DE
Email Luca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The time of your life!
The main purpose of my trip to Tanzania was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. But since I had few days between my arrival in Tanzania and the start of the climb I decided to book a Safari. I picked three agencies through safaribooking and asked them to provide me an offer. The reservation and payment process was quick and easy. I arrived in Tanzania on February 2nd, it was the end of the rainy season and I was struck by the beauty of the landscapes around Kilimanjaro Airport, with a wonderful tropical forest. Unfortunately along the street which takes to Arusha there were dozens of slums and unpaved roads. Arush itself is nothing special at all, but it's the perfect starting point for any safari headed to NgoroNgoro and Serengeti. I had booked a four days group Safari to Serengeti and NgoroNgoro but as I was the only one willing to sleep in a Lodge I found my self alone with the Safari Guide/Driver. He was just amazing ! Serengeti it's simply unforgettable, pure magic, amazing wildlife and landscapes. The time of your life! NgoroNgoro didn't tell me much, but seen from aboveon the terrace located on the way down it's beautiful- The lodges I slept in were simply perfect, two nights inside Serengeti, with the Lions roaring during the night and amazing thunderstorms in the far distance. The food as well was always good, nothing special or typical from Tanzania, but absolutely okk !
But Kilimanjaro again was the time of my lifw!
TR
Email Leanne Torio | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bucket List Ticked
I loved my Safari with Best Day Safari...they were terrific ...magical experience...thankyou to all that made such a great trip!
DE
Email Carola | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
National parks good, accommodation and catering (for vegetarians) in need of improvement
Rainy October, Saadani NP flooded, therefore alternative route to Selous and Mikumi.
Vehicle in good condition and very suitable for difficult weather conditions, responsible driver. Accommodation in Selous good but food needs to be urgently improved (especially for vegetarians). The non-vegetarians saw it the same way. Accommodation in Mikumi not as planned in the chalet of Camp Bastian, instead in a tent with shower (cold) and external bath on Camp Bastian Ground. Very disappointing!
NO
Email Knut Ole Myrberg | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We got to see almost all possible animals. Accomodation was ok. The safari guide was not very good in english, and he did not know how to drive a car with manuel gearing
CH
Email Urs | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania would be nice - with good roads and less dust.
Hello.
I was surprised that 2019 Dar Es Salaam still has bad roads, almost no modern supermarket and some people living in a box of the size 2x1x1 meter (next to the bus station at the fish market)!!
Arusha has some good roads - from the Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha and from Arusha in the direction of Tarangire and Ngorongoro - and some bad roads. But WHY are there NO paved roads from Ngorongoro to the Serengeti?? Now in July the dust on the road was so massiv, that you COULDN'T see the cars crossing your way - and that IS VERY DANGEROUS! My driver was caughing every few minutes. He had a chronic caugh, because he was inhaling this dust since months - or even years (he is doing this job since 15 years). For him it's like working in a mine!
Please pave those roads!!
I might visit the Serengeti again - but I will NEVER EVER drive in to the Serengeti again! Next time I will take the plane from the Arusha Airport to the Seronera Airstrip.
The wildlife inside the Serengeti and in the Ngorongoro Crater is fantastic. You can see a lot of animals. Ok, sometimes you feel a bit like in a "drive in zoo".
The accomodation was superb - better than I ever expected, even in the tents. Hot shower, very nice furniture, great food and so on.
Food: Well, I am NOT a vegeterian, but in Tanzania i didn't eat meet anymore. The quality of the meet is not like in Europe. But that's ok - the rest of the food, the dinners e.g. were fantastic. I just had more potatoes, rice and mash potatoes... :-) and vegetables.
My driver was a very good driver and his English was fantastic. I'm glad, in Tanzania English is important too :-)
So - all in all - I have a bit mixed feelings. The Serengeti is very nice, but the distances to get there are too long. On a nice road - like they have to the National Parks in the USA - it would be much more comfortable. The reason why the USA has nice roads in to the parks is that older people, retired people with a lot of free time, can drive in to those parks as well and be close to the fantastic nature.
Best Regards
Urs
.
