20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
“A Great Safari Experience with Filao Adventures”
Filao adventures never disappoints!their exceptional customer service ,professionalism and excellent organization make every trip a wonderful experience. The team is welcoming, reliable, and attentive to every detail, ensuring a stress-free and memorable journey. I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for quality travel experience. can't wait for my next adventure with filao adventures!
KZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ok
All was good enough. Just read their prospects carefully before planning.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
While the wildlife was extraordinary, the safari was tainted by bad guiding, poor gear, and delays.
Incredible Wildlife, but Disappointing Tour Organisation and Guiding
We went on a 5-day safari with Suricata Safari, visiting Tarangire National Park, spending two nights in the Serengeti, and exploring the Ngorongoro Crater.
First of all, the safari itself was incredible. These parks are among the best wildlife destinations in the world, and we were fortunate to see an amazing variety of animals. The overall itinerary was generally well planned, and the wildlife experience was unforgettable. Unfortunately, several aspects of the tour operator’s organisation and service significantly affected our experience.
1. Poor communication and last-minute changes
Our pre-safari briefing did not take place as scheduled and was delayed by approximately three and a half hours. Furthermore, when we arrived at Twiga Campsite, we were informed that our planned visit to Tarangire National Park would be postponed. We had specifically wanted to visit Tarangire first, allowing the safari to build towards the highlights of the trip. This change was communicated only briefly upon our arrival at the campsite, without any prior notice or explanation.
2. Our guide was essentially just a driver
This was by far the biggest disappointment. Our guide provided very little information about the wildlife, the national parks, or the itinerary. There was almost no communication, and we were rarely informed about the plan for the day, the expected schedule, or what we could expect to see.
A safari guide should do much more than simply drive from one place to another. Explaining animal behaviour, sharing knowledge about the ecosystem, and helping guests understand what they are seeing are essential parts of the experience. Fortunately, another traveller in our group had studied biology and was able to explain many things about the animals to us. Without this person, our safari experience would have been considerably less informative.
3. Poor camping equipment and repetitive food
At the public campsite in the Serengeti, the sleeping equipment was disappointing. The mattresses and sleeping bags were visibly worn out, and the mattresses varied considerably in quality, with some being extremely thin. One traveller in our group did not even receive a pillow.
The food was acceptable and there was enough to eat, but the meals were very repetitive and not particularly enjoyable. This was not a major issue in itself, but overall, the quality could have been better.
4. Too much time wasted coordinating different accommodation categories
Another significant issue was that our vehicle carried both budget and mid-range travellers who were staying at different accommodations. As a result, we repeatedly had to pick up or wait for the mid-range guests. This cost us valuable time that could otherwise have been spent in the national parks.
Consequently, we often entered the parks relatively late and sometimes spent only three or four hours there. For example, our descent into the Ngorongoro Crater took place quite late, and we had to leave again around midday because other members of the group needed to return to Arusha that day.
I also felt that we missed opportunities for early-morning game drives in the Serengeti. Instead of starting around 6 a.m., as would have been possible, we generally set off at around 8:30 a.m. Early mornings are among the best times to observe wildlife, and when travelling all the way to the Serengeti, I believe these opportunities should be taken seriously.
Conclusion
I would absolutely recommend visiting Tarangire, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater. The wildlife and landscapes are extraordinary, and the safari itself was an unforgettable experience.
However, I cannot give Suricata Safari the same recommendation. The lack of guiding, insufficient communication, worn-out camping equipment, and inefficient organisation meant that we did not get as much out of the experience as we could have. In particular, combining budget and mid-range travellers in a way that repeatedly reduced our time in the parks was frustrating.
The parks themselves were outstanding, but the tour operator did not fully deliver on the experience I had expected. With a knowledgeable guide, better communication, improved camping equipment, and more efficient scheduling, this could have been a much better safari.
TN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The operator was available most of the time and professional
The safari experience was really nice, the guides were welcoming and responsive for our needs, the camp sites had the necessities and the was food okey, except that the lunch boxes during the day were really bad (most of the time they contained sandwitches with one slice of cucumber and one slice of tomato) so make sure you have some backup food wise, othet than that the operator provided me with a private taxi from the airport who basically scamed for 50usd (20usd for the ride to the hotel and 30usd said it includes price of the highway 10usd and 20usd for taking me to breakfast which I paid for)
CA
A Little Scattered
My partner and I did a 2 night safari to Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The park is amazing and would highly recommend!
The issue we had was around the miscommunication we had with the tour operators and feeling like we were constantly waiting. The tour we paid for included a morning pickup on the first day in Nairobi and a game drive that day. However, we were left waiting to be picked up and the time kept being pushed back. We didn't end up getting picked up until the afternoon by a driver and then we had to wait for the guide. We finally got to our safari camp after dark, and did not do a game drive.
The next morning we got into the park much later than we were told. For some of it we were even waiting at the park entrance and our guide was standing around talking to people.
