Naenda safaris

NAENDA: What you want in a safari company - Welcoming, Accommodating, Friendly, Fun, and Prepared.

I first contacted Naenda in October 2014 while I was planning a December vacation. My father and 2 friends were visiting me in TZ so I wanted to make sure I found a good, friendly company that would accommodate what the 4 of us wanted. Then, I came upon Naenda.

The first thing I noticed about Naenda was that Abidan and Jesse were quick to respond to my questions and concerns. The second thing I noticed was that Naenda was willing and able to accommodate our travel needs to a T. The 4 of us opted for a 2-day, 1 night safari to Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. Also, one of my friends and I also opted to use Naenda for our Kilimanjaro Trek, which followed our safari. I really wanted to camp at the edge of the crater, but we did not have time to go on a several day safari. With the other safari companies I researched the overnight stay at the crater required a several day safari; but, when I told Naenda what I wanted they said it was no problem. I was very pleased from the beginning, to say the least!

They were also extremely accommodating in terms of making payment. I live in a village in the middle of Tanzania so I do not have easy access to banks or other forms of sending money. I do not believe they accept payment online via credit card, so that was out of the question. Initially, Naenda asked for a deposit on the safari and the trek, but when I explained that it may be difficult for me to send the money they took me at my word (i.e. that we would pay upon arrival in Arusha and that our plans would not change) and agreed to let us pay the full amount when we met with them in Arusha.

Upon our arrival in Arusha there was a slight issue with our hotel for the night before we started our safari the next morning (NOTE: Naenda had nothing to do with our hotel stay for 1-night). Abidan met us at our first hotel (we had a reservation, but when we arrived the hotel said they did not reserve the room as requested.) and waited until the situation with our hotel was figured out and we were in another hotel before he briefed us on the plan/schedule for the following day. He was very patient with us and even after our briefing was complete he showed us to a nice cafe/restaurant where we had dinner.

The next day we started our safari with Jesse. We first went to the supermarket in case we wanted to buy any snacks or other items for the trip, and then we were off. We went to Lake Manyara first and saw many animals. (By the end of the 2-days we had seen 4 of the Big 5 game animals.) Jesse was knowledgeable about the different animals and he was very friendly. My dad loves to take pictures of just about anything, so he was on a picture spree during the safari. Jesse would stop the vehicle frequently allowing us to take pictures and look at the animals. Jesse answered all of our questions (however silly or ridiculous) and made the entire experience fun. We ate a boxed lunch at Lake Manyara (we are all vegetarian and it was great knowing that there was no issue with getting us good quality vegetarian food) and then headed to the crater.

Our campsite at Ngorongoro was nice. Waking up the next morning and seeing the sunrise at the edge was just amazing, and the stars at night were absolutely stunning! We also had a great cook with us that made us some delicious vegetarian food, including soups and chipsi mayai. (SIDE NOTE: they did have some power outlets at the campsite in case you wanted/needed to charge any electronics.)

The morning game drive in the crater was great. Again, Jesse was very patient with our questions and comments. He found the best spots to see the lions, rhino, elephants, etc. We all really enjoyed ourselves, and have tons of pictures to prove it!

Two days later my friend and I were starting our trek to the top of Africa - Kilimanjaro. My father and one friend were heading to the airport that morning, but wanted to come to the base of the mountain to see us off and take some more pictures. Naenda (although they could've said no), was nice and accommodating enough to take all 4 of us to the base of the camp, allowed us to snap a few pictures, and then took my father and friend to the airport just in time for them to catch their flight. This was not something that Naenda had to do by any means, but it goes to show how accommodating and friendly they are in running their business. We did not feel like we were burdening them in any way or feel like they did not want us to share this moment at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro together.

My friend and I opted to take the 6-day, Mchame Route. There was some confusion we realized as we were climbing on the number of days it would take for the total trek (we thought it was 7-days hiking, but it was 6-days of hiking and 1-day of briefing before the hike.) Before we started the trek, Abidan and our guide (Dennis) came to our hotel the day before to make sure we had everything we needed and answered all of our questions. We were able to rent any items we did not have for a reasonable cost. We were ready for the hike!

Overall the hike was great! We had two guides, Dennis and his assistant Charles. Both were very nice, friendly and definately in-shape. The rest of our group - 6 porters and 2 cooks - was also very nice and friendly. The cooks always prepared nice hot, delicious food for us every morning, afternoon and evening. There was lots of tea/coffee and soup! Apart from the first day when there was some issue down at the base, our tent and luggage were usually set up by the time we arrived at the base/campsite. The days were long, but not too grueling. Our guides made sure we walked extremely slowly and helped us on the more difficult slipperly/steep parts of the climb. I really did not feel any fatigue or soreness until the final 1.5 days when we reached the summit and climbed back down to the exit gate. The entire time we walked/hiked at a slow and steady pace, which was perfect!

The one thing that stopped me from putting an overall rating of 5-stars was an experience at the very tail end of our Kilimanjaro trek. I do not know how much control Naenda has over who guides their customers on a Kilimanjaro trek, so maybe my experience does not say much about Naenda. Either way, the night before we completed our descent, our guide Dennis gave us "recommended" amounts to tip each of the porters and cooks per day. He left the tip for the guide up to us to decide on our own. We took these recommended per day amounts into consideration and gave a lump sum tip we felt comfortable with the next day after we completed our descent. Unfortuantely, it was clear that Dennis was not happy with our tip not only because of the amount but also because we did not divide the tip between the guides, porters and cooks (10 people total). I explained to Dennis that we gave a lump sum because we felt that everyones work during the past 6-7 days was equally important and necessary for our successful summit. He asked us several times to split the amount amongst all 10 people, but we did not feel comfortable nor did we feel one person deserved more for a tip than another person. In the end we told Dennis he could just divide the amount by 10 so that each person gets the same amount. He was also not happy with that. His dissatisfaction was clear in his manner of speaking with us after we handed him the tip - he was just not as friendly and talkative as he had been. This made our departure somewhat awkward and unfulfilling. We wanted to really thank everyone for their work and company the past 6-7 days, but we left with a somewhat sour taste in our mouth.

Climbing Kilimanjaro was a wonderful experience. Deciding to use Naenda was a good decision, as well. After the trek, Abidan and Jesse picked us up at the bottom of the mountain and drove us all the way to Arusha to our hotel. Also, since there was some confusion in the total number of days for the trek, our hotel reservation (initially in Moshi for 1-night) had to be changed for 2-nights in Arusha. Since we did not have much network connection or ability to change our accommodations while hiking, Naenda arranged everything for us and with the hotel so that we had a place to stay for 2-nights after the trek. Another testament to Naenda being prepared to handle anything and accommodating. Pretty much after finishing the hike their job was done, but they went above and beyond to make sure our safari experience was smooth and fun!