Zanzibar office team ready for your services
Soul of East Africa Safaris (Uhuru Travel)
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- TATO, ZATO & ZATI
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
FR
Email Nico G | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
7 days budget shared tent safari Serengeti & Ngorongoro
Great 7 days group shared tent camping safari tour from Arusha up to Serengeti and Ngorongoro, through Tarangire, Arusha NP and Lake Eyaesi ! Our guide Sady and cook Moody were great to prepare and accompany our daily adventures and meals, to make us discovering the marvels of the Tanzanian National Parks ! Got some changes in the sequence and calendar of the tour but support, booking, Q & A and assistance from office with Mr. Ally & Louis were great before, during and after the tour ! Will recommend !
-166988.jpg)
-166989.jpg)
-166990.jpg)
-166991.jpg)
-166992.jpg)
-166993.jpg)
-166994.jpg)
-166995.jpg)
BG
Email Reni | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We felt calm and safe. Extremely responsible tour operator. We are very pleased and grateful!
We bought three tours from the agency. One was to Kilimanjaro, the second was the Blue lagoon and the third to a Prison Island. Everything was very well organized and the price was real...absolutely normal. We even did the two tours, the blue lagoon and prison island in one day because we didn't have any other time...and it was very well organized. Mr Abdallah's attitude was extremely good and whenever we needed him, he was always there. I recommend this agency for your travels and I am sure you will be very satisfied, as we are!
DE
Email Amélie | under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organized, nice guides and appropriate price
My safari was great! I traveled alone and changed the group after the first day, but all people I met were very nice. Even with rain, out guides tried their best to give us the maximum wildlife experience and we were lucky! I saw all the Big five! The nights in the tents were pretty rough, but it is part of it! And it is ten times worth it! Thank you Uhuru Travel for this adventure!
RU
Email Elena | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
very reliable and cool operator
it was a great experience. our guide was absolutely fantastic. told a lot of interesting things and showed better places. The chef cooked very delicious food. We took a tour for 6 days and were completely satisfied. I will recommend to all our friends.
SA
Email MURTADA | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
VERY NICE COORDINATION
found Uhuru Travel among many other tour operaters, Abdullah was the best option in terms of $$ & overall itinerary plan. I did 4 days shared tour of the northern safari, Abdullah has arranged for me to join other group with ( 7 wonders co ) which was very fun. Our guid was Robin, he is Professional & very supportive. Also willing to do extra things to make your trip more comfortable.
after the safari, I visited Dar & Zanzbiar. Both I had driver for me & were very fun & full of activities.
all the booking plans & transportation arrangement was done thur Abdullah, I only had to book my flight.
overall it was nice coordination & I would recommend both Uhuru Travel & Seven Wonders
US
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari seeing the Big 5 and more!
My girlfriend and I booked a 13 day Safari and Beach vacation through Uhuru and it was amazing to say the least. From the get go Margaret from Uhuru was attentive and really listened to what we wanted to do as well as our budget. We did a 6 day Safari with a private car guide and cook with tenting accommodation. Our guide Abrahm was outstanding and managed to get up close and personal with not only the Big 5 but many many more animals during a time when other guides were struggling to find them. In addition to the big 5 we saw cheetahs, Jackals, Hippos and even a Honey Badger! The camp sites were primitive but more than adequate and our cook made tasty food the whole time. Our Beach vacation in Zanzibar was also great and the perfect way to finish our trip. You will not go wrong with Uhuru tours and Margaret planning your trip
AR
Email Gabriel | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Uneven service, with great things mixed with defficient aspects
We bought a 3-week package thru Uhuru with my family of 5 (me, my wife, and 3 grown-up children (27-25-23), from December 28th to Jan 17th, 2020. It included 12 days in safaris, and 8 days in Zanzibar. We chose the mid-range option (other being budget & luxury).
Positive side:
1. First, Margaret, our contact person throughout the trip, was there for us 24/7, constantly attentive to our needs, and ready to solve any problem that could arise. It was great to have her reachable in Whatsapp at all times!
2. The organizational part was impeccable, everybody was waiting for us in the right places, at the right times, rooms ready in hotels, guides and drivers ready to take us where we were going.
3. All the lodges in the safari part of the trip, also great, meeting or exceeding our expectations!
4. Having a vehicle and a guide/driver exclusively for ourselves the entire trip was also great.
5. The guides: superb! Perfect I’d say for Charles in Kenya, and very good Godwin in Tanzania. They of top importance, you get to spend most of your day with them.
