50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing gorilla experience with Twist Africa Safaris
The trekking can be hard work depending on which Gorilla family group you are allocated you can hike 5 to 7 hours but is totally worth it. To be in such close proximity to a silverback is a wonderful experience and watching the youngsters play around is very entertaining.
Our guide George was knowledgeable and kept the group in good spirits.
Top tips (a) wear gardening gloves (you will be grabbing plenty of branches etc for balance and pushing through the undergrowth)
(b) use a walking pole (again for balance, particularly on the steep down slopes; and (c) hire a porter - members of the local community will carry your bag and generally help you through the trek. The minimum cost is $15 (you can pay more if you like) and helps provide a source of employment to them.i would like to do visit more groups at Bwindi impenetrable national Park on my next visit to Uganda
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
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JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
sakura
I am very satisfied with my first safari!
Guide wrlliam is kind and experienced person, finding various animals is quick and super lucky.
(automatic translation from Japanese)
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent experience with William
It is a very excellent safari with William, he is very experienced, let us see the leopard, cheetah, elephant and other animals we want to see. He is also a good photographer, chose the best place for us to take photos. We all love him so much.
And the car is in very good condition, hotel is very clean and convenient, staffs is very nice and the food in Africa is beyond my imagination.
Thank Gosheni very much for the unforgettable experience.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great wildlife experience. We saw more animals than I expected
The company is a great low-budget option. The food was amazing, the car was good and we felt safe. They guide was friendly, but didn't tell us much about the animals and the environment. That is the only reason I give 4 stars and not five. I can really recommend this trip.
Best regards
Martin, Denmark
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our safari was even more than we expected.
Our 6 day safari in January was with Kiliholidays. We were picked up at the airport with no problems by our guide Thomas. We were transferred to our pre safari hotel in Arusha, the Nego Bugg Hotel. Nego Bugg is a wonderful hotel with very nice rooms. However, the staff there are not very good about making you comfortable and welcome. We had no hot water and after trying to get help several times, someone finally came by to turn on the hot water switch which was located outside our room. Not one staff member mentioned this to us. As the evening moved along, we decided to have dinner at the restaurant but we had no idea where it was located because nobody showed us. After asking for help, we were shown to the restaurant in another building. Dinner was a mess, we ordered several times and our waitress came back to tell us it was not available. This happened three times. Finally we just told her to tell us what was available. She left to find out. When she returned, we were able to order with success. With no window screens, a plague of small flies forced us back to our room where we said we would take room service. TWO hours later, after many “only 5 more minutes “, food arrived cold and not looking like the restaurant pictures at all and no drinks that were ordered. It was hot in the room and air conditioning was needed and thankfully our room had a unit. After 45 minutes of fiddling with the remote, several calls to the front desk, new batteries in the remote, still no air conditioning. Another round of calls for help and finally a maintenance man came to look at our unit. He quickly turned on the wall switch near the bathroom and, tadaaaa, we had cooler air. Could nobody have shown us this earlier? We had many frustrations that day/night but all could have been resolved if we had been informed of the workings of our room in the beginning. Arrrrgh. The safari starts tomorrow and there is no way it could get worse . As a matter of fact, it was fantastic. Our first day was the Tarangire National Park. Next two days were in The Serengeti and our final drive was in the Ngorongoro Crater. Witnessing all the animals in these places was awe inspiring and an experience we will never forget. Thomas did his best to get us great views and many times closer to the animals than we ever expected. We could count the flies on the lioness ‘s nose we were so close. The safari lodge and tented camp arranged by Kiliholidays were both excellent and very accommodating. The tented camp was an exciting African experience and highly recommended. The food was ample and very tasty. Overall, despite our start, our adventure on this safari was unique and memorable. We would recommend you make this adventure a reality and we do not hesitate to recommend Kiliholidays. Thanks also to Safaribookings for their help.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Quite knowledgeable and friendly. We had a wonderful experience all together, with their service
The trip went really great. We were greeted with hospitable service and friendly guides. We saw all that was on our bucket list and the price was quite reasonable. I’d definitely say that the trip was up to our expectations. Thank you Biko tours
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Family holiday trip of a life time!
