Tanzania Travel Guide

The are parks of similar size and similar wildlife in other African countries that matches Mikumi.

Tanzania was beautiful! The people were very friendly. The lodges we stayed at were amazing! We camped 2 nights and stayed at nice lodges the other nights. All were great experiences! We visited the Messiah tribe. Loved Tanzania! We felt safe the whole time we were there.

Too expensive and infrastructure can make National Parks difficult to reach. I have been on safari in South Africa and Namibia, which altogether has a more "Western" feel, but also is less expensive, easier to reach by normal car.

It was my first, in Saadani N.P.: for sure I will organize better next time!

For my friend and I it was the first safari: we were in Zanzibar, so we decided to visit Saadani National Park(closer and smaller), even if we knew that it was not the best and most "populated" African park. Unfortunately the agency we chose was not clear about the duration of the journey from Dar Es Salaam port to the park. We had several issues with our car until we got stuck into the mud: I know people may say it is part of the adventure... however, it is not funny when you have less than 2 days.... In the end we did not make the boat safari to see crocodiles and hippos because in the morning the tide was not at the correct level...I am wondering why we did not make it in the previous afternoon then! For sure, it was very exciting for 2 Europeans to spot giraffes, monkeys and above all a big lonely elephant. We were expecting something more, especially a real guide, not only a silent driver who seems to be annoyed by us... accommodation was ok, but for a possibile future safari, I would not take selousrufijihippoadventure.com into consideration. Anyway, I think that this was just a start and that we have learnt something for next safari.

A lot of nerves needed

This is merely a Review about Gombe Track & Safari, The Mahale Nationalpark, their guiding and accommodation as well as the Coast View Resort Hotel in Kigoma.
I was picked up in Dar from my hotel early in the morning and in time and brought to the airport. My flight with Tanzania Air was also very good and smooth. I arrived on the schedule in Kigoma where a car from the Gombe Track and Safari was waiting for. In addition to a driver, a cook was provided, who served me in Mahale very well. The car was in a bad shape and not suitable for the rough road of 107 km which I mentioned already on our way to the park. But we made it. After an exhausting trip, lasting 6 hours we reached the village from where a boat trip was organized. This speedboat hacked me through the waves so that my back was badly aching for hours after my arrival. However the most pleasant moments I had in Mahale although my driver from the Gombe Safari company had sent the boat to pick me up again for my return one day to early. We however got that settled well and I could stay as it was planned for 4 days enjoying the jungle and the Chimps I had paid for.
The boat came on the 23rd of January to pick me up again. It was late because of the rough waves on lake Tanganyika. The driver had been sleeping in his car overnight because he came one day too early. It was exactly the same car as on the trip to Mahale. This time happened what I had been expecting during our first trip. The car broke because of electrical problems after 35 km in the middle of nowhere on a hot and dusty road in the wilderness. Some Daladala busses dropped by until it got dark. I urged the driver several times to get into contact with Joshua, the manager of the company, several times. Joshua came to pick us up at 9 pm when it was already dark and brought us to Kigoma, where we arrived at 00:30, totally exhausted, dirty and sweaty at the booked hotel (Kigoma Coast View Resort) which has a 4 Star reputation. The receptionist, a girl had already fell asleep but opened us the door and has let me in into my room. Dirty as I was I wanted to get a cold shower but noticed, that there was no water in the hotel. The shower could not be used, the toilet not be flushed until the next morning from 7:45 am to 8:20 am, when the hotel manager allowed to put on the pump, which delivered the water into the rooms. So I had to sleep dirty and sweaty as I was in my sheets, getting no sleep at all. After taking my shower in the morning I waited to be picked up by Joshua and demanded to see the idiot of manager of that hotel and made clear that this kind of treatment of guest is not only unacceptable but a crime to the paying customer. He apologized but didn't give my money back which would have been the only acceptable way to proceed. I have been regularly in Tanzania for 7 years as a voluntary pediatrician and seen a lot of inconvenience but never have been in a situation like this. This hotel should be put onto a black list for avoiding damage to other customers. Also Gombe Safaris should have offered a compensation for all the problems with the car and for booking this hotel. I was offered a lunch on the day I left. I am sorry to say that but I have the impression after many years being in Afrika that companies which are running under local, african personnel and not able to offer proper level of service and endanger their customers. The next time I am taking a Safari I will make sure who is running the company. This should be a warning to every tourist coming from Europe or the States or Australia to pick their services carefully, avoiding local companies.

