Marvel in the majestic Serengeti!
Seven Wonders Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2011)
- Member Of:
- TTB & TLTO
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $160 to $550 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
CA
Email Ailsa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Do not book with this company
Do not book a tour with Seven Wonders in Arusha. In all of my travels, it was the worst experience I’ve ever had. This is not just a post about a bad tour company, this is a safety warning to all travellers – please do not use this company.
My boyfriend and I booked a safari to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater for 3 days and 2 nights. Our cook was great, but our guide was awful. We shared the safari truck with two lovely French ladies, and we were all told that the guide spoke both French and English – but he didn’t speak either (other than a few basic phrases), which made communication very difficult.
He couldn’t tell time, and kept telling us to get up for breakfast at 2:00 am (which we actually did the first morning!). He was very disorganized and always late, which decreased the amount of time we got to spend each day in the national parks. We had to set-up and take down his tent each morning to try and speed up our departure time, as he didn’t know how to. He didn’t spot one single animal our entire trip! And when we spotted them he would drive past more than half of them. And on our second day when I spotted a leopard, and we requested to park for a better view, he kept driving and said that we had to go home for lunch, yet proceeded to stop for antelope!!! We’re not usually picky with driving, but he was honestly very unsafe and came close to hitting walls, trees and animals on the road on multiple occasions. He was always on his phone in the truck, and when he wasn’t talking on it he was taking creepy pictures of the young French girl (trying to disguise them as selfies). He made the experience so bad that it brought the French ladies in our truck to tears - they called Seven Wonders several times to complain and to try and get a replacement guide, but the manager of Seven Wonders yelled at them over the phone and called them “liars” and refused to compensate them in any way.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, on our last day we were scheduled to visit the Ngorongoro Crater. Our guide had forgotten to pay our tickets for entry the night before, so we were late entering and late leaving the park. Our guide on exiting the inner gate of the crater told us that we had to pay a $70 USD fee per person for exceeding our permit time. We explained to the ranger that it was our guide’s fault because we arrived late, and the guide lied and said that we had threatened to fight him in the truck (3 small girls and 1 guy vs. 2 grown men!), and that we had made him stay late. When we tried to exit the last gate of the park in a taxi, we were detained because the fee had not been paid. The head park ranger agreed that Seven Wonders should pay the fee, and he arranged over the phone with the manager the he should mobile transfer the money. He never did, and as a result we were kept at the gate until after dark before being allowed to finally leave at 8:30 pm (after waiting for 5 ½ hours).
The next day, we were approached at our hotel in Arusha by the manager of Seven Wonders, along with a group of 5 other men. He told us we needed to pay him the $140 USD. We tried to calmly reason with him, but he was simply aggressive and rude, and accused us of lying. They wouldn’t leave, and harassed us until we asked for the police to be called. The police warned us that these men were dangerous, and that they believed that if we didn’t give them what they wanted they were going to hurt us. The police were unable to charge them unless they did first harm us, so we filed a police report and had to be driven to a hotel outside of town where we were safe.
Please be warned – these are bad people. Do yourself a favour, there are many other tour companies you can choose from.
MT
Email Kristina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ruined experience
This was the worst trip ever in our ecperience and i apologise for the long write up but too much happened...So here it goes...
We booked 11 days shared Kenya and Tanzania safari with this company. The quotation was provided by and communication was held with Evelyn.
