It Started in Africa
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- IATA, TATO & TALA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $550 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Nancy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
GREAT safari company: It Started in Africa delivers it all!!!!
Four of us (friends/colleagues) took a 10-day journey with It Started in Africa. They organized the perfect trip for us - Tarangire, Ngorogoro, Serengeti, and Lake Natron/El Donyo Lengai climb. We can't recommend them highly enough - from the first contact with Joao by email to our final sad goodbyes at the airport - we had nothing but great service and warm interactions with everyone. ISiA really delivers what they promise, without exception. They were honest, open to our special requests, and very accommodating of our adding and changing the itinerary (before departure). They helped us book other portions of our travel (Zanzibar) and everything went perfectly. Best of all, our guide Isaack is one of the most generous, kind-hearted, funny people we've ever met. He took such good care of all our needs, and most importantly, he is a brilliant and talented guide to the wildlife and parks of Tanzania. His expertise was extraordinary. He knows every bird, every animal, and explains their habits and habitat with great flair. His driving skills were equally astonishing. And, everywhere we went he talked with people (locals, other guides, our hosts in the different camps) and though most of that was in Kiswahili, we felt that he is known and respected, and shares information with all sorts of people. We felt completely safe in his hands, and always cheerful. His humor and affection for people, places, and creatures were tremendous - we miss him and want to go back for another journey with It Started!
All four of us are quite experienced travelers - we travel to many places in the world as part of our research jobs (a great privilege, we know!) and often are tour leaders ourselves, for students and other researchers. We understand how hard it is to ferry people around and keep them happy: It Started has all the skills, and knowledge, and patience to take good care of their customers. We all highly recommend this company. All their guides are good, we are certain, but Isaack was a star. None of us will EVER forget the ten days we spent in his care. THANK YOU, dear Isaack! And Joao, Mathias, Bernard, Dickson, as well.
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply the Best, Unforgettable and Stunning experience...
To be honest, when I contacted Joao Oliveira for Safari, I became bit suspicious as he used to reply usually within 1-2 hours (even in the night). Also, Safari company is quite new and therefore had to search for how genuine they are, before transferring advance payment. Reviews about the company made me to trust them. Joao helped to arrange and make safari itinerary in the best convenient way. I was completely satisfied with his responses towards my all questions and queries.
We made a safari for 5 days, 1 day Tarangire ( 1 night at Maramboi Campsite), 3 days Serengeti (2 nights at Ikoma bushcamp Serengeti), 1 day Ngorongoro crater (1 night at Rhino Ngorongoro). Fabulous locations, fair arrangements, good food and facilities.
Tarangire was nice experience but we spotted mainly elephants, giraffes and zebras (no cats) which we spotted also in Serengeti and Crater, and therefore it would have been no harm in skipping Tarangire. Manyara lake is famous mainly for Flamingos, which was not our primary aim to spot in Safari. Serengeti and Crater safaris were mind blowing. We could spot all big 5 animals (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Black Rhino and Wild-Buffalo).
Martin, our tour guide, guided us in all possible ways. He has eyes like an eagle and could spot animals even a km far. Binoculars provided by company made our safari much more interesting and exciting. Instead of Joao (as he was out of station), Mathias helped us.
Overall, I would recommend It Started in Africa 100%. They know how to make your once in a lifetime safari memorable in all ways. They are very joyful, friendly and fantastic.
IN
Email Rajib Sarma | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience. Value for money.
Dear Jaoa,
It was a wonderful experience we had at Tanzania, thanks to you & your wonderful team. We had a great time during the safaries we took. Of course food was a little bit of a problem as we don't take beef & pork. The overall experience was quite good. The driver / guide was very accomodating. We were with three kids, but still the driver had adhered to a flexible timetable which was really appreciated. The stay was quite ok, considering the remotness of the region. The vehicle provided was quite good, except a small hitch one day. Thank you very much for a nice and wonderful family vacation. We will definately recommend you to anyone who wants to go for Tanzanian Safari. I will send a few other snaps.
