$3,004 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateThis Tour Is Offered By
The Amazing Shadows of Africa Guiding Team!
Shadows of Africa
- Offices In:
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United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
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KERWZATZUG
We are Shadows of Africa, an international team dedicated to sharing the beauty and wonder of Africa with the world. With both local offices and international offices, our team is a multicultural, multilingual family who are passionate about Africa’s wildlife, culture, and natural beauty. We live and breathe the African experience, and we are here to bring that experience to the world. We specialize in tailor making your tour to ensure you get the perfect safari!
Reviews142
SG
Virgin Safari Experience with Shadows
Planner: Chris Walker
Local Staff: Ben / Joyce
Guide / Driver: Jackson (with Nick being the driver who transferred us from the airport to our first accommodations)
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TLDR:
Pros - (1) Staff was responsive and did their best to accede to our requests. (2) Actual safari experience was great with Jackson being an experienced guide (17 years under his belt), ability to spot animals and knowledgable enough to answer all the questions that we had about the culture, wildlife and Tanzania.
Cons - (1) Could have better advised us on certain locations / activities that we have decided on (i.e. weather conditions, things to pack for certain activities and plausible experience with the location / activity). (2) Last minute changes which we have agreed to but would have been a better experience if this was avoided altogether (nitpicking here but just to explain why it was not a 10/10 experience).
Overall - 9/10
Our Itinerary - Arusha - Taranguire National Park - Lake Manyara National Park - Ngorongoro Conservation Area / Crater - Lake Natron - Northern Serengeti
Period and duration that we went for - September (Dry Season, mornings and nights can be cold but day time will be hot) - 8 days
Full Review:
Just a day or two before our trip, we were informed that there will be some changes to our accommodations due to availability which we have agreed to. Though this did not affect the entire experience but could have been avoided.
Our virgin Africa safari trip finally happened after 9 months of planning and anticipation. Our first interaction with Shadows of Africa ("SOA") was with Chris who was really helpful and responsive to all the queries and requests that we had. After going through all the quotes from the different agencies and the suggested itineraries based on what we were looking for, we found SOA's offerings and pricing to be the most ideal.
When we first arrived at the airport, just having this trip as our virgin trip to Africa, an unknown place for us, we were relieved when we saw Nick holding up a sign that indicated that he was there to pick us up to bring us to our first accommodation. Overall, the transfer experience here was great as Nick was able to engage us throughout our ride and shared many interesting facts about Tanzania and the people in Arusha.
Fast forward, in terms of our accommodations, we really like Olerai Lodge (which we later found out to be owned by SOA), Acacia Farm Lodge and Mara Luxury Tented Camp. We found the other 2 accommodations (Rift Valley & Lake Natron) which were offered by Africa Safari Group to be sufficient but we were not blown away by the aesthetics, food variety and reliability of electricity.
For our experience at each location, our advice will be to skip Lake Natron altogether given the experience of the activities there, accommodation options and most importantly weather (hot throughout the year). If you are really pressed for time, you could consider just doing Northern Serengeti for the great migration and wildlife (you will pretty much see everything here except the Rhinos which is more likely to be found at Ngorongoro Crater). Even though we really like Ngorongo Crater and Lake Manyara National Park
Just highlighting here that we could have been better advised by Chris for Lake Natron, to make sure that we would have the best experience.
Activities wise, we have visited the tribe (Hazadbe) and had a Masaai guide to bring us to Lake Natron and the waterfalls. In our opinion, we feel that these activities even though it was not all bad, can be skipped once again if you are pressed for time.
In terms of communication, on the actual day for the start of our safari adventure (Day 2), we felt that communication could have been done better as we were left stranded for quite awhile before being informed that we will be transported to the office for our briefing.
For transport, if your budget allows for it, we would recommend taking the domestic flight options for a better travel experience especially after many days of safari in which you would have to wake up quite early every day for.
All in all, even though it just fell short of a perfect experience, we definitely enjoyed our virgin safari experience with SOA and would recommend it for others to try.
HK
Nzuri sana - Very Nice!
We have chosen SoA because of Karen's swift responses and patient to our questions. She's not just selling, but providing service. All along she responded quickly, when negotiating the plan, budget, then queries on visa after the down payment, further questions after full payment, so on. We never felt any impatient from her. In fact, all its staffs, Joyce, Reuben, Johnson, and Alex are so nice and professional. We would like to give our applause to Alex. He's so experienced and guided us to see everything we are looking for, such as the big 5 (though rhino is miles away 😅) and river crossings. Especially, he's so confident where the wildebeest will cross the river and we can have one of the best positions to see it. Fantastic!