Two days out in the African wilderness

I spent a weekend in Mikumi National Park. The trip there is very long, only a few hundred kilometres but takes 6-7 hours, so expect a lot of traffic. The scene is exotic with the high, yet completely green mountains. The park itself is very quiet (at least in February), not many tourists, so you can feel the wilderness close around you. Weather is quite unpredictable, sometimes it rains, sometimes the sun is burning you body. The wildlife was very abundant, everything could be seen except for the rhinos and carnivores. We did see some resting lions though, but usually they are hard to spot. Accommodation was amazing (Camp Bastien), way above my expectations. The guides on the other hand don't speak very much English, so it was hard to gather information from them.
To sum up, I can recommend a visit to this park, but considering the long commute, it would be better to combine this safari with another national park, for example Udzungwa Mountains.

7-day tanzania wildlife safari

My trip started from Tarangire National Park, and ended at Serengeti National Park. Everything went well until the day before my trip ended. We had a flat tire and the our truck was not equipped with proper tools to change a spare tire. So we got help from other guides. The spare tire was not in a good shape. So the next day (last day of our trip) we had another flat ; which turned out to be the spare tire. Now we don't have any spare tire . So I felt unsafe to continue on our game drive for the rest of the day. Not only that, while entering the Serengeti, the fuel tank strap broke thus hanging on one strap all the way. That slowed us down too.
I believe for any company the vehicles should be double checked for basic things such as proper inflation in tires, spare tires in good condition, overall health of the engine , check all the fluids, etc. And last but not the least , tools to change spare tires that are in working order.

with a couple of exceptions not overwhelming

I chose African Habitat safari company as it had good reviews and states in its info that they "believe in going above & beyond". That was not our perception. The interaction ended with the deposit payment.
On arrival in Arusha we were taken to the office of the agent they employ there & he allocated whatever driver & vehicle he chose. Really we could have put all the safari companies in a hat & drawn out one to go with. All the research we did to try to choose a "good" company was a bit of a waste of time.
we negotiated with the agent to send a taxi to transfer us to the airport for departure as we stayed in the area for two nights after the safari ended,,he forgot !! After lots of excuses a taxi arrived & we just made our flight. It just reinforced to us that despite all the "jumbo" & "akuna matatta" we are just an income stream

incredible and unique adventure

Wildlife was amazing
weather in July / August was perfect to do the safari
accommodation/Food very good (staff was very friendly)
guide was great, has a very good Knowledge about the Wildlife

It could have been better

The most important point when you book a safari is to ensure that it will be reliable. We took a 3 days safari, but it was not as well as it should.

In the description of the safari we could read the that the first day we drive to Mikumi National Park which is approximately 5 hours from Dar es Salaam. False. It was 8 hours and a half. When we arrived there was almost sunset, so we coudn't access to the park the first day. This was because the driver drove at 45 km per hour until the park. What's the catch? The three-days-access to the park was included in the total amount, so the agency (Kiliholidays Tours) saved the first day access.

Also, the car broke down the first day (problems with the refrigeration). The second day occured problems with the battery. The third day finally in Dar Es Salaam the car broke down, and we have to take other car to our hotel with a non-known driver. This driver broke down his car as well (ran out of gas), so we had to wait inside the car in the middle of the night until he came back 30 minutes later.

In summary, we had bad luck choosing the agency: we lost the enter the park the first day, and the third day we spent almost 10 hours to came back to Dar Es Salam because car breakdowns.

As something positive, we loved the park, although we didn't stay there all the time that we paid.