Reviews
AT
Email Michaela, Roland und Alexander | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfectly organized safari with unforgettable impressions
We organized and booked our safari trip in Tanzania through African Jackal Tours & Safari. We were absolutely satisfied and can highly recommend the agency.
We planned our vacation about 5 months before the trip. Communication with the owner Magreth via email worked perfectly. She listened to our wishes and suggested changes, recommended very nice hotels, and planned the itinerary according to our needs. We visited 4 national parks and stayed in 4 different hotels. She also had an optimal solution for us due to a flight postponement to Zanzibar and organized a tour of Arusha for us at short notice, including a local market and lunch. Thank you for that!
Our guide and driver Charles, with whom we traveled for 4 days, gave us very good insights into the country, the wildlife and the culture of the people. He had an explanation for every question we asked. He also got along well with our 11-year-old son. His friendliness, his humor and his reliability characterized him in addition to his extensive knowledge. We really enjoyed the four days of safari and took many impressions home with us.
If we travel to Tanzania again - which we plan to do 😊 - we will definitely book again through African Jackal Tours & Safari.
NL
Email Jan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very accurate and well informed
We had a wonderful driver/guide. The tour that we were advised Serengeti and Ngorogoro was very nice and they booked us very nice lodges!
US
Email Esther | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Recent Ten Day Kilimanjaro Climb, Northern Circuit, including night inside Crater!
I booked a private solo Kilimanjaro climb, that was completely organized by African Jackal owners Martin and Mage, and Dickson Lyimo, the guide. We communicated frequently by phone and email to plan my desired itinerary, and they were supportive in every way, including my desire to climb the final ascent in daylight instead of at night, and to camp overnight inside the crater after summiting. They took care of my safety (Mt. Meru Hotel staff followed corona precautions, wore masks and had handwashing stations on the grounds, and on the climb they carried an oxygen cylinder, that we didn't need to use as I had NO altitude symptoms), and comfort at every stage. I had a support team of nine porters, chef, assistant guide who also did photography for me, and all led by the experienced (500 previous Kilimanjaro climbs) and capable Dickson Lyimo, who chose and supervised the team.
I reached the summit on the 8th day of my climb, on 15 July 2021, which was my 68th birthday....and the amazing chef had made a birthday cake that was brought out at the summit! Then, my team broke a trail down a snow crusted cliff, and we camped at the bottom, inside the crater. Next day I did a side hike to some of the glaciers in the crater, before our hike back out to the crater rim, and down in 2 days.
The team were solicitous of my every need, interviewed me about what food I wanted, urged me to eat more, made it easy for me to drink at rest stops by bringing me my water bottle as I sat on a boulder, and always had my pup tent and toilet tent set up already when we arrived at the next camp site.
Tourism is suffering due to coronavirus....but Tanzania keeps tourists safe (masks on airlines, handwashing, and distancing)...and does not require quarantine on arrival. Mountain hiking is one of the safest activities one can do! So, if you can get to Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be met and taken care of and kept safe by the solicitous hosts and crew of African Jackal, and experience a wonderful climb (or safari) without, for now, the usual crowds.
I live Shirati, Tanzania, near Lake Victoria. African Jackal has brought many visitors here to Shirati from Arusha, across Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The visitors have uniformly had good experiences and are full of praise for how they were received and hosted in a personal and friendly way. I would not hesitate to recommend African Jackal to any interested person. I plan to do future climbs of Kilimanjaro, trying other routes...and I plan to go with African Jackal.
Email Dion | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari, completely customised to our preferences, everything we wished for and more
We went on a 4-day safari in the first week of december. We wanted a basic-camping safari that would fit our budget. African Jackal gave us one of the best offers. What made us decide to go for African Jackal, is the option they gave us to completely customise the safari up to our wishes. Martin helped us with a fine hotel in Arusha, and then our safari through Ngorongoro and Serengeti started.
This has been an amazing experience to all of us. Thanks to our experienced driver and guide Nobat with amazing skills an magical eyes, we were able to see all the wildlife we dreamed of and more. He was also able to give us a lot of background information and some funny facts. He knew exactly when to stop the car for watching the animals and taking our pictures, and when to speed up to catch another scene of mating lions or a leopard going on a hunt.
After a day of game drives we arrived at the camp where our cook Mika had already put up our tents and prepared the most delicious, luxury 3-course meals every day, completely adapted to our preferences and diets. The public campsites (Simba and Seronera) were just fine, and every morning we woke up with a surprise of being surrounded by many animals very close by, followed by a tasty breakfast again from the cook.