Rajib Sarma
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience, no problems
We signed up for a 10 day safari with It started in Africa in July this year. There were just two of us together with the guide Kueka and the cook Fatheli, not sure how it is spelled, Pronounced Fazili. They spoke amazingly good English and looked after us brilliantly. Both were great company, easy to be with, warm, not intrusive, and put up with us beautifully.Great food, lots of it, and modified to suit my gluten free requirements really well. Far too lovely besan flour patties for me to resist though, a wonderful change from bread, not that there is any gluten free bread in Tanzania, as far as I could tell. Kueka is an animal and bird enthusiast and really happy to take us out looking at animal as much as we liked. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge about the animal and birds and was a fantastic spotter.But he was deft in not overwhelming us with too much information. We slept in tents, with basic beds in the tent on four nights, on mattresses other nights. comfortable enough for us.(We did not opt for the luxury camping option) The vehicle was a sturdy commodious four wheel drive, which had a lift up roof for when we were looking at animals. It felt completely safe in the vehicles opened up because there are strict rules forbidding any kind of interaction with any animals in the parks. As a result, the animals go about their own business ignoring us. We are neither prey nor predator.This means they do not usually run away either, so we get close up viewing a lot. The results of feeding animals, inadvertently or otherwise, are obvious in the permit office areas on the edge of the parks where baboons attempt to get into vehicles to get at food and can be dangerous. There were an incredible variety and number of animals and birds in the four parks we visited.It started with a large family herd of elephants, together with ten or so zebra and a similar number of wildebeast fifty metres inside the boundary of our first park and it just carried on like that. We had one long drive or two shorter drives in a park each day. We visited Tangarire, Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti National Parks. We stayed in public camping grounds some kilometres from the first three parks. In the Serengeti, we stayed in the middle of the park, about three hours game drive in, seeing lions, ostriches, baboons, giraffes etc on the way. The Serengeti camp was open to animals (No fences nor a man with a gun to scare the big animals off!) and there was elephant poo by our tents. We got up one night to find several zebra grazing close by. Elephants spent a lot of time by the shower block one afternoon. Lions roared in the distance one night. I was a bit nervous getting up in the night but no-one else worried. The camping grounds have a large kitchen for the cooks and a large dining hall for us to eat in, all covered over, and netted in and with power and point points for chargers, not that they all work all the time. The whole trip was fairly comfortable and fun and just wonderful in terms of seeing animals.
US
Trip of a lifetime
From the first communication with Joao, I felt reassured. He was able to arrange a trip of a lifetime for my sons and me. For 10 days with the excellent and knowledgeable guide, Isaac, we traveled throughout the northern parks in Tanzania. Isaac, respectful of the animals, amazed us with his knowledge. He knows the Latin names of trees, birds by their call, and the behavior of the animals placing us in the exact spot to witness a cheetah kill a reedbuck, lion cubs nursing, a secretary bird feed her young and more. I can't recommend It Started in Africa enough.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari experience in Tanzania!
When planning our trip to Tanzania, we had the following things in mind: we wanted to do a 5 day tour in Tanzania, we wanted a nice mixture of tented camps and lodges for a reasonable price and see a variety of different landscapes and wildlife settings. We were overwhelmed by the amount of tour operators present in Arusha, and in the end contacted 12 different operators - It Started in Africa convinced us with the most flexible offer in terms of accommodations, giving us the opportunity to choose what we liked best, and their honest recommendation of what made the most sense during our 5 day trip. Together with Joao we designed our very own itinerary which perfectly fit our wishes - we stayed 1 night in Tarangire National Park, 2 nights in Serengeti and 1 night in the Ngorongoro Crater. Joao recommended not to visit Lake Manyara at this time of the year as the wildlife is not overly abundant - and he was right from what we heard from fellow travelers. Our accommodations were all very different and all lovely - from the spacious lodge outside of Tarangire to the wonderful Ang'ata camp sites in the middle of Serengeti (where you could hear the buffalos passing at night).