While said quotation was provided swiftly, we had to chase her to acknowledge/issue an official confirmation of the deposit payment, as according to her such are not typically provided (weird, isn't?). Since I insisted, some sort of confirmation was issued and she then disappeared without providing any details in terms of pick up or any other details. This silence continued up until the very last moment where although I requested information regarding the time of pick up (she didn't ask about our flights at any point before this), who shall be picking us up and where(it was our first trip to Nairobi, so we were not experts) by email to which no reply was received up until literally last day when I then messaged her again on whatsup (communication couldnt have been attached herewith unfortunately). So on this point a reply was sent and we communicated well upon arrival, where we were picked up by Evelyn at the terminal and 'handed over' to William who took us to their so called office which was closed so we were waiting for the driver outside(at this point we were saying how nice of her to meet us and William was great _he provided so much info on trips, acrivities, etc). Some half hr later the druver arrived and we thought we will proceed but no. We've been sitting and waiting for over 2 hrs and none carred to explain what's that we are waiting for since all 6 people were in the jeep. Here to our surprise although in all our agreed terms we were told that we will be up to 6 persons, 7th person joins instead of a guide! We the proceed to Masai Mara. Since we departed late, on the first day we only had 1.5hrs game drive close to our lodge despite itinerary indicated whole afternoon drive.
The following day we had a full day in the park, but to our all disappointment we were then advised that the 3rd day game drives in Masai Mara will not happen as parks changed the rules ( instead of 24hr to 12hrs ticket validity). None of the 7 people on this trip had been informed of this ahead and none had been reimbursed for this either! we were not even given an option to purchase a new ticket ourselves (some 80 USD for the jeep would be nothing between 7 people when we already spent so much on the whole trip).Instead, the driver advertised a trip to Naivasha Lake as being great 1.5 hrs boat ride to observe birds with a stop on the island to feed animals. Since nothing else except for driving was to happen on that day (since 3rd day of Masai Mara game drives had been cancelled by the company) we decided to go and see the highly recommended lake (note that we didnt have internet so couldn't have checked ourselves and relied on the driver). To cut the story shorth we paid 30 USD each at the place in cash (only accepted in such manner) no tickets or receipts were issued. we spent 53 min exactly on that and saw a max of 10 birds, the lake looked dead and none stoped us at any islands for any animals. Upon return to the shoar the driver bluntly asked if we saw hipos and crocodiles to which quite shockingly we replied that no such live there and he shouldn't have advertised something unless he knew what that really is! Perhaps a suggestion to the company at this point to send your drivers for such trips so they know exactly what is happening?! So even more disappointed we move to the hotel to yet again be shocked to hear that we will be left at some other place than the one we paid for (as specified in the itinerary)! Since this was stated when we were dropping of 2 guys at that place we took the opportunity to connect to the internet and check what's being offered to see that the place we booked showed eur 67 on booking.com while the one the driver told us to stay was 36 eur! We then refused to leave the jeep explaining that it's not our hotel and we want to go where we should! The driver following numerous calls with the office advised that the place we booked is fully booked so we must stay in this new cheaper place which all 5 of us yet again rejected. After some 45 min arguments the driver agreed to take us to the place we actually booked as we insisted that the place showed being available on booking.com and if anything, it must have been booked for us already. We arrive and...the place is nearly empty (why tell us its fully booked???) and we were also given options to change rooms! So lie no1 and we were not only disappointed regarding the cancellation of 1 day of Masay Mara, lost time and money to see dead lake and even more time wasted on arguments regarding the accommodation that we paid for!
The last day in Kenya we went to lake Nakuru where we only had 2.5 hrs so yet again disappointed with the schedule as we should have had more time we proceed to Nairobi to be put on a public bus!!!!! For the transfer to Arusha. At no point in time were any of us informed that the transfer to Arusha will be through a public bus!!but surely it cost peanuts so more money to the company!
When in Arusha, the bus driver surprisingly dropped us at the hotel directly and we were informed regarding the pick up times for the following morning. So far so good.
