Our Head Guide Nico and our Signature Hot Lunches
Unlimited Expeditions: The Soul of Tanzania
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $400 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
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Email Harry | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Amazing First Trip to Eastern Africa
My wife and I spent ~2 amazing weeks in Kenya & Tanzania and it was made all the better by Soul of Tanzania. We worked with Marta over e-mail and she was helpful in helping us craft an itinerary molded from their "6-day Kenya-Tanzania itinerary" which included Masai Mara, Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro crater, and we added on 4 nights in Zanzibar. Marta was incredibly patient and helpful in answering all of my questions (we exchanged 97 emails when all was said and done!), and she even helped make recommendations.
We flew into Nairobi and left early via land cruiser to Masai Mara, which ended up a being a 5-hour bumpy ride (a theme throughout the safari). The park was amazing and our guide in Kenya, Erastas, was very friendly, although the one con is that he often drove by tons of animals focused on finding lions and a leopard - this is probably common as not many people want to stop for zebras and birds. We were in awe of all the animals and had to ask him to stop a lot. We spent two nights at the Ilkelani Camp which we highly recommend. It's glamping in a canvas tent with great amenities, delicious food, and very friendly staff. We managed to see four of the big five, including catching a leopard hanging out mere feet from the camp entrance.
Following our two nights we made the 5-hour drive to the Tanzania border crossing into the Serengeti. Our guide in Tanzania, Habibu, was also nice though it took him a little longer to warm up. He often waited for us to let him know when to move onto the next animal, which was a change of pace from our first guide. Our next two nights were spent at Melia Serengeti which was beautiful, with sweeping views of the Serengeti. The food was plentiful, and the infinity pool was a nice amenity to take a dip in.
After our two nights there, we made the long drive to Ngorongoro Crater and stayed at the Ngorongroro lodge, and the view from our room was worth the 5-hour drive. Possibly the best view of our lives, and we were lucky enough to spot a rhino on the morning drive through the crater. The temperature dropped in the crater, so bring layers to stay warm.
We left for the 4-hour drive to Kilimanjaro Airport and experienced car trouble. First we stopped at a mechanic for about 30 minutes for an engine-related issue and then a tire blew out while driving down the highway. A fellow tour guide stopped to help our guide change the tire. These weren't our guide's fault but a sign that the company should upgrade the vehicles, which seemed to be from the 1990s or early 2000s.
We flew to Zanzibar where we spent a night in Stone Town, and did a walking tour of the city the next morning. Highly recommended to get the history of Stone Town. We had booked our own flights between mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, but Soul of Tanzania can do that for you. TIP: do not use Air Tanzania. They are consistently delayed, cancelled one of our flights, didn't communicate, and have a buggy website.
We ended our vacay with 3 nights at Kilindi Zanzibar which was simply magical. Individual private and secluded Mediterranean style villas with multiple pools, outdoor washrooms and lounge areas, and a bedroom opening up to a pool and a great view of the water. The staff was amazing, the amenities plentiful, and another great infinity pool in the main area. The food was great as well.
Soul of Tanzania was a wonderful organizer for everything and made this the trip of a lifetime. We highly recommend them.
PROS: communicative, willing to work with your needs, make good recommendations for inclusions, guides are knowledgeable and kind.
CONS: the land cruisers could use a little bit of love and updating. They were worn and it was noticeable.
TIPS: We didn't know about the options to fly into the parks and that would have saved us some aches and time spent driving between parks, although the drives our of the park were game drives. It would have been helpful if Soul of Tanzania had made us aware that we could fly from Nairobi to Masai Mara, and Masai Mara to Serengeti. Do not skip out on Ngorongoro Crater - it was my favorite of the three parks for the varied landscape and the views.
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Email Daniel, Andrea, and Bibi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The trip of my dreams...
