KILIHOLIDAYS TEAM LEADER
Tours by Locals (aka Kiliholidays)
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB, KINAPA, MNRT & TPO
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Julitha | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent 7 day Machame route with kiliholidays.
We completed the 7 day machame route with Kiliholidays Tours. Well organized and professional services. Our guides and porters were knowledgeable, helpful, and wonderful to hike with for 7 days. The food was delicious and the tent camps were very comfortable. We were led by guide, Barnabas and assistant guide Fred.
The whole team was great to work with from booking and answering questions and last minute requests. All of the wonderful porters who were part of Barnabas team. They did their absolute best to make it wonderful and unforgettable experience.
A couple of things in particular that I would like to highlight. The cook for our trip (frank) was amazing. He made meals that kept us going and were as good as almost anything I had in the one prior week I had been in Africa- Tanzania. His soups in particular were great and kept us warm.
I really appreciated the approach to tipping employed by Kiliholidays as well. We were told up front that at the end of our trek we would be able to give our tips directly via sealed envelopes given to each member of the team, which we did. It was nice to be able to hand each man their tip directly as I had heard that sometimes the porters don't receive all of their tips when they are given to the company directly. These guys worked incredibly hard and deserve every penny.
Finally, Barnabas and Fred did a great job getting us to Uhuru peak. The night of our summit attempt it was snowing, quite cold, and there was already enough snow in places for me to sink up nearly to my waist. The group of 17 behind us only had 7 make the peak. But by carefully picking our departure time, route, and giving us clear instructions we made it just at sunrise and it was spectacular. Thanks to Mack for his great advice on route selection.
I would not only recommend Kiliholidays for the professionalism of the office staff and operations manager but also by the clearly passionate, caring, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful guides, cook and porters. We could tell they enjoyed working together and they were singing to keep up our spirits.
US
Email Bethany | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Flexible and fun!
The communication with Mack before the tour was excellent. They were able to add 2 people to the tour at the last minute.
Thomas our driver and your guide was professional, flexible and informative. Highly recommend this tour!
RO
Email George | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
perfect safari trip, perfect guide, best price
We had a wonderful time in 4 days safari trip in game reserve Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Serengeti, all organised by
Kiliholidays. We receive also airport transfer and accommodation before flying back home, that a perfect service also. Kili is a small company in Arusha, and this is one on the reason that I choose them. They pay attention for every client, because is very important for them to survive in a high competitive market of tanzanian safari. The communication with the manager, the knowledge and ability of the driver was very important and made for us a great trip and lifetime memories...Mack, Thomas, Daniel, thank you and good luck
FR
Email Anetta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everything we hoped it would be
Communications with Mack via email were swift and comprehensible.
We were picked up at the airport on arrival by our guide, Thomas, who would be with us for the whole week. We signed up for a budget camping safari, and we had a great time! The campsites were nicer than I thought they would be, and the Kiliholidays team did a great job of taking care of us the whole trip. Thomas was very accommodating, and our 'stomach engineer' did a fantastic job the whole trip. My partner and I were very impressed by the quality of the food. Thomas was an incredible driver; a few times we had to stop and help other drivers who were stuck! This was my second visit to East Africa, and I will definitely book with Kiliholidays for my third trip :)
A few tips for other travelers: The sleeping mattress was a bit thin for me (my partner had no trouble!), but I found that sleeping on my back instead of my side helped. If you have sensitive hips, I'd recommend bringing something to use as a cushion, or possibly arranging for an extra mattress. The tent was high-quality and the sleeping bags were warm. We stayed in Mto wa Mbu a few nights and it was quite hot there. We brought sleeping sacks (very thin) and used those instead. Bring LOTS of insect repellent and use it often (biting flies in the daytime, mosquitoes at night). Same with hand sanitizer (public campsite toilets don't usually have soap). Granola bars are a good idea, too, if you like to snack between meals. There's not a lot of access to ice, so if you like an evening adult-beverage, just ask your guide to stop before you leave Arusha to pick up some wine. We picked up a 5-liter box of South African wine for about 25euros and it was very convenient (bring your own cups!).
