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 $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
JP
Email Miyuko Mathew | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great company for the safari in Tanzania
Thanks Mack (Owner). We real had a great experiences during our entered safari. Thanks to our guide Samuel as he was real smart, punctual and detailed information. keep the guy as it will be the one of the resource at Kiliholidays. Thanks for everything guys,
stay bless and grow bigger like a baobab.
Miyuko
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
really enjoyed!
Thanks to Kiliholidays, operator Mack and guide Godson, I had a great time in safari.
They are from Masai trive, so guide is very experienced.
I could see all Big5!! They told me “you re very very lucky!”
Though camping gadget ,plates and cups are not brand-new, it’s more important to see many animals, I think.
Mack is very kind, he replies quickly and gently.
If you have a question, send him email without hesitation.
They are very good English speaker.
He picked and dropped me at the airport , the café, the restaurant.
It’s very helpful, because I traveled alone.
Enjoy your safari trip!
４日間のツアーに参加。
ｂｉｇ５もコンプリートして満足！
オペレーターのマックもガイドのガッソンもマサイ出身。
驚異的な視力と嗅覚でいち早く動物を見つけてくれます。
車とか食器とかキャンピング道具は古いです。
でもたくさん動物が見れたので満足です♪
日本語ガイドが必要なら一日５０$の追加で手配できるとのことでした。
どの程度の日本語力かは不明ですが。
英語は問題ないので、英語できる方なら問題ないかと・・・
ちなみに、ネットで予約しましたが、予約料は取られず、現地で現金払いでした。
サファリの真ん中でテント泊なんて一生に一度だと思うので、当社の予定外だけどいい思い出です。
Reply from Tours by Locals (aka Kiliholidays)
Posted on Apr 11, 2015Thank you so much for your feedback. I am excited that you loved your experience with Godson during your safari. I wish to see you again very soon
BE
Email Ilse | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
excellent experienceIl
We booked via internet a 5-day private budget safari to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. After some research, Kiliholidays gave us the best rate. Even the transfer from Kilimanjaro airport to Arusha was included. And we really received great value for the money.
The whole safari exceeded our expectations in every way. Instead of 4 nights camping, we stayed the first and the last night in Haven Nature Tented Lodge, in clean spacious tents with real beds.
Our guide, Godson, was excellent. He knows a lot about the animals, can find them easily and is a good and safe driver. He has a very good scense of humour, we had a lot of fun with him.
In Serengeti and the Ngorongoro conservation area he proposed us to leave the camping as early as 6 - 6.30 in the morning. So we were the first to descend into the crater, and had the luck to observe the rhinos from nearby. Also our young cook, Habibu pampered us with excellent food and service and a lot of humour.
We had a wonderful time and recommend Kiliholidays to everyone.
Reply from Tours by Locals (aka Kiliholidays)
Posted on Apr 11, 2015Thank you so much for travelling into the Safari with Kiliholidays. We wish to see you again soon.
BE
Email Serge Belgium | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience with friendly and knowledgable guide
Kiliholidays provide excellent recomendations andwas flexible to modify program to our wishes (to reduce travel time). Guide, Sami, was extreemly friendly and knowledgeable and problems were solved adequately and within a reasonable time. Tour was great though we had underestimated the distance to travel between the parks. Southern parks are not crowded with lots of tourists so no traffic jams in the park this season. However in rainy season (hardly any rain during our trip) vegetation is dense making animal spotting more challenging. For easy spotting of animals Northern parks may e better alternative.
Reply from Tours by Locals (aka Kiliholidays)
Posted on Apr 13, 2015Serge.
Delighted that the experience with us was a success for you - for us, too!
We are flattered that you recommend us and hope to see you again, some day.
Kind regards
Mack, Senior Safari Consultant
BE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Private visit to Selous and Mikumi from Dar Es Salam in 6 days
We booked via Internet a 6 day private tour from Dar Es Salam to visit the parks of Selous and Mikumi in southern Tanzania and had a wonderful week. Our driver Samuel was extremely pleasant, a great driver, a competent guide to animals and good at mechanics. He fixed in one hour a major break down of our jeep (transmission failure) and drove us back in time in Dar. Every detail was taken care of and we really had a great time. Accomodation was simple but nicely located and with friendly management. It was a great value for the price. Two points that you should know if you want to make the same trip:
1) accommodation was near but not in the parks so that we never went for early morning drives in the parks before breakfast. We still saw a lot of animals (20 sp of mammals and 110 species of birds in 3.5 days) but it might be more rewarding to be in the park. Usually this means a much higher cost than what we paid (830 euros per person for 6 days in private car for 2) but in Mikumi this would be possible at low cost. Accommodation in the park is run by the park administration. It is clearly less sophisticated than what we had outside but this might be worth it. To be discussed with the organizers, depending on your personal taste (comfort vs. Proximity with animals at night).
2) you should know that although the parks of Selous and Mikumi are adjacent, they are separated by a large mountain range which means that you need an 8-10 hour drive on bad dirt roads to go from one to the other. Take that into account when planning.
