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
CH
Email Dmitry Kuznetsov | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Too many Safari operators? Go with East African Safari & Touring Company
East African Safari & Touring Company is a relatively small team comparing to some other Safari companies in Tanzania but the key differentiators for this comoany are deep expertise and knowledge of Safari , flexible and customized offers at very attractive and competitive price! The itinerary recommended to us by East African Safari & Touring Company was indeed well balanced between Safari time and time required to connect between Parks so we were not exhausted during the whole Safari trip. And thanks a lot for assigning our small group with Bernard! Bernard is very friendly guide with excellent driving skills and great sense of humor! His deep knowledge and passion in nature and exceptional care about customers thrilled us and kept in excellent mood till the very last moment!
Last but not least we would like to say a few words about camp sites and lodges. They all were great, outstanding places! Ngoro Ngoro wild lodge – renovated with high-class service, spacious rooms with big windows and best-to-view location! Acacia Tented Camp was like a 5 stars luxury hotel in a complete wilderness – new tidy and fully supplied tents, simple but delicious cousin and very friendly stuff. The Boundary Hill Lodge in Tarangire just delighted us with its distinctive uniquely designed lodges masterly integrated into kopje hill nature – a place worth to visit just to feel wild spirit of the East African Savanna!
Being a bit experienced with Safaris, we may say with full confidence that our tour with Eastco was time of relax, pleasure and fun with high class service and care! Even despite depreciation of earnings due to new VAT regulations in Tanzania, the company delivered high class service at initially agreed costs. David & Simon, the owners of East African Safari & Touring Company, keep their business in a very responsible and trustful way and we will recommend your company as reliable Safari partner to our friends and colleagues! Thanks you!
Dmitry, Ivan & Cristina
Email Celine | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing and warmful wild experience
The trip was amazing. We enjoyed very much discovering Tanzania, thanks to the way it has been organized (choice of the places to stay : the mobile camp in the Serengeti was so memorable and exciting, the Naitolia ecolodge so peaceful… ) and the team : Ezechiel, Wilson and Michael were great. Friendly, efficient, responsible, kind. We ate really good meals in the bush !
Thanks for organizing this unforgettable wild tour !
Email Graham & Mary Brace | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tanzania 2016
This was our second foray in to the wilds of Northern Tanzania, the first some 4 years ago. Should we try someone else to organise our trip or should we stick with the company that did it before so successfully?....it was a no-brainer!
This time we did the more sensible plan, on advice from East African Safari & Touring Co., that is if you wish to cover all the major national parks... start at Mwanza, adjacent to Lake Victoria. Then approach the Serengeti via the Ndabaka Gate, to access the Western Corridor, Lobo and Seronera, then Ngorogoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Arusha NP itself. The whole trek by Range Rover, was 10 days at a fairly leisurely pace enabling us to take in and photograph the huge variety of animals....it really is a paradise for wildlife. Each area offers something different in terms of terrain, vegetation, forest and swamp. The Big 5.....not quite, but not for want of trying, so many rhinos have been poached and killed that the numbers are now very low. However, the remainder animals we saw a number of times over. Apart from the furry end of the animal spectrum, we spotted over 50 different species of bird. Correction..... Bernard, our guide, spotted them and virtually everything else before us, and he was concentrating on driving!
For this sort of holiday to be a success, that is an intensive wildlife photographic holiday, meticulous planning is essential, and a first class guide. The guide has to be a good communicator along with an encylopaedic knowledge of names, habitat, etc, etc. Bernard fitted those criteria perfectly, along with an immense amount of charm....that is so important when you have to spend a long time every day with someone.
Of course the lodges we stayed in were all of a high standard, and we will review those separately if required, but Mbalageti Lodge was probably our favourite; fantastic location, views, accommodation and good food.
All in all, well organised, well executed and the primary objective achieved.
There are many wildlife touring companies both in UK and in Arusha; one is spoilt for choice.
