CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3 days Serengeti & Ngorongoro tour
We have found and booked our 3-day Serengeti - Ngorongoro tour with Swahili paradise tours. Communication with their manager Jimmy was smooth and efficient. As soon as your tour is confirmed, you will be asked to pay half of the price via bank transfer. If you have any questions related to the Safari or general questions about Africa, you can ask Jimmy and he replies withing a couple of days. When we arrived to Arusha, Jimmy has sent one of his colleagues to collect the second part of the payment. Bring dollars issued after 2006, because banks in Tanzania do not accept old banknotes. If you need an airport transfer or excursions on Zanzibar, Jimmy will be also happy to assist.
According to our schedule we should have gone to Serengeti first and then to Ngorongoro. Instead we joined a group that started the tour one day earlier at Lake Manyara, had a breakfast and proceeded to Ngorongoro creator. It was a good decision of our driver Charles to visit Ngorongoro first and then Serengeti! The road between Serengeti and Ngorongoro is very bad, so if you start your trip in Serengeti, be prepared for 3 hours of dust! Thus, trust your guide if he offers to start in Ngorongoro.
In 2 days we managed to see almost all animals presented in those national parks: elephant, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, crocodile, olive baboon, leopard, hippo, cheetah, lion, hyena, hyrax, golden jackal, impala, Thompson's gazelle, reedbuck, topi, warthog, Grant's gazelle, hartebeest, dikdik, Grey crowned crane, Kori bustard, Egyptian goose, vulture, moongose, agama lizard, Guinea fowl, secretary bird, ostrich, superb starling and many other small birds. It does not necessary mean that you will see all those animals, if you go another time of the year or even another day, because the animals do not stay at one place and always move, so the drivers will do everything what depends on them but you should be also a bit lucky.
Safari is always a roulette - sometimes you are lucky and see a lot of animals but sometimes you are not and see much less than expected. We could not find a rhino but there are only 50 species left and you can imagine that the probability to spot even one on the territory of 80.000 square kilometers in 5-6 hours is pretty low. However, we have seen how cheetah and pride of lions hunt, we saw a leopard sleeping on a tree, we saw an antelope hidden by a leopard on a tree, elephant family taking a bath, vultures eating zebra and it was more than enough in 3 days!
We stayed in basic camps in the tents. Our first night was in Lerai special campsite and the second night in Nyani public campsite. Both campsites were pretty good but the water in the shower is naturally warmed by the sun, so be prepared to take barely warm shower. Sometimes in the night you hear wild animals making different sounds close to the camp but it is very safe. However, you may want to have a torch, because it is pretty dark in the night far away from civilization :)
The last day we have seen a beautiful sunrise in Serengeti. Milky way in Africa is amazing!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing service
I cannot speak highly enough of Australken, they were so responsive to any questions before we left and then when we arrived we were looked after so well. Our tour guide Anthony was excellent and managed to show us the "big five" on our safari.
On top of this before we went I was planning to propose to my girlfriend and so I emailed Zippy from Australken and she was amazing, she helped me arrange the entire thing and got onto our hotel and got everyone in on the surprise. The result was her arranging for us to be taken to sunset point where I was able to propose and the hotel had set up a campfire and door and a table and chairs for us. To top it off they got the local Massai tribe to come up as well to joing in the celebrations and they performed a dance dor us. The whole thing was beyond anything we could have imagined and i could not have done it without Zippy's help.
It also has to be said the whole trip offered fantastic value for money and along with such a personal service I would rate this as easily one of the best safari providers. Zippy even got us an engagement present!! 10/10
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour in Rwanda for 5 days!
Great program for the 5 day tour of soutwestern Rwanda. Culture, scenery, knowledgeable guides... Our driver/guide was very good and fixed everything we asked for and more!!! Rwanda, what a beautiful country with very friendly people!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best trip ever !
Great company, everything was perfect!
Margaret was very available for us and that's very appreciate. Give us a excellent advice about the Safari and Park of Selous.