In the morning the guy comes on time (impressive!) I told him my name and the name of my fellow traveler, he checked his phone and put our bags in the jeep. Here we were informed that since we will be going to the bush, he will stop at the shops if we want to buy some wine and beer so he offerd to get it for us cheaper. We wondered how come he suggested we buy drinks ourselves when drinks were listed in our itinerary as all included but we just let it go and went to withdraw some money to buy something. In the meantime he comes back stating that we should be going back as we are not his passengers! Why did I give him our names and what he checked remained mystery but here we are again wasting our time which we could have spent driving in the park. When he drives us to the office to exchange us, a guy there shows us a map and explains that we will be going to serengeti, ngorongoro and etc. I then specifically open my itinerary and read with him to confirm the details and accommodation which he confirms to me and to my fellow traveller. All good we proceed. In the evening, the driver announces that we shall be going to again diferent hotel than that indicated in the itinerary!!! Again no Internet and same explanation _ fully booked! We endup there where we didnt like to also then get to know during dinner that another 5 people ended up the same as us_we had to be at the hotel that the company stated was fully booked when it was showing yet again available and same story was now sold to 7 people! Although we had water, beverages and wine and beer included in our package, when we asked for water/wine during the dinner we were all told that we must pay for them.
The following morning I decided to write to Evelyn regarding all the above and ONLY asked her to ensure that the remaining part of the trip remains unchanged. She never replied but she asked the driver to pass his mobile to me and she started explaining that nothing changed, that the drinks had to be provided by our chef not the place itself (like we would have known who and what and why he didn't offer if he had to?) that according to her when in the office, we were explained that the accommodation was changed and we never complained about anything etc. At this point I got seriously annoyed with her and their lies and I told her bluntly that i do not trust one single word she says as I told her in facts what happened and there were more people with me who heard all this. She then treated me to cancel the safari as according to her I was lying, none of this what i was saying was true and that in their T&Cs there is indicated that they can cancel safari for whatever reason should they wish so. She told me that she will send the car to pick us up and bring us to the office where she will refund us for the safari to which again I explained to her that I didn't ask her for anything but just to stick to our itinerary and provide what we paid for! She insisted that this is impossible as I said that I don't trust her so consequently i cannot go on safari with their driver and she just cut the cinversation. We then spoak to the driver as he seemed lost and she called again and again and from the treats to cancel us she then decided to proceed with us and while on speaker she confirmed that we shall continue as per schedule and even herself named the places that we go and stay at. This as you can already imagine was another lie as on the way back from ngorongoro we were told that we are going to be taken to that same place where our argument started!! Here we refused to go again, another call another useless chat where she for the second time accused me of lying when the only lier was her and none else and we ended up in the situation where I stated on speaker that her driver also heard her confirming that we will be going to the place that its written in the itinerary and he confirmed this to her in front of us! After some shouting and screaming by her at the driver we were told Nsya (the place we had in the itinerary) is not happening in any case and we were offered 2 other places.i insisted that if she wants to put us in diferent place again she must then upgrade us as we fed up having all these issues after paying for something that we are not getting! Guess what_ no point taken. Here we try to check on booking.com but the Internet was awful so we struggled. When asked the driver to check on his phone all of a sudden his Internet wasn't working and the only options were we were to go where he wanted to take us and we said no. He then took us to yet another diferent place to show it to us but we didn't like it and there was no Internet, he then took us to another place where the office stated that only 1 double room was available while we needed a twin room and when arrived _ triple room was showed! Another lie! Here we were just sick and tired so we said fine we'll stay there but we want dinner and breakfast with all drinks as per itinerary. The hotel rep stated that this is not happening as the company only agreed to accommodate us on room only basis! Another half hr arguments and they decide to leave the company's chef to cook for us but we won't get hotel's food, and also that we won't get any wine as that according to the driver we finished already while on safari! On this point when we were to proceed to serengeti the driver asked us if we like beer, wine or konjak and we told him that no strong alcohol is needed some like beer but mostly wine so we asked to get an extra bottle of wine (he had 1 box of beer in the jeep) and he came back with 2 bottles_ 1 red and 1 white (this for 6 people for 3 days). As said on day one we were not given any wine and the company said that the chef forgot to offer but then they only got the wine the following morning so something doesn't click again! Anyone is still surprised?
So during the dinners on these next 3 days we only saw 1 bottle of white wine and some remaining little of white from the other jeep, while red wine disappeared. When we asked on the last night, the driver stated that he give 2 bottles to the lodge (which wasn't the case as we spoke to people who stayed there and they were paying for their drinks there, it would be weird that someone paying 200 eur a night would gake a bottle of cheap wine to tbe lodge
LT
Email Svetlana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great first safari experience
This was our first safari and Seven Wonders made it unforgettable experience. The communication before arriving was quick and clear. The program was explained in every detail and all of our questions were answered briefly. We had a very good guide-driver Edward, who picked us up in the morning from the hotel. Edward spoke good english, new a lot about wild animals and could spot many of them. He was a very nice person, highly recommended! We lived in a camp, which was basic but fullfilled all of our needs. We even had a private shower at the back of our tent!! All in all three days at the safari were great and thanks to Seven Wonders Safari.
FR
Email Guinevere | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
So disappointed for this special trip, very bad organisation of 7 wonders
Hello, we did a 1 day safari to the ngorongoro crater. Everything went wrong (excepting that the car was ok)...we were supposted to be 4 and leave at 6am but the night before, we learnt we were 6, ok why not. And then a few ours later, before going to bed, we learnt we would have breakfast at 8:30 because we had to wait for another 2. I was upset because everyone knows you have to leave early so you see the animals active while it is not too hot. And by the way, all the other groups left at 6...Impossible to discuss...we would leave the Park at 5pm to 'earn those ours back'. The next day, we were still waiting for breakfast at 8:30 so the whole group was complaining! In the end we left at 9:30, arrived at the gate at 10. We were into the crater at 10:30 and went out at 15:30 because the driver did not want to arrive too late in Arusha. I was really trying to stay calm, we spent so much money on this day we dreamt about for so long...about that, in discussion with the others, we learnt that some of us paid 150$ each, others 350$ (we were in between)...they also forgot the water so we had no water and I got very sick that night (was it the food?). And to finish with, the driver only stopped when we asked him to... Please read these reviews before going with them, I wish I had done it...
TN
Email Helmi ZAYENE | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
For our honeymoon, my wife and I choose a trip to Tanzania including a 3 days Safari in Serengeti & Ngorongoro crater.
I did my search on Safaribooking.com and received quotes from 4 tour operators. I choose Seven Wonders Safari and here are the 5 main reasons making me satisfied with my choice: Respect for the commitments, Punctuality, Flexibility, Great service, Kind and courteous employees
Here’s the feedback on my experience in the 4 steps of my relationship with Seven Wonders Safari:
1- Preparation of the trip: Being myself a business manager, I learned to assess the professionalism of companies through their communication. Mrs. Evelyn Ngotea was the only one who sent me a quote in good standing: with stamp and signature, details of the course and conditions of the Safari were precise. The human relationship took precedence over the commercial aspect of our exchanges and I appreciated her recommendations.
2- Pick up: When our plane landed in Arusha, the transfer driver was waiting for us in the arrival area to pick us up. He drove us to the Ambassador Hotel which is located in a good location near the Maasai market where we could buy souvenirs at a very good price (negotiated of course). The hotel is correct and especially clean. We dropped off the souvenirs we had just bought at the reception desk so as not to clutter us up and picked them up at the hotel. One of the Seven Wonders employees (Moses) visited us in the early evening to brief us on the safari.
3- The Safari: the following day at 7:00 am the guide Kivuyo and Chief John were at the reception waiting for us to start the Safari. Kivuyo is an experimented guide and a great driver, which is very important because of the state of the roads in the parks. The day we were in the Ngorongoro Crater it was extremely foggy and we encountered two overturned vehicles. His experience allowed us to spot most of the big animals and to witness some amazing wildlife scenes: lions sharing a zebra, ostriches in courtship, huge herds of zebra and wildebeest, elephants, a rhino, a female cheetah with her cubs, hyenas on the hunt,... The information he provided us on the fauna and flora has enriched our knowledge and experience.
