US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari company and guide!
We recently (July 2018) returned from a 11-night Bright African Safaris safari in Tanzania. We enjoyed every minute of it and it was a trip of a lifetime. The way the itinerary was set up, the progression of parks was fantastic, starting with one of the small parks with a walking tour at Arusha National Park and moving onto the larger parks at Lake Maynara National Park, Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and finally Ngorogoro Crater. All of the lodging was comfortable with a unique African flare, especially the tented ones, such as Serengeti Tortilis Camp right in the middle of the Serengeti and Sangaiwe Tented Lodge just outside Tarangire. Our guide, Khamis was very knowledgeable about each animal species we came across and taught us about Tanzanian history and culture. He was also an amazing and an incredibly safe driver. Khamis made sure we saw every animal and was patient in positioning us to get the best photos. He also quickly figured out our meal favorites and had the lodges prep tasty lunches for us while out on safari. By the end of the safari, we had gotten to know Khamis so well, he became like family. From initial contact for booking to when we said our farewells, Bright African Safaris was there for us, and we loved that they were a local family business. Msangi and Salim (in the office) were always polite and responsive to our many questions and updates to itinerary from start to finish, and they even met up with us on the last day to ensure we were happy. If you are looking for a top-notched safari company to plan your safari, Bright African Safari is the one to choose.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bush Troop Safaris is fraudulent and will scam you - CAUTION
We booked through Safari Bookings, using Bushtroop Tours and Safaris (see contact below) -this company is a fraud. They said they would accept visa in Can currency and when asked repeatedly why they didn't process our deposit of 30% prior to the trip well in advance, they said that they were waiting for a more favorable exchange rate. The day prior to the safari they said our visa was a problem and insisted on cash payment via online transfer so they could steal our money and run. They were very suspicious and we asked them to jointly call visa to sort out the visa payment, but they didn't respond and insisted on cash payment. This company is scamming innocent customers. Please remove them from your operators option.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
We got just what we wanted & so much more!!!
I was looking for an 8 day Uganda package that would give us the opportunity to see the chimps, mountain gorillas and the wild animals of QE2 National Park. We also wanted to visit Rwanda for several days after the completion of our safari. The tour director of Achieve, Jolie listened attentively to what my daughter & I wanted out of the trip and advised us as to what we could expect from each activity. She answered our questions promptly, directly and completely. The list of items she recommended we bring for our gorilla/chimp & lion experience was short and more than adequate. I felt like we were totally prepared. Our lodging at Kyazinga Lodge, Mweya Lodge & Chameleon Hill Lodge was amazing & the food was perfect for our dietary lifestyles. All 3 lodges were able to accommodate gluten free, vegan & vegetarian with no problems and delicious as well! We were met by Jolie, at our Kampala lodging, on the morning the tour commenced. We were then taken out to the Land Cruiser to meet our driver, Tom. Tom is exceptional in every way. He is kind, responsible, protective, well-educated, articulate & most of all a formidable driver. He is also well respected by the rangers, trackers and guides of the safaris. Tom made our drives from one point to another interesting, fun & comfortable...although we did experience several "African Massages" courtesy of the mountain roads of Uganda. My daughter & I treasure the experiences that Tom helped to provide since he was familiar with the rangers at the check in points @ QE2. We had 2 lion experiences that put us literally within feet of 2 lionesses & their cubs not to mention tracking 2 twin lions the following morning that had been off the radar for several months. The gorilla experience was magical and challenging. It is mountainous, slippery terrain & there are streams to cross but Jolie had advised us to bring boots, walking sticks ( which are provided if you don't bring them), rain gear (which we did not need) & advised us to get porters ( we shared 1) to help us with the trek into the gorilla nests. The gorilla experiences that we had at Nkuringo & Rushaga were 2 entirely different experiences but both held fantastic results in our observations of our 2 separate families of gorillas. In hindsight, I wish that we had visited the lowland gorilla as their habitat is completely different but I do not regret either one of our experiences. The chimp experience, at Kabale, is very manageable if you have anyone that is physically challenged. There is actually a boardwalk in some parts of the park. We had chimps swinging over us as well as walking so close to us that we could have reached out & touched them. They are very verbal & quite vocal when claiming their territory. The rangers are very informative and gave us plenty of opportunities to see many chimps & 4 varieties of monkeys. Whilst staying at Mweya, we did the Kazinga channel tour and it is so very worthwhile...wart hogs, baboons, elephants, water buffalo, Nile crocodile, hippopotamus & so many birds. The eagles are absolutely mesmerizing! Tom recommended we sit on the left side of the boat & he was so right as that is the side of the river where most of the activity takes place on. No worries though as our fellow passengers were more than agreeable to have you "in their space". This was the trip of a lifetime, for my daughter & I, and Jolie & Tom made it an 11 out of 10. Tom drove us from Chameleon Hill and took us to Kigali in Rwanda. He made sure we were at our reserved lodging, that our all our bags were in the lobby, introduced us to reception & we gave him grateful hugs of goodbye.... his parting words to the concierge were "take care of these ladies for me". Thank you Jolie & Tom, we will never forget your making us feel so special in every way and taking good care of us!!!
