CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Alliance Destinations is a fraud.
James Mungai is an extortionist. Taking money for tours he has no intention to deliver. Stay completely away from this company.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Choose a local outfit - go with Vervet Safari Tours
Local outfit based in Arusha with a professional and knowledgeable staff.
My wife and I just completed an 8-day safari with them that was 1 .5 years in the making due to covid-19. During that time I was in contact with the owner Basili as we rescheduled the trip 3 times and shuffled our dates, accommodations and activities.
All our communication was either by email or whatsapp and Basili was prompt to respond to my questions and queries.
A guide can make or break a safari, Vervet Safrari Tours made it a great safari for us by providing Barazza a very competent and knowledgeable guide. Heck this guy is a naturalist, knowledgeable in plants, birds, animal species and behaviors. He was very good at spotting wildlife that we can't even see with binoculars. Barazza was an awesome guide who take care of our safety and well-being during the whole trip. Many thanks to Vervet Safari for an unforgettable experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lion King Adventures has perfected the art of planning your dream safari and its execution.
I started with contacting several safari providers, but zeroed on Lion King literally within a couple of days due to their responsiveness and flexibility. They didn't try to market their ideas, but elevated my ideas to a higher level with valuable suggestions and alternatives. Pendo Simon does a terrific job of planning out your safari and presenting alternatives. She laid out the safari of our own expectations very well and added components to it along the way with simplicity. She had answer to pretty much everything I asked which gave us lot of confidence to go with Lion King. During the initial stage, Tanzania had Covid related dynamic situation and Pendo kept us updated with the changing requirements. This information about Tanzania is not readily available in the Western world and Pendo's help proved us very crucial information before and during our safari. We waited for the final payment till couple of week before departure due to the changing conditions and Lion King was very understanding. Pendo also managed the Covid testing in the Serengeti flawlessly, which made our trip worry-free.
We were received at JRO by Yusuf and he drove us to our hotel. He was very talkative and informative, so we felt at home instantly. At hotel, we were greeted by our guide Richard, which was a surprise as my information called for a guide to meet us the next morning. Even before I unloaded the luggage, the kids were already friends with Richard! Richard is very magnetic by nature and ,especially the kids, immediately stuck to him.
Honestly, I don't have enough words to talk about Richard. He is extremely knowledgeable, very well versed in all domains of wildlife, and a great communicator. He is the main reason our dream came to reality. From the initial stages, I had set the bar higher, as we are wildlife enthusiasts and avid birdwatchers. We had specific requirements, much surpassing watching Big5 in the wild. Richard cleared the bar by far and amazed us with his passion, experience, and knowledge. He never ever said NO to anything, and everything was possible with him. Always on time, courteous, and patient with kids, he never lost his energy like the Energizer Bunny! He certainly showed us the Big5, but that looked like a low target for him, retrospectively, when we rounded up what all we had seen by the end of our trip. We counted 37 lions...Others might do that as well. But we also saw 37 Secretary Birds !...Who does that ? And with our very elusive fellows like Serval, Caracal, Saddle-billed Stork, Martial Eagles. During 10-day safari, our bird list grew to whopping 117 species and mammal list ended up at 41 species. That makes Richard the epitome of knowledge and enthusiasm. Richard was always ready to make a U-turn when he saw something moving in corner of his eagle eye. And surely, there was something interesting going on, as his iconic Ollalla... sounded ! We saw 3 leopards on three different days all either late in day or early in day, when we were half asleep or waking up. But Richard was always alert. He drove with extreme safety following all rules and regulations of the land.
A great guide like Richard can't perform without a great cook on a camping safari. And what can we expect more than Kareem ? Kareem is master of all cuisines. He identified our likings very quickly and amazed us everyday with his innovative recipes. He cooked us anything from Indian food to Pizza in harshest environments at all times. He was very playful and we always joked about how he took care of his never ending eggs! We never had our food even a minute late. At times, he packed us breakfast and lunch both and we left campsite at 6:00am, so I can't imagine, when Kareem had cooked all that food. His kitchen was well organized, he always wore appropriate attire for a chef, which distinguished him from other cooks in the kitchen.
