Our Luxury Safari Jeeps
Mama Savana Safaris
- Offices In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2009)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $800 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
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Email Audrey and Chris | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Safari of a Lifetime!
Despite COVID-19 we took the plunge at the end of September and travelled. This was our sixth safari vacation, but accounts of an empty Serengeti were too much to resist. Luckily, we found a safari operator, Mama Savana, who was willing to work with our last-minute requests and assure us of ultimate flexibility should flights cancel or our COVID test turn out positive. Alex was great to work with—always professional and friendly and he went over and above regarding prompt responses; at one point I asked him if he ever slept since I’d receive responses in Tanzania’s late evening hours. Alex put together an excellent trip for us that included, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Central and Northern Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater. Camps ranged from amazingly luxurious to good—I asked for the range of accommodation to balance cost and luxury, and Alex listened.
Our guide Allen was one of the best we’ve encountered during our safari experiences; a true safari master. Often once guides learn we’ve been to Africa they stop educating us, even though we ask them to share their knowledge. Allen was awesome, lots of information!! He has great overall knowledge and great bird knowledge. We loved that he carried bird field guides so that he could show us the bird in the book. I’d take a photo of the page right after the bird photo so It’d be an easy ID a month later when I started sorting through photos. Allen was great at making sure we got good photos and has a keen eye for lighting and composition. Allen is also an amazing “spotter” which certainly provided experiences we may not have had without him. Allen understands animal behavior and was able to time our approaches to increase the likelihood of seeing a specific behavior. For instance, in the Ngorongoro Crater we witnessed a male ostrich executing a courtship dance to an interested female. We watched from a distance until the female laid down and the male quickly ran over to receive his prize. Only once the male started running toward the prostrate female did we maneuver closer—if we’d have moved too soon, the pair may have changed their minds and we’d have missed the mating. We also saw a large group of wildebeest crossing the Mara on Oct 5th! Allen hung back from the riverbank for that one too and encouraged patience explaining the likely behaviors we would witness prior to a potential crossing. After two hours it happened, and it was an amazing experience that will forever be etched in our memories. Lastly, Allen has a fun sense of humor and was a great traveling companion, we gained a friend on that safari!
Every safari is a once in a lifetime experience but having the wildlife essentially to yourself in one of the world's premier safari destinations is an unparalleled experience unlikely to ever be repeated again. While this experience was certainly unique, having an expert planner and an expert guide, like Alex and Allen, will set a solid foundation for your safari. Thanks Mama Savana!
FR
Email Timothée | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgetable safari !
Mama Savana is a very professional company. Alex is very reactive and flexible in the planning of the custom made safari (Always good proposal), especially in this covid period ! Our guide Allen was very experienced and friendly during the safari. He knows where to go and when to see the animals. We learned a lot with him !
Besides we also booked hotel and excursion in Zanzibar with mama Savana and everything went well too.
Email Lu | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unforgettable experience and a fantastic service from Mama Savana
Took me few months to write the review and I can say that the excitement about our 10-day safari experience with Mama Savana are still very vivid in my mind. I have never revisit the photos of a holiday so many times as I've done with the ones I took while in Tanzania. This was not our first safari destination and our awe was not because it was the first time we've seen fantastic wildlife or landscape. Everything was just amazing, the tented camps, the lodges, the drives, the food, Alex from Mama Savana was great in organising everything to fit what we wanted to do and very quick to respond and act when needed. He even helped us with aspects of our holiday in Zanzibar before we started the safari. Joseph was a fantastic safari driver and the Osinon tented camp was the best of the many we experienced. Mama Savana staff are all very polite, reliable and professional, I highly recommend booking with them. After flying from Zanzibar to Arusha in a small plane with fantastic views of the Kilimanjaro, Joseph was waiting for us at the airport and took us to meet Alex at the nearby Coffee Lodge. We then started our drive to Tarangire National Park, where the majestic baobab trees are a particular feature of the landscape and where you'll see a lot of elephants. The Sangaiwe Tented Lodge was great and we enjoyed the views from the lodge (although we really spent pretty much all daylight hours in safari drive, so didn't quite enjoy the pool and other facilities). Our next stop was Lake Manyara National Park, with a very different type of landscape and vegetation, and the hot spring, which was interesting to see. As it had rained a lot in previous days, Lake Manyara was quite deep and we didn't see the large gatherings of flamingos there and some of the roads around the lake were flooded. Yet, a very interesting park, I think it was the only place where we saw Sykes monkeys. From there we went to Lake Eyasi where we spent the morning with the Hadzabe tribe following them on a hunt, seeing how they cook and live. It was a genuine experience as that day they were very successful in their bow and arrow hunting. We then visited the 'blacksmiths', a primitive forge where they were melting down old padlocks and using the metal to make arrow heads (using a nail and a hammer!), ornaments and other stuff. We then went to visit the house of a Toga family, again, very genuine experience as we found out that that the local guide's sister was one of the (many) wives of the house we visited! From there we headed to the fabulous Serengeti National Park. Spectacular does not do it justice. You need to go there to appreciate the size of the park (no wonder Serengeti means endless plains in the Masai language!) and the vast numbers of animals. On arrival at dusk at Osinon Tented Camps we had an excellent dinner under the stars and really enjoyed the whole of our time at that camp. Great food, great staff, fantastic location. From central Serengeti, we went to the Ndutu area, which was my favourite really. In February, the wildebeest migration just bring an amazing number of animals, all with their calves, and you can see them even by the road, wildebeests, zebras, impalas, gazelles, hyenas, birds of all sorts... and then there are the tree climbing lions, lions mating and lions with cubs, and cheetahs, leopards and more... unforgettable! The Heritage Camp was really nice. Our last safari day was in the breathtaking Ngorongoro Crater... wow, what scenery! Our stay at Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge was great…lovely property will all the trimmings. Brilliant rooms and settings, very good service and there we finally had time to go for a swim in the pool, so nice!
