Open Africa Safaris
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- American Society of Travel Agents
- Tour Types:
- Budget & mid-range tours that, when possible, use accommodations owned and operated by them
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $75 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Awesome trip with Open Africa
John and his team were very attentive to our needs and put together a great safari for us. From meeting us at the airport with cold water and making sure we got money exchanged, they guided us safely through the big city and got us prepared for our adventure. We decided to go the tent route, and they worked hard to accomodate us. Most of their clients stay in the lodges, so we were an anomaly. They will continue to fine-tune the tent experience as clients request it. Sudy prepared great food and Naele was a wonderful guide. The sunrise safari is a special memory and very worth getting up for. He could spot a rhino or Cheatah from a mile away, and was incredibly especially knowledgable about the birds. Enjoy your trip!
US
Email Kamayini | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Differentiating themselves with the quality and relationships of their tour guides.
My husband and I used OpenSafari tours based on a recommendation from friends that had used their services for the Serengeti Safari adventures in 2016 and of course they spoke very highly of their experience.
Needless also to say that I would not be writing this review if we were not thoroughly satisfied with the service ourselves. From the patient and persistent follow-ups in getting all the registration and paperwork in order prior to our departure from the US ( mostly on account of my being a slacker) to ensuring his brother and a driver met us at the airport upon our arrival at Moshi at 9:00pm local time, John did an excellent job of facilitating it all!
His two guides Ombeni and Brighton were honest, experienced in their trade and very transparent from the very first to our final day of the 6-day Marangu route trek up to Uhuru. They were also probably a huge part of why my husband despite his cumulative sleep deprivation, made it up to Gilman's point! Knowing when to motivate and knowing when to ease off on the day of the summit attempt made all the difference. They also went above and beyond in advising us on the 'about town things-to-do', tourist traps to watch out for and made for some wonderful conversational company on the state of the Tanzanian economy to keep time clocking by during the hike.
Overall, both my husband were very satisfied with our end-to-end experience. Couldn't have asked for more for my milestone birthday celebration!
ES
Email Maria Casquet | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
a perfect safari
We did a saafri for 4 days 3 nights!
by taranguire, serengueti and norongoro!
It was spectacular !
the guide osman was a carck !!!
He did everything he could to see all the animals!
He has a lot of experience and we had a great time with him!
kind, attentive and fun!
the chef moris was great !!!
the food was very good !!! He even made us a potato omelet!
everything was perfect !
very happy with everything, thanks.
US
Email Sophie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really wonderful, exceeded expectations
The safari tour was really magical, to see so many animals and a fascinating new culture. The tour guides and overall experience was also very positive. The company gave good attention from start to finish and enabled me to get the most out of my two days there. I especially appreciate it when having booked on such short notice.
We had a great safari and really enjoyed our 6 day trip
Our Safari was a once in a lifetime experience! We hat 6 wonderful days together with a nice Group, a very friendly cook and an awesome Driver (Shabani!). The communication with John before, during and after the Safari was always perfect. We can only recommend this great experience to everyone. The only negative Points were the bit older tents & sleeping bags, our Toyota Landcruiser was good but I guess it had some engine Problems (was very weak uphill).
Email Pat Batty | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded all expectations
We had a fantastic holiday with Open Africa Safaris, far exceeding our expectations. They provided a tailor made itinerary to fit our travel dates, and went out of their way to make the holiday a success. Our safari guide was very skilled at finding and spotting animals, taking us away from the crowds, and we had some amazing close encounters.
IE
Email Paul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An absolute pleasure to deal with
Having just spent an incredible week on safari in Tanzania I would like to give special mention to John Williams and his entire OpenAfricaSafaris team. It was my first time visiting Tanzania so I was a little apprehensive before hand, this was unnecessary as John had every detail covered. I would highly recommend Tanzania for an unforgettable experience.
We saw all the animals and birds that one hopes for when they go on safari but Tanzania has much more than animals. The landscapes are breath taking and the people are a joy to meet.
Email Carlos | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable!
Open Africa delivered our customized itinerary, combining game drives with trekking and hiking, in superb fashion. Hats off to them!
Open Africa Safaris trip to Serengeti was simply the best guided wildlife adventure tour I have been
Tony Milinga was our driver and guide for the entire 7 day Sergenti trip. He was excellent ! His communications, his service were outstanding. He took care of us very well. He made sure our stay and trip was most comfortable and we had vegetarian food throughout the trip. He showed us the best game, saw all the animals, some in action and got to see all the big five. He was patient, friendly and provided great customer service. He made our trip memorable. John William, the sales manager gave us all the info to get ready for the trip. Accommodations were excellent and service was great ! My family and I recommend Open Africa Safaris to all who want to see the great Serengeti park because it is a once in a life time experience to see so many animals in 1 park.
US
Email Kent | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trustworthy, organized, affordable - a great experience!
My wife and I had a fabulous experience with Open Africa Safaris! It was nerve wracking to arrange a trip like this without the help of an experienced travel agency. With seemingly hundreds of safari organizers to choose from, it was quite time consuming to narrow down the companies based on our desired itinerary, trip cost, and of course a company that appeared organized and trustworthy. Let me save you time – look no further, go with Open Africa Safaris!
Open Africa Safaris was willing to customize our trip in most any way, from budget to mid-range to luxury, from a few days to many days, from safari only to inclusion of a side trip to the beaches of Zanzibar. We were not up for a “budget” trip – sleeping in tents and sleeping bags was ok when we were younger, but we want nice, clean beds now. Luxury trips seem horribly overpriced to me – you can spend thousands of extra dollars for what I think would be marginally better lodging, and maybe pampered hot lunches with beer and wine – not at all worth it in my opinion. The mid-range trip suggested to us seemed just right, with my exact desired itinerary, and the price was great, compared to many others I had checked.
I exchanged about 20 emails with our contact at Open Africa Safaris (John). I asked MANY questions, asked for references, questioned just about everything I could think of. He responded timely (not immediately, but always in a very reasonable amount of time), politely and patiently. But in the end, I still had to trust a fairly small company to deliver on their promises. A deposit was needed, and full payment was required about 30 days before our adventure. Would they deliver? Could this be a scam? I continued to be nervous literally until I was met at the airport after getting off the plane in Tanzania. But they were there just as promised, and everything went great for the next 7 days, all the way through taking us to the airport to leave!
The lodging choices they selected for us were wonderful! The hotel in Arusha City was older and not in perfect repair, but it was still clean, with good and very tasty dinner options, a nice pool, pretty grounds – and this was the “worst” of our lodging. The other places we stayed were wonderful, including the luxury “tented camp” in the middle of the Serengeti, which was a marvelous experience! All the facilities were clean, available showers ranged from good to great, there was wifi available in all places (ok, not high speed but who cares?), and we were always able to charge our electronics. The dinners were definitely better than I expected, and wine and beer were available for purchase if desired. We had available hot breakfast options each day. The lodging staffs were always very attentive. We felt safe everywhere. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for more.
Our tour guide, Simon, was excellent! His heavily accented English was still quite good, and he did a great job navigating the parks to give us the best possible animal viewing. Animals were very plentiful to see, and we had close up encounters with many – lions, elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, and more. The only Big 5 animal we didn’t see up close (and I mean very close) was a rhino, of which we only saw one, and that was at a distance…oh well. Simon had binoculars available to use, which was quite nice. The box lunches while on game drives were plenty adequate (generally chicken, fruit, bread, a cookie or two, juice, water) though not fantastic.
All in all, the trip was everything I could have hoped for, and Open Africa Safaris was just great! Many thanks to them for making this “bucket list” trip a major success!