PT
Email Nuno Pinto | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What could have been a dream trip, ended a disaster
The wild life, the sun stets and sun rises, the scenery were spectacular. All this, that could have been the trip of our lives, was immediately reduced to a "not doable again", because of the following history. This was a 2 week trip to Zanzibar with a passage on Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Every days were scheduled, by the minute. The Safari was scheduled for 3 days and 2 nights. We were arriving at Arusha at 9 o'clock, and we were supposed to join a group for the safari. In the day after the safari, the agency called us, saying that we couldn't join the group, because we were arriving at 9 and it was not possible to delay the safari because of us. We were really disappointed because we had the written confirmation by the agency, and now it was not possible... We force them to get a solution for us because everything was planed, and at the time, nothing was possible. So we managed a solution with another jeep just for us, but we had to pay 800 dollars more for this solution. In the day we arrived at the airport, there was the guyed and the agency lady, that in the moment asked us for the money of the safari, and the extra money for the change that it was not our mistake, it was theirs. We pull out a credit card, and we were about to have another problem. The machine wasn't working and we had to go to the near bank, that it was a 50 minutes drive. So if were late at 9 we were late 3 hours more for this trip to the bank. At the bank we couldn't withdraw money in the bank, we had to do it form an ATM machine. we had to use the card 8 times to withdraw money and we paid 12 dollars of taxes more for each withdraw. It was an extra 300 dollars for the safari. After this we were really late to arrive at the park to set up the tent. The trip was a completely adventure, the pour guyed that showed us the park had to drive like mad to get to the park on time, we had to lunch during the drive, we had to stop to pick up our materials for the tent.
So we arrived at the park, and of course it was dark already. For our surprise and one more time the agency lied to us, we had to set up the tent instead of having dinner and have the tent prepared after it. After a dangerous travel by jeep, and a very quick but very taste dinner from our chef, we had to set up a tent. After this we sow that there were no wood beds for us, just like the ones we sow on the picture that the agency sent us before confirming the safari on tents. We sleep on a small mattress in the floor of the tent, that didn't had any time to clear the air inside of it, the smell was really bad. Despite all this in the next day we had to pick up and disassemble the tent for the 1st day in the safari, we were more tired than the day before. We visit Serengeti, and we enjoyed it very much, but of course we arrived at another park, where we saw all tourists with their tents set up, and we had to set up our tent once again and in the next day to disassemble it once again.
What could have been a dream trip ended up like a tiring one.
Email Premlata Shah | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Hotels and luxurious camps were excellent but not happy with the guide provided by Savannah Explorer
We booked our safari with Savannah Explorers whose service was excellent when booking etc. The land cruiser provided could be improved. We saw a lot of wildlife except including gazelles, antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes but the lions, lionesses, leopards, cheetahs were extremely rare. The best wildlife was in North Serengeti and Central Serengeti. Not much wildlife Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara was a waste of time - did not sea any tree lions. We stayed in Wellcome lodges and camps which were excellent, top class. The food was great when in the lodges and camps but unfortunately got fed of up picnic lunches, so carry your own foodstuff as well, as there is very limited stuff they can offer for picnic lunch boxes. Make sure when you book, you mention to the company to give you a knowledgeable guide who is familiar with the surroundings, knowledgeable of the wildlife, and all the roads in the park as unfortunately our guard was not up the standard and hence were disappointed somewhat regarding e service we got from him. Overall we were happy with the company but there is room for improvement in certain areas. I am happy to recommend this company provided an excellent guide/driver is provided. Make sure you have a good camera with excellent zoom to take good pictures.
Being immersed in Nature: a surreal experience defying expectations
Stunning scenery, access to all wild nature and an enthusiastic knowledgeable driver / guide made the whole experience unforgettable.
Highlights such as “fights” between teenage elephants, lionesses surveying migrating zebras and crocs submerged in the water lurking for their moment to strike were vintage as was the hospitality offered while glamp-ing in the wild.
Masai villages, probably unchanged in the last 20,000 years were a point of serious reflection as the realisation that Serengeti was once part of the Lake Victoria before it dried up.
CA
Email Nadia Vena | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African experience!
We had a great time in Tanzania! Highlights would definitely be the Safari. It was exhilarating to see the animals in their habitat. This was truly an experience for us, as obviously this is not available to us in Canada. Our guide was excellent - he was knowledgeable and made every effort to make our Safari experience memorable in trying to see as many animals as possible despite the rainy condition of the day. Our trek back from Mikumi was a challenge, due to to the traffic jam we encountered. However, our guide got us back to our hotel safe and sound. We would recommend Selous Explorer to others travelling to Dar Es Salaam. Thank you!
DE
Email Kadir | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania was beautiful but the change of our travel plan by Uhuru was not nice
We visited end of February Tanzania. Wildlife, scenery and the weather was perfect. We did camping. So nothing luxury, but the tents and sleeping bags were clean. It was a great experience to hear the wild animals in the night in the near of the tents. The cook prepared amazing food for us. So Tanzania was beautiful and I recommend everyone to go for it. One thing was not nice. It was planned that we visit first Tarangire, then Serengeti and then Ngorongoro. Uhuru changed our travel plan, we visited first Serengeti and then Ngorongoro with two other tourists. In the third day the safari ended at 1 PM for us (half day!). The two other tourists went with the same SUV to Arusha on the same day. We spend the half day at the camping side. Next day another car brought us to Tarangire. This change was not nice. Uhuru informed us about the change at the first day of the safari. So we did not have a chance other than doing the best out of the safari.
