ES
Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professionalism, quality and knowledge of the habitat
The comfort, quality and experience of Suricata, along with our guide, Fredick, with his professionalism and knowledge made our safari unique! I won't forget Daniel, with whom we already started this adventure in the previous briefing, nor the chefs who cooked us delicious local dishes. Without a doubt all of them a 10!
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50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Gorilla O'clock's aim is to make sure you have a wonderful time. They succeeded.
Our 11 day Uganda trip was a triumph thanks to Gorilla O'clock.
From our initial enquiry through to the end of our trip Paul was on hand to give the very best advice. We started planning based around gorilla habituation permits of which there are only 4 per day in Uganda. Paul advised us of the availability and we planned everything else around this.
Paul is available on WhatsApp with almost immediate responses and this made everything so much better than dealing with someone in an office who has to contact someone else on the ground in Uganda. Paul knows his stuff, he's been guiding for years. His recommendations around activities and accommodation were spot on. We travelled through Uganda, which I would recommend to get an experience of this wonderful country, by Jeep with a private guide, just my family of 3. Our guide Khalif was amazing, so professional and knowledgeable, a credit to Paul and Gorilla O'clock. From multiple Jeep safaris, 3 boat trips, chimp and gorilla habituation and much more, do not hesitate to book with Gorilla O'clock. It's the the personal service provided by Paul at Gorilla O'clock that matters.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Don´t go!
We have a complete complaint to make about our stay at the African Excursions Guesthouse in Khwai last week. The exorbitant price there is unfortunately in no relation to the services offered.
I understand that for the location at the Moremi Game Reserve they charge a little more than usual; However, the price in the category of a 5-star hotel raises significantly different expectations than it appears in reality.
The website is also very well done, but also pretends more than it really is.
Concretely: - The breakfast lacks everything. Something is often forgotten (milk, yoghurt, fruit, toast...). There was no real coffee (only decaffeinated). - The tables are no longer covered in the evening, in the morning if you come a little earlier, the dirt from the previous evening is still there.
- The staff make little effort. For example, the campfire that was verbosely announced by the manager was not lit once. Often the various employees just stand there behind the counter and don't bother with the obvious activities that need to be done. Sometimes one has the impression that they make fun of the guests or laugh at them (perhaps because they allow themselves to be "ripped off").
- Appointments at mealtimes are hardly possible, you have to ask again and again and are then put off; usually you have to come spontaneously and hope that something will happen.
- The manager is extremely rude and unresponsive. He watches television and reacts to being spoken to with rejection. He does not organize the booked all-day tour Khwai/Moremi.
- The full-day tour does not take place despite pre-booking. According to the website and reservation, this should cost 1200 pula. The designation "Khwai/Moremi" on the website suggests that you are driving into the game reserve. Instead, there is only a half-day tour and a night tour. Both do NOT go into the game reserve, for which you ultimately came here and are willing to pay a lot. Both cost 1700 PULA EACH, so significantly more than agreed. The latter lasted about 1 hour, for 60 euros per person, completely overpriced. - The huts are insufficiently equipped. For example, the faucet is not fully assembled, the curtains are crooked and are difficult to move etc. - All in all, a standard that was not found in any other lodge in Botswana that we were able to experience in 4 weeks. We were also treated in a friendly, helpful manner almost everywhere in 4 weeks; unfortunately not at all here.
In this way, the offer appears indecent and dishonorable. It really should be reconsidered and improved.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had an incredible experience
Our family recently completed a 9 day safari with Tanzania Choice. We had an incredible experience and Tanzania Choice was excellent. The pre- safari planning communications went really well as Brenda was responsive, timely, reliable and able to answer all of our questions. She helped us figure what we wanted to do and how we wanted to it while taking into consideration our kids, cost and timing. We developed a customized plan that really paid off later when we were on the ground in Tanzania. Noel was our guide and he did an incredible job. He was kind, funny and an amazing teacher- we learned so much from him about the animals and their relationship to each other. He was tireless in his efforts to locate the animals we wanted to see, always maintained his professionalism and generally worked extremely hard for us the entire safari. The final part of our safari was a day hike on Kilimanjaro and our mountain guide, Michael, similarly did an excellent job sharing his experience and knowledge while getting us to our goal for the day. Overall, we could not be happier with Tanzania Choice and our experience, and give them our highest recommendation.