We recommend to everyone to book with them. We saw a lot of animals and to slept on the park is just amazing. We wake up with a giraffe in front of the tent. Amazing experience and beautiful moment to share with your partner. Many thanks for this moment and make our dreams come true.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great mix of local knowledge and attention to detail
We recently had our first African adventure, which comprised of a five day safari and time in Arusha. We traveled with extended family and my 4yr old son. We were equally excited and apprehensive about our trip to Tanzania, we had no experience of Africa previously and weren’t sure what to expect.
Lion King delivered an experience that far surpassed our expectations! Anna’s attention to detail before we got there and during our stay meant we didn’t have to think about anything. She requested things for us that we hadn’t even thought we needed, she checked and double checked things were in place. The accommodation/transfers/safari intenery were all tailored made to meet our interests and wishes.
While on safari James and Ozie were the most fantastic guides. They amazed us with there ability to spot things that seemed invisible to us. They picked up quickly what animals we loved and made sure to point them out. They also suggested a great variety of game drives which took us to a real selection of sights. The found us the big 5 which was amazing but they also showed us the migration, the secret watering holes and the very changing scenery. We kind of followed their lead in terms of ideas of places to visit and I’m so glad we did.
The overriding thing that stuck us about both Lion King and Tanzania generally was how welcoming everyone was to our 4yr old son. He was like a superstar for the duration of the holiday, nothing was too much trouble and people were so welcoming and kind to him (and all of us). He, like us, had a holiday of a lifetime thanks to the efforts of Lion King.
GH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Really annoyed every moment of your services
The experience with you was awesome all the way from Ghana never got disappointed will definitely book again.
QA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We arrived with a smile and left with a much bigger smile and loads of memories
Right from the moment we landed and met Newton, to the moment we reached back to the airport was pleasant and comfortable. The whole team lead by Charles, just makes your experience unforgettable. Our driver Michael was the star of the show. He was patient and had the same excitement level for the 5 days as us. It almost felt like it was a family road trip with him part of the family. This is rare as he probably does this every day of his life. Even with changes in itinerary due to uncontrollable scenarios, he squeezed out the best safari experience we could have imagines. Every accommodation in our itinerary exceeded our expectations wrt the ambiance, service, comfort and the food. I would Highly recommend Classic Journeys team to anyone who wants to have an unforgettable, pleasant and comfortable safari experience. In fact, we are returning to Serengeti next year and already approached Classic Journeys to handle our vacation.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are the best..I enjoyed my Trip
I am very happy with their service, in general, and will recommend to anyone wishing to take a tour of Safari. I think they are among the best.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience which exceeded our expectations
From the start, communication with Alex was excellent. He was very flexible and patient about customizing our safari trip and always answered in a short time. Alex went above and beyond compared to the other tour companies we had contacted, providing us with pictures and a variety of options regarding lodging, truly making the booking experience clear and trustworthy. From our arrival to Kilimanjaro airport, to the various locations of our safari including Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and back to the airport for our journey home, we did not encounter any problems. Our guide Allen was great, very knowledgeable about all the animals and was able to answer all of our questions! He was also great at spotting animals from far away. I would recommend booking with Mama Savana for anyone looking for an amazing and memorable experience!
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well worthwhile travelling nearly 13,000 kilometres to go on this safari.
I hoped and expected this ride would be challenging and it certainly lived up to that. The environment takes a certain type of horse, not least one that has excellent feet as some of the going was really tough for them. I was lucky enough to be given a very experienced chestnut mare. Was so impressed at how she knew the best bit of ground. Once I had worked out that she knew far more than me I had the most amazing ride. My fellow guests were all really interesting people and I hope to keep in touch. Maybe meet on another Namibia ride. The team made up of Andrew, Telane, Rayne, Phoebe, Nelson and Colin made the trip amazing. Great food (thanks Rayne and Phoebe), well watered (Andrew is an excellent host as well as guide), incredibly well cared horses and Telane has an excellent eye for both the horse and rider's welfare. Colin and Nelson - such hard working guys. The horse lines were always ready and the horses food prepared. They also shod the horses when needed as well as preparing our showers every night. Too easy to go on and on! Overall - long hard day's riding followed by a night spent under the stars - what more could I ask for. I look forward to returning some day.