East African Safari & Touring Company
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 1992)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $230 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Mas Tadesse Harris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Jamal Njarita - Best. Guide. Ever!
We settled on East African Safari & Touring Company because our friends used them three years ago, and it was a great mix of locations and property styles. Simon King was our contact we communicated with throughout the process. He was accessible and very knowledgeable with our many queries. If he does not respond, email again. Sometimes there are communication disruptions and delays.
We got immunizations in the U.S.
We secured our visas upon arrival in Tanzania, and it was kind of a cluster. Everyone who just got off the plane and has to go through this line. I admit I was exhausted. You must pay in cash (As of 07/2015 it was $100 USD - Bring new currency, fresh crisp bills).
We traveled U.S.---> Turkey ----> Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
When we landed after flying for 22 hours we had to take two more in-country flights. We had a layover for many hours (3 am local time, flight not departing until 7 am local time) and we were exhausted. We had to wait outside on metal benches because the domestic portion of the airport doesn't allow you in until two hours before your flight. None of the shops are open. If we knew we were going to wait an additional 5 hours on a metal bench at the Dar Es Salaam airport, before getting on two more flights, and then being in a car for 30 minutes I think we would have opted to stay in Dar Es Salaam for the day and just fly to Mwanza the next day.
Nights were cool in July and required sweaters, jackets, long pants. Mountains were cool, other places were HOT, but a nice mix. Also good to have scarfs to cover up against dusty roads, eye drops, hats, and sunscreen.
Definitely need flashlights, good binoculars and I rented a fabulous camera. We brought one great travel guide book about Tanzania and E-readers with many books on them. Books are expensive there. Bring your own. The guide also had some books, but we like to have our own. Good shoes for walking and also light shoes for heat. We brought a First Aid kit. Bring snacks that travel easily, I brought a box of KIND bars, my friend had Cliff Bars. A clothesline and pins are helpful if you need to rinse anything. Usually, everything dries fast.
We stayed in tents in the Serengeti, and private lodges in other bush areas. At times, we were the only tourists at a location. Simon also mixed that up with some comfortable lodges with many (loud) tourists. It was a good balance but if something is "not your thing", you should specify and pay for higher end locations. If you are roughing it, bring extra batteries particularly for cameras. Many places will not have access for Internet or Phone. I use T-Mobile in the US and was able to pop out my sim card and buy a local one. My phone bill was not affected.
We toured for 10 days with Jamal Njarita. He worked so incredibly hard. What makes a good guide? First comes safety, especially on walking safaris, which requires a cool head, a respect for dangerous game and a thorough knowledge of animal behavior. A good guide can read situations, react in an instant and avoid putting his clients in harm’s way. As two women traveling, this was key. He has a great sense of humor, and could be serious when explaining things like how Maasai live in a 'Boma'. Like all true professionals he appears relaxed, yet all his senses remain on high alert, suddenly breaking off a conversation to point out a bird in a tree or the flick of an ear in the long grass. We were alone in our 10 year old Toyota Landcruiser with Jamal. He was very good and accompanied us most everywhere. Guides work on commission only, so be prepared to tip well.
There is a LOT of driving roads, and imaginary roads are rough and can be surprisingly exhausting.
I loved the Serengeti Horizon tents. I would say it's more "glamping" or glamorous camping than camping. The guys who work there are truly amazing, welcoming, and made this a great start of our journey.
I was petrified during the night drive! While we were at Boundary Lodge (when it's dark outside we had escorts) I was not prepared for a man they call "Commander" who carried a bow and arrow. Additionally he shone the spotlight during the night game drive. I didn't catch the other young man's name but he had a spear to protect us from animals. I felt safe but it was unexpected to say the least.
Large lodges had safes. Theft was not an issue.
My friend is a vegetarian (who eats fish) and they prepared special food for us. Lots of food, not fancy, but tasty and 3 meals a day day, which is much more than our normal diet. Soups were great. The large lodges had incredible food.
My advise is as follows: Be flexible. Be clear about what you want so they can manage your expectations. Ask for a exceptional guide like Jamal. (If you are a woman remember you are traveling in a predominantly Muslim country--everyone did not treat us like Jamal).