We had wanted to have a safari trip as a family that we would always remember, and our holiday to Tanzania was even better than our expectations. Much of this was down to the smooth schedule and connections organised by Wayfairer. The local operators used were perfect, extremely knowledgeable of the wildlife and very considerate to our inquisitive children. Wayfairer were on hand during our trip (even over the Christmas holiday period) to answer queries. We couldn't recommend them highly enough!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great guides and easy to work with
Our contact, Duncan, was always very responsive to any questions we had. It was easy to adjust the itinerary to exactly what we wanted. Our guides, Paul and Emmanuel, and our pick-up day driver, Michael, were all incredible. We would definitely use this company again.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall excellent value and highly recommended
I just came back from an 11-day / 6-park safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I found the safari on this website, and corresponded exclusively with Dennis Solomon. Dennis owns Baboon Budget Safaris in Nairobi and apparently takes bookings under several different entity names, including Explore Africa. Even though all correspondence came from Explore Africa, the actual company behind it was Baboon.
Communication with Dennis by email was excellent starting with my very first inquiry. Everything was explained properly and although there was little room for customization of the schedule or vehicles, he made that clear upfront and did not try to upsell me.
Once in Narobi, I was met by a company rep at the airport and taken to a hotel I had booked separately. In the morning, the same friendly gentleman, George, took me to Baboon's offices in the center of town. It is best to book a hotel near city center, or at least between the airport and city center as traffic in Nairobi was really bad in the early morning. I made the whole payment for the safari in cash at Baboon's office. I didn't know it but it’s best to make the payment in $100 bills, as pristine as possible. I paid in $20s but fortunately I had enough bills in a good condition.
I spent about an hour at the office, and together with another couple was taken directly to Masai Mara. It was a long journey, about 7 hours net of stops. Our driver/guide was Simon Kanyi, and he was excellent. The accommodations in the 3 parks I visited in Kenya (Masai Mara, Lake Naruku and Amboseli) were excellent for the price. Two of those were in permanent tents with bathrooms, and at Lake Naruku it was a decent hotel. Masai Mara to Lake Naruku, and Lake Nakuru to Amboseli were both about 7 hours. From Amboseli's south entrance to Namanga was about 2.5 hours net of stops.
The transfer to Tanzania went without a hitch, with Simon dropping me at the border, and a Baboon-contracted agent, Abaz taking me through the border point into Tanzania. Yellow fever certificate was required but the vaccine can be had at the border for $50, and there was an even cheaper alternative. At the border, I boarded a little bus to Arusha that had been prepaid by Baboon. I spent about 2 hours at the border, and then the journey to Arusha also took about 2 hours. The bus dropped me off at the hotel, Ambassador, which was really excellent and the best accommodation on the entire trip. The next morning, a van picked me up from the hotel and drove me to a camp at Lake Manyara, about 1.5 hours, where the Tanzanian driver/guide, Spear, was expecting me together with 5 other tourists. After an hour at the camp, we departed for Seronera in Serengeti, a 6-hour long trip net of stops. We also visited Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. The rest of the overnights in Tanzania were spent in field tent camps, without permanent tents. There was warm water at one of those camps, but no towels at any of them. The Tanzanian driver/guide, Spear was friendly but drove too fast through the parks and was reluctant to stop or wait for people to enjoy the sights. As a result, the safari experience in Tanzania was not nearly as good as that in Kenya but still acceptable for a budget safari.
On the way back, Spear drove us all the way to Arusha and dropped us off at the hotel. The next morning, I was picked up at the hotel by a van, driven to the bus station in Arusha, and onto a little bus that took me all the way to Nairobi airport, all again prearranged and prepaid by Baboon. The journey from the border point at Namanga to Nairobi took about 2 hours.
Overall, I was very impressed with the organization and punctuality of Dennis's operation. It took a lot of people to make everything happen, and absolutely everyone was there and on time and there were no glitches. My expectations in that regard were far exceeded.
Since it was February, everything was green and the dust probably much less than in June-August (it was still quite dusty). I liked the people we met, including the people from Baboon, as well as the camp personnel and locals in towns and cities. Without speaking the language, Kenyans and Tanzanians appeared similarly friendly, but it seemed to me that Kenyans were more outwardly happier. The roads were better in Tanzania. Both countries have some extreme poverty and corruption, examples of which I witnessed in traffic police interactions with our drivers. Of the 6 parks I visited, Serengeti had the most animals, Masai Mara and Ngorongoro were most picturesque, and Amboseli did not have as many animals but great views of Killimanjaro. However, I personally liked Lake Nakuru best, as it was small and packed with animals and birds. Sunrise on the lake was amazing. For photography, best time was between sunrise and 9 am, with haze becoming a problem later. All six parks, but especially Amboseli, Nakuru, and Manyara were great for birds.
