SMILE WITH US TOURS IN AFRICA 2024
Smile With Us Tours In Africa
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $490 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
DE
Email Andrea, Nura, Faris and Abdalla | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent 5-Day Mikumi NP, Udzungwa and Nyerere NP Safari Package with Smile With Us
We are a family of 4 and enjoyed a wonderful 5 night safari visiting Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere. It was our first safari. Communication and organization of the trip was excellent and very individually. Every single part of the trip went as planned, top class service all the way.
First day early morning pick up from Dar by our tour guide Erick, an excellent guide and warm hearted young man. The ride was in a comfortable big 4x4 land cruiser top up roof. When coming to Mikumi park Erick was very knowledgeable where to spot zebras, wildebeests, impalas, buffalos, giraffes, baboons, elephants and lions. First night our accommodation was inside Mikumi. Day two we did a morning game where we saw a lions only two meters away from our land rover. After this we went to Udzungwa mountains and did a guided hiking tour to Sanje waterfalls which took 3 hours. The swim in plunge pools was lovely. At night we stayed in camp Bastian, a beautiful camp with lovely accommodation and fine food. We loved it.
Day 3 we drove to Nyerere national park and stayed in the very special Neyere tented camp. After arrival we embarked on a guided boat safari. We saw many hippos, birds and crocodiles in their natural habitat. Day 4 we joined for a two hour bush walk where a bushman and great story teller explained about animals and plants. We learned and laughed a lot. After this we went for a full day game. Erick knew exactly where to go to see the wild animals. We even saw wild dogs and hyena. On day five we flew back to Zanzibar. All was very well organized, the flight tickets to Zanzibar as well as the pickup from the airport to our hotel.
Thank you Smile! We had an incredible time and couldn’t have been happier with you.
Email Saara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience
We had an amazing 1 day safari with smile with us tours to Mikumi in December 2023. We were slightly unsure about the process but the team was great at communicating with us on WhatsApp and gave us all the tips and advice for the whole day. We had an early pick up by Mr Nurdin, who arrived on time to our villa. From there we caught a flight directly into Mikumi park where we were met with our guide Isaak who was absolutely fantastic. We had our own private open land rover, and Isaac knew exactly where to find the animals, what time to see them and we were also able to get really close to the majority of them. Even the lions who were walking right next to us in jeep. During the safari we were provided with fruit, juices and snacks and were well taken care of. We felt safe throughout the tour. Lunch was fantastic, lots of options and halal hot food. We made full use of our day there, seeing zebras, lions, lionesses, impala, water buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, many birds, giraffes and many other animals.
I would highly recommend this tour over the others as we had a much more personalised experience, flexibility in seeing the animals rather than following the other tour groups, and plenty of space in the car. The other tours appeared much busier and did not get as close to the animals.
Fantastic day, thank you to the whole team for creating such a great memory and experience for us!
ES
Email Mateja Olujic | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall great experience
We went to 2 days Mikumi and one day Udzungwa mountains and we really enjoyed it. Initially our itinerary was to do 1 day Mikumi and 2 days Neyrere but after the drive from Dar es Salaam to Mikumi took nearly 9 hours because of the traffic, we decided to change the plans and the operator was flexible. Communication was good, I guess the only area for improvement is to provide more precise communication a couple of days before the trip instead of the client reaching out with questions (for example, who will be our driver and their contact, where will they wait for us, how to pay for the rest, and other basics). In terms of value, it is definitely not cheap and the safari vehicle was somewhat old, but the accommodation and food during the trip was good. Smile with us tours actually offered the most competitive price in relation to others (I got nearly 10 quotes from different operators). Overall, it was a good experience and would definitely repeat doing safari again.
HU
Email Barna | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Canceled safari by operator
We booked our safari two months in advance. 4 days before the date we got a request from the tour operator to re-schedule the date due to organization issues. We managed, re-arranged our schedule. After that it was extremely difficult to communicate to the operator, we received no info, no replies to emails. Complete incommunicado. We only hope that we will receive back the deposit we paid - the safari never happened.
We could still give five star even after a canceled safari as we can understand if there are unforseen technical difficulties during organizing a tour - but at least, talk to your client! Not communicating, not answering emails for days just a few days before a scheduled and then re-scheduled safari, leaving the client in uncertainty deserves nothing but one star.
Reply from Smile With Us Tours In Africa
Posted on Jan 8, 2024Thank you for your review and we are sorry that your flying safari didn't happen.
We got a challenge from our domestic flight that we always book with them, and we shared with you the reasons for not making your day trip safari. They informed us that their scheduled flight for the booked trip was got the technical problem, and they were not sure if it will be fixed and be ready for safari as the days was too near.
We as a tour company we really don't have any control over any flight company, we really depend on them, may be this the main problem to be addressed, so it wasn't our intention to see things falling apart! Very sorry again for disappointing you.
