CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scam
I am in the same boat as many people. We paid in full along with our friends to find out that the company is a scam. Has anyone had any luck recovering their money? I hope the owner goes to jail.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thoroughly Fabulous Safari
In September my parents and I went on a truly fantastic 5 day safari organised by Hazina Afrika. Company Director Rama is extremely knowledgeable and was thoughtful and conscious of our needs from the start, putting together a bespoke itinerary which put us in the best possible position to see what we wanted, and with quality, reasonably priced accommodation as well as our own vehicle and driver. I mentioned early on that I particularly wanted to see the great wildebeest migration, specifically a river crossing, but only had a limited amount of time, and the itinerary he put together suited perfectly, flying us from Arusha to northern Serengeti, then driving us down to central Serengeti, into Ngorongoro Conservation Area and on to Lake Manyara National Park. Rama prepared us well for the trip, sending through vital information about what to bring, wear, etc - we found his guide to giving appropriate tips to be particularly helpful given Australia's general lack of tipping culture!
Our amazing guide Jimmy met us off the plane and proved to be both experienced and extremely knowledgeable, with a keen eye for spotting wildlife - sometimes at ridiculous distances - and a knack for anticipating their movement and getting us as near as possible. We were very fortunate to see two river crossings in one day, as well as an impressive assortment of animals, often very close and always with a fascinating array of information. Hazina can also book additional activities such as museum stops, balloon rides and cultural tours - they arranged for us to visit a Maasai Boma on our way into the Ngorongoro crater and learned a great deal from the experience.
The entire trip could not have been better organised or executed. It was my parents' first visit to the region and neither have stopped raving about it almost a full month later. We truly had the adventure of a lifetime and would recommend Hazina Afrika in a heartbeat to anyone wanting to explore northern Tanzania's breathtaking wildlife and natural heritage.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good Name And A Great Game. Outstanding
Walter and his crew ( in our case Emanuel and Lawrence) are truly and gem. We started out months before the scheduled trip as customer and vendor and by the time we left Africa, we were friends and family. We tend to be somewhat demanding travelers and Walter was superb in meeting our needs. Our trip was meticulously planned months in advance with charter flights and 5 start luxury accommodations in N. Serengeti, Tarangiri and Zanzibar. With the exception of one preferred type of accommodating, Walter delivered all. Unfortunately one accommodation was booked and the replacement suggested was top notch. No regrets at all. Walter is a very simple and straightforward owner who communicated well and answered every question we had. He met as upon arrival in Nairobi and flew with us to Tanzania to ensure all was set-up as we desired. We had two vehicles due to the size of our party with two excellent guides, Emanuel and Lawrence. Vehicles were well maintained and very comfortable with charging ports and refrigerators on-board. Both guides were very courteous and knowledgeable of the jungle. Our kids loved them and they enjoyed our kids and us. We stayed at three separate accommodations in Tarangiri, N. Serengeti and Zanzibar. All three were 5 star and with beautiful camps, lodges and villas. All three places had chefs that cooked to our delight and service was top notch. Walter, Emanuel and Lawrence made our 9 night trip special and memorable. I would strongly suggest working with them to create and tailor your itinerary. They will deliver every-time. Reliable, honest and trustworthy with a personal touch. Priceless!!!
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professional, Reliable Tour-Operator, great staff!
Perfect organization, hand-picked choice of accommodations, well-balanced routing on our 8-day tour, maintained and clean safari-car and last but not least our guide who accompanied us masterful to the fantastic highlights of this wonderful country of Uganda!
Every detail was above my expectations!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome
We visited the Masai mara national park, Amboseli national park, Nakuru national park and Hellsgate national park with Karibu Safaris. We had great experience there. A guy named James was our driver cum guide. He was a very amiable person and I must say quite experienced as well. Among the big five we could not spot the leopard, but apart from that we did see many of the other animals. James took us to the right place at the right time.
I asked for quotations from quite a few travel agencies and Karibu offered the best rate. They were very prompt in answering our queries before our trip and we had a very smooth experience. The camps and hotels were pretty good and so was the food. Karibu also arranged airport transfers and budget hotels for us in Nairobi. I would highly recommend Karibu safaris for budget travellers.
