ID
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Sunny, our tour operator was excellent
It was an amazing trip, worth every penny. The 6 hours safari was filled with encounters with elephants, lions, rhyno, zebra, giraffe, hypho and all other animals.
Our driver/guide, Ika, is really kind and patient, explaining all the details about each animal we've seen. He is generously sharing his experience and knowledge and was as excited as we all when we saw a group of lions.
The lunch was delicious and all staff were helpful and friendly. Our tour operator, Sunny, was on time, kind, super helpful.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Competent, reliable and Felixable
Daniel of Oride tours and travel informed us precisely, competently and always avery promptly during then the organization of the safari.
Amos then guided us though uganda in a land cruiser 4×4. We experienced him as a very reliable, professional guide who always knew comprehensively about the country, it's people, life and history. He also knew alot about nature and great wildlife. The lodges suggested and booked by oride tours and travel also surprised us a very positively. Very good service extremely friendly people, good rooms and last but not the least fine food convinced us.
The highlights of gorilla and chimpanzee trekking wil remain in our memories forever. Great experience surely recommend oride tours and travel for organizing your safari to uganda.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Serengeti Smile is quick, trustworthy and delightful to communicate with
We booked our safari adventure with Serengeti Smile and were extremely pleased with their service. From start to finish, they were quick to respond to any questions we had during the booking process and ahead of travelling. When we arrived at Arusha airport in the morning, we were greeted by our driver and guide Benson, who helped with our luggage and then drove us to our first destination, the Lake Manyara National Park. While we drove there, he told us all sorts of interesting facts about Tanzania, which we really appreciated. We arrived at Lake Manyara for lunch time, and did see elephants and baboons on our way to the lunch spot. We ate a super delicious boxed lunch at a view point, which had benches and tables and overlooked the lake. After, we continued our game drive and ended our day at the Serena Lodge Lake Manyara, where we spent the night (very nice hotel!). The next day, onward to the Serengeti, with a boxed lunch again and a game drive in the afternoon, a night at the Safari View Luxury Camp (an out of this world tented accommodation, very unique, highly recommend!), and another game drive in the morning. The game drives where truly fantastic and we were in constant awe at all the animals we saw! Benson was in touch with his fellow guides via radio and managed to show us also the more elusive animals there (cheetah and leopard). In the afternoon of the second day, we left the Serengeti and headed towards Ngorongoro Crater. We made a stop at the Olduvai Gorge (which Serengeti Smile kindly organized for us upon our request on short notice), which we found rather disappointing. The museum is small (you'e done in 30 mins to max. 1h) but very nice and informative and there is a view point to see the gorge which is a great photo opportunity - but the prices were ridiculously high for what was on offer (50 dollar per person, which is more expensive than the Louvre in Paris!). After the museum visit, we ended up in the Serena Lodge Ngorongoro, where we spent the night. It was really cold (at 2300m altitude) and the hotel staff thoughtfully brought us warm water bottles to take to bed which made the night very cosy. The next and last day, we visited Ngorongoro Crater. Again, hundreds of animals everywhere, it was stunning! Benson tried to show us some of the approx. 30 rhinos living there and we managed to see three of them from a distance, which completed our 'big 5 sightings'. After the crater, Benson drove us back to Arusha airport (with a boxed lunch stop on the way), from where we continued our holiday. All in all, we had an amazing experience provided by the guys at Serengeti Smile - thank you!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wild Experience!!!
My partner Rocio and I decided to go on a safari in Tanzania.
After looking a lot we found Lappet Faced Safaris, Francisco was very attentive from the beginning. He answered all our doubts and questions that arose.
Once we arrived in Tanzania, Noel - our guide, was waiting for us at the airport to take us to our first hotel in the city of Arusha where we would spend the first day to rest after the long journey.
And the next day... our ADVENTURE began!
We visited Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara parks.
We have fallen in love with all its nature. Noel is always very attentive to us and always providing THE BEST view of the animals in his natural habitat! Better impossible! His experience in the environment is noticeable, he taught us unique moments in the day to day of these wonderful animals.
They provided us with great hotels throughout the 5 days of safari ( my favorite the tent in the Serengeti
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BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience of a lifetime, trustworthy and professional.
Our safari trip was amazing!
From the booking, Maureen was very attentive and assured us we would have vegan options available for all meals included in the tour.
For strict vegetarians, the breakfast on the camping site could be improved, for example, with an option of spreadable as peanut butter and a vegan pancake. The package lunch for the sexond day could be improved too, but we saw that they were making an effort to accommodate us and they came to ask us what could and could not be included in it, which we appreciate. Dinner on the camp-site itself and the meals on roadside restaurants and the hotel all had a decent amount of vegan options and everything was very tasty. We loved the Kenyan cuisine!