The next morning we also left later than expected and missed sunrise in the park. We also had to pickup other people from the group from another hotel and ended up waiting for them for a while. This meant we barely got a game drive the second day, and needed to join another tour to leave the park. This really cut into our time when we only had 2 days.
Our guide was a little slow getting things moving but when in the park he was searching for animals and even tried rushing across the park for an lion sighting.
Our primary issues were the tour being different than the itinerary we were quoted for, and multiple people having different interaries, which led to too much logistics planning. If you are to go with this tour group I would recommend confirming the tour you are quoted for is what you are doing, and seeing if you will be moving around to different vehicles throughout the tour, which reduces time on game drives. Also, when bringing up these issues to our point of contact over WhatsApp, we were ignored.
Amboseli Park is amazing though and i would highly recommend going there to see all of the elephants and views of Mount Kilmanjaro. The game drives were really good once we got going. There is so much wildlife to see all across the park. Also, the Osutua Rafiki Camp was really nice! It exceeded our expectations and would stay there again!
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Think twice...
The trip overall was good. The design of the safari itinerary could be adjusted based on our preference. Our guide in Kenya, Daniel, and the guide in Tanzania, Japhet Bundala, both are very nice people, responsible, professional, responsive and very friendly. We almost got all we expected for the animals and migration. The quote is fair and you could choose the level of accommodations.
However, there were a lot of confusing situations that I have to mention. 10 days before the trip, when I wanted to confirm our accommodations, the adviser was not replying very in time, which was a red flag for me. And later when we had arrived at Nairobi, we didn't even know the contact number of our pick up. The night before our safari started, the adviser again disappeared, so I had to contact their manager to find a guide for us in Kenya. That was 8pm, and we were told we would start our safari 7:30am the next morning.
When we arrived at Arusha, their manager met us in person and made a good brief. And the safari guided by Japhet was good. He has nice teamwork with other guides and we saw big five and river crossing. But when we transferred to Zanzibar, again we weren't told the contact number of pick up, standing confused at the airport.
There were many other details that I didn't mention, e.g. they checked our passports and flight information many times as they never saved our information, many arrangement seemed very temporary. At the end our trip finished completely, but that's the result of many back and forth communications at WeChat, email and Whatsapp. I really tried hard to find different people through different methods to get their attention.
My suggestion is, if you are very good at communication and have the preparation to handle all the random, you can still choose them for the fair quote.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice drivers but bad management
Hello everyone i hope you are reading this
Going by road is very tiring and there is no much things to see so better go by flight, the hotel books was very very bad , people are good but food and accommodation very bad, choose yourself the lodging and if you have the budget invest somewhere in the kruger itself or inside a reserve . Take those we put in the eyes to see far because you will need them. They dont stick to the plan the are saying so make sure to communicate about it . And also dont give all meals they said.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Ok wish we had a better first stop
Tiyani was our driver he wasn't bad and we got to the airport on time
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Knowledgeable guide but disappointing service and communication
We booked a private safari with Beyond the Plains, and our guide was Douglas. He was very knowledgeable about wildlife and answered our questions thoroughly. However, several aspects of the experience left us disappointed.
Before our arrival, the company told us that our guide would be waiting at the airport arrivals exit holding a sign with our names. Despite receiving our flight information in advance, the promised pickup did not go as expected. We could not find Douglas and were kept waiting. We later learned that he had apparently been in the parking lot. We never saw a sign with our names, even inside the vehicle.
During our highway journey, Douglas was involved in a road accident while driving us. Afterward, we had to stop at a vehicle dealership, which reduced our time on safari. At the time, he offered neither an apology nor a clear explanation of what had happened or why the stop was necessary. He apologized only after we reported the incident to the safari company.
Douglas told us he had more than ten years of experience. While his wildlife knowledge was a strength, his manner sometimes came across as overly proud of his experience. We did not feel involved in planning the game drives. He answered questions when asked, but rarely proactively suggested areas to explore, explained his plans, or discussed options based on sighting information from other guides. We would have appreciated more initiative and communication.
During game drives, he drove very slowly, and other safari vehicles frequently passed us. We understand that slow driving can help with safety and spotting wildlife. However, without an explanation of his approach, we were often unsure of the plan or whether we were making the most of our time.
There were also two occasions involving additional passengers whom Douglas described as friends. We agreed to the first person’s joining us. However, we did not give our consent for the second person to join, yet that person rode with us for approximately five hours from our hotel to Nairobi. We had booked a private safari and expected the vehicle to be exclusively for our party. Having an additional passenger for such a long journey without our consent did not match that expectation.
During this journey, the second passenger threw a plastic bottle out of the vehicle. Douglas said nothing in response. We were shocked by the littering and disappointed that our safari guide did not speak up, particularly given the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife.
Overall, we appreciated Douglas’s wildlife knowledge, but knowledge alone did not make up for the shortcomings in communication and service. The airport pickup, the handling of the accident, the additional passenger without our consent, and the response to littering fell short of our expectations for a private safari.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful
The safari was very good, though the organization was a bit lacking; everything was sorted out towards the end of the safari.