PT
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything went as expected.
Everything went as expected. Professionally organized. Paul took into consideration our prferences and he choosed the right camps avoiding the crowds. The game viewing was excellent; the camps fantastic, the people very friendly and the guides very professional and commited to find the right spots and action for a good photography.
The flights and transfer went smoothly and the hotel in Dar was well choosed.
Thank you Paul.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lovely Safari with some minor problems
I did a Safari with TripAdvisor Africa in August 2018. The safari included one day in Tarangire, two days in the Serengeti and one day in the Ngorongoro Crater. I got the contact details from the Tour operator, who always tried to help me through the problems who occured during the trip. The Tour operator is placed in Nairobi and has an operator in Arusha. The operator in Arusha was SafariBookEvolution. I can just advice you to tell the operator, not to use this guy. The first problem was he was not picking me up at the airport. I took a taxi instead which was quite expensive. TripAdvisorAfrica refunded that taxidrive in the end. The pick up for my travelmate did not work as well, even if I had telephone contact to the nairobi office. The operator in Arusha was out of control...
The morning the safari was taking place we were carried to an athiopian coffee where some people were sitting. The operator from arusha did not say hello and he was sitting at the neighbortable all the time. When he came to us he was offending and wanted to see the money right at the beginning. I told him, thta I do not do that and them he was telling me that I can go away. I kept cool and when I saw the safari car everything was fine. I guess Tripadvisorafrica quitted the contract with that operator afterwards. I was still able to stay in contact with them all the time, which gave me a better feeling. The safari itself was super great, we saw many animals and we had the best driver ever. Thanks brutus. The cook was great and the tents were in a good shape. The car was cleaned before the safari and I felt way better when we let that guy from safaribookevolution behind us.
After the safari the transport failed as well, but that was obviously and we were already prepared. We also got a refund for that.
In conclusion I already recommend that company two times. They are always there for you, you can stay in contact and they are thrusty. If something failes, they will refund you with the whole amount of money and they are paying the fees for the bank as well.
I was unlucky with my operator in arusha, but I would book with tripadvisorafrica again, but I would ask him to choose another operator in arusha instead of safaribookevolution.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Organized, efficient, and extremely pleasant!
We had the pleasure of planning our African safari trip with Kathi Simon. From the very beginning we knew we were in great hands with Kathi. Since this was our first time visiting Africa, we had A LOT of questions. About what we should see, where we should go, accommodations, etc. Kathi was extremely responsive and patient. She answered all of our questions in a very quick time frame and provided us with great detail. We felt going into our trip that we were more than prepared for everything--which really set us at ease.
The tour she created for us exceeded our expectations. The accommodations and our activities were exactly what we wanted. The hotel and safari camp staffs could not have been nicer and more welcoming. When we arrived back at the Cape Grace Hotel in Capetown after our day of touring, the staff all welcomed us with "Welcome Home."
We had a fantastic tour guide, Rhys, for Cape Town and really felt like we were part of the culture!
At our safari camps, we had lunch every day with the giraffes, elephants, and gembocks!
At the Sabi Sands camp our ranger Ronny and tracker Mike went above and beyond for us--they asked us exactly what we hoped to see. On our last day we raced across Kruger and found the African wild dogs! We were riding right beside them in our jeep! We also saw 200+ cape buffalo all come to the watering hole. How magical!