One suggestion for future travellers...this is my personal view though. You may skip the Hellsgate national park. In that park, you would spot zebras, antelopes, buffaloes and warthogs only. However, you would see so many of them everywhere that you might find this park a bit boring. However, I would recommend to go for the boatride at Lake Naivasha. It was really cool and we saw many different types of birds.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari experience in Tanzania
7 days tailor-made safari in Tanzania
First of all, we had a great contact with Helena who was open to our requests and did everything to satisfy them.
Our guide Heaven was great, young and dynamic, open-minded, he really did everything to show us best things during the safari. He drove us to exceptional places in the park where we were alone to enjoy our time watching quietly the animals.
During the safari we had a little misunderstanding with the planning and Heaven dealt with it in 30 minutes directly with Helena who solved the problem. We were happy to see the reactivity of SOT to arrange everything.
The hot meals were also a plus punt that makes SOT stand out from other companies. In comparison to the Lunch Box, we felt like King and Queen heaving a nice dinner with wine. The food was always good and made less waste than the lunch box.
As promised we had unlimited water.
As for the trip, we visited the Lake Natron, we climbed the Lengai, did Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Tarangire.
Lake Natron, beautiful and nice walk with our Masai guide. The climb of the Lengai was an extraordinary but physical experience. We recommend to do it knowing the difficulty and the risks. You must be fit and trained. The parks were all great but the Tarangire was really beautiful and bears very well the name of « Home of elephants ».
Great thanks to the team of SOT !
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dangerous Dishonest Agency
We booked and partially paid in advance a 7-day safari with Uhuru Travel & Tours. When we arrived in Arusha, we met Mr. Loi, who, after asking us to literally "make him rich" with the final payment, put us on a jeep.
After few hours on the car we realized that we were supposed to go back to Arusha after a 4-day safari, against the written schedule we paid for.
We contacted Mr. Loi and the kind secretary of Uhuru Travel & Tours, Margareth, that answered Hakuna Matata, everything would have been fixed and never tried to fix the situation
When we arrived in Serengeti, where we should have spent three entire days, we were told that the next morning we would have left the next morning.
We had to spend hours at the telephone to get what we paid for, since, at the beginning, the agency did not offer compensation for the change of program, then they offered some days in Arusha park. Definitely not what we wanted and we had to receive. At the end, we were abondoned in Serengeti public camp wating an entire day for a driver to pick us up. Finally, the next day a broken and unsafe vehicle showed up without spare tyres and with a leaking tank, which had several mechanical failures and literally fell down while driving, exposing us to the risk to overnight in the middle of the Serengeti.
Once dropped in Ngorongoro we had to wait for another driver, but the authorization papers for the park disappeared with the previous driver.
So, we had an overall bad experience and we would like to advise other people who want to discover the beautiful Tanzania avoiding this dishonest agency.
AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We can highly recommend this tour operator
My husband and I made a 14 days-tour in Uganda operated by Mamaland Safaris and we can highly recommend this tour operator. Everything was perfect: from the communication in advance with Edrisa, to the planning, programm, car, lodges and food, ... Coming back to Uganda we would choose this company again.
One of the most important parts for this very positive experience was our guide Moses. He was always very friendly, very carful and reliable, and he always gave us a lot of interesting information. So we only can say thank you to the team of Mamaland Safaris and especially to Moses!
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was amazing!!
We did a 5 day safari and it was one of the best experiences of my life. The driver (Varagi) was amazing he brought us really close to the animals, that we could almost touch them. This was a vacation that I would not forget so quickly. Thank you Godson and Varagi!! It was amazing.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our perfect safari Honeymoon
Great experience in this safari, thanks to the organiser - Mack - and the driver - Thomas.
We had the car dedicated to the two of us, great accommodations and awesome places visited.
Our tour started in the Tarangire, then Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara - for a total of 7nights, with 1 day resting at the arrival.
We've seen all the main animals, the big 5 and many predators - included a group of 15 lions of which 8 cubs.
We couldn't have asked for more!
