35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventure of a life time
I am lucky enough to have visited Tanzania in September 2021 and after research decided to use Great Lake Expedition because of the outstanding reviews. I'm happy to report that even the most positive reviews don't do this group justice. From the very beginning Damsoni from the Great Lake Expedition team made our experience as easy as possible - he was incredibly communicative and even proactively reached out to me as the travel requirements in and out of the US changed due to Covid.
Once we got to TZ, we spent the first 5 days on safari with our incredible guide Ignus. WOW, what an experience! Not only did we see every animal we could have ever wished to see (lions, cheetahs, rhinos, a jaguar, etc) but Ignus was incredibly knowledgeable about everything from the largest of animals to birds to insects in Tanzanias national parks. Not to mention, he's hilarious! The safari was truly 5 days of amazing scenery, close-up animal experiences and non-stop laughter. If you are considering going on a safari while in TZ you could not ask for a better team than Great Lake Expedition and Ignus!
We spent the next week climbing Killimanjaro's Lemosho route and what an adventure it was!! Truly by the end of the trip every single guide and porter felt like family - I will forever remember how kind, thoughtful and fun loving the entire crew was. Munis, Joe and Alen were our guides and each of them was knowledgeable about the mountain, our health and what to expect over coming days. Additionally, they were all a pleasure to spend time with - our climb was filled with tons of laugher, singing and joking around!! Also, the tent set up was comfortable and very clean and the food was delicious, thanks to our chef and kitchen crew (special shout out to Rama and Regan!).
I'll also mention, I had the unfortunate experience of getting quite sick on the mountain and Munisi, Joe and Rama took care of me through the entire ordeal - checking in on me constantly, bringing me ginger tea and eventually, Joe, carrying my backpack down the mountain so I could get down safely. For an unfortunate situation, they made sure I felt safe, got back to health quickly and still had an incredibly positive experience.
I truly cannot say enough positive things about this team - I will absolutely be traveling again with Great Lake Expedition and *hopefully* the team in Tanzania!!
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful trip because of a passionate man with knowledge
Wonderful memories, incredible views delicious food, charming people, affordable prices, warm welcome, gives always attention of the wills.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
delivered on every promise
Classic Journeys is the company to use for your East African safari. Best value for the money, exceptional service, prompt communication. Highly recommended.
JE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded expectation
We booked this tour last minute and did not have time to thoroughly review the operator. We were very fortunate to have been in good hands with Lenchada from the beginning.
Alex was great at communicating swiftly and when I couldn’t pay online was ok about us paying when we started the tour.
Our tour guide James was brilliant! Friendly and good humoured (even when we encountered animals we didn’t expect. He was flexible in the arrangements and so we were able to visit a Maasi Village as well as the Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Naukura and Nakuru National Park and finally Hell’s Gate National Park.
We felt exceptionally lucky to have seen all of the big five animals as well as close up encounters with many many more and James was determined that we would have the best experience possible.
James also managed to sort out non-tour related requirements such as helping to arrange Covid tests and collecting a forgotten item from a hotel for me! We certainly felt we have been able to trust the company with the arrangements.
The accommodations have been comfortable and clean with hot showers and good food.
We have had a fantastic experience for our first safari and will definitely recommend Lenchada to our friends. We were fortunate to have a good group and as there were only 7 of us it made the tour really special.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a great safari thanks to Hekima Safari
To all those who still hesitate to book their Safari with Hekima Safari, do not doubt any longer !!
We spent three dreamy days with and thanks to them everything was just perfect
Nothing is too much trouble for them, and will help you with whatever you want, even before and after the Safari.
Our guides Fred and Ely came to our hotel the day before our Safari to meet us and brief us on our safari route.
During the safari they made sure we saw all the animals possible and took us to the best spots.
They accommodated us in fabulous lodges (cleanliness, hospitality, service, food) it was just perfect!
We keep an incredible memory of this experience and we are surely coming back for another safari, with The best agency Hekima Safari #GoHekima
(automatic translation from French)
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
CUSTOMER FRIENDLY AND FAMILIAR WITH MOST PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE PARK
THE TOUR OPERATOR HAD PROGRAMMED THE TOUR QUITE PROFESSIONALLY AND WE VISITED MOST PLACES OF INTEREST. THE AIR BALLOON WAS THE MOST EXCITING AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.
PL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Best Safari Ever !
It was our the Best trip ever. We were on 5 days safari with the Mudi who was our guide and Richi who was our cook. Mudi is the best guide, thanks to him we saw more animals than we expected. He know all the corners and was driving perfectly. He was very engaged and always were doing more than expected to see a lot of animals and have the best adventure :) And of course we highly reccomend to have Richi as a cook because it was the best cousine I could imagine. The pizza was the Best one I’ve ever ate - even better Thank in Italy :D We were eating even more and more tasty than at home :D
Additionally Meru Slopes organized for us „walking safari” through the city where we had a lodge and it was amazing because we saw a real life of local people. Our Guide, the gril who go with us for walking safari was very nice and she explaind everything about bananas, banana beer, another plants and how people build the houses. We were excited !
I am really appreciate because everything was organized perfectly from the begining to the end. I hope to back soon with family and friends
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Serious amiability and very professional
The price is reasonable for an unparalleled service, everything is provided for a super professional guide and driver. Coking chef for us Europeans repetitive but still very good food
Listening to the customer
Lodges and camping are worth 2 stars
The perfect set to recommend
His manager always listened to his customers and very available bravo
(automatic translation from French)
AT
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
- wonderful - outstanding - excellent -
starting from arusha via tarangire national park to lake manyara, mto wa mbu, ngorongoro crater, central serengeti, marariver, lake natron back to arusha. the team around deo shirima did a great job in prepairing the whole gamedrive ; all their advices have been very helpful to get wonderful impressions of nature.
our driver/guide george, a member of the massai spoke good german language and he explained every animal, flower and tree. his courtesy, his knowledge and his behavior made the trip to an outstanding adventure. it‘s worth not to skimp on accomodations.
every evening we Made a Review and discussed our gamdrive for the next day with the guide - so everybody got an idea what will happen next day. george has an outstanding feeling for finding the right stops taking pictures and Videos, whatching animals, hidden places with lions, cheetahs, leopards, hippos … so we did the big 5 within 3 days!!! the most impessive adventure was to be in the middle of more than 20 elephants in a distance of one and a half meter, the crossing of more than one and a half million of wildbeest in one run. on a scale of 0 - 10 furahia and specially our guide george will get 12!!!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great pick for Mt. Kenya trekking
Did a 4-day trek on Mt Kenya, Sirimon-Chogoria traverse. Joseph is an excellent guide, and Samuel and Jackson formed a great support team (cook and porter). Food was abundant and tasty, hot drinks continuously available to keep hydrated. Recommend.