Amazing Tanzania Tours & Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $160 to $1,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not Value for Money
I honestly can't recommend this tour agency, or any of the other budget travel companies that do similar trips. A good budget operator is meant to cut the frills and provide cheap food and accommodation, but these guys (and all the others) are cutting the quality of the animal viewing experience in order to try and offer the cheapest trip. THIS ISN'T VALUE FOR MONEY
Firstly, the itinerary. All their budget itineraries only spend one or two nights at Seronera (Serengeti). This isn't enough time if you want to see the Wildebeest migration. The first full day in Seronera is always spent looking for cats, so you need a second day to drive out to visit the wildebeest herds, wherever they might be. They could be as far as the Grumeti River, which you can do as a long day. Don't bother asking the office about whether you will see the migration. I asked specifically if we would go to the grumeti river and Godfrey answered "You go to where the animals are". Well when I was on the trip, the animals were at the Grumeti River and it was never a part of the itinerary. I was lied to.
Also, Lake Manyara is entirely skippable. The itinerary only includes it because it's a super cheap day for the company. Save your money and skip this day, and pay for an extra day in Serengeti. Much better value.
Secondly, starting time. We left Arusha on our first day at 9am, arriving at Tarangire after 12pm. We started our second day to lake manyara at 8am and our thirday day to serengeti at 10am. On the fourth day there was a customer mutiny when our driver, Adam, suggested we start again at 8am. We demanded we start earlier and thankfully he agreed. This is the time we saw a large pride of lions. Many of the drivers are lazy and will try to start as late as they can get away with. The best viewing times are just after dawn, early in the morning.
Thirdly, communication. I noticed that many of the other drivers were constantly on their radios, getting tips from other drivers about the location of animals. I asked Adam why he never used the radio, he said it wasn't used much (a lie) and that he had a mobile phone for that purpose. Adam certainly made lots of phone calls but i doubt many (if any) of them were for finding game. He seemed to be on the phone a lot planning his next client trips.
Lastly, and most importantly, the agents and drivers will tell you all sorts of lies to try to convince you that you're getting the best possible experience even while they're doing the bare minimum. I asked Adam if we could spend our single full day in Serengeti driving out to the Grumeti River to see the Wildebeest. Adam could have told me the truth that this was a budget trip and that we didn't have the money for fuel, but instead he told me all sorts of lies. First that it was too far away, that you needed to go out there and spend the night, that you needed a plane to fly there, and lastly that there was no animals out there this time of year. These were all blatant lies. I spoke to other groups in the camp who had spent a day trip driving to Grumeti from Seronera and had seen the Wildebeest and river crossings. To rub salt in the wound, Adam tried to convince me that the resident herd of Wildebeest that we saw Ngorongoro Crater was "part of the migration". He clearly thinks his clients are stupid.
Adam really shouldn't be working with clients at all, not only does he lie about everything (he told us everyone had to leave Ngorongoro by 12pm, he just wanted to leave early), but he also gets very aggressive and argumentative with clients who try to question him about the itinerary. Once we realised we were getting a bad deal we all started to check and double check everything. He full on yelled at us bringing one lady to tears. It's never acceptable to speak to a client like this, even worse when everything you're telling them is a complete lie.
Adam should be avoided at all Costs, and this companies itineraries should be avoided to. My advice is to spend a bit of extra money and go with the mid range companies. Or if you really need to save money, form a group yourself and then go to a budget company with your own itinerary and be very clear with them about your expectations.
Reply from Amazing Tanzania Tours & Travel
Posted on Mar 30, 2016Hellos Bryce, Accept my sincere appreciation for choosing to go for safari with us. At Amazing Tanzania Tours and Travel Company Ltd, we are very thankful and appreciative for your constructive recommendations on our overall services offered to you and more specifically on your budget safari.
We however feel very sorry for the experience you had with bad treatment and lies given by Adam and Godfrey. Be assured that the management is took your review very seriously and investigation on the matter was done. It took us some time to ensure that a thorough investigation is being conducted as to allow appropriate measures be taken.
First and foremost We regret for what happened because its not Company's policy of either to violet an agreed contract. We value our clients as they are the reasons why we operate.
Most of decisions made by Adam while en-route were personal and didn't involve the Company. As the Managing Director and founder of this Company I would like to inform you that the following had been done.
1. Have terminated contract with Adam after he failed to clearly explain why had to treat clients unethically.
2. Have also terminated a contract with Godfrey after noticing he was running a similar Company to this one. We realized that all efforts he was doing was to spoil the reputation of this company.
3. Have recruited a new team aiming at improving our services as they used to be. The team is dedicated at ensuring value for money is achieved for each signed contract.
4. We have introduce Complaints monitoring system that among other things our clients can talk to office direct in case of any problem while en-tour.
Kindly accept our apology and work with us next time for Budget Safari and you will have a different story. We value your Money as that why we operate. Failure to meet your dreams amounts to failure to failure to our Company.
Amani Ngonyani
Founder and Managing Director
Very good safari at a reasonable price
Godfrey set me up with a 5 day/4 night, tarangire, serengity, ngorogoro, Lake Manyara Safari. Good trip only the usual minor complaints. I would use this company again.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Arusha National Park
We saw different types of monkeys, zebra, flamingos, warthogs. Part of it was a walking safari for about two hours where we got close to buffaloes, and saw a waterfall. We got good views of Mt Meru, but sadly Mt Kilimanjaro was covered by cloud. We had good views into the small crater. The tour in the Park lasted approx 6 hours.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
nice
The safari was fun, we saw a lot of animals. The food was really nice.
Prices are high for the issues offered
It was really good with the first tourist Guy Simon but the second tourist guy Suma just drive.
The parks are really good. The things need to be more organize. For example My IPhone was stolen at Sunbrigth campsite. All tourist guy have to speak about the safari like Simon did. You have to be clear we is the campsite.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
a good trip
the 2-day trip was amazing,the first day tarangire,the second day ngorongoro. Good driver&guide,good partners and good view. the Lodge is ok, but not as good as expect. but the trip and everything inside the national park was terrific. we love it and enjoy it very much.
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5 day Safari
The safari went really well and we managed to see the Big 5. The cook Simon did a great job and our guide was of great assistance in locating the animals and answering our questions. All camp sites we went to were clean and wecoming.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
great budget tour
Wildlife at its best even in January that is supposed to be not the best season. Lots of animals (including the elusive cats)., really close to the car. Very professional driver (they knew how to catch the animals) and good cooker.
A great opportunity to enjoy such amazing wildlife in a budget.
The 3 night/4 day program (Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro) is perfect, but i you are an enthusiastic of wildlife, ask for a day more at Serengeti. And do not miss Tarangire! where you will see hundreds of elephants.
If you can afford it, try the optional 5th day a Manyara lake visiting also one Masai village, and a waterfall.
100 % recommended