Our view is that you would be hard put to find better value, and people who have the same depth of knowledge about the wildlife as the East African Safari & Touring Company.
Six day safari with Eastco
We spent many hours searching the internet and guide books for the right mixture of safari and culture experience. Eastco caught our attention because of their long service to community conservation and their mainly excellent reviews and guides. We got in touch with Simon and planned a short safari. This was late notice and we were glad to be able to experience what we did.
Myself, husband, teenage daughter and young son spent six days with Eastco this past August. We decided to fly out to the Serengeti because of the short time we had and after Simon's advice, spent our two days in the central area at the Acacia camp instead of rushing north for the chance of a river crossing. This was incredible for the many lions we saw, three leopards, one walking nearby the car along the road early morning, and a couple of mature cheetahs. A fantastic way to start the safari!
We then drove east to the Wildlife Lodge on the Ngorongoro crater rim. We were a bit skeptical at first as had fifty fifty reviews, but as Simon said, the views were incredible and that's what made our stay here. It was not as busy as we thought it would be at the lodge, but the game viewing in the crater met all our expectations, crowds of cars around any lion sighting and dust from the cars everywhere. Nice rhino in the distance and a few lazy lions. Bernard did warn us it was a bit touristy! But w still enjoyed the experienced, although I must admit I was ready to head out at lunch time.
The last two nights were at Boundary Hill Lodge in Tarangire. Simon forewarned us that this was partially his property, but also the Masai communities had a shareholding. When we arrived and saw the rooms and the dining terraces we could obviously see the WOW factor. The meals were by far the best we have had on a holiday anywhere. The young cook, Bryan, was exceptional. Apparently Simon took him in when he was only 12 years old and helped him with schooling and taught him the trade. He was very polite, friendly and talkative and really took the time to involve the children, even showing them how to make chapattis and fresh bread rolls. The staff at Boundary Hill were exceptional, we felt at home. The kids had Tinga Tinga art lessons and their efforts now adorn the study!
Tarangire is very much underrated for its game viewing, could not believe how many elephants we saw, as well as three lions and a leopard outlined at dusk on an acacia tree along the swamp. We were very lucky. Or maybe I think Bernard’s 20 odd years of experience was the “luck” we had. He obviously knew every back road and track in Tarangire and certainly was able to show us sights we would never have seen normally. He is also a great raconteur and has a very dry humour. Bernard made our trip exceptional.
FR
Email Carlo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not actually delivered by East African Safari & Touring Company
we booked the safari with East African Safari & Touring Company but we learnt during the safari that we were actually with another companies. Apparently East African Safari & Touring Company does not have the TALA licence anymore and are almost bankrupt (at least this is what our guide told us). The safari was overall disappointing, e.g., we left Arusha very late on the 1st day (11am) and therefore we stayed less than 3 hours in Ngorongoro. We had to pay ourselves for the private campsite in Serengeti, despite was included in the agreed programme (we were later refunded once back in Arusha by the owner of the company employing the driver and owning the car), and this took a lot of time, long discussions with the driver and the parking rangers, two visits to the park HQ, etc.
Unforgettable 8-Day Northern Tanzania Wildlife Safari!
Fantastic Experience!
Traveling for the sake of disconnecting your self from the usual crazy routines you do is such a big break! I had a fun time though it wasn’t comfortable at all times to get out of your comfort zone to be honest but it is well worth it!
I had the pleasure of having a good time enjoying every exotic meals me and my partner had throughout the journey, we also enjoy the scenery of the place, the heat, the rides and the interaction with the nature & community, and the friends we made. This tour made me grateful of what I actually have at the moment back home. By the way, Ezekiel our tour guide was very helpful, attentive and cheerful. offered to take pictures for us also very patient in giving instructions and reminders.
I would definitely recommend this tour!
US
Email Maurice | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Such a pleasure!
Wow! What a privileged to be able experience the Northern Circuit in Tanzania. We did a 5 night safari with Eastco.
