Elkan Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $56 to $890 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
AE
Email Sara L. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Time with Elkan Safaris!
Elkan Safaris lived up to all of our Safari expectations! Payment was simple and straightforward. We payed part before hand and the rest when we arrived. Victor went out of his way to pick us up from the airport and ensure we made it to our hotel safely. He also accommodated us in a wonderful hotel before and after the Safari which was so generous of him. Our Safari guide, Omar, was extremely knowledgeable and friendly! The 5-day Safari was a truly unforgettable experience and we saw way more than we ever expected to see! I am truly thankful for everything Elkan Safaris did for us both during our Safari as well as afterwards. Every step of the way making sure that we enjoyed ourselves and experienced everything we wanted to experience!
IL
Email Emanuel and Michal | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Elkan Safaris are the best!!!
Hi,
Me and my wife had a 7 days Safari with Elkan Safari in Serengeti and the area around it.
Thanks to Victor and his team I can tell you that this was one of the best experiences I had in my life!
From the moment we contacted him, Victor was happy to help and answer all our questions in emails, explaining all the details about the trip, and offered everything we needed, asked for and more!
The Safari itself was great! we saw more animals then we could imagine, the best views and experiences!
Our guide Saadi was very much experienced and he knew all the right places to go to see the animals.
Saadi, Victor and our chef Amedi were so kind and friendly, and most off all very professional!
I recommand you, if you want to have the best from you safari, to talk to Victor and take Elkan as you safari company. With them you will have a great Safari!
Emanuel
US
Email patrick Easterling | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Julius the guide was very good. But....
Julius our driver and guide was very good and could spot animals far far away. He was also careful as a driver and with us. But Victor the owner was not well organized and said we could pay with credit cards then we ended up paying mostly in cash. It did turn out well though at the beginning we were worried. The food was simple but good. Philip the cook worked hard.
RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
“A wonderful trip with a wonderful tour company”
I highly recommend Elakn safaris to anyone who wants to do safari in Tanzania.
I emailed to many agents before the trip. Elkan was very responsive, patient and detailed. Elkan offered inexpensive price, lowest deposite percentage and most convenient way of payment. It did not ask for extra charge for deposit by credit card unlike the 6-7% extra charge requested by other tour companies. The main camp they recommended Serengeti wild Camp is excellent. It was the best accomodation we had in the trip. Elkan is also flexible with changing the accomendation. Before the trip, I told them I wanted to change the lodge in Arusha. They were very happy to make change.
During the trip, our guide Msemo was excellent, with good knowledge of all kinds of animals. He was also very responsive to our requests. He had been a tour guide for more than 7 years. He was also an experienced driver and once saved us from being stuck in mud.
We had a good time in the safari. Many thanks to Elkan!
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience! Great guide!
As I was searching for a good company to organize my safari, a friend recommended me Elkan Safaris. Everything was smoothly arranged by email. They picked us up at the hotel in the beginning and took us to the airport the day after we finished the safari.
We did a 4 day/3 night camping safari and our schedule was all according to plan: one day in Lake Manyara, sunset and sunrise in Serengueti, one night and one day in Ngorongoro.
Everything went quite well. Our tents were good, the food was diverse and more than enough and, most of all, our guide Henri was absolutely ammazing!! He could spot an animal anywhere while driving and he got us really close to the wildlife whenever possible. Moreover, he told us a lot of usefull and interesting information about all kinds of animals.
I would definately recommend everybody to do a safari in Africa: it is a wonderful and unique experience. Elkan Safari was the perfect company to organize it and for a good price, comparing to other companies.
Victor Godwin. Thief. Liar. Conman. Avoid at all cost.
I can sadly see that we are not the only ones who have been conned by Victor Godwin. Here is the trick. Consider yourself warned if you book with him.
You will agree safari itinerary and you will pay in advance, all inclusive. When you go on the safari, Victor will call you and ask if you could please pay for park entry fees or for upgrade of accommodation. He will promise to reimburse you once you get back to Arusha. Now the problem is that the drivers do not have funds for the park entry fees so you have no other option that to pay or not enter the park. Clever right. And yes, of course he does not refund your additional expenses.