RU
Email Leyla | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was excellent tour.
We were in mikumi park. We saw all animals even lions and gepard. Our guide was English speaking and he know everything about mikumi park and animals who lives there. We had good open safari car and very comfortable loudge - Bastian. It was clean and beautiful and colorful chilling area. Transfers were all in time. Strongly recommend
US
Email Michael | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best value for money and very accomodating!!!
Kiliholidays Tours & Safaris were always responsive to all my emails and questions, and got back to me very quickly. They provided a detailed itinerary of our safari and they come as advertised, as well as being flexible to meet our needs. I reached out to 10 different safari operators and Kiliholidays gave us a price in a 5-star luxury accommodation (the best hotel we've ever stayed at!!!) at a price that was cheaper than others in budget camping accommodation. I would highly recommend Kiliholidays and I will only use them when booking a Tanzanian safari in the future!
NO
Email Helene | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
We had a professional guide and they custom made our trip after our wishes.
Be careful of long and bumpy drives, but it’s worth it for the animals.
Good communication and good price.
I am very happy with the trip, I give 4 stars because one can always get better.
Thank you!
CH
Email alla1510 | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our guide Thomas was great.
My husband and I booked a 3 day private tour into Selous game reserve from 02 to 04 February with Kiliholidays. We reserved by paying 1/2 down and paid the remainder upon commencing the safari. We too had trepidation about paying more than 6 months in advance, but the
company is honest. We kept in touch with Mack Kornelio by WhatsApp and arranged the pickup in Dar es Salaam thru this means as well. Mack is responsive.
Thomas met us at our hotel in Dar es Salaam on the dot at the prearranged hour. He was super throughout the whole trip explaining fauna and flora as we went along. He is a great driver and professional guide and I can recommend him hands down.
The negative portion of our trip was the nightly camp. Here USD 500 and 50,000 shillings were stolen from us by the staff at the Selous Jimbiza Camp from our locked lodge. We were the only guests, thus later the police ruled the theft as an inside job. Everything about this camp was negative - slow to react, simple breakfast not on time, food barely palatable. Simple hot water for coffee in the morning took too long despite stating the night before we’d leave at 0630h for the game drive. They would not even power on their generator because the camp had “its” schedule. I asked the ceiling fan at the restaurant to be turned on during lunch because it was very hot but got the response it would be at extra charge being outside generator hours! Jimbiza is not customer focused and contains thieves.
Kiliholidays subcontracted to Jimbiza and Mack promised to sever relations with them upon hearing of the theft. I hope relations will be terminated not only by Kiliholidays but all other tour operators for the sake of future safari participants. However with this incident, Mack showed support for clients. He and Thomas talked and agreed to involve the police. Thomas took the initiative to take the room attendant to the police station in our vehicle with ourselves. He knows how to deal with local procedure. Thus we had an unexpected adventure to see Mloka police in action.
All in all I can recommend Kiliholidays for safari tours.
AR
Email Mario | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great cultural experience in KIlimanjaro National Park and around
Good alternative to know Kilimanjaro NP, in case that you decide not to climb it. History about National Park and trekking n the slope of the mountain, in a cultural trip inside local people villages.
NL
Email Gerard | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Intesting safari tour in the south of Tanzania during the rainy season
The itinerary of the tour is very good; well filled with a lot of variation. The driver / guide only joined us during day time (not at breakfast, not at diner) and did not talk too much. This way, our privacy was respected and we highly appreciated this behavior. Price / quality ratio of the offered tour is ok. Organization and driver both appeared flexible. Selected lodges were nice.
The jeep was good and comfortable but was not sufficiently equipped with tools needed to repair the car (inappropriate jack, no towline, torch etc.), this can be improved. The traffic in Tanzania is very slow; commuting from one location to the other takes a lot of time. It would be appreciated if the amount of commuting can be minimized / optimized. The driver could drive faster were permitted.