Note however that these are NOT complaints, just information. We had a really wonderful time and warmly recommend Killiholidays for your Safari. A really great value for the money!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good value budget safari with the excellent guide
We travelled with Kiliholidays over Christmas when we had two couples of friends visiting from Europe. We went on a 4 day trip including hiking Ol Doinyo Lengai and game drives in the Ngorongoro crater and Tarangire National Park. The program was quite hectic for such a short trip, but that was our request and Kiliholidays went out of their way to make this possible. Our guide and driver Walter was the perfect guide - experienced and very knowledgeable about everything from plants and animals, to culture and history. He is an excellent storyteller and kept us entertained through the 4 days. But he also knew when to give us space and leave us alone, which was nice as we were a group of friends traveling together. We also had a cook with us who made very nice food given the tight food budget it must have been. The lunch boxes were not the most exiting, but I believe similar to what other safari companies serve, but breakfast and dinner was very tasteful. I was worried beforehand that the low budget of the trip would sacrifice the quality of the guide and the experience of the trip, but we truly had a wonderful experience and would be happy to travel with Kiliholidays again at another occasion.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kili tours provided excellent customer services to my daughter.
Kili tours has excellent customer services. My daughter visited Ngorongoro and Manyara and she really enjoyed Kili tour's customer services provided by the tour guide.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
excellent customer service with great safari experience provided by the friendly staff
My boyfriend and I had a 5 day comfortable camping trip with kiliholidays. Since we started to contact them before arriving, the manager Mack responded all our questions and emails quickly. He is very hospital and friendly, one day before our flight, he event sent us a greeting email. It started our trip delightedly.
During the tour, he was always very caring and took into consideration of each of the customers'needs. The cook who was with us did a fantastic job too. He prepared food based on each person's preference, e.g a German girl who joined us was vegan, I can't eat bananas... The chef made specific dish for each of us during the tour. He really paid attention to it. I love all his soup, it was absolutely delicious. It is a great bonus to have delicious and nicely prepared food during a camping tour.
We also shared many good discussions with Mack, he is more like a friend sharing with us his stories running the safari business. He provided us a comfortable atmosphere to travel. We enjoyed it so much.
I would love to bring my parents here and experience safari with Kiliholidays.
US
I would advise you not to book this company. Seriously, you'll thank me later.
We booked a 4 night budget safari to see the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, and Lake Manyara. While the wildlife did not disappoint (thanks to our freelance drivers, who were excellent guides), the rest of the experience was pretty awful.
We got quotes from a bunch of different safari operators and Kiliholidays came in the cheapest. This should have been a red flag, but we are broke grad students so we decided to hire them. Unfortunately, we got what we paid for.
The vehicles were in a sorry state of disrepair and one of them lost a wheel - twice. The bolts were rusted and after hitting a big bump, the wheel would tear loose and bounce off into the bush. Instead of getting new bolts to fix the wheel, the drivers simply borrowed bolts from other wheels. We saw a couple vehicles from other tour operators get flat tires, but no one else on the road had a wheel come flying off.
We also had some customer service issues with the company owner, Mack. You may have noticed that he has written responses to the other bad reviews from our group (there were 8 of us total).
Feel free to read his responses, but as you do, remember that this is how he would talk to you if you had an issue on safari with his company. It's a lot of blathering and blame shifting, which is really not what you want to deal with when you're totally dependent on your tour operator and just trying to have an enjoyable vacation with friends.
In summary - we felt unsafe in the vans and we felt that Mack took advantage of the fact that we were (stupid American) tourists, dependent on Kiliholidays for food, shelter, and transportation. Don't make the same mistake we did - book with someone else!
DE
Email Oliver & Tina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Respectable Southern Circuit Safari
Day 1
• trip to Selous (lunch enroute)
• 2 hour boat ride outside the Selous GR
• sunset, crocodiles, hippos, birds, life along the river
• Accommodation in Hippo-Camp: basic, staff is friendly and endeavour, not everything perfect, nice view to Rufiji River
Day 2
• 2 h Morning-Walk outside the Selous GR
• animal tracks, birds and flora
• Game Drive in Selous GR from Mtemere gate with 24-hour permit (to Day 3 at 10:00)
• Guide is endeavor and with the necessary local knowledge
• lions, elephants, buffalos, zebras, giraffes, antelopes ....
Day 3
• drive in Selous GR by Mtemere gate to Matambwe gate with 24-hour permit to 10:00
• only short stops for Game Viewing
• from Matambwe Gate it comes a scenic drive through the Uluguru Mountains to Morogoro (stop for lunch), fantastic views and insights into the normal country life
• continue through the Mikumi NP for Tan Swiss Lodge
(Swiss owner, well-managed mid-range lodge, comfortable air-conditioned room, good food)
Day 4
• drive to the Udzungwa Mountains (90 min.)
• hike with local guide
• waterfall, great views, natural swimming pool
Day 5
• safari in Mikumi NP, full day, only north of the Highway possible
• guide with the required local knowledge
• leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, antelopes ....
Day 6
• return to Dar
• Option: Snake Park
Conclusion
• solid / respectable tour in the field Budget / Mid Range
• no obvious organizational weaknesses, professional consultation with the Management
• driver / guide safely, vehicle in order
• Note: Tour 6 days including 3 days GR / NP (Permit)
• price-performance okay