As for John, he spoiled us with his delicious dishes and was very attentive to our needs. My wife took the opportunity to learn a few tips from his good recipes. We took a liking to these two brave men and the discussions with them around dinner in the evening were amusing and their intellectual level is respectable: it was for us a taste of the African wisdom.
The camps where we spent the 2 nights were well located and the atmosphere was friendly. The sanitary facilities, showers, and kitchens were clean and practical. The tents provided by Seven Wonders were spacious and in good condition.
We even had the chance to be visited by a herd of zebras, some giraffes, and baboons. All harmless.
4- The return: On the evening of the 3rd day Kiyuvo and John dropped us off at the Ambassador Hotel. Evelyn contacted us to get our feedback and ask for the time we would like the driver to pick us up the next day to drop us off at the airport. The next day the driver was at the scheduled time. In this regard, I note the punctuality of Seven wonders.
Finally, we would like to thank Evelyn, Kiyuvo, and John for the great and unforgettable moments we spent. They allowed me to discover the heart of the African savannah and my eyes lost in the horizon crossed that of the first explorers and I felt the attachment of men like Vorbeck and Livingstone to the Tanzanian land.
SE
Email Fabian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not recommendable! Book your safari with a different operator, safe the trouple!
I booked the 5-Day Group Joining - Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro luxury package with Seven Wonders Safaris.
Initially everything was really great. Evelyn helped me greatly with getting my lost luggage from the airline to the hotel, all the driving worked out really great and the first day we changed the schedule from Manyara to Tarangire (more animals in Tarangire). We had a wonderful day at Tarangire. The driver Nestory was very experienced and a great park driver/guide. The disaster started from day 2!
I got picked up 2h delayed by an old driver called Abdul. Instead of driving towards Serengeti we drove back towards Arusha to pick up other people from the shared Safari. Why he didn't pick up the others first and me last was unclear to all of us. After arriving at the camp side, we had been told that one of the cars is damaged and the entire group of 12 people needs therefore to wait here for a replacement car to arrive. After having lunch and waiting another 2 hours we finally started the drive towards Serengeti. The drive didn't last very long since the police stopped us and denied us the drive, since the car lacked the permit to transport passengers. After waiting for approx another hours we finally started driving to Serengeti. We arrived the Serengeti park entrance just a few min before they closed the gate around 6 in the evening. From there its another 1h drive to the accommodations/camp sides. Here is where the real mess started. Abdul had clearly no idea where any camp side was. So we spend the coming 5h driving through the dark Serengeti Park, while helping the driver with google satellite images. Abdul constantly insisted that he knows the way, while it was very obvious that he was just randomly driving around (trying to enter roads with clear signs private only, making turns all the time, messing up left/right etc). After 5h I gave up finding my accommodation and we drove back to the main camp side, where we figured out that the car with the cook and tents never made it to the campsite. So the majority of the group had to asked complete strangers if they could join them in their tents without a mattress and sleeping bag. Since it was already 1am I decided to sleep with the driver in the car. Luckily for me the damaged car with the tents arrived in the middle of the night and I got a tent to sleep in for a few hours. During the entire day Seven Wonders ignored all our messages! We could reach anyone in their office. Even the day after I got mostly ignored by Evelyn. This was not the luxury version of safari that I pictured.
I am deeply sad to see how bad the company is handling problems. I can totally see how you can have a great time with Seven Wonders, but be aware that the moment anyone runs into problems, you will be let alone by the company. Problems can and will arise, its the way you handle them and how you communicate with your clients!
Seven Wonders tried to make things good the coming days, by providing me with a private driver and refunding part of the trip, which is the reason why I gave one extra point in the rating. But I would not recommend this tour organizer to anyone!
Maybe worth mentioning that paperwork was done wrongly when we left Serengeti and the driver had to bribe the guards to let us leave the park. Also the transport from Ngorongoro to Arusha lacked some kind of documents, so we were driving around police checkpoints or bribing the police officers to keep going.
