CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wild kingdom experience
Definitely a different vibe between northern and Southern tanzania. Very happy with Luitours safety and accommodation. Listening to the lions at night outside Osero camp and having zebras surround our tent is an experience I'll never forget. Hosts at Osero went above and beyond to make a special experience unfortunately we were to jetlag to fully enjoy it. I don't recommend starting your safari on your first day. Not a birder but enjoyed all the birds. Found people in the north very friendly. Zanzibar beaches were beautiful but ones north of dar es salaam were full of garbage. Traffic was crazy. Would like to see it at the beginning of dry season not the end.
SK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good
I went on a safari from October 15 to 20, 2022 as a couple, the safari was very well organized, thanks to Shabani and Joël
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Super detailed, friendly and alway in touch with us during our trip
We chose Compass Odyssey’s 14 day, 13 night trip as it was exactly what we were looking for. Dealing with Darren was a joy. He was very personable and tailored his initial package to correspond with the flights we already had booked for travel to South Africa. We did 4 nights in Cape Town, 3 nights in Franschhoek in the winelands region, 2 nights at Senalala Lodge (for game drives) in the Klaserie Private Game Reserve (Kruger), 2 nights in Victoria Falls and 2 nights in Botswana by the Chobe River (for river and game drives).
The tour was private and everything was planned for us down to the smallest detail. Upon landing in Cape Town we were picked up by Keith our guide for the next 6 days. He was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the sights we were visiting and highly recommended.
At Senalala Safari Lodge we did morning and evening game drives and the animals we saw were beyond our expectations. There are only 6 guest rooms and we were treated as a family, eating our meals together (including the managers and guides). It was a wonderful experience.
In Victoria Falls we were picked up at the airport by Mortimer, toured the falls on both the Zambia and Zimbabwe side. We also did a helicopter tour over the Falls and up and down the Zambezi River. Mortimer took us across the borders which we were grateful for as there is a lot activity at the border crossings (trucks, people, etc). We really enjoyed his company as well. We stayed at Batonka Guest Lodge in Victoria Falls.
Chobe River (a 2 hour drive from Victoria Falls) is a special place which is home to hundreds of elephant, impala, hippos, crocodile to name a few animals. It was amazing to watch herds of elephants swim across from the mainland to the islands and back daily. We stayed at Chobe River lodge right on the river. This is a lovely intimate lodge and our guide Tefo was outstanding. We did morning game drives and evening river safaris.
To summarize, all of the accommodations, guides and local flights Darren coordinated were top notch. He totally prepared us for every move we made during our safari and we would highly recommend his company and tours. Well done Darren!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!
What a wonderful vacation. With the help of our driver , Arony, who was incredible we were able to see the Big 5 up close. We can’t say enough about how wonderful he was. We have absolutely no complaints about our trip.
CZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience with wonderful people
We planned the safari trip for a long time and our choice was 100% happy!!! James, Joseph, Nathan and Noel (great guide from Dar es Salaam) are the most amazing people we met. Everything went as promised and much better. The experience of the national parks was unforgettable thanks to our guide - Joseph, unforgettable. Joseph has an incredible knowledge of animals and nature. Thanks to him, we really saw a lot of animals in their natural environment - and they have a wonderful expression, you won't experience that in a zoo. Not even an elephant visiting the camp :-) Our chef Nathan deserves a Michelin star - we thought we would lose weight on holiday, but the opposite was true :-) The overnight stay in the NP campsites was great, everything was comfortable. A small change that James arranged for us - 1 day spent in Dar es Sallam was great and I recommend it to everyone! It's worth it!!!Everyone from African Polecat Safaris that we met was amazing and thank you all for the greatest experience of our lives so far.
Our route: Arusha - Tarangire NP - Serengeti NP - Ngoro Ngoro NP - Lake Manyara - Dar es Salaam - Gombe NP - 10 day safari
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable Safari experience thanks to African Pangolin Safaris (Mansoor)!
We booked a Safari tour (Mikumi National Park) with African Pangolin Safaris. We wanted to spend 1 night in the park and 1 night outside the park and Manaoor arranged that for us well. Mansoor is very friendly, honest and helpful. He also knew how to answer all our questions. An experienced, good guide that I recommend 100%! Thanks again Mansoor, we have had a great experience! :)
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our operator was very accommodating to what we wanted to experience.
We had a 10 day safari experience…It was amazing! Freddy was our guide. We were really fortunate that elephants and other animals were out in force- we saw tons of animals, especially elephants up close. Freddy was really good at spotting animals at a long distance and was patient as we wanted to stay and watch for a long time.
We chose the option to stay in lodges instead of camping. We were very comfortable and well fed everywhere we went. Our favorite was the Tortilus property in Tarangire- which was Glamping. We heard lions at night- it was pretty cool.
One thing- some of the lodges don’t have power all night long. If you use a CPAP and want to depend on it, make sure you mention that when making your plans so they book you in accommodations with power all night.
CZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent and professional service that perfectly reflected our expectations, many thanks
I was looking for a Safari adventure for my daughter and myself didn´t innitially know where to start . I called Shikwaru and spoke directly to Frederica that excellently brought a plan that will fit to us best . We followed our communication in next few days always with prompt reaction from company. Payment went smooth with confirmation immediate that also establishes trust . Than our program started .. picked on airport by our guide that shortly become our friend..showed us some secrets of
Joburg innitially than Blide Canyon and treassures on the way to Kruger . Guide Ruan took his compex role being always with us as great companion. His knowledge about area , animals , brought long discussions so we learned a lot in short time we had. Food is excellent ,accommodation in lodge was fantastic . Night watching of animals from terrace. We have seen all Big Five daily also with help of local guide but more importantly touched the Soul of Bush that stay’s in memory..
Allover must say exceeded my expectations and hope to go with this guys again planning Botswana and Namibia. I am normally used to travel alone bust must say guided tour is much better in the area like South Africa and without loosing aspect of adventure .. see our swimming in waterfalls !! Many thanks
again Richard and Katherine!!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, I would choose them again
Our experience with It started in Africa was excellent. We prepared the trip 3 months before, I made changes to the suggested scheme and they agreed without any problem.
They asked me for an advance deposit, with a prior online contract, I asked to have a guide in Spanish and they gave it to me. Regarding the price, it was excellent, the cheapest I found.
The day arrived, they picked us up at the airport for an additional fee (it is 1 hour away from Arusha), they were punctual, the next day the tour began, Martin as driver and Masei as guide in Spanish. Both were friendly, attentive, super responsive, they also gave us a private cook for us alone who stayed at the campsite to give us excellent elaborate meals for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, he was also super friendly and introspective.
Regarding Martin (driver) I must say that his interest in seeing the animals and looking for the best positions was noted, he is a human GPS inside the parks that are enormous, he never stopped driving and asking us at all times if we were satisfied, safe and if all was well. We were able to see the big 5 and it was thanks to him
Masei (guide in Spanish) is Masai and gave us good information about animals and the Masai also collaborated with photos, super friendly.
There was good communication with the company at all times, before, during and after, where they showed interest in meeting us, they invited us to a bar to have feedback and we had a few beers.
Without a doubt, I would choose the company again for its good prices and communication and the same safari team, they are already missed, good people.
(automatic translation from Spanish)