Lion King Safari Guides
Lion King Adventures
- Offices In:
-
Canada
United States
Switzerland
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $1,115 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
DE
Email Max | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beauftiful nature, but greedy guide
We had a three night tour from Laka Manyara over Ngorongoro Crater to the Tarangire park. The tour was organized perfectly — we could make some neat adaptions to our tour without any issues (concerning the airport transfer and the accommodations). If you ever plan to do this tour, we would highly recommend the Tarangire Simba Lodge, we had really magical moments there!
However, our guide had a negative impact on our experience there. We know that tipping is expected in these activities and never refused to do so. At the beginning of our tour the guide directly demanded a 120$ tip at the end of the trip. Talking in some way always came back to tips (and why to give even more). Multiple times we were asked how much we would be giving for his alleged wedding.
After the tour we decided to give a tip inside the recommended range by Lion Kind Adventures. Afterwards, the guide send angry text messages to us and even called me on my private phone number. To me, this is a huge no-go and made us feel quite uncomfortable.
Reply from Lion King Adventures
Posted on Nov 7, 2022Everyone at Lion King is deeply embarrassed to learn about our guests’ experience with this Guide. We were not aware of this incident until we read the review and have contacted the guests directly to apologise. All the Lion King Guides know that tipping is our guests' choice. There are no rules about tipping, only guidelines, which are shared with our guests in advance. All our Guides know that they should never ask for (or expect) a tip. The behaviour of this particular Guide is completely unacceptable and appropriate disciplinary action has been taken. The whole Lion King team has worked so hard over the years to build and maintain a very good reputation with high levels of integrity and professionalism. This behaviour does not meet with the standards we expect and our guests deserve. We sincerely hope that it will remain an isolated incident and our sincere apologies once again to our guests.
CA
Email Luc & Josee | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Marvelous safari in Tanzania
Exceptional trip organized by Lion King fully meeting our expectations. The success of this trip goes to Khalifa, our bilingual guide (French, English). He was able to share his knowledge about Tanzania and its animals. With his lynx eyes, he made it possible to see animals that no one could have seen. And what about his patience and passion for animals...
We leave with our heads filled with beautiful memories.
The "countess" will remember this safari for a long time.
Luc & Josee (la Comtesse)
Email Adam & Nikki | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and personal
After a lot of research we decided to spend our honeymoon with Lion King Adventures, based on their fantastic reviews and the great itinerary. Godwin and Pendo put together a phenomenal itinerary for us and every detail was put together meticulously for our seven day luxury all inclusive safari. All the food, drinks and accommodation was carefully picked and catered to us. Everything was extremely high quality. Their attention to detail was second to none, including personalised wine bottles for our packed lunches. Lion King Adventure are true professionals who really care about their customers and beautiful country and we highly recommend them.
We also decided to add a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti, which we highly recommend.
We were lucky to have Petro as our safari guide. Petro is an incredibly experienced guide, his knowledge of the animals and their ecosystem was truly astonishing. You can tell how much Petro loves his job and the animals. Even after 15 years of being a guide, he was as excited as us to see the animals. Petro always managed to get us into the right position to see the animals ahead of everyone else. During our safari Petro managed to find us the big five plus many many more. Petro also managed to find a cheetah hunting and killing, leopards and lions with fresh kills eating. Petro kept his vehicle in immaculate condition and is a credit to his profession. Petro looked after us, kept us entertained and on time. We would highly recommend him as a guide.
Great tip is to bring lots of pencils to hand out to the local school kids along the road, we were lucky that Petro bought pencils to hand out but we wish we knew to bring over our own.
IN
Email Deepak Gupta | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari Operator
From the beginning when I was communicating with a number of travel agents for our Safari and beach trip to Tanzania Lion King was the quickest to respond. I was mainly dealing with Upendo who was extremely efficient and quick in her response. James also gave some valuable suggestions. At the planning stage Caroline also interacted with me. They all answered my endless stream of questions patiently.
Once we selected Lion King they just took over. We decided the budget and the hotels. Our transportation and stay was wonderfully arranged.
On arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport we were received by Bright who was extremely cheerful and informative. He took us to Gran Melia, Arusha which is a nice 5 star hotel with large well lighted rooms. Upendo and Caroline met us there.
Next morning Oswald (Ozzy) took over. He was our guide and driver. The jeep, named Cape Buffalo was extremely comfortable and had innumerable chargers and endless supply of water, cold drinks, beer and wine. For the next seven days we travelled to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara and back to Arusha. The best part of this trip was Ozzy. He was helpful, caring and has a lot of knowledge not only of wildlife but also answered all our questions about Tanzania in particular and East Africa generally. He made sure we saw the big five. He knew where to park the jeep to get the best shots. He would carry the huge hamper of lunch and made sure we ate well and throughout there was a playful banter which made the long journeys of “expensive massages” great fun. The trip could not have been the same without Ozzy. Thank you Ozzy!!!!!
The hotels selected were by and large good. Kitela Lodge in Karatu is very pretty. The food was very good.
Kubu Kubu lodge in Serengeti is beautifully located. Great views and very pleasant and friendly staff . Very good food here too.
Lake Manyara Kilimamoja lodge was the most opulent and grand. The view was outstanding. The staff was welcoming and friendly. Food was good.
In Stonetown we stayed at Serena Zanzibar. Very nice and helpful staff. Amazing sea view from the room.
The icing on the cake was Tulia Beach Resort which has taken hospitality to a different level. Fantastic food, great location and wonderful entertainment.