Things that were less than perfect, is when accommodations were made at a place with a different name/location then what was printed on the itinerary. It was just confusing and it happened twice. (On the itinerary it says "Hilton Hotel or similar" which is not cool when you see a man is holding a sign with your name driving you to a location with a different hotel than you think you are traveling to. If it can be firmed up in advance it's helpful).
This is not Disney animals on demand. There were days we drove around for hours and saw nothing, and then there was the day we saw a Cheetah, Leopard, Zebra, Elephant and Rhinoceros. Believe your guide wants you to see these animals as much as you do. He is working and listening to radio chatter in Swahili trying to link up with colleagues for the best spots. Also, give him a break, you don't have to leave at dawn and come back to home base at dusk. If you're on vacation, be on vacation, trust me the animals will be there.
Finally, my favorite moment was riding bikes for three hours with a man named Sandy to get a close up of Lake Manyara. We saw literally thousands of flamingos and got to sit in a local fisherman's canoe. The landscape was breathtaking. We did this bike tour on Jamal's recommendation and it was incredible!
We traveled to Zanzibar to relax. If I had to do it again we would have stayed at the Z Hotel in Nungwi. Much more our speed, more people, and an exceptionally good Bloody Mary! We managed to go snorkeling using One Ocean Dive spent a day touring Stone Town enjoying lunch at Jafferji House & Spa.
Hopefully I can come back in 5 years or so.
Like anything, people make the experience and our guide Jamal made it wonderful, and it went by too fast!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari to Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Tarangire
Overall we had a fantastic experience with just a few things that could have been improved upon. Our group of 8 people (ages 14 - 75) booked a 6-day / 5-night safari with EASTCO. First day/night to Ngorongoro, then to Serengeti (2 nights / 2-3 days) and 2 nights / 1 day at Tarangire. I know that numbering is a little confusing, but one blocked-road delay and the transiting between parks makes the "bookkeeping" difficult.
Itinerary: The itinerary was great in many ways, but in the end I wonder if we tried to cram in too much in the amount of time we had. There ended up being a lot of time driving. If I were going to do it again, I would try and stay in each lodging for 2 or more nights. We also had two walks scheduled into our safari. The one ended up being canceled because a stuck water truck blocked our way into the Crater on our first afternoon, so we went the following morning and skipped that hike, but putting in some walks is a really nice way to break up all the driving.
Accommodations: Mostly excellent. Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge - very cool with lovely rooms and an outstanding dining room / loungey area with fireplaces. Turner Camp in Serengeti - Nice tented camp, though apparently the camp had screwed up our reservation. When we arrived they told our guides that they could only host us for one night although we had been booked for two. The guides scrambled and found us a place for the following night in the Serengeti Savannah Camps, one of the Sera campsites. Since the Savannah Camp did not have much warning that we were coming, they were not very prepared for us and many of the staff had gone on holiday. (One of the tents we got was quite below-average compared to the others). But the few staff who were there worked really hard to accommodate us. Both tented camps had showers and flush toilets in the rooms, though limited water as would be expected out there. That seemed very luxurious given the location. The last two nights we were at Boundary Hill Lodge near Tarangire. This place is exceptional with beautiful and interesting rooms (all separate from one another with balconies overlooking the a valley). The staff were excellent. We were supposed to have been at Ol Tukai Manyara for one of the nights but after lots of heavy rain a part of the roof had collapsed and wasn't yet repaired. Though we don't know what we missed, we were very happy to spend two nights at Boundary Hill.
Guides: Our guides both had very sharp eyes and were very informative. Melk was very funny and chatty. Kessy was mostly quiet, though if we asked questions he was more than happy to answer them. Both spent a lot of time on their mobile phones, which, well, it detracted a bit from the experience. Kessy had a radio in his car, which he used a lot as well, though he turned it down when we asked. I realize the guides use the radios to help find game for the clients, but... I don't know, it's a mix. Both were good drivers, although we thought Melk drove way too fast at times (not while on game drives, but during transits between parks). I'm quite certain he could get a job as a stunt driver in the movies! It didn't even make sense since he would then have to stop and wait for Kessy. In any case, I finally requested he slow down, which he did.