Richard and Kareem always looked more professional than other guides and cooks from other companies. We came across some of other Lion King guides and they looked professional like Richard and Kareem as well, wearing Lion King uniform and proper attire, so this is company wide discipline for sure.
Finally, owner of Lion King, James, met us at our hotel at end of our safari for feedback. That was a great gesture indeed, and we had nothing but praise for his team. He still insisted telling him about room for improvement. That takes lot of confidence, courage, and humility and shows desire to improve. I have absolutely no complaints about Lion King and would love to go on another trip with them at some point.
I highly recommend Lion King for your safari trip as they deliver much beyond value to your money. Richard will bring your safari dream to reality and Kareem would keep you full of energy on a camping trip. Never hesitate to ask a question to Pendo and especially on Whatsapp, she is lightning fast. James and his company does a fantastic job and makes you feel at home, in Tanzania.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great service for a memorable tour
Having tried to book the tour for 2020, it made me sad that everything got cancelled. They saved my deposit and when I rebooked for June 2021, they were happy to oblige. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, my initial flight got cancelled and would I would have missed my tour. However, they were able to rebook me for later in the week. They bent over backwards to make sure I got my safari. The driver picked me up at my friend's house and then picked up the other tour participant. We stayed at Marc's Treehouse Resort and had a marvelous time. The game drives were very good with drivers who knew how and where to find animals for us to photograph. The personal service was friendly, communications were quick and accurate, and the tour itself was the trip that I will talk about for years. I will return and retake this tour again with pleasure.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lifetime Amazing Safari Experience!!!
My husband and I were considering on going to either Kenya or South Africa to celebrate our special occasion in Safari style until we've spoken to some people who recently went to Tanzania (Claws of Africa) highly recommended this country in East Africa to us for its friendliness, safety and wonderful wildlife. Now we have done it too with Easy Travel Tanzania, I can honestly say it has been a treat, a delight, a wonderful holiday I wish that I have done it earlier and certainly we would like to do it again in the future.
BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect in all details of the trip!
Our trip was amazing!! The service of Gosheni is perfect!! I dont have words to describe it! All the details were incredble, the vehicle is very confortable e has wi-fi, our picnic were like lunch at a restaurant - beautfull table, the food was delicious, we had wine and even desert with coffee in the meddle of savana. Also we had the best guide, William!! He knows everything and always tried do make the day bether than the day before!! We loved him!! Trip that we will never forget thanks to Gosheni Safari!!
AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
Lenchada Safari has been brilliant from start to finish. During the booking process, they were prompt to reply to emails and answered all questions thoroughly. Pick-up at the airport was smooth and slick. We had a lovely driver called Geoff, who welcomed us immediately. Everyone in the office was friendly and accommodating.
The actual safari it self was out of this world; we had the best time!! Raheem was our tour guide and he made our trip! He was helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and very informative about the animals and parks and answered all our questions. He did his upmost to ensure we had the most amazing time. With his experience, he enabled us to see a baby rhino, the migration crossing and a lioness with her kill to name just a few.
All accommodation was sufficient; staying on the campsite was exciting knowing that we were among the wildlife. Everything was organised and well ran.
It is a trip that everyone should do and we 100% would recommend this company. They have been superb! Just take a cushion for your bum! Haha
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good tour operator
We where a party of 8 with 3 being young teens.
The tour operator was very flexible and very easy to communicate with as we had to do a number of changes over the course of leading up to our actual trip.
We had two very good drivers with excellent knowledge of the Masai Mara Park which meant that we had a great Safari experience.
We saw all we hoped for an more. We had two Land Cruisers which was an upgrade that we decided to do, this was well worth it.
We stayed in budget tent accommodation which was perfect for us as it added to a rustic adventure experience that we wanted to have.
Our overall experience with Safari Update travel was excellent and I would highly recommend them.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari with a great guide !
We had a lot of questions before booking the safari and Justice, from Big Cats safari, was really patient and answered all our questions very quickly. Then, we did the safari with Lodi, a great french speaking safari, who knows everything about animals. We had so much fun and emotions ! The hotels were great, the food was nice (even for a vegetarian), and the price was really reasonable. We would definitely come back to do another safari with Big Cats safaris ! Thanks to the team !