"Benson Safaris: Thrilling Adventures Await!"
Benson Safaris Tanzania
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & IGS
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $300 to $1,200 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Rebecca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4.5 / 5 A fantastic experience, with a few minor - very minor - glitches
From the beginning, Pendo at Benson did an outstanding job communicating with us to arrange our trip just to our liking. This was not an easy task, as we had 2 families with different needs attempting to create an itinerary that would appeal to everyone. She took all of our changes to the itinerary in stride and arranged everything to our liking. Our guide, Kessy, was amazing - we could not have asked for better. When you spend as much time in a vehicle with someone as you do on safari, it's really important to have a good rapport. The first part of our trip was with my husband and me with his brother and family. Kessy was great with the kids, even when they weren't always the most fun to be around. Kessy was very knowledgeable and friendly, and was always open to our whims when it came to animal-watching and our questions about everything. The second part of our trip it was just my husband and me, and having Kessy all to ourselves was wonderful. He even put up with my obsession with watching dung beetles and my husband's need to get just one more really good picture of that giraffe... one more... (As a bonus, he was also very patient with my unending - and at times pathetic - attempts to learn Swahili.)
We did a side trip to Zanzibar, (midway through for my husband and me, at the end of the trip for my in-laws), which was unfortunately a little disappointing. The hotel we stayed in was great, but it was a very busy area and swimming and playing on the beach was not pleasant because we were constantly being approached by folks trying to sell us tours or boat trips. This is of course not the fault of Benson Safaris, but it would have been nicer to stay somewhere where there was a little less commerce happening at all times of day and night. There was some confusion with Benson when it came to the snorkel outing that had been planned. In our itinerary it stated that we were going to Chumbe Island, but when the guide came to pick us up he said that no, we were going across to Prison Island, a much shorter trip and by all accounts not nearly as interesting for snorkeling. After some back-and-forth telephoning with the tour representative in Zanzibar and with Pendo we figured out that the tour was incorrectly represented on our itinerary. It turned out to be too choppy for snorkeling in the Prison Island area unfortunately, so we missed out completely on that. Obviously the tour company has no control over the ocean conditions, but had we actually gone to Chumbe as we thought we were going to, it would have likely been better due to the location of the snorkel site there.
The other minor hiccup came with meals. My in-laws are vegan and we were assured that accommodating this would be no problem. Somehow, however, it was not communicated to the lodge we stayed in for safari, and lunches were not only not vegan, but there was only one lunch packed as vegetarian at all. Also, there were extremely limited options for vegan for the family at the lodge. Kessy did his best to try to fix this, but I think that communicating what vegan means was difficult. Again, a minor hiccup, but if you have very specific meal needs it would be a good idea to double and triple check on this.
Overall, though, an amazing experience! My recommendation overall is Benson Safaris for safari, and perhaps a different, local Zanzibar tour company for visiting the island.
HK
Email Anna Tsang | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an amazing experience to see the animals
The Benson Safaris provided a good services during our trip. The tour guide - Kessy has good knowledge and experience and he also good at driving. Besides, the accommodation was perfect.
I had a great time with Benson!
I took a lower-budget camping trip with Benson. It was great working with him before the safari. He helped me pick the best palaces to go and the right times. On the day we left his guide, Simba, picked me up at the house I was renting and we were off. From that moment on, Benson took care of the rest. Our tents were set up for us, our meals were prepared, and there was always a nice bottle of wine waiting for us at the end of the day. Even though you are in a truck all day, it's tiring, so the wine was a nice touch.
The campsites he picked were very nice, but one of them had the option of upscale tents with beds. I wish I had know this was an option before hand as one night in a bed would have been good. The tenting area was nice too and there were hot showers.
Our guide did his best to take us to the animals we wanted to see. Most of us in the truck really wanted to see baby elephants and on our second to last day we found them! Being able to see the animals you want is part skill and part luck, but Simba was able to pull it off!
Email Megan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
1 Day Manyara, 1 Day Ngorogoro, 2 Day Serengeti
Benson Safaris was very professional. Benson himself picked us up from the airport and introduced us to our guide - Dennis and chef - Charles for the 4 days. The knowledge and driving of the guide was great, and so was out food, always plenty of food. The trucks were great, with the pop up roof.
Before coming on the trip we discussed many itineraries and Benson was able to help us in was seemed to be an unbiased opinion. Although the description for Manyara still included the flamingos which were really not due for another 7 weeks. However this is hard to predict months in advance, and we saw 30 or so Elephants instead. We saw all the big 5 plus many more. Really engage with your guide to have the best trip. We used tents, and found all the gear to be great.
They even dropped us off at our next destination!
A great tour company, I would book with them again.