For communications, we always communicate with our customers about the issues of flight and await final confirmation from flight team for the best feedback to our clients. This was the only delay in hours for the reply of your email, but all emails were answered accordingly.
About the refund, we have already processed, and our customer confirm he/she received it for not providing the required service.
Sorry for what has happened, and we will continue to take care about the flying safari due to unpredicted errors that may happen.
DE
Email Anja & Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Job! Unforgettable Experience!
It was a very special experience! Henry is a super friendly, pleasant guide with whom we were able to learn and laugh a lot, the car was well maintained and in good condition, we will never forget these 6 days. The safari exceeded our expectations. Everything was organized smoothly, always enough to drink and eat, as well as the opportunity to coordinate the process individually.
Asante
Email James | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful tour guides, fantastic experience, trip of a lifetime
We were a family of 6 plus 2 single friends, we enjoyed a wonderful 5 night safari visiting Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere. When we first looked into safaris we thought it was going to be way out of our budget but then we found Smile with Us, they were excellent value for money.
Mr Msese and Omari were our tour guides, they were wonderful friendly men, with a vast knowledge of flora and fauna. We have a good knowledge about plants and animals but we learned so much from these men. They were also excellent drivers and we always felt safe despite the rough roads and crazy traffic. We felt truly cared for and looked after by them.
From the moment we entered Mikumi we were astounded at the wildlife, it was so special to see elephants, giraffes, hippos and lions as well as many other animals. All the accommodation was good but we especially enjoyed Nyerere Tented Camp at the end, it was truly special to stay in these luxurious tents, our boys even saw a hippo walk behind their tent late at night.
We highly recommend Smile with Us.
DE
Email Katja | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memories of a lifetime!
We are back from our incredible 17-days-tour and I would highly recommend booking with Smile with us Tours in Africa! The communication and planning of the tour, choosing accommodations and activities was a very good experience. Jacob has arranged all accommodations and activities for our exciting individual itinerary and everything was very well organized, whereever we arrived.
Our guide on our long safari was Erick: He is speaking very good English and is just an amazing person with so much knowledge about nature, wildlife and culture – it was really a pleasure to travel with him! Up from our arrival at the airport we have enjoyed every minute of our long safari. There is nothing, he can’t deal with or what is impossible for him. Asante sana – we left with memories of a lifetime!
For sure we will plan our next trip with Jacob and his team to explore more places of this beautiful country.
NL
Email Kees | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A reliable and flexible company
We made a safari with Smile for 8 days.
We visited three NP, Nyerere, Mikuni , Ruaha. The company is very flexible and adjusted the program to our wishes.
They do what they offer and communication with Jacob Moshi is good. It is a reliable company and that is important.
In Nyerere park we had Mr Deo as driver/guide. We had an open car which is excellent. Mr Deo is enthousiastic and an expert.
For the other two parks we had Mr Saloum as driver-guide. He has a lot of experience in the parks.
In Zanzibar Smile is represented by Mr Nurdin. Excellent services.
Overall , good and reliable company.
Highly recommended.
Email Michael & Sharon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic, superior customer service
We have just returned from a trip to Zanzibar and used "Smile with us Tours" for a 3 day 2 nights Safari in the Nyerere national reserve.
From our first contact with Jacob it was so easy to work out what we wanted to do, agree an itinerary and get it all booked up.
1st class communication from end to end.
We paid a deposit and then the balanced on the day of our trip.
Every single part of the trip went as planned, top class service all the way, initial collection at our hotel, transfer to the airport for the short 30 min flight from Zanzibar airport to the reserve on the mainland, collected by our guide for the trip Mr Marufu (Mr Famous.) We had a safari jeep to ourselves.
Mr Marufu was a fantastic guide, loads of information about the flora and fauna and of course all the animals.
We set off from the landing strip and as we had an early start to catch the flight we headed to a camp near by for breakfast, a very nice surprise and an extremley good breakfast.
After that we headed into the reserve for our first game drive - exciting times! animals everywhere, water buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, warthogs .... the list goes on and on
We chose to stay at the Selous Impala tented lodge, we were not disappointed with our choice, a fantastic lodge 5* service and facilities
Day 1 was a game drive till lunch time, rest in the afternoon at the lodge and an evening / dusk game drive then back to camp for dinner
Day 2 game drive all day, lunch out on the drive sat overlooking a lake watching the animals and life go by - an amazing experience
Day 3 walking drive in the bush and a river trip followed by a rest up at another lodge outside the reserve ahead of our flight back to Zanzibar.
We cannot thank Jacob and Smile with us tours for arranging a fantastic memorable trip!
CH
Email Bettina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable, experienced and flexible company
I went with Smiling Tours to Mikumi and Nyerere National Park and I can recommend the company in terms of organization and reliability. The staff is very experienced and Moshi was available any time to answer our questions during the trip. Everything was perfect, the lodges, the driver, we had a great time! I would definitely book with them again.