Another couple who were to travel with us had to cancel at the last moment. Upendo is trying her best to get them the maximum credit for them. Thank you.
I would recommend Lion King to anyone coming to Tanzania. They are amazing.
Only one suggestion. All inclusive has different meanings in the hotels. At Kitela and Kubu Kubu only beer and wine were included. No spirits. At Kitela I could buy a whiskey but at Kubu Kubu it was not available. Kilimamoja lodge had a wider choice but only the cheaper scotch was in the all inclusive. Tulia was the only place which is truly all inclusive.
Lion King deserves more than 5 stars !!!!! Thanks for a wonderful holiday
DE
Email QW and Tobias | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Interesting Coffee Tour
We did the Coffee Tour with Meshack. It was very interesting to see a different side of Tanzania apart from the Safari. Our guide Meshack was very friendly, helpful and professional.
LU
Email Andrea | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Memorable Safari
Our Safari has been perfect! We started our trip with a visit of the Materuni waterfalls and the local village. A quick stop to admire the Kilimanjaro and back in Arusha.
The day after our safari guide, whose name is Goodluck, took us to the Tarangire National park, home of elephants, lions, giraffe, thousands of years old baobab trees and much more. The next days we traveled to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Serengeti National parks.
Lion King organisation and in particular the knowledge and work ethics of Goodluck, have been a real value added. He has been very informative, friendly and always willing to listen to our million questions.
His years of experience, confidence and patience made us feel comfortable in every situation, like when we had a flat tire or when the heavy rain got us almost stuck in the mud, no stress and all went very smoothly.
I can strongly recommend Lion King and Goodluck for your safari in Tanzania!
LU
Email Eliisa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional safari operator who really takes care of you and your needs
We booked a honeymoon safari from Lion King Adventures. From among numerous options, we ended up choosing them based on the great amount of positive online reviews.
They definitely are worth of the given 5 stars, as everything went brilliantly from planning (thank you Pendo and Nickson) to execution, thank you Lion King!
Lion King's nice guide Height met us at Kilimanjaro airport. We wanted to start the trip in a relaxed way by exploring the surroundings of Kilimanjaro, so the first day's program included visiting Materun village and from there to Arusha to rest before the safari.
The next morning, our safari guide Goodluck came to pick us up from the hotel and our safari experience began. Our safari included Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. All the sites were amazing, big thanks to Goodluck, who is a very professional, super friendly and has a great sense of humor. He really knows a lot about the animals, even the direction they are going to next. A true animal wisperer! Goodluck made sure we got to see all of the “big five” during our safari. Challenging situations, such as a flat tire due to the rocky roads of the Serengeti or getting stuck in a muddy road after rain, did not cause any bigger problems as Goodluck took care of the situations well and got us to the camp safely.
He also has a huge knowledge of the nature and animals which allowed us to get a lot of additional information about the flora and fauna, which was greatly appreciated.
I can highly recommend the Lion King Adventures safari and especially Goodluck for your safari guide!
Email Z & S | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honeymoon trip of a lifetime
Where can we begin to thank Lion King for our amazing honeymoon safari.
I will break down the review in sections for thorough feedback;
Contact- We liaised with Pendo to organise this trip. She was excellent and went above and beyond to cater to our dates/requirements/changes and was happy to answer any questions we had. She also assisted us in organising a special romantic dinner.
Pick up- efficient and comfortable pickup with our lovely guide Bright.
Coffee tour and waterfall hike- accompanied by Bright and local man Adam. This was so much fun-Adam had excellent knowledge and kept us engaged and then took us to a local Chagga house for lunch where we finished with a memorable coffee tour. Highly recommend to do this, especially if you are a coffee lover.
Guide-Our guide Oswald tried his best to make sure we saw everything. He was very friendly and welcoming. We saw more than what we had anticipated. We can’t thank him enough for our experience. He taught us about all of the animals and stayed driving for as long as we required/was possible.
Food-all our accommodation which was organised catered to our dietary requirements (halal meat and no alcohol). Breakfast and dinner was normally in the hotel and for lunch we received a cooked lunch (we realised not many of the other tour companies provide this) with a different variety everyday. We had varied main dishes with different accompaniments such as cake, fruit, chocolate etc.
Accommodation- we absolutely loved all of the different accommodation which Lion King organised. It was a variety of different styles and experiences. They looked after us well, particularly when I fell sick.
Vehicle- the car was very comfortable for both of us with recliner seats, plug sockets and a cool box on board with plenty of cold drinks.
Overall, we cannot fault anything in our safari trip. Everything was organised smoothly and we could not recommend this company enough. Please go ahead and book with Lion King and once again, thank you Oswald for being a part of our honeymoon and trip of a lifetime.
CH
Email Giuseppe | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic organization. Very professional and trustworthy
Amazing experience. Super professional assisting us with tailor made offer, smooth booking process and perfect organization. Our guide Mwita has been perfect. Always caring about organizing the best experience, totally trustworthy and incredibile knowledgeable. Thanks to him we have spottend amazing animal activity and enjoyed the best of the holiday. Thanks Lion King Adventures and Mwita for this fantastic journey!
CA
Email Elizabeth | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
exceptional
From my first contact through to the completion of our safari the service was exceptional. Pendo answered all my questions and offered suggestions within 24 hours. When we had to reschedule due to a family emergency the Lion King team was very helpful. Our guide, Gilbert, was wonderful, knowledgeable, very competent, and accommodating to the needs of everyone in our group (12 year, 42 years, 75 years) . I would recommend this local, family owned business to everyone.