On our trip, we were six people whilst another car had thre people. On the first night, we stayed in a different hotel than agreed. We went along with that. On the second night, Victor called the other party and ask them to cover additional expenditure for upgrade of accommodation, not upgrade for them though but for my family. So he played the parties against each other. He did the very same thing the next day where he called me asking me to cover an upgrade for the other party. He asked for $600. The following day, he called me again asking us to cover the entry fees to Ngorongoro, again $600. I refused. He called the other party of course with the same request. We briefly discused between our two parties and agreed that one from the other party would cover the entry fees. This was to ensure that none of us would end up having thousands of dollars to be refunded, again it was $600.
It is now five months since our safari. As I live in Tanzania, Victor has not been able to simply disregard my calls, SMS, Whatsapps. He has again and again promised to pay. Each week, he will make that promise and then find an excuse. He is nothing but a frail little liar who should never ever be trusted.
Also note that Victor is not a member of Tanzania Tour Operators Association. This essentially means that they are not able to help any customers who might have problems with Victor. Another reason for staying completely clear of this guy.
US
Email Sal | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Elkan Safari Made Our Trip
Planning a trip to Tanzania for the first time I was extremely excited to take advantage of all that the country had to offer. Over three weeks I wanted to do it all... Safari, a chance to climb Kilimanjaro, and then relaxing on the beaches of Zanzibar. Planning this excursion was a daunting task though as there were so many different operators to choose from!
I sent numerous emails to different companies from budget to luxury operators, but only one stood out from the beginning, Elkan Safari. Victor was the first to reply to any email I had and always had an answer for any of my questions. He made me feel very comfortable throughout the process and I couldn't be happier with my decision to book his services.
Safari- Derrick, our guide, was amazing! He was very well versed about the areas we were traveling and always seemed to know right were to go to find the best animals away from the crowd. Our chef was fantastic and the food was great.
Kilimanjaro- Victor hooked it up! We had a full staff of guides, porters, food, and gear. Anything that we needed for the trek he was able to provide. Victor also set our tents and gear up at our hotel beforehand so that we could see what we would be traveling with and made sure that we would be comfortable.
Our guides Kunda and Omi were the best! Kunda was so reassuring throughout the entire climb. He also knew about all the vegetation in the area and the trek turned out to be much more insightful then I had imagined. I honestly can't say enough about the two of them... don't go up the mountain without those guys! There was sooo much food too. I couldn't believe it. So good!
*Dingy is also the man!*
I could go on and on. At the end of our safari and again when we finished our climb Victor was there to meet us with Champagne and a smile. I feel like family with the whole crew. I had such a great time and I'm sure it would not have been the same if I had booked with anyone else. They really made the service feel specialized and we weren't just another group to them. I can't say "Thank You" enough!
Very bad experience with Elkan Safaris
After paying upfront for a certain itinerary, the manager of the company (and I believe in fact sole employee as well) tried to change the itinerary and duration of the trip without any logic explanation
upon arrival at Serengeti Gate, we learnt that the funds to pay permits where not available. Of course, the operator lied to us saying that this was due to a system failure and ask if we could do the "favor" of paying for the entrance again and get a refund from him after finishing the safari. After 3 hours assessing options at the very gate (and subsequently wasting the time that was scheduled for safari that day), we have decided to pay only for one day, without any certainty that the day after the operator would not be coming up with the same request
thanks to the manager of the driver (a subcontractor), we could finish our safari without major incidents, apart from the inconvenience of having to turn up every single day (of a total of 5) to the offices to extend the permit as the moneys we had paid in advance were never deposited as they should have been
back to Arusha, the manager of Elkan Safaris tried even not to pay the money he owed us and we had to threaten him with reporting to the police to get our money back, which we finally did some 3 hours before going back to our homeland
I am not wasting my time trying to sort out whether all this behaviour was ill-intentioned or simply careless, all I can say is that I strongly recommend avoiding the services of this tour operator if you want to save yourselves some headaches
Exceeded expectations in every way
We recently completed a six-day safari with Elkan Safaris and rank it as one of the top experiences among all our travels. Following an initial email inquiry, company CEO Victor Godwin called us in the United States at his own expense to help us plan the trip. When we arrived in Arusha months later, Victor met us the evening before our safari to go over fine details and to arrange payment. We were hesitant to wire thousands of dollars from New York City without ever having met anyone from Elkan, but we really needn't have been. Business was always conducted with complete transparency and honesty, and in the end, Victor was accommodating, both of our desire to meet first and pay in person, and of several unforeseen date changes.
