US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Shannon
Limited wildlife viewing. If you are only in Tanzania one day, this might be ok for a day trip, but as far as a safari destination, I’d go for the bigger parks.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tanzania Serengeti is absolutely amazing!
When I first entered Serengeti NP, I was sure there wouldn’t be much to see. I was pleasantly surprised in less than a few hours! The wildlife was abundant-saw the Big 5 in the central Serengeti over the course of a couple of days in addition to a female cheetah and 2 cubs. Black rhino was even wondering through the central Serengeti on my last morning drive, which apparently is extremely rare. Serengeti Heritage tented tented camp was excellent. Traveled with African Savannah Trekkers and Horace as my guide. The planning experience with Maureen from start to finish was excellent! Horace was a great guide who I would recommend to any single traveler or group.
Tarangire NP and Ngorongoro Creater were both beautiful with abundant animals, even saw a serval in the crater! Only thing I would skip if I was going back would be Lake Manyara. After seeing so much in the Serengeti, the Crater, and Tarangire, Lake Manyara was uneventful.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our tour operator was funny, engaging, and a great driver. Loved the experience.
Communication was great, accommodations were awesome and we saw the big 5 + cheetahs!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Niko/Susan both have college degrees, speak six different language. Fun,smart,and a joy to be with!
I have just experienced the most amazing trip of my life, traveling to Kenya and Tanzania, experiencing such awe-inspiring wonders of Africa as the Masai Mara National Reserve, the Serengeti National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and many, many more places indelibly impressed in my memory.
One might have qualms about venturing out on safari into the wilds of Africa, but from the time we landed in the heart of our destination to the time we departed, we were safe and well taken care of in every respect. Thanks to Niko at Destination Consultants, our trip was scheduled out each day, starting with a huge breakfast and then off on a new part of our safari to see one jaw-dropping sight after another, then an amazing lunch and a little nap, off to another safari, before stopping during the evening for good food, a shower, and surprisingly comfortable sleeping accommodations.
Our Land Rovers were driven by guides (Niko, Elliot, Jackson, and Raymond) who had a great breadth and depth of knowledge about the incredible sights in front of us. They shared their knowledge about the massive, thriving ecosystem that lay before us. There was so much to see, but plenty of time to observe and discuss and photograph every aspect of the fauna, flora, and rugged geography. We were also taken to an old tribal village, where we discovered features of the lifestyle of the tribal people of the area – defensive stone walls, sturdy huts to house the tribesman’s wives and children, as well as food sources, cooking utensils and techniques, and means of obtaining water.
But animals! So many animals in their normal habitat! Huge, large, normal, and tiny! Land, water, and sky! Monstrous, powerful, ugly, graceful, beautiful, peaceful herbivores and hungry carnivores! When speaking of African animal life, though, one must see the spectacle called The Great Migration (sometimes called The Great Wildebeest Migration), where millions of wildebeests and thousands of plains animals trek in a huge clockwise circle, from the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya and the return, searching for lush grazing grounds and life-giving water. It is their cycle of life. And we had a front row seat to their struggle!
The last day of our safari experience, we spent time at the Gebra Memorial School, a struggling educational institution serving the Maasai children from the Meserani village of Arusha, Tanzania. These children are very thankful for the schooling provided for them there. Our group gave some useful gifts and money to help the school and its students, they had gifts for us as well. The children were very sweet, singing songs for us to show their appreciation. We left feeling very good about our visit.
Our group was made up of three generations, grandparents down to an eight-year-old, and all were enthralled in what appeared before us each day. We loved every moment of it. We grew closer together as we came to understand that our journey was part of a larger journey taking place on a massive scale. This journey and the effect it had on us will remain with us forever. Our thirteen days of the safari were unforgettable, and we would not change a thing.
And again, I must give great thanks to Niko at Destination Consultants for the special care he took to provide our group with everything we needed. For example, the airline lost the luggage belonging to my roommate and me, and Niko went out of his way to track it down and see that it was delivered to us.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adam was great
The guys who does Safari with us; guide Petter, his assistant Jerome and our chef Bari, makes this trip awesome!
Amazing personal touche!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful and amazing honeymoon
Me and my wife choose Proud of Tanzania Safaris to visit lake natron and Maasai tribes. Then we went to the Serengeti national park and crater natron. The knowledge of Tanzania of our driver Amani made our trip incredible ! It was a perfect journey : endless landscape, sharing with populations, lodging and hotel quality, timing of game drives and food were good. Our vehicle was a 4x4 very comfortable, and clean. We had so much fun in with one local guide Amani the entire trip. Amani was the driver, tour coordinator, and game expert which was funny and professional. Without hesitation we can highly recommend
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This man saved our safari
After we were swindled by another tour operator Jakob stepped up and saved our safari for us. Even though this had to be arranged at the very last minute, everything was great! We had a fantastic five day safari with excellent car, driver, cook and lodging. All in all a very good experience and we recommend everyone to book their safari with Smile tours.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just dubious, corrupt u. unorganized.
A good safari with a very good guide ..... But I can not understand why twice the accommodation is changed, I have to pay more and then get a lodge whose standard is lower than the other. Very bad organization and not even an apology. I will not recommend this organizer.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Vic Falls plus Linyanti, Khwai, & Sanctuary Stanley's safari camps in Botswana
For this trip we compared four different tour operators in order to find the best option for our interests and timeline, Giltedge provided the best package that matched all our needs. The overall experience was fantastic and just as advertised/communicated to us up front. Very impressed with the Giltedge team and their attention to detail, what was promised was delivered. All of the connections, transfers, accommodations, and activities occurred without any problems or delays.
A special thank you to our consultant Sandi Bird who did a marvelous job of packaging this trip to meet our cost, schedule, and destination requests. I would highly recommend Sandi and Giltedge, their efforts made our first trip to Africa a truly special experience.
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Complete, adventurous and stunning trip
We visited Serengeti, Lake Manyara Nat park, Arusha Nat Park, Ngorongoro Tarangire Nat Park. Awesome trip. Complete and adventurous thanks to Christopher and his team.
We enjoyed camping out a lot which was an exciting experience especially to hear the sounds of the wild animals at night. Wonderful camp sites were chosen in the middle of the parks. They understand that privacy is key to the experience and we camped a few times with no company at all which we appreciated very much. It was such a privilege.Our guide and cook were really concerned about us, they were helpful and wanted us to feel at home during the trip. Delicious meals were served every day, in a “dining tent”. A real treat. We learned interesting stuff about nature and the animals thanks to our guide who patiently answered all our questions and who brought us safely from one park to another. We don’t know how he did it, but apparently he has a trained eye to spot animals. We saw so many species and it was exciting to see them in their natural habitat.
We highly recommend Christopher and his team for a safari in Tanzania. It was not my first time in Tanzania but it was the most memorable one especially thanks to their hospitality and their professionalism.