Communications:
Pre-trip - Simon mostly responded to our pre-trip emails very promptly, though sometimes it would take a while. I had been on a trip with EASTCO in 2009 and I know there are often internet and phone problems, so I didn't worry too much when this happened. It never happened at any critical, time-sensitive moment. Simon is very friendly and also gave us a LOT of help organizing some pre- and post-safari travel for which he didn't request any compensation. He came out to our hotel to chat and never seemed to be in a hurry. I'm sure his schedule varies throughout the year, but we got a lot of his time and advice for nothing extra.
En route - At times the guides should have been more forthcoming with information. E.g. one day we stopped at a Maasai camp after leaving the Serengeti. Melk had arranged a hike for us to go on there because we had missed our Ngorongoro hike. We should have seen this coming, but after the hike (which was cool and interesting) the Maasai invited us to watch one of their traditional dances, visit the village, see their huts, etc. It was $50/car and we decided, "What the hell, we're here". So it was fun and we learned a lot and got the hard sell to buy some beaded products. We ended up with the Maasai for probably 3 hours. Fine. What we didn't know was that we were 5+ hours from our next lodge and it was already after 3pm. Had we known, we probably would have just skipped this or at least left directly after the hike. As it turned out, we were driving the last part of our day in the dark, we got lost for a while on the last stretch to the lodge and didn't arrive until late. They had been waiting to make dinner so it would be fresh, which was nice, but it meant we had to wait a while. It got to be a very long day.
In general: I have been on two EASTCO safaris now and I am impressed with what Simon delivers, especially at the cost. The park fees make up such a large part of a safari that it seems a really good value to get the fees plus the vehicle, guide/driver, unlimited miles, really nice accommodation, all your food and bottled water. And we saw so much cool stuff! All the "Big 5", including heaps of lions and a mother cheetah & 4 cubs. It was awesome. Good guides will know where to look for what you want to see, and we had that. No guarantees, of course, but we had a less experienced guide at a park in Kenya and it really showed.
People all want different things when they travel, but I would recommend thinking about how much time you want to spend driving and ask those questions when arranging a safari. The nice thing with EASTCO is that you are not on a pre-packaged tour. You can choose your own adventure. Simon will certainly help you choose a good itinerary, but you can weigh in with your preferences of what you'd like to see and do along the way. And then keep in mind that this is kind of the Wild West (or the Wild East). Things will happen along the way that are not really anyone's fault and your trip will likely have some glitches; if you can roll with it the misadventures sometimes make the best stories later on. If I decided to go on a third safari in East Africa, I would certainly go with EASTCO again!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nightmare Safari with EASTCO
Our trip with EASTCO is one that we will struggle to look back on with anything other than frustration. We were stuck with a guide who was rude, unprofessional, unsafe, had terrible communication and clearly cared nothing for us. And we were stuck with a company operating broken down vehicles, run down camps, and that clearly cared nothing for us. We found ourselves counting down the days until we could go home, and by the end of the trip, going along with ridiculous outings and schedules simply because it felt like the path of least resistance and our only survival mechanism.
Our troubles with EASTCO started before we even got out of Arusha when our guide, Melk, arrived 45 minutes later than our agreed upon time from the evening before and then spend an additional 20 minutes preparing the car while we waited. Then before we left the city, the engine started over heating causing him to pull over suddenly. After looking at the engine for a bit, Melk said that it would take an hour to fix. Assuming this was a low estimate – in fact he didn’t get to the crater until the next day – I said that this was not acceptable. Without saying a word to us that he was leaving, Melk then hopped on a motorcycle and road off leaving us in the truck surrounded by several guys that we hadn’t met. He came back after a few minutes and another truck arrived to take us to our hotel. It wasn’t the hotel listed on our itinerary, but it was nice so we didn’t say anything. The replacement driver suddenly stated that he was leaving as the hotel staff was greeting us. We tried to stop him to get more information on what was happening but all we could get out of him was that Melk had fixed the truck, was on the way, and would be here shortly. That turned out to be a lie since if Melk was on the road at that point he would have made it to the gate well before it closed at 6 pm. The replacement driver then quickly jumped in his truck and left before we could get his, Melk’s, or EASTCO’s contact info. We then enlisted the help of several of the staff at the hotel over the course of the evening and the next morning trying to contact EASTCO. The emergency contact number we were given didn’t answer. EASTCO’s number is not posted on their website. The hotel staff talked to folks at the hotel’s central office to try to find out who made the booking. Working with them before and after dinner and despite the hotel’s best efforts we got nowhere that night. The next morning we still had nothing and it was starting to eat into our time in the crater. Exploring Ngorongoro Crater has been a dream of mine for most of my life. I can see it from the hotel but I don’t have a way to get down there. Do we try to hire another company? Are there any guides that can take us into the crater at short notice? Suddenly Melk shows up and says – and this is an exact quote – “Ready to go?” “That’s all you have to say?” “The truck broke down. This happens.” “You couldn’t call the hotel?” “I didn’t have the hotel’s number.” This was an unprofessional and rude response, to say the least. This is a good time to point out that Melk would make 30 – 40 calls during a day of driving. He often claimed they were to the EASTCO office. Here’s five seconds of my time on the Internet hitting the front page of the hotel’s website. Their number is: (+255) 272545555. It is ironic that Melk continually took credit for being the car’s mechanic, and yet complained that it was not his fault when the car broke down.
