SED Adventures Tours & Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2002)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Chuck and Lori | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
SED Adventures and tours did a great job
Wife and I just completed a 10 day Northern Circuit tour of Tanzania with SED. Beginning with excellent correspondence and planning from Laizer in the communications dept., who answered all of my questions and presented reasonable alternatives to potential problem areas for us, to our awesome driver/guide Anton, the trip went off without a hitch. We have taken several safari tours before, never in Tanzania, however, and were never disappointed in our guides, but Anton is the best. He is a very safe driver over some awful roads getting to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, and his game spotting ability is amazing. All in all, a wonderful trip.
DE
Email Trang | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stunned by SED Adventures!
We have booked a private, tailor-made 6 days/5 nights camping safari and could not have made a better decision than choosing this company. We visited Serengeti NP, Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara.
From the moment we sent the inquiry, WALTER was very responsible, patient and clear in his explanations regarding any details or changes we wanted to make in our itinerary.
He ensured that the final version of the itinerary is exactly what we wanted, especially that we were changing it multiple times (timeframe, parks)! Walter was also available 24/7 for us during the safari in case there would have been any questions or complications (but there weren’t any, of course). He also picked us up the day after our safari to take us to the airport and collect feedback.
As for the safari experience itself, our driver and guide, MR. SHARIFU, was a knowledgeable and patient expert. He knew numerous interesting and surprising facts about each animal we enquired. What is more, he has eyes everywhere – behind his head, on the sides!!! He spotted rare animals from very far away without binoculars, which made it possible for us to see all species we wished to see. Here are a couple of examples:
- Big 5 (rhino being rare in Tanzania!)
- newborns (cheetah, elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, lions, warthogs)
- lions hunting
- Great Migration of zebras and wildebeest
- seval cat
- dik dik, eland, waterbuck
Our cook, ALEX, is the sweetest man in this country. He was always available, positive and enthusiastic about cooking for us. He quickly learned what we like and ensured each meal was special. He even made ugali and pilau for us after I told him we want to try as many African dishes as possible. When we were on a full day game drive, ALEX packed lunch for us – it was massive amount of delicious food! There were days when we finished dinner at 9 pm, and already ate breakfast at 5.30 am the next day, and everything was always on-time and tasty (bearing in mind that Alex had to clean our dishes after we had dinner, then prepare lunch to pack for the next day, and then wake up much earlier than us on the next day to prepare breakfast the best Spanish mayaj!).
Since I started to learn Swahili before we arrived in Tanzania, MR. SHARIFU and ALEX quickly picked it up and taught me new words and phrases during the entire trip. This was very entertaining and educating. Asante sana rafiki yangu.
We really had the time of our lives, our dreams came true and the worst part of this trip was that it had to come to an end too quickly. We would do it all over again, with Mr. Sharifu and Alex in a heartbeat. We will remember this for the rest of our lives, and tutaonana!
NZ
Email Sam | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
To the Roof of Africa
My Girlfriend and I were visiting Tanzania from New Zealand, and wanted to climb Africa's tallest mountain. SED Adventures provided us will a smooth and hassle free experience climbing Kilimanjaro, with competent and knowledgable English fluent guides and a climbing team who were able to support us on our hike with good food and help when it was needed. Another benefit was being able to rent for a reasonable price any gear which we did not want to pack in our suitcases. No need to carry it all around with you before reaching Tanzania. I would recommend this company to anyone wishing to experience this unique environment in a convenient and worry free way.
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Email Erika | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, Amazing, Amazing
My dad and I had the most amazing and unforgettable safari trip in Tanzania and we owe it to SED Adventures! More specifically to Elifasi who helped us plan our trip and to Anton who started out as just our (wonderful) guide but then ended as so much more! We will never forget this trip or you guys. I promise I'll be back!
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Email Richard | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
My most amazing trip
12/1/18 My adult daughter and I just returned from an amazing trip to Tanzania. The best decision we made was to use SED as our tour company. Over the months of planning I had many conversations with Elifasi their tour manager. He was always very responsive and open to my suggestions. Together we planned a great trip. It was a perfect combination of exciting game drives in 4 different parks and visits to several local villages of members of different tribes. Meeting and people and learning about their culture was a true highlight. It was a private tour just my daughter, myself and our guide, driver companion Anton. He made the trip alot of fun, was full of information and had the eyes of a hawk (the leopard in a bush 30 yards away!) Just having the 3 of us in the jeep made it easy to dash from front to back and side to side the get the best views. All the lodges were comfortable, with warm and welcoming staff and excellent food. So all I can say is Go To Tanzania and use SED. Richard
Email Ali | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Most Amazing Thing I've ever Done
All I can say is what a treat! My friends and I had an amazing and unforgettable safari! They took care of all the details from our trip, including our airport pickup, hotels before and after the trip, and everything in between. Our guide, Anton, was the most incredible guide. He was unbelievably knowledgeable about the wildlife and vegetation in the parks, and he spotted so many animals I would have missed on my own. He made sure we hit every beautiful viewing spot and got us right up close with so many animals! Additionally, he was a wealth of knowledge on Tanzania and gave us a bit of background about different cultures and villages in Tanzania. The jeep was spacious and comfortable with great viewing. Everything met and exceed my expectations. I'm already planning my next trip with SED!
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Email Mac | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Tarangire and Ngorongoro safari
I visited Tarangire and Ngorongoro with SED and would highly recommend it. SED staff was professional, always on time / early, and very knowledgeable and friendly. They accommodated our plans when we wanted to change. Great price.