The trip was amazing from start to finish. I travelled with my wife and grandmother. We did 10 days and 4 of Tanzania's national parks: Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti, and Lake Manyara. I don't think there is an animal, native to Tanzania, that we didn't see! We had an amazing driver, Cleopa, who took care of anything and everything we needed or wanted all along the way. I especially appreciate how great Cleopa was with my wife and my Bibi (grandmother in Swahili) since they are my treasures.
Everyday was a new adventure as we ventured further and further into the parks. It felt like we could just order any animal we wanted off of the menu and Cleopa would find it for us. No joke! We saw the big 5, the ugly 5, and everything in-between. Cleopa provided us with great information about the animals we came across and it truly felt like we were part of a national geographic expedition. Creating our own documentary along the way.
Our vehicle was super clean and spacious, I loved the pop up roof which allowed for an elevated position better suited for taking in the breathtaking scenery and of course, spotting animals! They keep a refrigerated cooler on board stocked with lots of water and whatever drinks you ask for. Lunch was always provided and more than enough.
We will be telling all of our friends and family how wonderful Cleopa and Soul of Tanzania took care of us. Thank you for making this one of the most amazing trips I have ever had!
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Email Piero | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Smooth, fantastic safari for a family with children
Here’s a feedback from our experience: everything has exceeded our expectations!
Let’s start with our tour operator Marta: she patiently answered a million questions and tailored our 6 days safari exactly on the needs of our family (2 daughters: 10 and 7 y.o.).
Our tour guide Emanueli was passionate, full of patience when dealing with the delayed times of a family with children. He not only guided us, he literally took every care of us. His skill in spotting animals and plants and his knowledge in the explanation of details was superb.
The lodges and camps offered excellent service, we are equally very satisfied with the Rhino Lodge and Acacia Serengeti Central, among others. The Acacia Farm in Karatu is of another planet… we especially appreciated the visit to the coffee farm and all the organic fruits and vegetables.
We’ve all been EXTREMELY impressed by the level of hygiene everywhere, not only at the lodges, but also in the public pic-nic sites. Chapeau!
The food was super fine in all cases.
We will be passionate ambassadors for this amazing Country and of course for SoT.
Asante sana from a very happy family!
Piero
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Email Carina Ricardo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Perfect Match
Everything was perfect.
Starting with the driver till the accomodation everything was well organized and planned.
The best lodges in all parks, best food, perfect drivers
I recommend 100% this company
Best tour ever
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Email Joana and Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!
We loved our experience in Tanzania. We dos a 4 day safari: Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Tarangire. Everything was really well organized, with perfect timings and our guide, Peter, was so kind, gentle and explained us a lot about the animals and also about the country. The lodges were all very good too (and the food also!). We thank Peter for everything, he really made this amazona experience a perfect one. We just regret not staying longer. Asante sana!
Email Mark and Ness | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, highly responsive and very competent.
Our Six day safari with Soul of Tanzania to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Central and West Serengeti was superb. Marta did a great job with the planning . The thing that really made the safari excellent though was our guide, Wilson .
Any safari is only as good as the guiding, and in Wilson we had one of the best.
Highly knowledgeable about all the birds and the beasts, but also culturally astute. Wilson’s maturity and depth of experience was evident and contributed in a big way to the success of our safari and enjoyment of it.
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Email Jake | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well Advised Safari and Wonderful Guide
Our experience with SoT was very positive. Our guide, Wilson, was second to none. His knowledge of the wildlife, culture, history, landscape, and people is astonishing. Having him as a guide enriched our experience beyond the visual aspects of safari, and helped us to better understand how Tanzania has become the place it is today. There are so so many options for operators and guides when choosing a safari, and many good ones no doubt, but from a guide perspective I cannot imagine having a better experience than we did with Wilson.
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Email TristanH | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect
The journey designer did a really great job to assemble all the pices that we wanted to do/se and always answered quickly to emails.
Once there, everything went according to plan, the trip was wonderfull and we had such a great time ! The lanscape and the wildlife were magnificient.
