US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Experience!!!
Booking was great, emails were always answered in a very timely manner.
We were picked up from the airport and brought to our hotel which was super nice.
The equipment rentals were very adequate.
Our tour guide was very knowledgable and friendly.
We were fed 3 warm meals a day on the mountain, prepared very well.
I would recommend Tanzania Horizon Safaris to anyone who is looking to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro!!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
From the first contact to the end of our tour always available to us and always helpful
This was our first trip to Uganda, as we had done quite some traveling in Southern Africa we decided to go for a landcruiser with a rooftop tent (provided by Roadtrip Uganda) without driver. Already while planning the tour changes to our needs and wishes were made promptly and booked accordingly. As March is already low season even some last minute changes were possible. Upon arrival a driver was waiting for us at the airport to bring us to our first accommodation where we would get our car and all coupons the next day. We were very pleased to meet Anna Vos (Matoke) who would become our most important person for the next 2 1/2 weeks and Julius (Roadtrip Uganda).
We were handed once more the itinerary with addresses and telephone numbers, UWA cards for the parks, for the chimps tracking, the gorilla tracking, as well as US Dollar and UGX for some accommodations which were not paid in advance. This was a bit confusing and an extra list with where and when we would need to pay how much would have made it easier.
Off we went, the first challenge was getting out of Kampala, after that it got easier. This night we spend north of Jinja at The Haven, really beautiful set at the Nile Cascades. Next day to Sipi Falls, where we encountered our first problem, Lacam Lodge which sits beautifully on the slope of Mount Elgon with views of on of the falls, does not provide space for a rooftop tent (unless you park your car in the space above the lodge with the facilities being 30 meters lower over unlit stairs). Our first call to Anna, who organized a simple room in the lodge. We got a chance to visit an other lodge as well, but Lacam Lodge is definitely the place to stay, everything is very clean and the food is amazing. If you want to make a hiking tour to the different falls, a community walk, or coffee tour ask for Moses, he is a great guide.
Murchison Falls is next, it’s a very long driving day, but we make good time and decided to enter the park through the north gate, luckily the ferry is running that day. Camping is on the grounds of the Murchison River Lodge some distance from the main building, with modern, clean facilities. We have booked Full Board as we heard that the food is very good and we are not disappointed, you also get a packed lunch therefore you don’t need to rush back for lunch. The cruise to the Falls is commendable, but don’t miss the Top of the Falls.
To Hoima, the road till you leave the park has a lot of construction going on but is generally good, this changes quickly afterwards, this is our first stretch of really bad road till ca. 30 km before Hoima where it turns into a tarmac road. KonTiki Hotel feels like a little paradise, with a lush garden, pool, sophisticated Bandas, regular rooms. We opted for a Banda for a change, although you can perfectly setup the rooftop or pitch a tent.
Kibale is next, staying at the Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse, again great views on one of the crater lakes. It is close to the starting point for the Chimp tracking, which is an amazing experience, we basically run through the bush to find and follow them, they are real quick. We do an other community walk through tea plantations and around a lake, where we learn a lot thanks to Joel.
Queen Elizabeth NP staying on the Main UWA Campsite on the Mweya Peninsula, this is great, not so much the camp itself but waking up to the munching sound of an elephant not 10 meters away. We had a guard for the night who also maintained a fire, he told us we also had Hippos around the camp that night. Safari with a ranger, we are lucky and see lions but else the Kasenyi Planes feel deserted. In the afternoon we have an other cruise on the Kazinga Channel you shouldn’t miss that, we saw so many animals.
On to Ishasha, unfortunately we had a bad thunderstorm which turned the soil in parts into a muddy slippery slope, that’s when we got stuck. We were lucky some soldiers of the Ugandan Army and an other car with a driver of Roadtrip Africa came along and helped us out. As there was some damage to the car we decided to drive out of the park and to have it looked at in Kihihi. Thank you again Anna, to find us the nice Savannah Hotel for the night and to arrange that we still could get something to eat.