After 30 minutes or so of awkward silence in the car Melk pulled over to offer a half-hearted apology which he followed with a rebuttal of my complaint that we paid a lot of money for the safari and we deserved to be treated better. Melk said that we may have paid a lot to EASTCO but we didn’t pay him a lot so it wasn’t relevant to him. He also offered that if he was unhappy then he would just follow exactly what’s on the itinerary and we wouldn’t see much game – basically what he did our second day in the crater.
It was clear that Melk had no ability to empathize with us – particularly when it came to us feeling safe. On our way out of Arusha he talked about how safe the city was and that anyone could walk alone any time of day – certainly not matching any other source of information we had heard. He would regularly pull over in villages without explaining, hop out of the car, and walk away with the keys in the ignition. On the way from the crater to Serengeti Horizons he pulled over and we were surrounded by several guys. One of them then jumped in the car with us. My wife asked “What’s going on?!” I said I had no idea. Melk then gave us a detailed explanation of the situation: “We give him ride.” At which point, we proceeded to drive into the desert, off the roads, and away from civilization. With a guide who clearly hated us, a complete stranger, no way of contacting the outside world, and no explanation or even a mention of “the camp is this way.” My wife has stated that she has never felt so unsafe in her life.
The accommodations at Serengeti Horizons did nothing to make us feel better. Our itinerary stated “semi-luxury” and EASTCO’s description of Serengeti Horizons included “full-size stylish wrought-iron or wooden beds with six-inch mattresses and all bedding”. In reality the mattress didn’t even cover the bed frame with the foot of the bed using a rolled pillow and cut up foam to form the mattress. The sheets had holes in them to match the level of quality. EASTCO’s tent “from the golden age of safaris” included a light plugged into a car battery – but no trash can so we pilled the trash in the corner of the tent. I was a bit nervous leaving our bags unprotected as we went off on safari so I made sure I left the zippers in exactly the same place for all bags so I would know if they were touched. When we came back one of the bags had been moved and the zippers were all the way to the other side of the bag. We couldn’t find anything missing so I didn’t bring it up, but what possible excuse could there be for this?
Our itinerary states that “the ecosystem is defined by the annual migration”. The migration was farther north than expected and Melk was apparently not going to take us to it or even bring it up. As he started to drive around the mostly barren plains the first morning at Serengeti Horizons we asked what the plan was. He detailed the day’s activities with “We do game drive.” No information was going to come from him but thankfully another couple at the camp had found out that the migration was in the central Serengeti. When we said we wanted to go there to see the migration Melk said nothing in return. Was he just ignoring us? Unbeknown to us one of his next phone calls was to the head office and they said it was ok but we had to pay the $131 entrance fee to the park. We agreed given that it would be our only chance to see the migration. At the gate we ran into one of the couples from the camp the previous night. They were more successful in their complaints. EASTCO had moved them north to another camp closer to the migration and was paying the park fee. There was no such deal for us though. Inside the park Melk started driving slowly and staring at trees along the main road near the entrance. When we asked he explained that he was looking for cats. If a leopard was in one of those trees right next to this busy road it would be surrounded by cars. When we complained that we wanted to see the migration instead - which is why we paid the park fee – he got mad. After finding the migration we stopped at a picnic site for lunch. When we got out of the car he drove off without explanation. We really weren’t sure if he was coming back.
