US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent options for a budget safari outing
With this review, my aim is to provide a realistic picture of the outing. First, let me be clear: this was an incredible experience for SO many reasons, and it fully earns its five stars. There were a few minor things I wish I'd known coming in, so I'm sharing them here. In no way would I have changed anything -- the trip, the safari, and the people were all absolutely wonderful!
Booking: Stephen is an excellent communicator and provides lots of details during the booking process and leading up to the trip. He answered all questions, and was available with very quick response times in the weeks prior.
Travel: Stephen and his colleague Elias picked the two of us up from our hotel in Nairobi early on the morning of our departure. They transported us to Nairobi's downtown area to meet our vehicle (a good safari van), where we met with the other people who were part of our group. We were a group of seven total, plus the tour guide from the partner safari company. Together we drove in our safari van from Nairobi to the Mara, which was about 6-7 hours of travel, including the stops. You could see LOTS of country side during the drive, so I actually quite enjoyed it. (There is an option to fly in to the reserve, which is good if you have limited time or if you're particularly averse to driving; I am glad we drove.)
Helpful hints on travel: I wouldn't recommend traveling with all your luggage; a smaller bag is easier in the vehicle.
You will have several places to buy souvenirs during stops on the way up, during the safari and during a stop on the way back to Nairobi; don't feel rushed to make all your purchases.
You'll want cash for any purchases, including drinks at the camp, etc.
Accomodations: We arrived at the Miti Mingi Eco Camp late in the afternoon on the day of travel. The Eco Camp is located just outside the gates to the reserve, and it's a good African experience. The food is nice (I never went hungry!), and they've got a bar for beer/cocktail/extra water purchases. To be clear, though, this is a budget safari experience and the camp reflects that. You are effectively camping (with a toilet and a shower in each of the tents), so go in with that expectation. Also, these are shared tents, and so you will likely be paired with people from your own or other groups.
Helpful hints on accommodations: Bring a towel; this is something I wish I'd known. There are showers, but they do not provide towels. They do provide sheets and mosquito nets.
Definitely bring and use mosquito repellent. There are some persistent mosquitos in the Mara.
Game drive: Our guide, Mansoor, was WONDERFUL. He was super accommodating and friendly to our group, and he was able to share a vast amount of knowledge about the animals, the culture, and pretty much anything else we asked. I'm sure many of his colleagues are up to his standard. Many of the guides out on game drives will communicate with each other by radio, which allows them to alert each other of big finds. With a signal from another guide, we'd take off on a speeding chase across the reserve to see a leopard eating an impala, or a band of cheetah brothers, or a pride of lions, or a rare sighting of a rhino. During our outings, we saw ALL of the big five, along with everything else on our list. Mansoor was happy to stop whenever we asked, and he maintained his patience with all seven people wanting different pictures of different things. The top of the safari van pops up, so you're able to stand up and watch with a great vantage point.
Helpful hints for game drives: A good camera is of course wonderful for documenting the experience; a good zoom lens makes it even better. You'll see some incredible things, but often they're a few meters away and/or in shade.
It's super dry and gets warm during the day, so I'd recommend you pack extra water. Pride of Africa provides you one big bottle for each day, but be prepared to buy extras for the outings.
Following the trip: The tour guide dropped us off at our hotel in Nairobi. A few hours later, Elias came to the hotel to make sure we'd arrived safely and to hear all about the trip. Pride of Africa's level of service and attention to detail is REMARKABLE. They are dedicated to ensuring you have a good outing. So much so that my friend left her hat in the van, and they even delivered it to us the next day.
I absolutely enjoyed the outing and would recommend Pride of Africa to anyone looking for a good adventure.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with Tailor Made Safaris
We booked a 4 day tour with Tailor Made Safaris and visited Isimangaliso wetland park and Hluhluwe imfolozi park. Our accommodation was based in St. Lucia which was a lovely spot. Isimangaliso wetland park really suprised us; great wildlife spotting and a nice scenery!