RO
Email Roxana | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
one wonderful experience by 7wonders safari❤️
100% recommend! Everything went smoothly ever since i have first contacted Evelyn via whatsapp, she has been very responsive to all my requests and offered the best advice.
they have been so flexible and easy to communicate with, made sure our overall experience was the best one from the beginning.
Our guide, Joza is smart, polite and has a wide knowledge about every animal/bird in the savannah and constantly asked for feedback to make sure we are getting the experience we want!
Nathan is a talented chef, humble and hardworking, his food was various and tasty and even made us pancakes and cake!
Both of them helped me surprise my fiance for his bday with cake and wishes and for this i will always remember them.
All in all, i made the best choice in booking with 7wonders and it really was a wonderful tour!
ES
Email Chema | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderfull
I wrote to about 15 operators, and it took little time to choose 7 Woders, very little. First of all, the treatment received from the first mail by Evelyn. Evelyn is the manager of the company, she could write about 20 emails, she answered all of them in minutes, she always attentive to what she might need, to any question. You always fear for your money, and she told me at all times that it was not necessary for me to pay anything, to pay it when it arrived, that confidence that someone gives you who solves all your doubts and who dedicates your time to you, without rushing to a payment. He also understood perfectly that in times of Covid there can be many complications to get there.
Not only that, but when we landed in Tanzania, there she was, spending her time welcoming us and asking us how was the flight, and if we needed anything. They are very elegant details that make you enjoy your vacation, and make you forget the customer-company relationship, you are dealing with people who just arrive after 15 hours by plane, they ask you how you are.
When we finished the safari, she was there too to ask us how everything had gone and if we needed anything else. She traveled from her offices to the hotel, just to get our feed back. Only with this deal would she do it again with them.
They provide you with a hotel for the day before and after the safari, but the hotel ..... is spectacular !! Clean no, very clean, the treatment of the employees super cordial, good breakfast, in a quiet area, with a good restaurant and super cheap.
They also provide transfer to and from the airport, included in the price. The boy in the super nice taxi, the immaculate taxi.
Now the safari:
We were lucky to do it with the best possible driver: Linux. Always helpful, if you had to stop to get money or buy phone cards ... there he was, with a smile ready to help you. He knew all the corners where each animal could be, and he not only explained to you about them, but also about the trees, custom, everything. And very importantly, he never bothered any animal with the jeep, he never got closer than the respect for the animal allowed, unlike other drivers we saw. If you needed something, you didn't have to ask for it, he had already gone ahead and he was giving you the binoculars, or he was coming with some beers. No matter how much you asked him to stop, go somewhere, this or that, he NEVER stopped smiling at us. Always worried about what to do to make us even better. And ... her sense of humor about him! Not only did we meet incredible landscapes and wonderful animals, but this person left more of a mark on us almost than Serengetti himself.
In the safari you have real food, there we saw many companies at noon that distributed picnic boxes, in our case, it was always freshly cooked food, warm, the cook always arrived (breakfast, lunch and dinner) with the pans with freshly cooked food. The food is very good, breakfast with omelette, pancakes, toast, fruit, coffee, tea, and many more things. Lunch and dinner ... very tasty, but there was so much that it was difficult to finish it.
The perfect vehicle, comfortable, you could carry all the suitcases, with phone chargers, you always had a lot of water bottles, or some popcorn to hang out.
In general, one reads many reviews, I would not hesitate to criticize them to avoid a bad experience for others if they had, but honestly, out of 100 times I would repeat 110 with them: it is a super professional company, well organized, with human values hard to see today.
(automatic translation from Spanish)
IL
Email OrandUri | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari experience with Seven Wonders and hoza as our guide!
My husband and I booked the mount Meru hike and 5 days safari trip with Seven Wonders- both experiences were amazing! We will focus on this review on the Safari part.
We took around 6 price offers from local companies and Seven Wonders gave us the best and fair offer, price and quality-wise.