What to complain? Our car was broken down when Alex tried to drive us to a group of lions. So we need to lunch in the car and watch the lions sleeping a hundred meters away😕. Again thanks Alex who quickly arranged us be taken to the rest site by another car, and then back to our camp. We saw close bonding and collaboration amongst the guides 👍
One suggestion I think can make tourists like us feel more comfortable - take along foldable table and chairs so that picnic will be more enjoyable 🥰
HK
Shadow of Africa is a good and responsible agency and their guides also give us an unforgettable exp
The Shadow of Africa provided us a great experience for the whole trip. Starting from the planning, their staff, Karen ,drafted our itinerary based on our needs and budget. She also provided many useful information, including the latest situation of Kenya and Masa Marai before trip which eased our concerns.
During the travel, we met two guides, Johnson and Edwin, in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. Both of them are professional and knowledgeable to share their fruitful information to us during the safari. They are very friendly to us. Under their guiding, we have collected all the big 5 and witness the crossing during our journey!
However, we wanted to express that the condition of the safari vehicles could be improved. The sockets in one of the car were found not working while the other safari car has a technical issue that it need to be repaired 3 times throughout our journey in Tanzania. One episode also costed our time of safari for 2-3hour. We provided our feedback to the staff of their company. Their representative conducted an evaluation with us to listen to our feedback at the end of the whole trip (which we really appreciated) and they also apologised for the car issue to us.
To conclude, Shadow of Africa is a good and responsible agency and their guides also give us an unforgettable experience for our first safari trip. Despite of some technical issues of the vehicle, it is still a really good choice for your safari trip.
US
Spectacular Safari Experience
I can't say enough about our spectacular trip to Tanzania with Shadows of Africa! Jake and Stacy helped our group of 8 plan our ideal adventure and handled every detail expertly. It really exceeded all of our expectations. We visited the Tarangire National Park, the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater.
As requested, we stayed in a variety of accommodations from tented camps, lodges and luxury hotels. All were impeccably clean, comfortable, unique and beautiful. I was nervous about the food but it was fresh and delicious. Imagine a hot lunch in the Serengeti amongst giraffes and elephants!
We saw so many animals (including the big 5 and wildebeests crossing the Mara River) and were educated by our two AMAZING guides Dickson and Lomayani. I miss them already. Honestly, Dickson and Loma are what helped make the trip so special, as well as the hospitality shown to us by literally everyone in Tanzania.
There were so many highlights but staying at the Africa Amini Life Maasai Lodge was truly an experience that has stuck with me. I can't stop thinking about the whole trip. I would recommend it to anyone. Worth every penny!
US
They listened to all of my preferences and made my bucket list trip an amazing reality.
I found safari bookings and spent several weeks looking over different itinerary options and asked for quotes from a few different companies. I found I wanted a few changes from a normal itinerary and started asking questions from all the agencies. Karen from Shadows was extremely helpful and patient and I wanted to learn as much as possible before deciding. Karen answered all my questions thoroughly and was flexible when it came to booking. After booking, she was great with checking in to make sure I knew what to pack, how to prepare for the trip and to make sure I didn't have any questions.
The trip itself was amazing. Once our guide picked us up, they handled everything regarding transportation, meals and lodging as well as providing us with 3 incredible guides along the way. My husband and I loved the private game drives and the lodges went above and beyond helping me to celebrate my upcoming birthday (much to my embarrassment ;)
I will highly recommend Shadows of Africa to anyone wanted a trip of a lifetime!
Other Safaris & Tours36 – Offered by Shadows of Africa
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3-Day Northern Circuit Special - Luxury
$1,801 to $1,878 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tourLuxuryLodge
You Visit: Arusha (Start), Lake Manyara NP, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire NP, Arusha (End)
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11-Day Best of Safari and Beach Adventure
$4,278 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tour
Mid-range Lodge & Tented CampYou Visit: Arusha (Start), Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, Central Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Nungwi (Zanzibar), Zanzibar Airport (End)
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5-Day Serengeti Safari - Medium
$2,511 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tour
Mid-range Lodge & Tented CampYou Visit: Arusha (Start), Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha (End)
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4-Day Tanzania Express Safari-Medium
$1,995 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tour
Mid-range Lodge & Tented CampYou Visit: Arusha (Start), Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha (End)
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![5-Day Fly-in Wildebeest Migration Safari - Luxury]()
5-Day Fly-in Wildebeest Migration Safari - Luxury
$3,309 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Tented Camp
You Visit: Arusha (Start), Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha (End)
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![5-Day Serengeti Safari - Luxury]()
5-Day Serengeti Safari - Luxury
$2,915 pp (USD)
Tanzania: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Tented Bush Camp
You Visit: Arusha (Start), Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha (End)
