IT
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
very professional, attentive to customer needs, ready to give the best advice
We are two elderly people, but we still have a great desire to travel ... we wanted to visit Namibia, we wanted to rent a comfortable off-road vehicle and have a local guide who spoke Italian and who also acted as our driver, we had a busy schedule to see more things possible… We contacted some Windhoek tour operators, and African Wanderer immediately convinced us: clear, precise and quick answers to our questions, valuable advice on some adjustments to our itinerary, the right attention to special needs or requests and the effort to always find appropriate solutions, for example, a fridge in the car for medicines, given that at a certain age we also have to live with aches and pains!!! All thanks to Hanneke, a competent, professional and always available person!!! We stayed in fantastic lodges, such as the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge set in fiery red sandstone rocks, or the Bagatelle in the Kalahari desert with bungalows with private pools ...!!!
We tasted the local cuisine, grilled zebra meat, kudu, springbok, wildebeest... delicious! We concluded our evenings sipping a glass of Amarula, contemplating beautiful sunsets and then observing the stars, the most unknown to us. The presence of Benjamin, our guide, helped us to appreciate every moment of the day; even the long journeys always held surprises in store for us: birds, nests, insects, and plants aroused our curiosity and became the subject of explanations and subjects to immortalise with endless photos. And then the contact with the local tribes, which to us tourists seemed to be in difficulty maintaining their identity. I do not express myself on the 'must' to visit; those are not to be told, they are to be experienced, they are there to be contemplated, to excite, excite, impress, create emotions, amazement... Namibia, we miss you!!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The name says it all: RUN RUN (Mbio Mbio)
I'm pretty sure that the good reviews here are from David himself. We had a bad experience with our safari tour. It would be too much text to list everything but now the worst: When we wanted to leave the Serengeti National Park, we waited longer than the other groups until our guide came to us and asked if we could pay the fee, because there is a system error and David's payment is therefore not registered there. We were skeptical because we had already paid everything in advance and the other groups had no problems. After asking several times, it turned out that David had kept the fee for himself and never intended to pay it. In a phone call, he simply said: "Either you pay the fee or you're out of luck and have to spend the night there without accommodation". After hours of waiting and many phone calls back and forth, we finally made it out. We had to drive through the park in the dark, our car broke down (we also had to pay for the repairs ourselves, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get out of there) and so we only arrived back in Arusha late at night. During a phone call with David, we mentioned that we would give him a bad review because of all the things that had happened. He didn't wanted this under any circumstances and offered to pay for an overnight stay in the hotel. We emphasized several times that we didn't need an overnight stay because we already booked one. We also told our safari guide that we wanted to go to our hotel. When we arrived in Arusha, we were driven to a creepy backyard and it turned out that we were driven against our will to the "hotel" that David had booked. We were three young women and were now quite scared and had to exert real pressure to get out of there. After we asked our guide why he had taken us there against our will, he said that he had been instructed to do so by David, even if we didn't want it. After we confronted David on the phone, he offered us a refund. We will probably never see the money. I can imagine that David will try to deceive people again in the future under a different name. I can only recommend booking Safari Tours, which has been around for several years and has many reviews.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great Safari from beginning to end!
Great Communication, thoroughly pleasant staff, extremely knowledgeable and an overall fantastic Safari.
Picked up and dropped off at Guesthouse punctually and both vehicles transporting to the Botswana boarder from Victoria falls and the Safari vehicle were very comfortable and spacious.
Boarder crossing was easy.
Safari was great, saw many animals, Elephants, Lions, Impala, Giraffe, Kudu, Buffalo’s, Hippopotamus, Crocodile, many birds and even a Leopard!
Had a Wonderful buffet lunch at a location right next to the Zambezi river.
The afternoon motor boat on the Zambezi was also great, Seeing animals on both the Zimbabwe and Namibia sides and also in the Zambezi!
Thoroughly recommend this Safari and Company and at a reasonable price too!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One more time, please
Communication with Bushtop Safaris went very well. Once we arrived in Nairobi, our guide Henry was waiting for us on time. The days at Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara were very eventful. Henry is a very good driver, knows a lot about the animals and landscapes and was always in a good mood. The pick-up in the morning went very smoothly. We would book with Bushtop again on our next trip.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He created an unforgettable trip for us
We are absolutely enthusiastic about the safari and can recommend it 100%.
We looked at different safaris in our hostel and finally went for this 2 day tour to the Tarangire National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.
On the first day we were picked up at the hostel in the morning and drove directly to a mall near Arusha Airport. There we could use the time and buy a few more snacks and drinks until our fellow soldiers joined us.