At Serengeti Horizons we spoke with other EASTCO victims and heard stories about how their vehicles broke down and how one couple had to push their vehicle each time to get it started. We then heard complaints about the lack of radios in cars both for security and game viewing. Our second time into Ngorongoro Crater we were focused on getting a good look at a rhino. Cars started flying by us and Melk went off on one of his lectures about the evils of radio calls. We finally got a view of what everyone was headed toward and it was a rhino. We went over and got an ok view of it though it was slowly headed away. With a radio call we might have gotten a better view. Melk said that just one EASTCO car has a radio and that’s for security reasons. If we breakdown outside of cellphone coverage how does another EASTCO vehicle having a radio help us?
Our second day in the crater didn’t hold much interest for Melk. He drove past the hippo pool lunch spot and when we started getting hungry he sped past most of the second half of the crater. The lunch spot was in the forest near the exit. He parked us under a tree with the roof open. A monkey came down trying to get our food and I asked if we should close the roof. Melk explained “No”. The monkey jumped in the car a few minutes later and my wife and I jumped out with Melk chuckling. The monkey stole some of our lunch and Melk wanted us to get back in the car to finish the rest. I said “No” and Melk finally moved the car away from the tree. Melk was already on the phone again when my wife asked me what I wanted to do. I said “I just want this week to be over.” I’m not sure if Melk heard but when he got off the phone he left the vehicle to pout for a while. We ended up buying our own replacement lunch back at the hotel. Melk certainly wasn’t going to. He drove us the last bit of forest and then turned around to leave. I believe he put lunch near the end of the loop so he could hurry getting us to lunch and then claim that he “already drove all the roads”. My wife – who had continuously gone out of her way to be outrageously nice to him – said that we wanted to spend a bit more time in the forest. Melk replied with an ugly “Do you see any other roads in the forest?” When we agreed to leave after a bit Melk committed what I believe was his worst act of the week. He punched the gas with us standing in the back and wildly drove up the switchbacks no doubt angry at us. My wife sat down first and I was trying to catch a few last pictures of the crater. She had to warn me that a big turn was coming and I barely sat down in time. Melk whipped around the corner and I’m sure I would have been injured without her warning.
EASTCO held other nasty surprises for us to finish out the trip. In Mosquito Town our tour included being dropped in a tourist trap where we were asked to look around because we were their first customers in 4 weeks! We then went to Boundary Hill where we were taken on a nature walk. I managed to get all the way up Kilimanjaro and back without falling but I fell on their trail – as did my wife. She was uninjured but I was dealing with a shoulder injury for the next month. The last part of the climb involved 30 minutes of climbing back up the hill while walking through thick vegetation. The binder in the hotel room states that you shouldn’t walk through plants because they contain ticks and dangerous snakes. Something we seriously doubted our “guides” could protect us against at the pace they were moving. They apparently take every guest on this hike but they can’t cut a path or find one that doesn’t involve being in almost continuous contact with one bush or another.
Reply from East African Safari & Touring Company
Posted on Jul 8, 2015This is what Brian K wrote to the agent second day of safari after Meliki had picked them up to head into the crater.
Meliki knew what was said, and tried to behave professionally in the face of personal abuse for the rest of the safari.
March 7th "Eastco's PIECE OF SHIT driver just arrived and refuses to even give an apology. We'll go with the scum but this is far from over."
The client was also upgraded to Ngorongoro Serena two nights, and Manyara Serena for one night.
I refused to give any other refund as no services where missed, and in fact we gave him several upgrades.
A safari is a personal contract between the guide and the client, if there is no respect on either side, or worse, if there is verbal abuse, then it places everyone in a difficult situation.
Amazing experience
We'd recommend doing a Safari with EastCo. We had a wonderful experience. Everything went very smoothly and Simon and the team were very accomodative. Up-Front communciations via email was sometimes challenging, but eventually all worked out just fine. Our guide was experienced, laid back, humble and a very nice guy who accommodated our queries whenever possible. The accommodations were really nice, the vehicle solid, we saw almost all animals we had wished to see and the food was good, too. The Safari met our expectations and we received a very good service. Thanks again to the team!