Overall we where very happy with the service and communication with Tailor Made Safaris.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had the time of my life
Everything about this tour was excellent. We had a new adventure every day with a wonderful and very knowledgeable tour guide. It exceeded my expectations and loved the game drives which never disappointed.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service and value for money
Joshua was brilliant at responding to emails prior to the safari, replies were always speedy and he was happy to go very advise on where to stay what to wear etc. He even stored our large cases for us whilst we were on safari and personally delivered them to our hotel after the safari. We did the 4 day safari to maasai mara and lake Nakuru. Solomon our guide was excellent very knowledgeable and got us so close to the animals which was amazing. We saw all but the elusive leopard. I would highly recommend the visit to the maasai village it was so interesting to learn about their culture and to see the school and beautiful children. There were six of us on the tour bus which was a nice number and not too cramped, some vans looked very full! We had a second guide kikito who took us to the lakes he was also excellent and great fun. We truly has an amazing time and ACZ provided a first class all round experience and I would not hesitate to recommend them
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome experience in Kenya and Tanzania
I went to a 7 nights and 8 days tour to Kenya and Tanzania.
Until making a final booking, their staff Geophrey had been so kind and gentle and quick to respond to any question, request from my side.
And also, he had been very patient and never urged me to make a booking soon, which I had experienced often from different company in the past.
Throughout the journey, our experience went beyond expectation. All the drivers we met had been so kind and well experienced.
We watched so many animals including all BIG 5s.
Regarding accommodation, it was a good mixture of uncivilized nature and modern lodge, hotel.
I mean, we stayed some nights in a tented camp where we didn't have enough hot water electricity and wifi, (which is sometimes good) and some nights in civilized lodge and hotel.
Unfortunately, we lost our smart phone in one camp but the driver and all the camp staffs were so kind to try to find that.
It didn't come out eventually however, we didn't feel sad because of their graciousness.
Hope to come back someday in the future.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Extremely knowledgeable and very professional in the service they provide making our trip memorable.
An amazing experience, very professional. The Safari trip exceeded our expectations! Tanzania was amazing and our driver/guide was so knowledgeable, professional and courteous.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime , affordable , safe and secure.
Communications was 100%. Jaqueline was always available for us, almost 24hrs a day. With us living in the U.S. the time zones are different , so whenever we had a question or request and her replies came in, in LESS THAN 24 hrs. And we went back and forth on a few things regarding our trip. Reason cause our itinerary included before and after.
We highly recommend Bushtroop Safarii and Jaqueline and Team
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari Adventure of a Lifetime!
My husband and I went on a 9-day safari organized by Bright African Safaris in mid-August 2018, and it truly was the trip of a lifetime! In the initial research stage, Salim was great with communicating options and creating possible itineraries for us to consider. We were originally planning a shorter trip, but ended up extending by a few days. We absolutely loved the itinerary Salim put together. We started with a walking tour in Arusha National Park, then Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Central Seregeti, Northern Serengeti and finally, Ngorongoro Crater. We were lucky to have Malisa as our guide/driver the whole trip. He is a walking, talking encyclopedia of wildlife! Truly a great person and we felt so lucky to share his company for nine days. We felt safe throughout the trip, even around the lions, elephants and other large animals. Malisa tooks us on more scenic routes when possible and always checked in to make sure we were comfortable during long drives. He has such a great eye for spotting wildlife, some of which I had to use binoculars to see! Highlights included watching the great migration in Northern Serengeti (especially watching the wildebeest and zebras crossing the Mara River), watching a mama lion take down a wildebeest and share the bounty with her cubs, watching a leopard come down from a tree to protect his freshly killed prey (an eland), watching zebras in a tussle and sleeping in migration camps in the middle of the Serengeti. We heard lions, zebras and wildebeest outside of our tent and it felt rather surreal to be there. We chose the mid-range option in terms of accommodations and were very happy with all the hotels, lodges and tented camps booked for us by Salim. We were so impressed that the tented camps had running hot water, electricity and very comfortable furniture (including real mattresses and comfy bedding), which was like living in the lap of luxury after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro the week before. I would highly recommend Bright African Safaris for anyone looking for a local, well-organized, high quality safari in Tanzania. We would choose them again in a heart beat!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari