DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome 9-day-safari with Edward & 4 leopards
We did a great 9 day tour with Edward to Massai Mara, Nakuru, Amboseli, Hells Gate and Tsavo East/West. It was booked as a budget tour with tented camps, some lodges (mostly outside parks, two inside) and one night of real camping in hells gate. Most of the accommodations exceeded our budget expectations esp. Oldarpoi Camp and Amboseli AA Lodge were very nice.
We were also extremely lucky with animals as we saw 4 leopards altogether, many many lions, 2 cheetahs, several rhino (I don't count elephants, zebras and giraffes anymore) . Saw the big five actually in the 1st two days at Massai Mara. Every park has its highlights and differences. It was wonderful. You need to know that roads to and in the parks can be very rough, though. Journeys to and from the parks were very exhausting, esp.the one to Massai Mara. And good roads in Kenia are generally full of overloaded and very slow lorries. Nothing much FlashMC can do about that, maybe improvement of suspension on the safari bus. ;)
Our guide and driver Edward managed all those things most greatly though. He is a well organized, very responsible und very lovable guy and a skilled driver too. We had a lot of fun together and he even taught us a Kenian card game (so bring a pack of cards). ;) Peter, the tour manager, is also a very nice guy, working hard to please every customer. He even met us persoally just to say hello. I am a very controlling person, so I asked a lot of questions beforehand which Peter answered all duly. Thus nearly everything went as planned. Upon request Peter also organized a day in Hells Gate incl. pitching tents inside the park with an extra guide who did a bicycle and canyon tour with us and also a cook for evening dinner. This was extremely cool and very adventurous. Merely the tents (brought by the extra guide) were in pretty chaotic and bad condition. Luckily our own camping experience made it all work out that night (of course we feedbacked all this to Peter). ;) Thank you, Edward and Peter!! We won't forget this great holiday!
Good service and efficient
We just did our booking through Safari.com and they were very helpful and efficient.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Trip of My Life!
My friend and I signed up for the 8-day African Safari Tour (budget version) with Gatatu Safaris. Steven was our driver and he took care of us from beginning to end. Steven was The Best! He always looked out for our best interest and made sure that everything we needed was taken care of throughout the entire trip even to the smallest details. Our trip was during the last 2 weeks of October so there were short rainstorms every day which only lasted for 30min to 1 hour. We seemed to get lucky with no rain on the days we went chimpanzee and gorilla trekking, which I'm so grateful because the main reason for taking this trip was to photograph the wildlife. This was my first time in Africa and to see all of the wildlife with my own eyes roaming freely was absolutely amazing! We paid extra to do the chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park which was worth every penny. We hiked for almost 1.5hrs to get to the chimpanzees and because we signed up for the habituation experience, we were able to be amongst the chimpanzees for a good solid 2hrs. The gorilla tracking was even more outstanding! Due to the water damaged roads to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from the overnight rain, Steven took us to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Although the drive on the unpaved roads were rocky, Steven was a pro with the 4x4 and got us to the trail that leads to the entrance of the Park. It was a moderate to strenuous 30min hike to get to the park entrance. Fortunately the park's rangers and trackers start at 7:30am to locate the family of gorillas prior to our hike so we only had to hike for a little over an hour to reach the gorilla family. We were able to get about 5-7ft away from the gorillas (3 silverbacks, 1 female, 1 juvenile and 1 20week toddler). These gorillas were the most gentle giants and so entertaining to watch! Our other activities include a boat ride along the Kazinga Channel where we were able to see an elephant, several species of birds, so many hippos and a crocodile. Took a canoe ride around a few of the 29 islands in the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. The accommodations were excellent and the meals were delicious every where we stayed. The customer service everywhere we stayed were top notch as well. I enjoyed every bit of this trip and I consider it the best trip of my life so far. I highly recommend Gatatu Safaris as they are trustworthy and provide great customer service!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari with Destination Jungle! Highly recommended!
My father and I just returned from an epic trip with Destination Jungle. We booked the DJ Uganda Safari 9 Days 8 Nights and chose the optional extension to Lake Mburo for the last day for a total of 10 days and 9 nights. Our trip took us to Murchison Falls, Budongo Forest to see chimpanzees, two parts of Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to see gorillas and to Lake Mburo. Our guide was Charles and he was exceptional. It was just the two of us and Charles and it was the experience of a lifetime. We saw so many animals and birds in all the parks, including 8 lions, a leopard, a hyena, a jackal, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, hippos, warthogs, and many others. We loved watching the chimps and the gorillas and it was interesting to compare the two primate species. We were unusually lucky; it was just the two of us and a guide for the gorilla experience. Charles was always looking for ways to improve our experience and we enjoyed getting to know him. He was a very capable driver which is important on some of the roads we traveled on during the safari. Uganda is improving the roads now, but some of them were pretty gnarly so we needed a good driver to navigate them! We also met Christina from DJ, and she was very friendly and helpful. The lodges were beautiful- far nicer than I had expected, and accommodations were lovely. The food, especially the soups served at the beginning of dinner, were some of the best I've had. I highly recommend a visit to Uganda and a safari with Destination Jungle. We will be back and we'll use them again!
AE
Amaizing experience, professional staff, great meals, timely, responsive and caring team.
Communication was excellent, before during and after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Castro the tour operator made sure I was well looked after. The service accorded was amaizing, 5 star despite being in the mountain. They made sure everything was ok. Checking if I was getting sick. The guide was exceptionally patient with my pace. On summit day the guide was professional. Explains every detail and checking out for my security and health as we did the climb in the middle of the night/morning. On the trek down he took the same care as the way up. Making sure all was ready by the time we got to the next camp. I made it successful to the summit with perfect health and a huge smile. Thanks to the hard work of the team at Cappello Adventures.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Natural wonders galore!
I can't say enough good things about our safari experience with Charles. We had to book very last minute due to other safari booking plans falling through and he was still able to accommodate us. The price was super reasonable and our hotel/tented lodgings were fantastic. Charles's years of experiences shows through his knowledge about the animals and the parks. His company is relatively new and smaller but it also meant that our safari did not feel like a generic safari but rather one that was personal and individualized to our needs. I highly recommend booking with Tanganyika Ancient Routes safari.
US
excellent
I had a great holiday in tanzania. The car was excellent. Our guide Cosmas drove very safe. We have seen a lot of wild animals. Compliment to the guide and safarihub .
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Can't Wait to Go Again!
Our honeymoon safari with a Zanzibar detox afterwards was amazing thanks to Alym and East Africa Adventures! Alym was wonderful and helped us book our safari quickly - and we had even asked kind of last minute but it was no issue. We worked off an itinerary they already had with a bit of customization that Alym suggested which was absolutely wonderful. We're so glad we switched out a lodge to do tented camping for a couple of days.
Our tour guide, Kim, was incredibly knowledgeable and patient - which pays off on safari! He knew every kind of animal and had an eagle eye for spotting animals. We went during dry season, and cannot wait to go back to see what it's like during wet season.
Zanzibar was great too. It was a different feel than our safari part of our trip, but enjoyed it as well and it was nice to relax after long days on safari. I'm glad we booked through East Africa Wild!
US
You will love it - see lots without huge crowds.
It has almost all major animals except rhino. Not overwhelmed with tourist vehicles - a bit more private experience. Our guide was super - including positioning the vehicle for best photo angles. Have been to parks in 4 countries and this is my favorite for the overall experience.
Review about Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park by engeltoy
This park is the best park for seeing and spending time with the large cats of Africa. The entry is limited so is tends to be quieter. Seeing the animals surviving in the dessert environment is humbling.