Tanzania Safari Supremacy topguide; Julius Nassari
Tanzania Safari Supremacy
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $1,800 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IE
Email kylie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
not what was advertised
Tanzania Safari Supremacy is a complete rip off. Simply put, what they advertise and what they set out in their itineraries are not what they will provide. I travelled with them in July 2015 and was utterly disappointed at the service they provided.
Firstly, when we were picked up from our hotel in the morning the operators demanded that we pay the balance in cash. This was never mentioned to us in any correspondence beforehand, which it clearly ought to have been given the size of our group and the amount of cash we would therefore need to have on hand. We had expected to be able to pay by card, but instead lost an hour that morning travelling to the airport to access an ATM – a terrible start to the trip, a waste of our time, and no apology from the company. Unfortunately this was only the beginning of our problems.
We had opted to use this tour operator as they claim in all their materials that the drive to the park is 4-4.5 hours from Dar es Salaam (there are other parks in the region but they are a longer drive so we chose Mikumi as we had limited time available to us and wanted to maximise our time in the park). The drive took 6 hours. This wasn’t due to traffic as there wasn’t any significant traffic and the journey time was the same on the way back to Dar from the park. This delayed not only our arrival on the first day but also meant we would not have time to make use of our final morning on safari as we had to ensure we would make it back to Dar in time to catch the ferry.
The itinerary for the first day was to arrive by midday and immediately start on a game drive. Instead, when we arrived the driver told us that the plan was not to go out on a drive until 4:30pm! This was a loss of over half a day of driving for absolutely no reason.
At this stage we were very annoyed by the situation. We asked the driver to take us out at 3pm so as not to lose so much time and, reluctantly, he agreed. We also asked at that stage for the driver to get the manager, Elvice, who we had corresponded with by email beforehand, on the phone so that we could discuss the issues that had arisen. The driver did not get him on the phone.
On the first evening the driver (allegedly) checked what time breakfast would be served at, told us it would be 6:30am and initially suggested picking us up at 7:30am to go on a drive. As anyone who has been on safari before will know, it is best to go out as early as possible as the animals move around most in the mornings before it gets too hot in the middle of the day. Thankfully, we knew this so insisted that the driver pick us up at 7am and he, again reluctantly, agreed.
Later that evening the catering staff (who are entirely separate to the safari company and did a fantastic job and were most helpful) told us that breakfast is not served until 7am (a fact I have no doubt the driver was fully aware of). They tried to contact the driver for us to tell him that we would instead go on a drive earlier and return for breakfast later in the morning but they were unable to get through to him.
The following morning the driver did not turn up until 7:25am. When we were eventually able to speak to Elvice much later that day he claimed that the driver was delayed as he had had a flat tire. The driver never mentioned this so I fully believe this was just a story concocted later on to try and cover himself. He didn’t apologise at all when he did arrive late and when we made it clear that we were very unhappy with how we were being treated he again offered no apology.
As an aside, the driver showed very little in the way of knowledge about the animals. If we had not asked him questions about the animals I don’t think he would have said a word the whole time and when he did answer questions it didn’t seem like he knew very much about the animals. When we did come across animals it seemed very much like just a matter of chance rather than any skill exercised by the driver. Even if all the other issues had not arisen, I think we would have left the tour feeling quite disappointed by the drives because of this apparent lack of knowledge.
Returning to the main issues. When the driver arrived late that morning I insisted that he call Elvice as the group was so appalled at the service. He instead got another middle man, Philbert, on the phone who refused to listen to our complaints (which were expressed in a calm fashion) and began to scream down the phone at me, called me crazy a number of times, and then hung up the phone on.
We asked the driver again to get Elvice on the phone as he was, as far as we knew, the person in charge. The driver claimed that he did not know who Elvice was, he only knew Philbert. We told him that we were not happy to speak to Philbert and insisted he get Elvice on the phone and the driver said he would.
We eventually went out on our morning drive and by the time we returned for lunch we still had not received a call from Elvice (although we are quite confident that the driver was speaking on his phone to someone from the main office, he denied it when asked about it). At that point we again insisted on him calling Elvice. Again he claimed he did not know who that was and that he only knew Philbert so he put Philbert on the phone again, who claimed that Elvice could not be contacted as he was ‘in the bush’. When I said that that wasn’t acceptable and that we must speak to someone in charge he again started to shout at me and ultimately hung up the phone.
We again explained to the driver that we had to speak to someone in charge and that we wanted that phone call to happen now. 10-20minutes later we eventually got a call from Elvice. Unfortunately, all Elvice offered us were excuses, such as the phantom flat tire. He refused to acknowledge that the itinerary he had sent us was very different to what was proposed when we arrived and ultimately could offer us no solution. I asked that he consider the situation and call me back within an hour to offer some solution to the problem but, unsurprisingly at this stage, the call never came.
That evening when the driver dropped us off, we asked him to call Elvice again. At first he tried again to claim that he didn’t know who that was or how to contact him, but, obviously, this didn’t stand up and he eventually got him back on the phone. This time Elvice was much more hostile. He tried to claim that we had caused very issues and that we had tried to not pay for the safari (absolutely baseless claims), he offered the same nonsense excuses, and ultimately, when I insisted that there was no excuse for providing a service so different to what was advertised, he became completely frustrated and (judging by the sounds) hurled his phone against the wall.
Do not use Tanzania Safari Supremacy. There are so many companies offering safaris in this region, try any of them other than this one. They don’t provide what they promise, their driver showed no expertise, and their customer service is despicable.
Email HR | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing attitude
I wouldn't recommend TSS to anybody considering a safari in Tanzania - we didn't find them to be very professional at all and overall they handled our trip poorly. Firstly, their representative was late for our pre-safari briefing, and when we tried to call them their number was disconnected. As our hotel receptionist said she had never heard of them we found this a little worrying. When they did arrive we were told that due to reports back from Lake Manyara (where we were supposed to go on our first day) that there wasn't much wildlife being spotted, we would be going to Tarangire instead with a different group. This wasn't really a problem, but it would have been better to be told in advance rather than just before departure as we would have had more time to consider our options.
On the safari itself, our second day took us to Serengeti. As we were driving into the Serengeti the car had a fault, causing us to then be stuck at the gate there for 3 hours while it was looked at. This meant we missed a lot of game drive time, and arrived at camp having to set up our tents in the dark without any assistance after eventually being picked up by a different vehicle just before sunset. While we understand that faults like this happen, the way the situation dealt with was really not good enough - we repeatedly asked what was going on and were not given any information or any sense that there was a proper procedure to follow in incidents such as this.
After returning to Arusha at the end of our safari, two members of our group went to the operator's office in person to request a partial refund due to the time missed on safari, which they were given ($100 each). As we were leaving that day we didn't have chance to do so ourselves, so decided to email Elvice at TSS afterwards. The attitude we received when telling him what had happened and requesting the same refund as the others was appalling and completely unprofessional. He implied heavily that we were lying, and that the others had no such refund (they did, I maintained contact with them and checked this several times), then this changed to him telling us that the others had a refund because of problems in Kenya beforehand (they hadn't even been to Kenya).
The final straw was his attempt at emotional manipulation in telling us that they only offer group safaris to help people and they don't make a profit on them, so this refund would have to come out of his own pocket and would destroy years of hard work and that they'd have to consider stopping group safaris, that he'd have to beg to borrow it from a friend etc etc. At this point I gave up - I am not interesting in bankrupting anybody, and frankly found the whole thing ridiculously unprofessional.
There are plenty of other safari operators available and I would advise avoiding Tanzania Safari Supremacy if possible.
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Email Rebecca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Better than expected - trip of a lifetime!
I booked Tanzania Safari Supremacy online with Elvice for my family traveling from the US with 5 children ages 10-20. The guide met us at the airport and took care of us until the very end when he waiting with us for our plan out of the serengeti. The Toyota landcruiser was a highlight. We loved driving in it. Our driver cleaned it and organzied it every morning for our family. There was a charging station inside for our camera and phones and an electric cooler full of water. He was knowledgable and tailored the safari to our family needs. The accomodations were amazing. Elivice booked us at the Crater Lodge and then a tented camp in the Serengeti. The wildabeast migration came through our camp. Our driver took us out on overlanding trips near our camp and we saw big game every day. I felt safe, pampered and each member of the family enjoyed every moment. Elice communicated very well and kept the communication going as I started planning the trip but was unsure of many things. He also organized a school visit where our kids were able to bring school supplies to the Masaai children. It was a worry-free trip and I highly recommend Elivce and Tanzania Safari Supremacy.
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Email Alina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing and unique experience!
My husband and I spent 6 days of our honeymoon in Tanzania. Our safari journey was planned by Tanzania Safari Supremacy, and we would not change one minute of it. It was definitely an amazing experience and everything went great! From the beginning, we contacted Tanzania Safari Supremacy via e-mail and Elvice planned a great itinerary for us - the accommodations were all great, with very friendly staff, lovely locations and perfect food. Moreover, Elvice arranged our flights from Zanzibar to Tanzania, as well as our shuttles to and from the airport. But above all these, we were the luckiest to have our guide, Gilliard, a wonderful person with great knowledge - he knows all the animals and a lot of details about them, you can easily tell he is very passionate about his job. Thanks to him, we spotted many more animals than we expected - all big five, African wild cat, the great migration, the river crossing and many, many more. A lot of guides were rushing together to chase the animals. However, Gilliard was always calm, with great respect and care for nature, and we got the best views, without disturbing nature, which is very important for a place like this.
This journey exceeded by far our most optimistic expectations and we totally recommend Tanzania Safari Supremacy and our guide Gilliard!
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Email Maria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a Lifetime!!