Thanks to everyone at Mama Savana and sorry this review was posted late. I do hope you are starting to get some tourists back as you probably had such quiet times due to the Covid pandemic. I'm sure you clients will have a brilliant experience and be as pleased with your services as we were.
PL
Email Tim | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lifetime experience!
We decided to go for a Safari with Mama Savana in March. Without hesitation we can admit it was the best decision we could make.
During organisation we had great contact with very kind owner, Alex. He gave us all vital details and was very flexible while arranging our trip. He arranged airport pick ups and hotels before and after Safari.
During our Safari we were guided by Alen. The real Safari master and magician. He's very experienced, smart with great sense of humour. During 6 days together he became our good friend. With his experience and huge knowledge of the nature he took us to wonderful places showing much more than we could expect.
We can honestly recommend Mama Savana Safaris. Thanks to them we had magical trip and lifetime experience!
CA
Email Cathy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
All communication with Mama Savana was done by e-mail, which was always answered promptly. Alex was very helpful and patient with me. The safari was spectacular, we saw the big 5 and many other animals, cheetah, leopards, elephants, zebra, giraffe, lion cubs playing, a day old elephant were particularly memorable. Harun, our driver was very knowledgeable and answered all our guestions.
We also spent 5 days in Zanzibar. Stonetown is beautiful and we should have stayed there another day, there's so much to see and explore. The resort and beach were like being in paradise. All our accommodations were comfortable and meals were delicious. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime for my family and myself. We left Africa with many warm memories and feeling like we are part of the Mama Savana family.
MX
Email Kent | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Exquisite attention to itinerary details and flexibility, rearranging for better game viewing option
Our expectations were well exceeded! With great confidence, Alex at Mama Savana, wrought last minute changes to our itinery that proved well thought out. We avoided hours of unnecessary travel to the northern Sarengeti area; the expected wildebeest migration hadn't begun to cross the Mara River. Our days proved better spent on the Central Serengeti. Our Mama Savana guide Haroun was incredibly knowledgable and personable, able to spot all sizes of animals at great distances and give detailed information with ease and humor.
IT
Email Andrea Ceccanti | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent family holiday, best ever
Since the very first moment (booking), we found Mama Savana an excellent tour operator. Alex was responding just in time to all our queries.
Everything then went perfect, from our arrival at Arusha to the departure.
Our driver, Allen, is simply great! Funny, speaking Italian, very competent; he could see animals in every location, while driving. We were able to see all the animals, including a rhino walking within 20 mt from the our jeep.
The lodges were always very comfortable and the people nice, smiling, cheerful. The tented lodges in the parks of Lake Manyara and Serengeti are a unique experience.
Food is excellent everywhere.
Alex is a very competent professional and he make this trip as the best holiday we ever had.
MY
Email Jomkwan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent operator
We wen't on a safari across the parks of Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Manyara in early September 2019 and were quite happy with Mama Savana Safari/Regional tour.
Hassan is a good driver/guide. Alex is very honest.
He booked us Kati Kati Camp in Serengeti which the staff having a service mind. And the most important the foods is yummy.
IT
Email Elisabetta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Game drive in Tanzania and beach in Zanzibar - Perfect organisation
Just returned from the private tour (4 couples) organized via email and what's app based on our requests. 6 days in Tanzania (Arusha, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire) and 3 in Zanzibar. For me and my husband it was the first safari. We had evaluated many hypotheses and estimates, we did not know MAMASAVANA before and we were very satisfied with the choice. Everything went better than expected; the stages are well organized, the lodgings are excellent, the drivers are able, the cars are comfortable. We were lucky also as a weather (never too hot during the day and never cold at night) and as animal encounters (Ngorongoro rhinoceros, lion on the tree at Manyara, lactation, mating, hunting). We felt immediately in good hands: Alex and John, brothers as different as they are complementary, have shown attention to every detail (for example, we got Arusha by flight at 5 in the morning, they made us immediately find the rooms available in the hotel; when it was a delay by the airline on the domestic flight they took us to lunch in a nice complex). John, who speaks excellent Italian, has been with us throughout the safari, and with him and the drivers (Adam and Gilla) we spent very pleasant hours, (including an impromptu game of pool with a Masai).
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Email Ted | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience, would recommend Mama Savana
Alex was very responsive and accommodating. We wanted to add another day so Alex modified our itinerary such that we spent a day in the Northern Serengeti, not just in Central. Because of this we ended up seeing a herd of about '1000 wildebeest cross the Mara River which was a highlight of the trip.
All of the accommodations that Alex arranged (Four Points in Arusha, Burunge Tented Lodge, Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge, Tanganyika Wilderness Camps, and Tloma Lodge were great. The tented camps were very fun (we saw zebra and elephants right outside our tent) but also had some surprising comforts: hot showers, toilets, Wi-Fi, good food, etc.
Our guide Allen was great. Funny, informative, good driver, accommodating, and knowledgeable.
At the end of our second to last day our trusty Toyota Land Cruiser was having trouble shifting gears. While we relaxed, slept, and ate breakfast at Tloma Lodge, Alex and Allen worked to get a new car sent from Arusha (2.5 hours away) rather than risk the car breaking down on our last day. The car itself was nice, we had a fridge in back with cold water and juice, as well as the ability to charge our devices the entire trip.