We cannot stress enough the fact of having a knowledgeable and sympathetic guide for the trip - Johnson our guide did a perfect job, answering all our questions, explaining everything we wanted to know and teaching us some Swahili on the way! He has 6 years of experience in guiding safaris in the Northern Circuit, which he demonstrated in always coming up with new ideas of where to look for animals and not getting lost in the road maze in Serengeti. We learned a lot about Tanzanian culture, the national parks and the wildlife. Thanks for this great trip, Johnson!
Finally here are our highlights of the 5 days:
- Tarangire National Park: Great drive along the river bank with a lot of wildlife, especially the Elephant families were so much fun to watch!
- Serengeti: you will find the plains truly breathtaking, with herds of zebras and wildebeests. We were especially impressed by the lion families with their cubs or their prey.
- Ngorongoro Crater: Driving down into the crater is an exceptional experience viewing the wonderful landscape - here Johnson guided us to see a rhino, making our big 5 sighting complete.
All in all, from the flexible planning with Joao, to the pick-up at the airport and especially the tour with Johnson it was a fantastic experience! It Started in Africa not only professionally planned our trip but moreover helped us put all the ideas that we had into practice, making this an unforgettable 5 days! Thank you so much to the whole team! Absolutely recommendable!
US
Email lgbrit | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent safari adventure at a reasonable price!
Our group of 14 travelers recently returned from a 7 day/6 night safari in Tanzania with It Started in Africa. Although this is a relatively new company, the reviews we read were positive, so we thought we'd give them a try. From start to finish, they far exceeded our expectations. Joao, our travel advisor, was superb in helping us plan our itinerary. He offered great suggestions on parks, accommodations, etc., and was extremely prompt and thorough in responding to our many questions and concerns. He was also very good in handling all the details and logistics involved in making travel arrangements for such a large group.
The safari itself was one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences. Our guides, Hope and Johnson, were terrific! They worked hard from morning to night, enabling us to see amazing wildlife (including "the big five") close up. They were knowledgeable and great at answering our many questions. We were originally scheduled to visit Tarangire, Serengeti,and Ngorongoro N/Ps. We had great visits at each of these, plus they squeezed in a memorable visit to Lake Manyara N/P as well.
Our accommodations were unique and fun, with staff at all of them going out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and well cared for. Ang'ata Serengeti campsite was a particular delight. Arriving back from safari, we were always met with cool towels to clean our dusty faces, beverages, and hot water carried to our tents for some unforgettable showers. Campfires at night and wildlife wandering through the campsite at sunrise added to the experience.
Transportation(safari vehicles, airlines, and transfers) worked like clockwork and were very comfortable. Several in our group commented that they'd never been on a trip that went so smoothly.
Thanks to the staff at It Started in Africa, our safari was a amazing experience/adventure. Although many of their safari groups are smaller than ours, they very capably managed our large group. They offer a great experience at a reasonable price. Based on our experience,I strongly encourage you to give them a try.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect safari in Ngorongoro
It Started in Africa did a great job in providing the perfect tour for my family. Traveling with kids is not always easy and can be frustrating at times but they went the extra mile to keep them excited and entertained and they absolutely loved the day tour in Ngorongoro. The guide Frank was great. He was absolutely outstanding in detecting animals from very far away while driving the 4x4 at the same time. Completely surpassed my expectations of what a safari could be in terms of friendliness, professionalism, knowledge and comfort.
Amazing experience in Arusha National Park
I booked this one-day trip with It started in Africa and everything was perfect. Joao has been very helpful suggesting nice places to see in Tanzania, answering every single question I had very promptly. My guide Martin was great at spotting animals and explaining to me all he knows about wildlife, he was talkative, very patient and cared a lot about what I wanted to see. I got the chance to go canoeing while I was there. Traveling on my own, I felt things were very well organized and I felt safe. I would definitely recommend this company and go back on a safari trip with them!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome Trip
My recent safari trip to Tanzania planned by the company "It Started in Africa" was awesome. Every detail of the trip from communication, transportation and customer service was flawlessly executed. The accommodations were clean and comfortable and the staff very welcoming. The guides were very skilled at finding and providing information about the animals. The experience of seeing so many varieties of animals in the wild was amazing. It was a fabulous trip.