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Email Terry | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
21day tour 15 days very good last 7days not so much??
We started off so well in Kenya with SED Adventures contracting Gofan safaris for this portion of our tour. We were promptly met at the airport and transferred to Boma Inn Hotel. The grounds of the hotel are very nice and the adjoining hotel has a pool and several restaurants. Hotel staff advised not to leave the gated property without first removing all our jewlery. Our driver/guide Evans picked us up early for the 8 hr drive to Masai Mara. The roads are very rough- a dirt/muddy track for a good part of the way. We enjoyed our tented stay at Losokwan Camp and several game drives through their private reserve. We spent 2 days here and saw most of the big 5. Evans made sure we saw wildabeest crossing the Mara river- lost one to a crocodile, 2 cheetah chasing a zebra and a lion with a kill. Our next stop was Lake Nakuru to see the flamingos. While the itinerary says full day to view wildlife it takes half day to get there.
Lake Nakuru lodge was ok, not too memorable. Lake Naivasha had more flamingos. Hotel was Sweet Resort- not very nice. While I am sure we were safe the hotel offers temporary housing for those working the area. Our room was equipped with a kitchenette. Restaurant had very little to offer.
Next day was another 8 hour drive to Amboseli National Park- for 2 days of more game drives with Evans. Kibo Safari camp was very nice. Not sure why but we moved to the Amboseli Serena lodge for our second night.
Tsavo west national park- Here we finally saw the elusive leopard. That was the only highlight of this area.
Evans was with us for 7 days, just him, us and the amazing wildlife he spotted for us.
We now had Afran as our driver guide in Mombasa. Here is where things started to go downhill. We did not follow the program as described- there was no cruise on a dhow, no seafood tasting. Alfran dropped us off at the old Mombasa fort with a guide for a tour of the spice market area.
We had 2 nice stay at the Indian Ocean Beach club. Again not following the program nothing was arranged for us for another dhow sail, snorking and Swahili lunch. After a few phone calls by the hotel consierge to Walter, our contact at SED, a driver picked us up and we were taken to a pier and just told to get in line. We no tickets no idea which boat to take. After some hesitation we boarded a large boat and were take snorkling and to a restaurant for a Swahili smoked fish lunch.
Alfran got us to Tanzania border crossing where we were turned over to another driver guide. Calling Pepon Beach Resort a resort is a bit of a stretch. We were stranded here for 3 days!! Continuous rain made the roads impassable. The "resort" does have a pool and a beach. Dirt and in our case mud paths get you there and to the "dining room" . This was the only place for WIFI and you had to ask to have it turned on. Leaking roof made a large portion of the area unusable. We had no hot water for showers the entire 3 days, even after asking the staff. We were told it was available from 5pm to 8pm daily. Due to the rain and road conditions we never made it to Saadani National Park.
John was our next driver/ guide and he was a God send. Our stay in Bagamoyo was noneventful. We did not feel safe to leave the hotel premise. The Millennium Sea Breeze is very run down, food was minimal, liquor watered down, loud music till 3am. The reception staff spoke very little English. A late check out was a $25us charge. We were glad to see John the next morning.
After a fairly long drive we arrived in Dar es Salaam. Our hotel looked ok on the website- location was very undesirable. After a horrible previous 4 days experience with hotels and locations we refused to stay 2 nights at the Tanzanite Hotel. Walter refused to try to get a refund or book us else ware and basically we were on our own to find suitable lodging- thankfully John stayed with us and helped get us to the Four Points by Sheraton where we spent (at our own expense) 2 relaxing days and had great food and drinks. The front desk staff arranged a day outing for us.
Sooo.. 15 days very good last 7 days not so much. We were disappointed that Walter with SED was not able or willing to help us at the end of very long trip (at this point we had been on the African continent for 32 days). Be advised to check out hotels and resorts online, trip advisor, websites and etc. I did and still was disappointed and surprised at the condition of some place, others were a pleasant surprise.
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Email Scott and Bernadette | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing, Excellent and Unforgettable Experience
We had an amazing trip to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We must have seen a million Wildebeest on our trip. We were lucky to be there when the large herds were crossing the Mara river and we saw groups of many thousands dramatically crossing the river. Our guide knew exactly where the herds would be knew all crossing points of the river. Aside from that we saw a lot of wonderful animals like lions,buffalo,hippos,hyenas and the amazing leopard sleeping in the tree.
We choose their mid range option. The accommodation and food was excellent. We thought the trip was a great value. The price was considerably lower than other operators selling similar trips. Highly recommended and kudos to our guide (Anton).
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Email Patricia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Customized to perfection
We modified this tour for a total of 15 days (17 with flights) including Victoria Falls. This experience was executed flawlessly with both attention to detail and flexibility when the conditions dictated it. When our luggage did not make it to destination on our flight from Zimbabwe to Nairobi, our guide was extremely accommodating, followed up with their office to when to pick up the luggage from the airport since we we no longer in town, had it sent to us and took us to a landing strip within Masai Mara part to retrieve it. Speaking of the guides, they were outstandingly knowledgeable and willing to always go the extra mile, whether it be for animal viewing or other service aspects. They were more invested in locating wildlife and various experience than some of my kids :) Lodges were top notch, especially the tended camps and the Nairobi hotel. We had a colorful experience in terms of sights, information, flavors and culture. Overall I couldn't have asked for better.