From the moment we landed at Kilimanjaro airport Evelyn and her team took the best care of us, supported our every need, change, accommodation, question, and request. Our tour guide was Hoza and he was a real expert- I'll start from the end: we saw the great migration crossing of the Mara river! He knew where all the interesting things are, drove fast but safe, highly professional and knowledgeable guide, share with us stories and information about the wildlife, culture, and the country. Due to his experience, we had the best decision and chose an alternative route; We initially planned one day in lake Manyara, one in Serengeti, and one in Ngorongoro, and one day in Tarangire. in the first day we were offered an alternative of two days in Serengeti and one in Ngorongoro, and one day in Tarangire, since lake Manyara is currently flooded (we also saw this on our way to the Ngorongoro). I would definitely recommend two days in Serengeti- it is the most beautiful park, very close to Masai Mara and has a lot of wildlife. It was also the only reason why we had enough time to see the great migration crossing. We are very thankful that we were offered this alternative.
We chose the camping option and the facilities were OK.
The Seronera camp in Serengeti was not the best. There was no hot water and the bathrooms were dirty- it was manageable but something to take into consideration.
The Simba campsite of Ngorongoro was nice, hot water and pretty clean.
We were a group of 4 people, a guide and a cook- the food was great!
IT
Email Davide | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience highly recommended!
I planned the Safari in 2019 to celebrate my girlfriend's 30th birthday.
After reviewing and contacting several companies by email, we've decided to do the Safari with Seven Wonders Safaris.
The experience overall was wonderful, and I would like to list all the points for which I highly recommend such company if you are lost in the decision of which company (they are so many!) to choose for this unique experience:
1) Very smooth, fast and precise communication remotely with Evelyin (Tour Consultant of Seven Wonders). She has been answering all of our questions and helped to organize exactly the kind of trip we wanted (we had a 4-days Safari visiting Lake Manyara, Serengeti and NgoroNgoro). She has been very patient and provided information about the trip, the car, the services included and organized sharply all the transfers we needed from the airport (we landed in Arusha and left from Kilimanjaro airport).
2) Highly flexible and understanding behavior. When Covid came we had to postpone our trip of more than 1year and half and they have been very helpful and willing to keep the deposit we gave without applying any penalty.
3) Salim (our guide) was absolutely a game changer in our experience (and we strongly recommend him also for your future trip). 26 years of experience that you can feel when you drive around immense parks looking for animal in the wildlife. He has been extremely professional and informative but also pleasant and we had a lot of fun together.
4) Everything in the organization was perfect and respected as agreed. Transfers were punctual and the game drives done to the maximum extent. Lunch in the park was prepared by a cook that came in the car with us, and also such meals were prepared very well, delicious!
5) For our trip we decided to sleep in 'lodges' and not in 'tents'. Although lodges are a bit more expensive than tents we are very happy we chose such option as the places where we spent the nights were really nice, clean, and comfortable with very good dinner and breakfast. I also believe that if you are up to a bit more of adventure you will enjoy the tent as well, but lodges will for sure give you the small comforts (nice bed, hot showers, electricity) that can make the difference to make sure you rest well and are full of energy during the days for the game drive.
6) Animals were amazing!
Overall, the experience exceeded by far our expectations. The Safari itself is a magic experience, very emotional, but without such organization and team it would not have been so memorable. Value for money is really satisfactory!
As a side note, we believe we were also quite lucky doing the Safari with a couple of young guys (we were a group of 4 visitors doing the Safari together) that we didn't know before and that were very easy going and nice people. During such Safari you can be in close contact with people you do not know (unless you organize a private Safari trip) and if the chemistry is not good it could affect your overall experience. But this didn't happen at all with our group (thank God!).
Last but not least, Seven Wonders Safaris is a local company and if you chose them you will also be supporting local entrepreneurs!
Well done Seven Wonders. Keep up the good job and looking forward to our next visit!