But the true substance of Elkan's ability to show us good time began when our private Land Cruiser pulled out of the hotel parking lot and headed west toward Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Our affable and charming guide, Julias , demonstrated encyclopedic knowledge of all plants, birds, and game we saw. In fact, I can't remember a single instance in which Julias didn't know what we were looking at. He seemed to have names and facts at the tip of his tongue at all times, and backed up his verbal seminars with reference material from various field guides he carried in the car with him. We appreciated his infectious enthusiasm and how excited he got whenever he spotted birds or animals he must have seen hundreds and hundreds of times. The truth is, the Serengeti is never the same two days in a row, and it probably never gets boring. We also enjoyed the many meals we shared together, the cultural exchanges, and learning about Tanzania from an open and good-hearted native who was eager to share his limitless love of animals, nature, and his country.
The quality of the tented camps Elkan selected for us was very high: comfortable, clean, private and luxurious with attentive staff and good food, given the remote locations. I recommend Elkan Safaris without any hesitations or criticisms. They go to great lengths to provide an exceptional safari Safaris, and I know that if you choose them, you will have as wonderful a time as we did!
US
Email J & J | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A disorganized, dishonest and dishonorable company. Run away as fast as you can!
I usually don’t write negative reviews as most of my traveling experiences have been positive up until now. I used this company as a recommendation from a friend who previously booked and had a marvelous climb with Kunda (mountain guide). Despite reading just mediocre reviews we booked with Elkan Safari. We booked both a 4 day safari/ Kilimanjaro climb w Kunda Kilimanjaro guide). The cost was all inclusive w gate prices but the end of tour the owner ripped us off an additional $460 usd. The original price was all inclusive, including entrance fees but as we went along with itinerary there were several “Surprise costs” along the way. Stranded at the gate w crew and other tour guest we were basically forced to pay beyond agreed amount. We confronted him several days prior to departure about error, he confirmed to meet us to refund money. He did not show up, was unreachable and did not fulfill the rest of the itinerary leaving us stranded for a place to stay. The kicker and deal breaker for me is not only did he not pay us our outstanding $460, but he not to pay the climb team or bus driver upon returning from climb leaving exhausted men stranded with no money after 7 grueling days of hard work. It is one thing to cheat and hustle tourists, but it is a whole another thing to cheat your own people and employees. These men practically killed themselves climbing up and down difficult Mt. Kilimanjaro w 23+ kg of supplies each on their heads. They left their families and home for 7 day and received no pay. That is the ultimate low. Victor Goodman, owner of Elkan Safari, Ltd, lied and stole from his clients and employees. Stay away from this company and his other listings Kilimanjaro Champion. As of today, he still hasn’t paid his employees or the money he owed to us. Truthfully there are literally hundreds of companies out there for safari and mountain climbs so why take a chance with one that clearly has a reputation for ripping people off!!!
On a positive note, porters and mountain guides contracted, Kunda & Omary were simply magnificent. They took care of us and helped us reach the top!!! They salvaged our ruined holiday by making our climbing experience once in a lifetime. Kunda and Omary (mountain guides), went upon and beyond and assisted us when Victor left us stranded and them salary-less. They even met us the following day to make sure we made it out of Arusha safely to our next destination. We are forever thankful to them.