Next place Bwindi, this is probably for most people the reason to come to Uganda, gorilla tracking. Now, we had some trouble with the permits, few days before we noticed that the permits named an other place than we originally had booked and had the camp booking. Which meant again getting in contact with Anna, even though it was a long weekend (Women’s Day) she looked right into that matter and came up with two options, we chose to change our location to Buhoma, where we stayed in the Community Lodge. Also there we set up camp in the 'parking lot' which didn’t matter much as we had a nice green patch. For the mix up with the permits Matoke compensated us with paying for the breakfast and a nice bottle of wine (which we appreciated very much).
For the tracking the change in places turned about to be very fortunate, not only did we reach our designated group of gorillas already after 1 1/2 h but could also watch the biggest Silverback and the youngest baby (3 weeks).
Buhoma to Lake Mburo, we ask for the best way to get there and are directed to Rukungiri because from there it’s all tarmac, but to get there... It’s the first time we are really fed up with the roads in the west, stretches where you go with 25 km/h don’t seem to end, but finally we arrive. Last night out, at the UWA camp near the restaurant, as soon as the sun sets we have company, the hippos are grazing around us while we sit by the fire. The same in the morning, we watch one from our tent . Accompanied by the cries of the African Fish Eagle and the constant vigilance not to get breakfast stolen by the Vervet Monkeys we pack for the last time.
Entebbe Pineapple Guesthouse, what a great place to end our journey, Avocado trees, flowers, a very nice pool, rooms with lake view, a rain shower....the perfect place to reflect and relax before the flight home.
Next time we would probably not go with a rooftop car but with a movable tent, as the most places we stayed at would have accommodated it much better. And although we love to cook for ourselves, this seems like a waste of time because everywhere one could eat either at a lodge or restaurant or at a simple canteen, and it’s never expensive. Furthermore we would hire a driver, not because we could not do it, but because also for the game drives you drive your own car, there are almost no companies or lodges which provide that service.
At any time we would book again with Matoke, Anna was always available to us.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best tour operator by far in Tanzania/Kenya after 3yrs research
I have recently completed a 7 days solo adventure with e-Trip Africa visiting Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara, Ndutu, Ngorongoro Crater & the Serengeti.
An exceptional journey overland with a very knowledgeable and conversant guide who complimented the newly modified 4WD Toyota LandCruiser... totally equipped with power outlets, fridge, a complete wildlife library and quality Zeiss binoculars. A very comfortable vehicle in comparison to others I have experienced, also the guide had great ethics towards the environment and wildlife opposed to many rouge operators I have uncounted over the years in my travels.
My trip included mid to high-end properties with likes of several new 5* locations with Lemala Camps, stand-out Lemala properties were Mpingo Ridge, Ndutu Camp and Nanyuki ... I believe there is a great all-inclusive stay-pay deal with this organisation (ask Ben for more information)
I also had a memorable stay at the new Nyumbani Tented Camp... I highly recommend anyone to consider these properties in your future adventure itinerary.
Tip of the day! When doing Ngorongoro Crater do stay at one of the ridge camps/hotels for an early morning decent into the crater... only if you have experienced and/or put in place in your itinerary you will be very grateful at the end for the additional expense especially due to the high number of volume of vehicle after 1pm within the crater as you are leaving ... so much dust, so may people!!!
Lastly, pre & post tour I required accommodation for recover from my flights inbound from Australia and of course recovering from my epic journey. e-Trip Africa also offers a delightful homestead/family feel property in Arusha called Researchers Rest, I recommend this as a cheaper add-on opposed to staying at a hotel ... full board can be organised inc' transfers and tours ex Arusha/Kilimanjaro. There are some interesting sights in Arusha should you have a spare day/time.
A special thanks to Ben @ e-Trip Africa for organizing my epic Tanzania safari journey, I look forward to my future Kilimanjaro climb in 2020 and proposed Kenya Mara/Amboseli tour later on this year again all with e-Trip Africa.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simon was a great consultant and he planned everything perfectly,My family and i were greatful
We are looking forward to doing more safari with Mwema Africa Safaris, the services were awesome and we were able to see more than we expected.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful time in Uganda with Africa Adventure Vacations
We had a wonderful time in Uganda with Robert. He was a great guide and very dependable. Very polite, extremely knowledgeable and went out of his way to ensure we had a great time. Robert met us at the airport and stayed with us for the next 2 weeks. As a result, we spent a great deal of time with him and enjoyed his company immensely. He is passionate about the animals and Uganda and shares this with you throughout the trip.
