Fanuel Mateja (President) & Kathy Phinney (CEO)
Breakdown Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $25 to $375 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
DE
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Mikumi with family. Safaria beyond the popular
We arrived at airport Dar es Salaam. Started at morning half day at afternoon and full day next. Very lucky to see at start of half day safari lions with babies. Fanuels suggested Mikumi Safari Lodge was wonderful (only the way to the lodge is a little bit rough - we recommend to stay at this lodge very much).
Mikumi is not Serengeti or Ngorogoro, we knew this before, but not many cars in the park and animals that are still behaving naturell was for us more important and that is Mikumi!
CZ
Email Matt Heys | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Selous and Mikumi
Our trip with Fanuel/Breakdown Safaris was absolutely exceptional. We did a 6 day safari with Fanuel we went to Selous and Mikumi ending in Dar Es Salaam.
All the accommodation, food and activities through out our trip were so good and had something for everyone. During the booking process Fanuel gave us lots of options and worked with us to plan the trip out.
The safari drives were amazing, Fanuel has such a vast amount of knowledge of the areas and wild life and also a passion for what he does which makes every game drive a pleasure. He took in to account what animals we were most interested in and made sure we saw everything in the time we had.
Even driving between through the country is great fun on the crazy bumpy roads see all the villages and the countryside.
Our trip started out badly with our luggage not arriving, Fanu was a hero and spent the next 2 days getting our luggage sent out to us in the bush which was an experience in its self. Without Fanu this would have been a horrific experience but he took all the stress away.
He clearly loves what he does and it shows. We really had the best time and i couldn't rate Fanu and Breakdown Safari any higher our trip was truly exceptional and a once in a life time experience.
We really loved our time with breakdown and Fanu and can't thank him enough for the experience.
US
Email Stacy, Rachal and Liz | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
13/10 Would always always (only) recommend!
The experience my two friends and I had on our safari weekend was more than we could have ever asked for! From our (very) last minute booking to the great food and accommodations that Fanuel arranged for us, (he even followed up to make sure we had a ride to the airport once out trip was over) everything was beyond amazing.
Fanuel helped us to arrange a trip that worked for us both financially and because we were (unfortunately) on a tight schedule. He was always on time (usually early) and was also patient when we weren’t very ‘on time’. We were picked up from our hotel in Dar Es Salaam and made the trip to out to Mikumi for a 3 day 2 night tour. He’s very knowledgeable and was able to answer just about every question I asked on the 6 hour trek to the bush and back which made for a very pleasant 6 hour trip!
I wouldn’t even have words to describe the actual safari and the joy (and happy tears) that it brought to my friends and me. He allowed us all the input in direction that we wanted and let us sit and enjoy the animals presence as long as we saw fit. Fanuel’s knowledge base on the animals was also impressive! His vehicle (Alfa) was reliable and safe for the journey and allowed us to fully experience any part of the park.
Fanuel even accompanied us to explore the local village some and helped us interact with locals to learn about dance and culture that we wouldn’t have otherwise due to language barriers. Even got to dance a little!
I want to thank Fanuel and all that are involved in the experience from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for making this baby giraffe’s dreams come true!
The only thing I wish I could have changed about the trip is that I wish we would have had time for a longer trip because it was so great!
CH
Email Karen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing! Going back as soon as possible
From the moment Fanuel picked us up at the airport we had the impression we had booked a superior safari guide. About 6 hours later and through the following day we had the very unique opportunity to be able to confirm this...
We were about an hour out from our camp at the Selous: bridge under water, road blocked by a cement truck. It was a matter of minutes before we were onboard a canoe on our way to another safari car which Fanuel hired out on the other side. Against all odds, we still made it to our boat safari that evening! Fanuel + his awesome truck, didn't. But he made sure to set us up with someone else for our full day game drive the next day - all perfectly coordinated right from his truck/the bridge. This, we thought, was the greatest advantage of having booked a guy that is his own boss and knows the whole town.
Well, turns out, when you get lost off-roading in the Selous then stuck in a mongoose hole for the greater part of a day, you realize there are several other advantages to booking with Breakdown Safari.
1- not all Safari cars are built the same - Fanuel's car, which he gets serviced after every safari, was significantly more comfy than the other car (leg room is amazing).
2- nothing stands between Fanuel and you having the vacation of a lifetime - he is extremely resourceful.
3- this guy is a pro at handling all things "breakdown".
Luckly Fanuel was able to get across the bridge so he could come to our rescue! From the moment he pulled us out of that hole and we rushed to see a lion show beyond our wildest dreams, and until the end of our trip 10 days later, we were incredibly happy with our choice of safari company! We can't wait until we are back for our next adventure :)