The guide was very professional, super kind and joyfull. His driving was very smooth and he had great knowledge of the wildlife. In brief, he was perfect !
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Email Mike | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely perfect safari from start to finish! Don't hesitate to book with Soul of Tanzania!
It's hard to put into words how perfect our safari was. We had been to Africa once before but just rented a vehicle and did our own thing. This was our first professional safari and we chose a 9 day safari through Tanzania. I'm a huge planner so my first contact with Soul of Tanzania was well over a year before our safari and Marta was my first impression. She was so polite, friendly, and informative right away that I knew I had the right company (I was working with a few other companies for quotes at the time). Over the next year, I peppered her with dozens of questions and she answered every single question with a virtual smile in a very timely manner, even right up to the day before departure! She continued her amazing customer service even after the safari. Marta, I can't thank you enough for curating the perfect safari for us!
We read so many reviews and had requested either Wilson or George as our guide. Marta assigned Wilson as our guide and we will forever be grateful for this! We ended up seeing the family that George was assigned to multiple times throughout our safari and they were absolutely thrilled with him too! Wilson was the most kind, patient, knowledgeable, safe, and understanding guide that we could have hoped for. He was our chauffeur, chef, server, guide, history professor, botanist, zoological expert, tracker, climate expert, animal behaviorist, etc. etc. He literally does it all and with the most incredible demeanor possible. He was so genuine that we really wanted to get to know him better. We learned all about his background, his family, his dreams, etc. He even celebrated his birthday with us! We did our best to make him a card with limited supplies in our tent and provided him with a very small gift as is customary in our American culture.
Wilson greeted us every morning with his trademark smile and explained the day to us. He always asked if we were satisfied with his approach and was always willing to change any plans on the fly. He has decades of experience and it really shows. He was able to place us in the most amazing positions for absolutely unforgettable animal encounters throughout the day, many times before another truck came anywhere near us! In fact, on only our second day of the safari (in Tarangire), we looked at each other and said "we've seen absolutely every animal we've wanted to see, many times over, what are we going to do for the other 7 days?? LOL". I really can't say enough about Wilson. He genuinely cares about you and knows this could be the only safari you might take in your lifetime. He will do whatever it takes to make it the best it can be!
Soul of Tanzania thinks of absolutely everything. Things you might not even think about like a vehicle that is ready for the tough roads ahead, call-aheads to make sure every lodge is ready for your arrival, food prep that is second to none (hot lunch, hot coffee, chilled wine, etc. in the middle of nowhere??), etc. I can't say enough about this company and I strongly urge you to book your safari with them. It is absolutely impossible that you will be disappointed. You will be so happy that you chose them and they will help you create the most memorable trip of your life!
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Email Ester | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Safari experience was great, some things t need improving
Overall we enjoyed our safari and all the wildlife we were able to see. Our guide was knowledgeable of the best spots to see the animals and nice viewpoints and went out of his way to find all the animals we wanted to see from pretty close. Like others, our main complain is the constant push to purchase souvenirs and other stuff from locals and the way they assault you when you stop on every gas station. I think the company should do a better job to shield visitors. Our guide did take us to a Masai village where, like others, we were pushed to spend quite a lot of money of “donations” to the community where we were left unaccompanied. After that situation, we made it clear we didn’t want to make more souvenir stops which I think should be made clear from the beginning if you’re going on a Safari. The transfers were long and bumpy but we are overall happy with the experience, the animals and the views. Our driver also prepared most of our meals which were overall nice (better than the ones prepared by the lodges) and arranged nice picnic settings.
From SOT specifically I would have liked more communication, such as who our guide was, their number etc before the beginning. We also had to leave late the first day because they representative from the agency was late to debrief us. We also didn’t have information on our flights to Zanzibar and had issues at the airport both ways to find our reservations with the airport personnel. They gave us a WhatsApp number to communicate with that literally never replied to any questions.