Happy World Safaris
- Located In:
- Tour Types:
- Budget & mid-range tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary
- Destinations:
- Website:
- www.happyworldsafaris.com
Reviews
Email Andrea | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scammed out of 1000 USD
If you do not like being scammed, avoid this company.
We were told upon booking that the park fees (over $1000) were included, but once we got to the gate of the Serengeti, there was an “issue with the company card” and we were asked to pay it ourselves, while being assured that the money would be returned to us soon.
Faced with losing precious time on our safari, we paid.
The same issue happened in the Ngorongoro, and naively we paid again.
The money has never been returned to us three months later, and the owner has blocked us on whatsapp. We really wanted to support a small locally-owned company, but now we understand why most people choose the well-established, larger Safari companies. If you are reading this, I suggest you do the same.
Jeep was old and uncomfortable.
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Email Susan and Frank | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They took care of it all and made our dream vacation come true
Joseph was a wonderful host and had quality guides and drivers to take care of us throughout our entire 10 days in Tanzania. We loved our visit that included hiking Kilamanjaro, 3 days of amazing safari, as well as the seafari experience in Zanzibar. Thank you, Joseph and team!
DK
Email Kristian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Friendly, informativ and overall excellent guide.
Overall excellent tour operator! Very professional. 10/10
BE
Email Paul dauwe | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An unforgettable close to nature and wildlife experience in North Tanzania
Together with my wife, my sister and my brother in law , we had a six-day safari in North Tanzania with HAPPY WORLD SAFARIS from April 26 until the third of May. It was a 'once in a lifetime experience'. We booked this safari directly with Happy World Safaris after I recieved very good references from a friend who traveled with them before. After a few emails, Joseph Nkony ( the owner) proposed us a program that was fully based on our expectations. It was also cheaper than similar programs that are offered by the travel agencies who operates from Belgium and the Netherlands.
From the moment we were picked up at Kilimanjaro airport everything was arranged perfectly. We didn't have nothing to worry about, the service was great.
The first night we stayed in a hotel in Arusha, and the days after we visited Tarangiri National Park, Serengeti National Park and the Ngorogoro crater. We stayed in lodges and tented lodges, both very comfortable arrangements. Especially the tented lodges in the middle of the Serengetti offer a special close to nature experience.
We spent six days on game drive in a full equiped landrover with Joseph and Tony, the driver guide. They are very experienced in wildlive, nature and ecology and they showed us a very wonderful and intens view on nature and wildlive in North Tanzania. With their experiance spotting ‘the big five’ seemed easy, but they also gave us the experiance of hundreds of thousend Gnoe’s and Zebra’s preparing fort the great migration, a hunting lion and heyena, a juvenile leopard hidden in a tree, giraffes, hippo’s, crocodiles, al kind of antilopes, monkeys, pumba’s, vultures, eagles…. On my demand they also gave a lot of attention at the fenomenal variety of birds living there. They also initiated us in african culture and especially the way of live of the Massai.
Happy World Safaris proved to be a very reliable organisation. During the trip Joseph and Tony became more than just a guide and driver to us. Thanks to their professionalism, their respect for wildlife, nature and African culture, their reliability , sense of humour and warmth this safari turned out to be an unforgetable experience for the four of us. Thank you Joseph and Tony. I’m sure we ‘ll meet again.
Paul en Marianne from Belgium.
SK
Email Tamas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Just perfect
You cannot go wrong by choosing Happy World Safaris company
I had an amazing 4 days trip
I arrived to Kilimanjaro airport, where Joseph the director picked me up, then drove me around in Arusha a little sightseeing tour. Next morning Zebe the guide took care of me. Went to Serengeti passing by Ngorongoro conservation area and spent 2 nights there at KubuKubu.
Everything was well organised, and we saw so many animals but very less tourist/covid times and the end of May/
He was good to find the animals, was a good driver and was able to answer all questions perfectly and was super patient
Zebe just made my trip and a an amazing time, one of my best decisions to make safari in "low" season.