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Untrue and dishonest to secure our budged joining safari booking
In Aug 2023 my wife and I signed with African Paradise Safaris (APS) to join a 6-day budget safari of Masai Mara, Nakuru and Amboseli National Parks. We loved the parks, saw plenty of animals, and enjoyed the park environments. We were very disappointed with the arrangements made by APS, the blatant untruths told to us in order to secure our safari booking, and the unprofessional manner in which they avoided addressing issues that we had regarding their safari arrangements.
Prior to arriving in Kenya, APS was very communicative in answering all of my questions. On the basis of the information they provided, we signed up to join their budget safari. Unfortunately, it turned out that a lot of the information provided to us was completely untrue.
APS guaranteed that we would be in a safari van with a maximum of 6 passengers, but the van had 8 seats and 8 passengers, which makes the small van too crowded, particularly when you are trying to stand on the game drives. It also means that at least two people sit in the middle, without direct access to a window.
We were told that the safari would be operated by APS and not by another company. On the day, APS was nowhere to be seen, and we were told that we were joining a safari operated by Big Time Safaris. There were people from 3 different safari companies in the van, all with different itineraries. When we raised these issues with Big Time Safaris, they told us to contact the safari companies that we had booked with. (APS).
We were told by APS that all participants in the safari would stay with the safari throughout. This wasn't true, with some people leaving the safari at different points.
We were told by APS that everyone would be staying the same accommodation on the safari (so time wouldn't be wasted picking people up before the game drives). This wasn't true. People were staying in up to three different lodges and both budget and moderate accommodation each night.
In our itinerary we paid for 7 game drives. 3 at Maasai Mara, 1 at Nakuru and 3 at Amboseli. Our safari van broke down on two occasions, taking a total of 5 hours to repair on the roadside. As a result, two evening game drives in Masai Mara and Nakuru were shorter than they should have been. Due to changes to the itinerary as a result of vehicle repairs, and to changes in Masai Mara ticketing fees that were not communicated to us by APS, we missed a further two game drives completely - 1 in Masai Mara, and one in Amboseli. When we brought all of these issues up with African Paradise Safaris, they completely ignored us, and would not correspond with us regarding all the misinformation they had provided, the issues with the vehicle, or the missed game drives. In fact, we never met or saw any APS staff at any time either before or after our safari. The other members of our safari were met by staff from their companies at the drop off in Nairobi and at least one received some compensation for their missed game drives. APS was nowhere to be seen.
APS have many great reviews and I suspect that if we had booked a private safari with African Paradise, our experience would have been completely different, but be aware that if you are booking a budget joining safari, there is a good chance that APS will tell you whatever they think will secure a safari booking, but it will not necessarily be the truth. I would recommend you look for a more trustworthy company for a joining safari.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
reliable, competent and kind!
Me and my family enjoyed a 10 days Safari with Mr Tumaini I can say that this has been one of the best my life Experience !Mr Tumaini has been an eccellente guide! He knows every secrets of the beautiful parks and Conservation Area in Tanzania. He is always in touch with his collegues and is constantly updated about the presence of animals and where they are. We were there with our sons (5 and 7) and with Mr Tumaini we felt safe at every opportunities. We’ve been in Serengeti, Ngorongoro Tarangire and Lake. Thank you Mr Tumaini!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Masai Mara and Mombasa
Couldn’t ask for more !
Helped us organise our trip . Advised us well and sensibly and to our budget and wishes .
Felt safe and secure . Met by Maurice and Cynthia at the airport . They made sure every thing was in place and that we were happy . Davido , our guide and driver was brilliant! Felt like a member of the family.. expert guide .. spotted animals so well !
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US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gilbert was very attentive, was knowledgable answering our questions and very pleasant to be with!
We all were very pleased with our driver Gilbert, the accommodations and food. Our driver was great at describing everything about the African countryside and answering our questions. His driving was very safe and we felt comfortable with him. Would highly recommend Migration Venture Africa for your African safari!!!!
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thank you Speke.
The Kigali city tour and Rwanda gorilla trek were well organised and incredible! Julius our guide was very informative and friendly. He was also very helpful - he went out of his way to help when I was unwell. Totally recommend Julius and Speke. Thank you!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Totally worth it!
Great tour company. Put your guide was experienced, engaging, and went out of his way to make sure we had the best experience. We saw three of the big five!! So many animals, and amazing accommodations. Definitely recommend.