Visiting Ngorongoro is unforgettable! We had the luck to hike on the crater rim along with our friendly and skilled guide Ezekiel, it was such a pleasure spotting predators and the scenery there was awesome! Also able to go to Serengeti National Park on the 3rd day where we spent 2 nights. The wildlife viewing was top class and spectacular! We didn't witness tree-climbing lions at Lake Manyara National Park however the elephants and birds on the lake were also awesome. Manyara has a fantastic treetop walk, you should do it. We spent the last night in the village here.
To Eastco, it was an honour to be able to get such great services from you! My e-mail was always replied to even though some were abit slow.
Once-in-a-lifetime trip.
African Safari for your Safari adventure. About the only thing I might reconsider is whether to go to all four national parks. They all had something different to offer but we saw almost all of the larger wild game (lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, cape buffalo, giraffes, wildebeast, zebras, etc.) in Serengeti--obviously Serengeti is a must see. The one major animal we did not see in Serengeti, the Rhino, we spotted in Ngorongoro--a thrilling volcanic crater created millions of years ago. I might conclude that Tanzania seemed to be a safe country. Despite being populated by Muslims, Christians, Catholics, etc., and having numerous tribes, there did not seem to be the religious and tribal strife you see in some other African countries.
Email Alex | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 20 day safari
Finally returning to this amazing part of the World after 4 years since our first African adventure with Eastco. What an amazing experience to share with 8 close friends and our remarkable staff: Brian, Dickson, Ezekiel and Wilson.
Once again, Eastco have well and truly exceeded our needs and expectations from the preparation phase with David until our emotional goodbyes on day 20. Thanks to Brian & Dickson our amazing cook for catering to the dietary needs of some of our party, including; lactose intolerant meals and vegetarian meals – resulting in multiple dishes to be cooked everyday (I can’t imagine this being easy in the middle of the Serengeti).
Our group size of 8 resulted in the necessity of two vehicles, Wilson was our captain and conducted a very professional yet entertaining demeanour for the entirety of the trip. The second half of our party were ‘cruising’ with Ezekiel, we absolutely adored his comical attitude which entertained us around the dinner table. We would love to thank both drivers for always making us feel safe, comfortable and continuing to stop for tyre checks (very frequent on a party of 8 when trying keep hydrated).
From Day 1 to Day 20 we loved every aspect of the safari, however I will narrow it down to my three most memorable experiences.
- Trekking with the Bweza Mountain Gorillas amongst Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, if you have not yet experienced spending some time with these amazing creatures, I strongly advise doing so. Also, the drive to visit this specific group into the Rushaga sector of Bwindi is the most incredible drive I have ever witnessed; from the glorious views over the tea plantations to the one-way roads high amongst the cliff tops.
- Our 4 unforgettable days in the Serengeti. From the late-night sounds echoing through the campsite, stalking two Male Cheetahs on the hunt for multiple hours, including; 2 unsuccessful hunts, followed by a savage attack of three younger male Cheetahs.
- Third remarkable experience was our time at Boundary Hill Lodge. After 18 days camping it was perfect to spend our final days together in the comfort of this special lodge. Boundary Hill is build upon the escarpments overlooking Tarangire National Park with each room offering its own unique décor. The rooms are designed in a manner that allows spectacular views of the morning sunrise, even from the toilet.
We are already talking about our next adventure with Eastco and will certainly request the same staff if possible. If you have any questions about our trip I would love to assist.
Asante Sana Eastco.
ES
Email Jannik Blair | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An extremely enlightening and accomodating experience from someone who uses a wheelchair daily.
I require the full time use of a manual wheelchair so I knew my safari experience was going to need some special considerations. The staff at EASTCO were extremely helpful in mapping out a safari where i could experience all the wonders that a safari should include. I was able to partake in both the gorilla and chimpanzee treks as well as the daily game drives and general camp life.
I can highly recommend this safari company to anyone with mobility issues, just talk with the staff about your needs and they do anything possible to accommodate them.