IE
Email Cliodhna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari experience
Initial communications were what drew us to Eastco. Simon was responsive and willing to tailor an itinerary to our needs and budget. On arrival we were met by a driver from the company. From that moment everything went to plan and exceeded expectations. Payment was smooth and they even organised a driver to take us around arusha the day before safari. Our driver, James was just fantastic. He was warm, friendly and a great insight into tanzanian life. I would have liked more communication on the slight changes to itinerary and accommodation that happened. That being said everything worked out probably better than the original itinerary as we found Tarangire to be deserted due to bad weather and it didn't really warrant extra time there. James had no problem driving long distances in search of something different and every day we took a lunch box to ensure we got the most from the day. In the Serengeti we always seemed to be perfectly placed to witness something spectacular and we enjoyed our 3 night upgrade to a luxury tented camp.
I would highly recommend Eastco. They know their stuff and nothing was too much trouble for them
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome tour!
This tour was amazing! The guides were really great with so much knowledge on culture and animals. They're very informative which is really helpful. Our cook did the most amazing job with beautiful meals and providing for personal dietary requirements. All the staff are really friendly, helpful and work hard. The tour was a lot of fun and involved everything I was hoping to do and so much more! The tour met and went way beyond my expectations! I highly recommend East African Safari company to anyone searching for a real African experience and a great time!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!
I would recommend this tour for absolutely anyone who wants a great African experience. Myself and a small group of friends did a safari through Uganda, Kenya and finishing in Tanzania a few months ago. The tour itself was amazing visiting parts of the world you never dreamed you would go and experiencing things you could only imagine like trekking the mountain gorillas in bwindi impenetrable forest or whitewater rafting in the Nile! Our tour guide James was excellent and could spot animals from anywhere!!! I saw more wildlife in those 25 days then I have seen in my life!! We went way beyond the big five and were even lucky enough hang out with Mountain Gorillas, chimps, hunting dogs, rhinos aswell as everything else! James was great company a pleasure to be around and even taught us some Swahili words aswell as an easy song!! Our cook Costa was incredible I always looked forward to eating his meals. Everyday was an adventure with something different we did plenty of game drives, boat tours, walks, bike tour, white water rafting, bungee jumping and a night game drive. The tours there are great they really are tailor made to suit you which means you get the exact experience that your looking for! Overall the trip an amazing experience!!! I will definitely return for another adventure and recommend to anyone thinking of experiencing Africa.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We canceled and never got our refund
** UPDATE JULY 2015
I have changed my rating for EASTCO company because they have refunded our money after 6 month. According to the EASTCO agent it was because of some financial problems that happened with the ebola fright.
I am not sure if its a sufficient excuse but at the end of the day they have refunded our money so i am satisfied.
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
I would like to share the reason why my wife and I rate EASTCO poorly. My Wife and I planed a safari tour for February which is something that we dreamed of doing for some time. We choose booking the safari with EASTCO because we read that they are a small family company and believed that they cared about there customers. We where in contact with Simon that seemed friendly in the mails. In the middle of December we found out that we couldn't take the vacation and asked Simon to cancel the Safari. He was very understanding and told us that we will get the refund according to the contract. After a week he replied to our refund request with that he will refund us after new year. And again after new year we did not get the refund and each time we asked him he came up with a different excuse (he was in the bushes, the internet crashed .. and more). Today i came to an understanding that we probably will never get refunded. I am sharing this experience so people will know that we do not recommend EASTCO and I personally do not trust them to take care of my family and me on a safari. And if you do choose to go with them to a safari then do not pay in advance.
US
Email Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worth it! Exceeded all expectations and wouldn't change a thing!
Wow we don't even know where to start with our review of East African Safari, but basically it ends with smiles and two thumbs up! Simon was beyond helpful answering our many, many questions and was also very accommodating with our requests on length of trip, and where we wanted to stay at night. We E-mailed other safari operators as well but Simon's prompt and helpful replies, in addition to their community integration and conservation efforts, is really what sold it for us. This cost is a bit higher than other operators, but as we soon found out that it is 100% WORTH IT!
Just a few quick details about our trip: 10 days Safari, starting in Mwanza with stay near Speke Bay, and then passing through Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, and finally flying out from Arusha.
