make sure his guests leave loving his country. There’s no way we would have seen the big 5 without him. His knowledge of the parks coupled with his driving skills and working the radio, resulted in us getting up close to a lot of things we didn’t expect to see.
We saw so much stuff:
multiple monkeys (blue and velvet) and baboons
Bush buck
elephants everyday
Heards of buffalo
wart hogs
Giraffe everyday
Zebra and impala everyday
Leopard
Multiple Lions and cubs
Hyena
Hippo
Migrating wildebeest
ostrich
leopard
Lots of unique birds
Jackles
Topi
Turtle
6 cheetah’s
Caracal cat - Special cat hard to find
Serval cat
Pink flamingos
Black Rhino
And so much more
The safari vehicle has Wi-Fi which was great for sharing pictures and staying in touch. It didn’t work all the time because the parks are fairly isolated but it was frequently in use and nice to have.
On our last day, we hiked to the Mandara Hut on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our guide was Kester, who did a great job. He set the expectations the night before and carried our lunches. He also gave us some info along the hike. The hike itself was pretty and we saw some monkeys.
Overall, I’d highly recommend going to Tanzania if you want an amazing experience and you should book it through Easy Travel Tanzania. You should also ask for Freddy to be your guide. You won’t be disappointed.