Also our itinerary was perfect and the lodges were wonderful Ngorongoro Serena Lodge has probably the best views on crater rim
Nothing wrong to say, you can only be happy by choosing them
And they are also very respectful about nature I haven´t seen any trash in the plains or inside the crater/this dos not applyes for the rest of Tanzania/.
After my flight to ZNZ Joseph was still checking on me if everything goes smooth. 12 amazing days in Tanzania, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
US
Email Brittney | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An easy, budget-friendly safari program perfect for experiencing the Serengeti's astounding beauty.
I went on a Happy World Safari with three friends from college at the end of May and really enjoyed my trip. Our safari was 4 nights and we went to Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We had a landcruiser, guide, and cook to ourselves which was great. We opted to stay in tents for a more budget-friendly safari and it was more comfortable than I imagined. The tents were very big and the guide and cook set them up and took them down for us each day. They also provided sleeping bags and thick, foam sleeping mats. The camp sites were decent, nothing fancy, but we slept well each night and spent most of our time on the road anyway. The food was amazing whenever it was prepared by the cook; at some parks all the safari guests receive the same boxed lunches which were ok, but every tour company seemed to use them. The car itself was really nice and even had a mini-fridge and chargers. This safari company was also very flexible and accommodating—we designed our own itinerary, lodging, and food preferences and they worked with us to make sure we had airport transportation sorted. I would definitely recommend Happy World. The guide went out of his way to make sure we saw some amazing animals and I was blown away by the beauty of the Serengeti.
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Email Laura Nicole | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Words Can’t Describe Our Safari!
Jambo!! My Husband and I celebrated 27 years of marriage in March 2021. To celebrate our milestone, we booked our HWS Safari and looked forward to this great lifetime experience! Our 10 day HWS Safari was Mar 2nd 2021 to Mar 12th 2021. We arrived in Kilimanjaro Airport where we were met at the airport by Joseph and our wonderful Safari Guide, Sammy. We spent two nights at the Mount Meru Hotel for a much needed rest and city tour of Arusha before venturing out into the Serengeti on our Safari!
We flew out on a bush plane the morning of Mar 4th to Central Serengeti where Sammy met us at the air strip and from there we embarked on our wonderful Safari! Upon leaving the air strip, very few jeeps on the park we immediately saw elephants and within the first hour Sammy spotted a leopard lounging in a large Acacia tree. We observed that there were two leopards in the tree, a female and a cub. We watched and photographed these beautiful animals! What a great start to our Safari and each day thereafter only got better!
We toured a new area every day on our Safari and overnighted in three different locations. The first two locations were tent camps in Kubu Kubu and Lake Masek where we spent three nights at each camp. Our final two nights were at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge located on the rim of the beautiful Ngorongoro Crater!
We found all of our accommodations to be very nice and comfortable and the staff at each location were superb hosts! Within hours at each camp we felt like we were part of the staff’s family and enjoyed our time getting to know each of them! Sitting on the deck overlooking Lake Masek while enjoying dinner and a drink was a most wonderful experience!
In the first two days of our Safari we had already seen four of the “Big Five” (Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard and Lion) and countless other animals and birds! Sammy, our HWS Guide, is a human encyclopedia that has a vast knowledge of all the animals, birds, plant life and the Maasai people and their language and culture. We were very impressed with Sammy’s ability to not only spot animals and birds, but to tell us their name and their characteristics without hesitation! We learned so much from Sammy in our short 10-days together.
Some of our memorable highlights were seeing cheetahs and leopards scouting for their next dinner, watching hundreds to thousands of wildebeests and zebras on the move together and then crossing a watering hole with a sense of urgency! We spotted many lions on our Safari, but seeing several young lion cubs was most memorable. Watching four cubs nurse and then play together and spotting our first male lions lounging on a rock outcrop were beyond belief!
Seeing and driving into the Ngorongoro Crater was absolutely beautiful! The crater has its own environment and eco system and an abundance of wildlife in this beautiful caldera. Of course this was our opportunity to see the Black Rhino and fulfill our goal of seeing all of the “Big Five”. We not only got to see the Black Rhino, but we spotted and photographed six Black Rhinos!