On the Negative side:
6. Major problem: the vehicles! Transport in safaris are 50% of the experience. In a trip like this, we spent 8-12 hours a day on the transport, either as a game drive or in between Parks (several of the game drives were planned to occur during our inter-park trips, with all our luggage inside the vehicle, and it cannot be done in any other way). And we were 5 adults with luggage for 3 weeks. The quality of what we got was absolutely terrible, not up to standards. And that after much complaining from our part, Uhuru refused to change the vehicle, is really incomprehensible. It ruined our experience. In every lodge, every park entrance, every stop to watch animals, where we saw other tour vehicles, ours was by far the oldest, most decrepit, and overcrowded of all! I happened to read on several Safari.com reviews that other passengers also complained in the past about the same issue with Uhuru, and also read in disbelief that management from Uhuru replied that Uhuru assigns the small Jeeps for up to 4 passengers, and the extended Jeep for up to 6, and we were 5 adults and Uhuru had us crammed in a small Jeep for 8 days (the Tanzania part)!!! So Uhuru did not even respected its own established standards. It is really lamentable, this was meant to be the trip of our life, but it gave us reasons to complain every day we had to endure such bad mini bus/Jeep. On top of that, since the conditions of the roads are so bad, the famous "African Massage" turned out to be torture for us due to the bad conditions of these very old vehicles. Advise to future travellers: find a way to know ahead what kind of vehicles you will be given during the safaris!
7. As compensation, Uhuru offered a free half-day tour in Zanzibar (we chose snorkeling in Nmemba Island). Although this was a nice gesture: 1) it was not nearly enough to compensate the problems we had during the safaris, and 2) the tour itself was bad, the service was mediocre, and the facilities at the point of departure of the boat were just terrible. I’d strongly suggest Uhuru to not use those guys anymore.
7. Airport hotel at arrival: 67 Airport Hotel at Nairobi was horrible, and in a terrible location! My daughters arrived at night and were so scared when they saw their airport transfer entering the streets where the hotel is, it is like a slum. And the arrival hotel is the first impression one has of the whole trip, the country, and the tour company. It is at least three levels below the quality of the safari lodges. It is clearly not “mid-range” level that we chose for the whole trip, and I’d say it does not even qualifies for “budget”.
8. Nungwi Nmanari Cottages in Zanzibar: the hotel is OK, I’d say more budget than mid range, but acceptable in terms of rooms, services and general facilities. But it is on the wrong side of the island!!! It has no beach!! We spent 6 nights on a tropical paradise island in a hotel with no beach. High tide: no beach, low tide: the sea retreats to 800 meters away, and impossible to get to because there are stones, coral, and see urchins. We could not believe it when we went to the other side (just a 10’ taxi ride away) where a lot of other hotels are, and saw such beautiful beaches, enjoyable in both low and high tide. My son and daughters, who love the beach, complained day and night, and I felt that I let them down organizing this trip in such a way that didn’t let them enjoy Zanzibar’s world famous beaches
Reply from Soul of East Africa Safaris (Uhuru Travel)
Posted on Jan 27, 2020Thanks for your great reviews its always a pleasure to have positive and negative side of the review. We shall work on all the points. Hotels will change them for better ones and Jeep we will make sure with the clients before their safari. Since Mr. Gabriel was assigned with Min-Van in Kenya for 6 Seats and Tanzania Jeep 6 Seats but they had many luggage about 7 pieces with back packs! Was to much to be accommodated in the Min-Van or Jeep. Luggage consumes a lot of space in the Cars. Its has been a great challenge with many clients paid for normal size Jeep of 6 seats requesting for Extended Jeep for 8 seats in the middle of the safari while they are only 4 or 5 due to their many luggage in the cars. Better bring one luggage and one back pack each at least will fit well in the Safari Car. No space for too many luggage. We promise to deliver smooth and good services to all our clients. Uhuru Travel Team.
US
Email Sharon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
TERRIBLE GUIDE
We started out with a great guide, George, bu the jeep broke down so we wasted a day waiting for the jeep to be fixed. The guide stayed with the jeep and we got a new guide. The new guide didn't tell us anything about what we were looking for, he didn't communicate with us, speak English, and was generally just kind of a jerk. It was exceptionally disappointing for the 4 day safari. Maybe Uhuru is fine but I hope they never use Jonas as a guide again or make sure you don't end up with Jonas.
IT
Email Lucia, Adriano, Luigi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thanks a lot! High prof. and disposal. Marwellous travel! We wishes you all the best!
We suggestivo to contact Margaret for havana a wonderful vacation @
Lots of animals chilling, beautiful national park!
They were very quick to reply to emails. The drive from dar is quite long so be prepared with stuff to listen to. We had a swimming pool in our accommodation so had a nice evening swim and some decent food.
The guide asked us what we wanted to see and was happy to stop when we wanted. The scenery itself was just beautiful and we saw lots of animals (elephants, lions, zebras etc. etc.)