They picked us up at the hotel on time and after paying for the tour in the office, we met our fellow travellers and went off to Masai Mara. We had to wait a bit since one other guest was a bit late, but everything worked out well.
We stayed 2 nights at a tented camping site outside the park, near the Masai Village. The camp was really nice, organised, clean, secure and had very good food! We literally felt like going to an expedition into the wild (tip: bring a small paddock to lock your tent against local tree dwelling thief's, aka baboons.. They would run around in the camp in the mornings and eventually try to go inside the tents looking for food, which only added to the whole experience!)
Our driver and guide, Charles, was the best! He was very knowledgeable about the animals and very good at finding them in the savannah. We felt safe the whole time and had fun on the way too. It was definetely the adventure of a lifetime and the expectation of not knowing what animals we would find next was thrilling, when driving throught one of the more remote locations, we felt like on a Jurassic park movie (on the beginning of the movie, when all is going well... Hehe)
On our third day we drove to our hotel near Lake Nakuru. The hotel was very nice and also had very good food, and the game drive on the park the next morning was also amazing.
We were not sure about booking 3 or 4 days and in the end we loved having booked the 4th day at Lake Nakuru. The park is much smaller than Masai Mara, and has denser vegetation and higher trees, but we were lucky enough to get a much closer encounter with a family of white rhinos.
Also, Charles told us that because the water level of the lake has been rising lately, there are not as many flamingos as before, but there were a lot of them and we loved it nonetheless.
On the way to and back from the safari, we stopped for lunch and also on a giant gift shop with a huge variety of arts and crafts, prefect to bargain for that souvenir to take home.
In the end, we were dropped off at the airport on time and will definitely miss Kenya a lot.
Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better experience. They were very professional and made sure we could enjoy the trip to this marvellous piece of preserved wild nature.
There are only two last things to point out: 1) on the safaribookings website, it was advertised 6-7 people per vehicle and we had 8 in ours. Everyone in the group was very nice and easy going, so we had a great time and, 2) the communication prior to the trip could have been a bit better, since we had our tour combined with another safari company who actually handled the payment, which per si is not a problem and Maureen was there on the day so we had no problems at all, but it would have been nice to know that ahead of time. Anyway, as they say there "hakuna matata", after such an unforgettable experience, we definitely recommend them for your safari on Kenya and also do ask if Charles is available to guide you, again, he was the best and made sure we had the best experience possible!
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
John was amazing and relaxed in times of distress keeping us moving to our destination.
The organisation and communication from the drivers were incredible. I always felt like we were in safe hands and really appreciate them keeping us up to date with any changes that occurred along our journey. They were all lovely, friendly and approachable; I would do the trip again with them in a heart beat.
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Could not ask for a better driver!
Herry was a very experienced driver. Perfect communication, and would adjust to our morning schedule. The service was perfect, cus of his many years of experience. It is a expensive trip, so a special guide like Herry was nice to have. He is very nice, and can get along with all the kinds of people.
He is a big talker and know everything about the country, nature, animals, city’s and the people. He know all the best spots to see every animal, have lunch and see nice views. For me the tour was one of the best experiences of my life. 2 great weeks of seeing animals and getting to know the culture. And our friendly driver made the vacation the better than I could have hoped for!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Noel Kimaro did a fantastic job!! He was knowledgeable, thoughtful, skillful. Wonderful job!!
Tanzania Choice Safaris was great. Good to work with. Very communicative. On time. Noel Kimaro was outstanding. He was knowledgeable, thoughtful and skillful in many ways. I hope we get him on out tour next week. I highly recommend the Machame Nkweshoo Cultural Tour. Wonderful people and they created an outstanding experience.
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Herry our funny and nice tour guide
I went to Tanzania with my friends. Our tour guide was Herry. Along the way we had so many questions about everything and Herry could answer everything! We had really nice conversations with him and could really laugh with him. We also had dinner with him a few times and this was also always really nice. During the game drives he managed to bring us everywhere. We have seen every animal we wanted and that’s because he was a really good animal spotter and he always knew where to search. We spotted leopards, cheetahs, lions, hyena’s and so much more. Some of the animals we spotted really close, for example the elephants, giraffes, buffalos, lions and the cheetahs. We had a really nice trip and we would not wanted to make this trip with any other tour guide then Herry!!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The guide you want on such a special trip!
We were very glad with our guid! Apart from being a good driver, Herry is also a very good guide. He clearly has a lot of experience, knows exactly where the best places are to spot the animals and can tell you a lot about the wildlife, but also about the indigenous people and their customs. And someone with a sense of humour is not unimportant either!