Our HWS Safari was a perfect vacation to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary and to fulfill a lifetime dream! Asante-Sana to Sammy (our Guide) and Joseph for working diligently to make our Safari an adventure never to be forgotten and one which we may never top! Our Safari far exceeded our expectations and Asante to all the people at our tent camps and lodges for making our trip so very memorable!
Laura &Patrick
NZ
Email Emily | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
My husband and I went on a 5 day / 4 night camping safari (Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Seregeti and Ngorogoro Crater) with Happy World in February 2017 and I can honestly say I will never forget it!
We had the jeep to ourselves, which even though it was a bit of a splurge for us, was definitely worth it. To have the freedom to spend as much or as little time as you like on different locations and wildlife was absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to everyone.
The camping was fantastic, our cook Enoch always made delicious food and LOTS of it, and there is nothing else quite like sleeping in a tent under the stars and hearing wildlife all around you. The mattresses and sleeping bags were also surprisingly comfortable! It was so nice to unplug and get away from technology and really immerse yourself in nature. That being said, make sure to bring lots of camera batteries! :)
We saw so much more wildlife than I even thought possible in those 5 days, and this was definitely due to the amazing skills of our driver Zebe. He could spot just about anything when all we could see was a grassy field or trees. He also is just a great guy and we had lots of really interesting chats with him about Tanzania and life in general!
The whole process of booking the safari was great - we were recommended Happy World by a friend of ours, and after our initial back and forth with Joseph (the owner) we were so impressed that we didn't actually bother looking elsewhere because we knew we'd found what we wanted. He was always on hand to answer ANY questions we had and really helped us plan the perfect itinerary. When we arrived in Arusha he came to meet us at our hotel and answer any more questions, and also met us after the safari to make sure that everything lived up to our expectations (It did, and more). Joseph is also a fantastic guy, we left feeling that we had made a new friend for sure!
I would highly recommend Happy World Safaris to anyone looking for a really authentic, easygoing and excellent value safari experience in Tanzania.
US
Email Angel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Happy Week with Happy World!
Happy World Safaris was a great experience for my friend and I. We went in early June 2018 on a 5-day trip to Tarangire NP, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti NP.
Managing director Joseph was very communicative and adaptable. He even went out of his way to help try to find my phone which was stolen while traveling to Arusha. Only issue was that we budgeted off a 'shared trip' rate, which later went up because there were no other travelers during our selected date. We did get the Land Cruiser to ourselves though.
Driver guide was Toni and he was awesome. He knew my main goal was to finally see a leopard, and he sought out the best hiding spots until we saw one! We all became good friends by the end of the trip. Serengeti Safaris can be expensive, but definitely a once-in-a-lifetime, must-see trip!
US
Email Suraja Roychowdhury | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable Tanzania Safari
Nine of us went on a trip to Zanzibar, and a safari to the Serengeti for 8 days in August 2018. I think I speak for everyone in our group when I say that we had an outstanding trip. Joseph Mkony was very helpful and responsive during our planning sessions. In addition to helping organize the trip he also organized getting my daughter's luggage from Dar-es-Salaam to Arusha.
We loved the safari- so many highlights that it's impossible to say which was the best. We saw 4 out of the big 5 game at close quarters, and the rhino at a distance. We were also lucky to see the wildebeest migration. Joseph (a different one:)) and Sammy are excellent drivers and guides. Their knowledge, patience and good humor really contributed to making our experience memorable. Please give them our heartfelt thanks.
The hotels were very good too, with Melia being outstanding. Olea was nice, but they could do a few minor things to improve their rooms a lot. Their food was excellent. The Mara Heritage camp was an unique experience, and I think it was Shree's favorite. The Sopa lodge was nice, but very crowded. Golden Tulip was a good hotel, with wonderful large suites, the only downside being the location, outside the city. We also had an interesting side-expedition to a Maasai village- very touristy!
Thanks again for arranging such a memorable trip for us. All of us are most happy to recommend your services!