CO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
They are a really serious company, the keep contact with you all time and the are alway willing to answer your questions. The safari was really great and all the activites, lodges, food, game drives were extatelly how they say. Tour guides were fun and great persons who make us really enjoy the safari.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari company and Guide! Amazing experience!
Went with my wife on a safari trip to Kenya and booked it with Simon of Kenya Safaris Holidays. We visited Samburu, Ol Pejeta, Naivasha and Maasai Mara in February of 2019.
Simon was very helpful during the booking phase. Even though we booked it in short notice, he worked to arrange us accomodations that were good value for the money we had and even helped with some last minute changes my wife requested. Simon was also very knowledgeable regarding parks and conservancies and his help was very important for us in building a great itinerary. Our accomodations were as we expected and we had no problems with it during the trip.
Sammy, our guide, stayed with us for the 8 days our trip lasted. A reliable driver who knows the parks very well. He has an amazing eye for animals and specially to predict where they are moving next, so we were able to enjoy some unbelievable views of elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and other animals from an extremely close range, while not getting us in any dangerous situations or breaching park regulations. Also, he speaks very good Spanish, which will certainly be a plus if you are a Spanish speaker yourself (or Brazilian like ourselves who know a bit of the language).
Overall we had an amazing time. Simon, Sammy & co provided us incredible value for the money we payed. I definitely reccomend their services and would book with them if went back to Kenya again in the future.
CZ
Very good and reliable, very helpful and frendly approach and this has high professional level.
We had with my husband safari trip 3 days in Tsawo-East and in Amboseli, we went by landrover car and we had excellent driver and guide. Every time we had many beautiful experiences, during the trip we saw rich wildlife - many elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, bufallos, flamingos, ostrich, monkies and other animals. We stayed in Voi Safari Lodge, which is very comfortable with a restaurant on the rock, from this place we could've looked out onto the three water holes with elephants and bufallos and seen the charming Panorama of Africa. The second night we stayed at, also nice hotel in Amboseli. We had many nice views and scenes on Kilimanjaro in the park of Amboseli and again we saw many animals. We had wonderful experience with KT Safaris , all was perfectly organized. We were fervoured from the beautiful nature, wildlife , immediate proximity to the animals and also high quality of our lodging and delicious food. My life dream had come true, I would very like to return to Kenya again, primarily for the trip on the Safari. Thank you very much Dick and Kim from the KT§Safaris for the unforgettable wonderfull time! I hope for my return again, I still think about the Safari trip all the time. I hope we will ever have a chance to say again "jumbo Dick, "jumbo Alena" and you will tell me : "Welcome to Kenya!"...Kenya is a very beautiful country, I thank you very much and I'am looking forward to visit it once more.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari in Tanzania is something you should experience once in a lifetime.Ma
My safari operated by Kili Slope and Kili Holidays was an amazing experience and adventure. They arranged a wonderful tour with wildlife and culturell encounters, through Manyara, Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Eyasi Communitiy. Our skillfull guide/driver Thomas offered us an unexpected knowledge about the behaviour of the wildlife population and he was very familiar with the best places to spot animals. Whereas Jackson introduced me together with local guides to the customs of tribes like Maasai, Hadzabe and Dakota.
The accomodations were wonderful and I enjoyed most the stay in a tented camp within the Serengeti, close to natur and animal tracks.
EE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip to beautiful country!
Our group of 5 people spent 21 days in Tanzania. During the visit we were summiting Meru and Kilimanjaro, went to safari in Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro and at last we spent 4 days in Zanzibar. Everything went as we have been hoping before our trip with some extra pleasant surprises – for example two nights in Kati Kati tented camp with a real campfire was something no one could expect forehand. Many thanks to Ene, Emmanuel and Freddy -they were brilliant in listening our wishes and problems and also finding solutions to them.