The organisation of our trip went fluent thanks to the smooth communication with Martin & Mage and their flexibility and quick replies to any question at any time. Our safari car had everything we needed and our hole journey was very comfortable, even to my 60-year old parents with no any previous travel or safari experience. On the last day they even drove us all the way up to Shirati, where we were going to spend the rest of our time in Tanzania.
Very, very big thanks to African Jackal, Martin & Mage, guide Nobat & cook Mika, for giving us this unforgettable experience.
DE
Email Kerstin and Ben | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
unforgetable
I am german- sorry for my english .-) Our crew consisted of Charlis, excellent and reliable driver and guide, Abdullah, most sympathetic and skilled chef, and Mgure, best and warmest and most polite waiter ever! we were picked up at Isebania, frontier kenya-tanzania, by Charlis. very nice welcome, very clean and well maintained landcruiser. We were taken to Seronera public campsite (washrooms disgusting), after 4 nights went to Ngorongoro and at least our safari ended in Arusha, Mount Meru Game Lodge (highly recomendable!!!)
What can I say?
our Trip was just fantastic, every second an experience we will never forget. Besides the impressing landscapes and the animals (We saw big 5, due to skilled eagle-eyed Charlis) ,
game drives provided by Charlis were always breath-taking, best Abdallah created wonderful meals, always a pleasure, my son was mostly amazed :-))), me ,too. Our sweet Mgure with his warm attitude and his nice smile made us feel ssssssooooooo very comfortable and is an excellent waiter! After our time spent together we felt very, very sad to leave this excellent crew. Hopefully they liked us as well as we liked them, we will always keep "big white bird", Abdullah and Mgure in our memory, they made or safari in East Africa unforgetable.
we went to Sansibar to recover from the exhausting and dusty safari, which was a good idea, we were booked for one of the best hotels in Sansibar, The Breezes. Splendid. Wonderful. Awesome.
BUT: WE MISSED THE WARM AND FRIENDLY AND CLOSE relation to OUR crew. We dont need live music for dinner, neither beeing seated on pink decorated chairs, neither guests that DO NOT GREET, nor buffet.
We would ALWAYS prefer to be with our crew. ASANTE SANA. Always in my mind. hakuna matata.
best regards, please forward this reviewe´ to them, thank you.
Kerstin and Ben from Germany
We we overwhelmed when Abdallah and Mgure showed of, presenting a cake and candles, performing a very special and personal version of Jambojambo for us. That was at our last night in Ngorongoro.
BG
Email Elisaveta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was really the time of our life that we spent with you: a great and splendid adventure!
Every thing was perfect. Everybody - so kind and helpful. I never supposed that it is possible to have such experience for only few days. Thank you very much!
Incredible. The best money I've ever spent on a holiday. I will never forget the experiences we had.
Aje organised a great safari for us tailored it to our budget and itinerary. He even arranged for us to be picked up from Lake Victoria on the other side of the Serengeti. Our driver/guide was outstanding. He was affable and friendly but respected that we were on our honeymoon. He had unbelievable eyesight and almost a 6th sense for where the game was. A particular highlight was seeing a litter of 3 cheetah cubs. We loved the camping aspect and our cook was a fantastic host. Four years on, my wife and I still talk about the food - especially the crocodile-shaped bread after our close encounter that afternoon. I can't wait to come back and create more memories. Asante sana mzee. Tutarudi siku nyingine.
US
Email Anand | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing Safari and Kilimanjaro Experience!
We just returned from an amazing trip with African Jackal, including a safari through Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater and also an epic climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The service and personal care provided to us was unmatched. I have been on about 6 safaris in the past in South Africa and Tanzania (including Serengeti previously) and I can safely say that Martin and Margreth are simply the best. They personalized both trips to our specifications (camping, climbing routes, etc). They even delayed the start of our climb by a day (due to illness) even though the entire climbing team was already assembled and made sure we had accommodation and food during the delay.
They also picked some of the best guides I have encountered and this must not be understated. They found an extremely experienced guide (>200 summits) to take us on a less-traveled and more difficult route (Western Breach route) as we had requested. The team's focus was always on safety, optimizing our chances of success but minimizing risk.
I give my full endorsement for African Jackal. I have also recommended them to any of the other students/residents/faculty from University of Cincinnati that may be traveling in Tanzania.