It truly was an experience of a lifetime and I cannot thank Kathi enough for listening to us and planning this amazing trip for us!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional service, phenominal experience
Our 3 week tour in September included my husband and I and my sister and brother-in-law and we spent approximately a week in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Our interaction with Classic Journeys started long before our actual tour. Charles and Newton were extremely prompt and thorough in responding to any enquiries or issues we had. Their expertise and commitment to customer service was stellar. They were there and always available to ensure that every detail of our 3 week tour ran smoothly -- which it did; not a single hick-up. From the time that Matthew picked us up at the airport, we knew we were in good hands. Because there were four of us, we were able to splurge on a private land cruiser and guide for the safari portion of our tour. I would highly recommend a private vehicle because that way you are not climbing over strangers to get a photograph of an animal. The guides, Sammy in Kenya and Jonas in Tanzania were exceptional. Jonas, in particular, went out of his way to ensure that we saw the things we wanted to see. His extensive knowledge of Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti was evident, and his knowledge of the animals and their behaviour made it possible for him to anticipate where the best viewing spots would be. Jonas spent some very long days with us on game drives (in some cases 12 - 14 hours), and the drives were never disappointing! Rather than racing from one spot to the next (like a lot of the other jeeps), Jonas's approach was to "watch and wait". As a result, we were able to see a cheetah hunt a ghazel, a lion stalk and hunt a zebra, and 3 massive river crossings of wildebeests and Zebras across the Mara River, as part of the Great Migration. Those were experiences that will last a lifetime. And yes, we did see (and have hundreds of photographs) of the Big Five. The illusive rhinoceros, we saw on our last game drive, thanks to Sammy's persistence in finding one of the few remaining rhinos in the Massai Mara. I got a chance to see lots of lions, so I went home happy! Both Sammy and Jonas were very respectful in how they approached the animals, which was not always the case with some of the other tour company jeeps we encountered. The lodges that Charles and Newton had selected for our tour were incredible! Each one offered superior accommodation and excellent food. All of the rooms had spectacular views. A "glamping" stay at the Chaka Camp is not to be missed! But, the most amazing spot was the Tulia Unique Beach Resort in Zanzibar, a small boutique resort and spa that offers world class luxury. Thank you Classic Journeys for making this trip of a lifetime possible -- it was an experience that exceeded all of our expectations. We would heartily recommend you to all of our family and friends.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Saved our Safari
Mama Savana managed to literally save our Safari. Beforehand we were cheated by another Safari company and were stranded in Nairobi. We had to book something fast if we wanted to continue our holiday. This is were Alex from Mama Savana comes in. We contacted the company via Safaribooking and Alex called us within an hour. He organised everything in less than a day and the next day we continued our Safari. We had a wonderful Safari with the Agency and our guide/driver Hassan was a gem, he respected the animals space and had a lot of knowledge about the wildlife. If we had an issue Alex would sort it out even after office hours. Mama Savana did let us forget our bad experience and created a great experience for us. Great Agency! The next time I am in Kenya/Tanzania I will definitely book with them again, Top Service.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I was cheated by a subcontractor -- Sandland Tours and their manager Abraham Shaidi.
I dealt only with Rachel Obonyo from Nairobi in arranging a ten day tour of Kenya and Tanzania. She was most helpful. However, the subcontractor told me that I must pay "as much as I could" toward trip expenses when I met him. He then told me to pay an additional $800 "entry fee" when we arrived at Ngorongoro. I refused! In addition, I was promised mid-range lodges and only received budget tent accommodations. After four days of this treatment, I bailed out of the safari. I'm not certain Rachel even aware of these problems. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS and Abraham.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Abraham and his crew cheated me out pf $360
I was on a 10 day safari intending to go to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli and Massai Mara. Abraham's driver picked me up promptly on day one and drove me to a supermarket where I was informed that I must pay "as much as I could" towards the trip. Very strange as I had already made arrangements to pay the balance when I got to Amboseli. I paid him $360 USD to help pay for his crew. He did not even count it ... just stuffed it into his pocket. When we approached Ngorongoro Crater, I was told to pay another $800 "entry fee" and I refused. Other problems included that I was promised "mid-range lodges", but only received budget tents and the fact that even the tents were not available at Ngorongoro. On a brighter note, the driver did an excellent job and the cook did as well. STEER CLEAR OF SANDLAND TOURS.