Thereafter, we went on a direct route to the
Tarangire National Park. The drive took about 2 hours. At Maingate we could directly meet the first monkeys and again briefly visit the toilet before we went to the beautiful National Park. This one was simply insane and clearly showed why one should definitely make a safari in Tanzania! We saw elephants, giraffes, lions (not 2 meters away from our car) and monkeys pretty much everything that the Tanzanian wildlife gives. For lunch we went to one of the campsites where there was very tasty food (rice, meat, fried vegetables). After this refreshment we continued our safari and besides many smaller highlights we saw some very large herds of elephants and zebras.
The first day finally ended in a very well maintained lodge with great dinner, music and acrobatics program.
The next morning, after a rich breakfast, we went straight to Nborongoro Crater. There we were also received at the Maingate by very interested baboons (windows and doors better to keep closed ;) ) and we were able to continue directly to the crater. Arrived there we immediately saw the first lions, which stayed right on the road. During the safari we were able to observe several times larger groups of lions (partly also witnessing lion cubs). There were also countless zebras and wildebeest here. The highlight here was definitely the hippopotamus pool with about 15 animals. Also here there was very tasty lunch, similar to the one the day before. After we left the crater in the afternoon we went straight back to Arusha.
Finally only a huge praise remains to our guide Joseph who did a great job and was able to give us some unforgettable memories.
CH
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, friendly service throughout the booking process and on the tour.
We had a fabulous 13 day tour of Namibia and Botswana with a final day at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The booking process and communication with Derek was first class with very prompt responses to emails and answers to questions. Our guide John was fantastic; very experienced, knowledgeable and friendly. He was an exceptionally careful driver, with an extraordinary ability to see game and birds no matter how well hidden! The perfect companion for our trip! The accommodation and food (I'm vegetarian) was excellent and staff were welcoming and really did their best to make our stays even more enjoyable.
The tour itself involves quite a lot of driving, but we got to see so much in a short time. Both Etosha and the Okavanga delta are extraordinary places to observe wildlife and we absolutely loved the whole experience. The tour was well worth every penny and we can thoroughly recommend Blue Crane Safaris!
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organized, friendly guide, amazing experience, nice camp.
We had a blast on this amazing Safari. Everything was well organized, we saw a lot of animals and our guide Jacques was so good and friendly. We did a three-day tour and it was really amazing. We stayed at the Enkorok camp which was also so lovely. A trip to remember forever.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really well organised trip, absolutely wonderful safari & accomodation.
Our trip was tailored to our needs, and we were able to add an extra day. We were unfortunate that our luggage did not arrive into the country, but on the first day, the Lion King driver picked us up & took us to the shops to buy the essentials. The Lion King drivers then collected our luggage when it arrived, and delivered it to the Serengeti airfield where we were able to collect it, en route to our accommodation, three days later. Although it wasn't very nice not having our luggage, Lion KIng took the stress out of it for us.
The actual safari was wonderful. Our driver Mashula was great, so knowledgable and knew all the right places to find the big five, and many more. It was great spending time with him and learning all about the animals & their surroundings, he is very friendly & we felt comfortable with him from the beginning.
The lodges we stayed in through Lion King were fanatstic. Very luxurious, with pools and really great fresh food in the restaurants.
We would throughly recommend booking your safari experience with Lion King.
PL
Nice and funny tour guide with big knowledge
Everything from the start was great- starting from the planning part to the finish line. Barbara helped us to make the trip fit our needs. When choosing to visit Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe be preapared to spend long hours in the car. Thankfully the car itslef was very comfortable, spacious and had A/C. The hotels varied in range- from exquisite ones to mid-range- all clean and nice. We spent one night in a tent in the heart of a bush, but don't worry it had running water, hot showers and the breakfast was served in a beutiful lodge nearby. During the entire trip we only had amazing food- almost each night the guide took us to a great, local restaurants and let us choose anything we wanted a'la cart (which was included in the price). The wildlife we witnessed was breathtaking. If you love elephants, there is no better place to see them. We highly recommend taking a helicopter above Victoria Falls- worth every penny. To make it a 6 stars out of 5 we would need a few extra days in Mauritius and would suggest it to anyone who can take a longer leave than us :)
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best choice for your African safari
From the moment we first made contact with African Big Cats we knew we’d picked the right company. Communication was fast and helpful and prices competitive. On arrival we were met and given a briefing before our pickup the following day. Our guide Moses was fantastic - knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and a superb safe driver. He found us a huge range of animals and birds that we’d never have spotted on our own and was always ready with an interesting fact or the correct name. The lunchtime picnics were a real treat.
The accommodation options were fabulous - highly recommend Simba Lodge next to Tarangire Park. The proximity to the animals and especially the elephants was a once in a lifetime experience. Marera Valley Lodge also a good choice with excellent food.
Highly recommended and would love to visit again one day.