Our guide, Cosmos, was beyond expectations and definitely one of the reasons the trip ended up perfect for us. He met us promptly at the airport in Mwanza with a big smile and immediately shuttled us over to the Tilapia Hotel so that we could relax after being on airplanes for 20+ hours. The place even had a pool and gorgeous view of the water so we felt relaxed and ready to go the next morning! Cosmos was waiting for us right when he promised, and after chatting for a bit we knew he was going to be a great guide over the next 9 days. We were both interested in learning Swahili for the trip and so were constantly bugging him for swahili translations but he energetically answered every question we had!
One of the first big highlights that made us glad we chose EASTCO happened when our original hotel for the second day, the Speke Bay Lodge, ended up being full so instead Simon got us rooms at nearby Serenity on the Lake lodge...which was one of the nicest places we've ever stayed! Throughout the entire trip there were multiple instances like this, where things didn't go exactly as planned (for those of you you've traveled to Africa this shouldn't be a surprise) only to find that Cosmos and Simon would improvise quickly to make everything perfect for us!
Every day had a pretty standard routine, Cosmos would tell us what time to meet him, we'd drive around watching wildlife, and then spend afternoons back at the lodges. My girlfriend and I are slow eaters so a few times were a little late to meet him at the vehicle but he would just respond with a smile and the usual Tanzanian response of "No worries! Pole Pole!" Cosmos' energy, promptness, and especially knowledge of African wildlife really were incredible. He'd usually spot and identify wildlife before we could even see them! We managed to see every bit of wildlife we had planned (including rhinos and leopards) and he even managed to find something I had absolutely been dying to observe...a leopard tortoise! I can't stress that enough with Cosmos, he will go out of his way to make sure you get a chance to see what you want and he has the eyes and intuition to make it happen. At the same time, he is also very patient and would sit quietly while we sat for long periods of time just to watch a pride of lions eating or hippos bathing.
Another reason we're glad we went with EASTCO: I accidentally left my cell phone at one of the lodges which of course is always a stressful situation. However, Simon called and had the lodge actually mail the phone to himself in Arusha, after which he personally organized a driver to BRING THE PHONE down to us near Tarangire park!! We didn't have to worry at all about the entire situation because it was handled perfectly by Simon and Cosmos, and phone was delivered back safely into my hands!
Also, we had planned (and paid) to stay at the Rhino Lodge near the Ngorongoro crater because it was a more budget friendly lodge option, but on the day were supposed to head over there Cosmos got a text from Simon telling him to put us up in the Serena Wildlife Lodge instead!! For no extra cost to us! For those of you unaware, Rhino lodge is a budget lodge away from crater rim, while Serena is one of the few luxury lodges that actually sit on the rim...with an incredible view! This was a very pleasant surprise for us, and I have to be honest, that hot shower felt incredible after a dusty day in the crater.
The final days of the trip were spent in East African Safari's own lodge, the Boundary Hill Lodge (can check out our review on TripAdvisor) which also exceeded our every expectation. Reading about the history of the lodge was inspirational, basically created to help support the local communities (and indeed even 50% owned by those same communities) and an inseparable part of the Tarangire Conservation Area. One our final day Cosmos took us around souvenir shopping and even offered to help bargain with vendors if we needed the backup (a very nice offer sometimes when buying things as a traveler!).
In summary, if you want a dependable, quality, top-notch safari with a guide who is friendly and very knowledgeable...then pick East African Safari Company! Also I should mention that Simon also organized all of our airfare to other places around Tanzania. We picked them because of their integration and support of local communities and incredible work with wildlife conservation (basically the entire reason Boundary Hill Lodge was even created) but found that they also provided a better Safari trip than we could have ever hoped. Absolutely worth it!
Email John Atchison | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The family trip of a lifetime
Thank you Simon from East African Safari and Touring company for your suggestion for our 5 day safari through the Serengetti and Ngorongoro Crater, your communication in the lead up and organization made this a smooth ride. Our safari with our children aged 14 12 and 9 was a fantastic experience we were amazed by the closeness and abundance of wildlife we were able to see and on our final day we witnessed a pride of lioness stalking some zebra whilst 20 or more young lions roamed around our safari vehicle. At nights we were impressed by our campsite which was very well organized and the meals were great, the experiences the children were able to gain by sitting around a campfire freely talking and singing with the local Masai was priceless. Our driver Innocent was great with the knowledge he was able to share with us about the local wildlife there seemed nothing he wasnt able to tell us