My fiancé and I returned last month from our trip booked through Tanzania Safari Supremacy.
This trip marked our first trip to Africa, and was also our first safari experience - One we will never forget!!
Elvice was extremely responsive throughout the booking process, answering all of my many questions and providing excellent guidance and advice. He walked us through each step of planning our itinerary until I was confident that we'd laid out the trip that we'd been dreaming of!
Our itinerary ended up including a short safari in Selous Game Reserve, staying at Zarafa Tented Camp, our home away from home! Followed by a week at the lovely Z Hotel in Zanzibar.
When it finally came time to make our journey, we were met at the airport by our guide, Msafiri. We learned so much from him - about life in the region, as well as about the animals that we saw along the way. He made sure that we got to each stage in our journey safely and smoothly, and he did an excellent job of locating wildlife for us to see and photograph on our game drive, always making sure to maneuver us into a great position for pictures.
We are so thankful to Tanzania Safari Supremacy for making sure that our trip was enjoyable from start to finish! We would certainly recommend them to those looking to visit Tanzania.
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Email Thomas B | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Expectations exceeded
Tremendous experience and life changing! Our guide, Abby, was a gem. It is obvious that he cares about his country and all it has to offer! Abby was born to be a guide. We enjoyed incredible meals out in the bush and learned some basic Swahili phrases. Abby has an eye for wildlife and we were the first people to see most hard to find animals that other vehicles had passed by. When you book your trip, be sure to ask for him as your guide. You will not be disappointed.
Our initial and constant contact throughout the booking and preparation process was Elvice. He was quick to reply and was very helpful in finding out our desires and made sure the trip we would experience would be successful. In fact, the trip he put together for us far exceeded our expectations.
It is scary booking a trip of a lifetime and making a deposit in advance to be able to get lodging booked. You send the money hoping this is really a legit company that will take care of you. Let me assure you, this company is top notch and will honor their word! We had initial plans for a 2020 safari and had made a deposit and a schedule was put together. Due to covid and scheduling issues, a 2 year pause was placed on the trip. We were personally welcomed to Tanzania by Elvice. He was there to greet us and welcome us to our long-planned safari. This is a company that we will recommend to everyone that has a desire to see this incredible country.
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Email Sabrina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Safari Tour Operator! We got to see the big five and so much more!
We had the best time going on Safari with Tanzania Safari Supremacy.We went with my mom, husband, and two daughters 4 and 9. Everything was excellent. Elvice helped me put a personalized itinerary together and was quick to answer all the questions I had before our trip.
Everything went just as planned and was very professional, the transportation on time, the lodges were beautiful, and the food great.
Our guide Gilly was the best! He was very experienced and had an excellent knowledge of flora and fauna. We’re going to miss him for sure!
We went to Manyara national park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti, and Lake Eyasi to meet two different tribes.
We got to see so many different animals. We saw the Big 5 and everything else. Hundreds of elephants, thousands of zebras, lions, cheetah’s, austriches, giraffe’s, hippos, and soooo much more.
Our favourite lodge was Manyara’s Secrets at lake Manyara. It was a dream. All the other lodges where beautiful too.
After the Safari we spend about a week in Zanzibar. The island is beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
We’re so excited that we did this trip and very thankful for Safari Suprenamcy for making it such an easy, wonderful, and memorable experience.
Thank you, Elvice, Alex, Abraham, and Gilly!
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Email Michelle | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
Elvice and the whole team with Tanzania Safari Supremacy exceeded all of our expectations for our family safari. We booked a 4-day Safari from Zanzibar to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti initially for January, but encountered a few COVID-related obstacles that had our original flights changing and then later having to postpone our trip to March. Throughout all of this, working with Elvice on this was a dream as he ensured my family and I would be well taken care of for our safari once we arrived. Between our guides Abraham (Zanzibar) and Melky (safari guide), we felt like we were traveling with a trusted family member. The accommodations booked were all very comfortable, and all of the inclusions made it really feel like we didn't have to think about anything but having a good time. The safari vehicle was well-equipped and comfortable - even on the bumpy roads (Melky called it our "African massage!"). I don't have a single negative to report on the whole experience. I would book with them again, and will recommend them to anyone searching for a safari company!
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Email Greg | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, Great Communication and Lovely Accommodations
The safari was fantastic all around. There is not much the company can do about the wildlife or the weather, but those were fabulous.
What they can control is the quality of guides they hire, the accommodations they use and the communication prior to the trip. All of these things were top notch and I would definitely recommend Tanzania Safari Supremacy.
Amazing adventure
Thanks to Elvice, we managed to organise a safari trip remotely (exchange of emails only !). He paid close attention to our requirements, has been very available and quick to answer! It's not easy to put our trust into someone you have never met, but here, just good surprises : everything was perfect from our arrival to our departure. Our driver Laizer was very kind, accomodation and hosting were great, and the safari was amazing !
We are very satisfied so we re thinking to come again in a few years with Tanzania safari supremacy !