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
US
Email Judy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent
Magical Trip!
We Just finished an unforgettable six day Tanzania Safari with George our expert guide. We visited three national parks, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Area and Serengeti. Our guide George was extremely knowledgable, he knew how and where to find animals, allowing many up close and personal encounters.We saw the big five, as well as many other animals.
It was very comforting to have someone meet us after deplaning our flights. Luis did a great job taking care of us in the planning and George was awesome every day of our safari. He not only was amazing at driving and spotting animals, he was also very kind and aware of our comfort at all times. George is simply THE BEST!!
This was a three generation trip and George kept everybody interested. Our eleven year old grandson’s heart was set on seeing a crocodile, which George found on the final day.
Our lodges and tented camps(2) were first rate. We chose the second to the highest housing category and were very satisfied.
The Nasikia Migration Camp has an enthusiastic, polite and fun staff; they make you feel like their camp is your home. Two of our other properties were Melia brand hotels, which had well trained attentive staff and great swimming pools.
We spent 4 days at the Gran Melia in Arusha before our safari began. It was beautiful, with extensive gardens; every roof of the hotel complex was a garden, as well as acre after acre of gardens that supply all their herbs and all of their coffee beans.
The Kilimamoja Lodge was amazing! We had a double shower, an outdoor shower and a beautiful stand alone bathtub, as well as a comfy bed and a fireplace.
The Melia Serengeti Lodge did not disappoint. It was beautiful with gorgeous views and a lovely swimming pool.
We spent 5 days post safari in Zanzibar resting up before our long flights home. The water is the most amazing color and we were happy to have the experience of visiting another part of Tanzania.
Would do this trip over again in a heartbeat.
US
Email Rajib | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable safari experience with an awesome tour company
We just got back from a 5 day safari with Soul of Tanzania to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Ndutu & the Central Serengeti. Our sales specialist Jose was amazing & helped us customize the trip to meet our time, price & schedule requirements. He was always very prompt in his responses & gave us tons of options to choose from.
Our designated guide Shaffie took amazing care of us & ensured that we always had incredible experiences during every game drive. We saw the big 5 & a lot more thanks to his knowledge & perseverance.
I would highly recommend Soul of Tanzania for an unforgettable safari experience to Tanzania!
DK
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I was looking forward to the safari ending.
TL;DR: The safari is amazing; the accommodations were pretty decent; the company was not great.
My partner and I booked a four-day, three-night safari from Arusha in late December 2022. At first, I was pleased with the constant updates and communication from Marta, my journey designer. We made the first 50% payment, via credit card, and almost immediately we were asked for the 2nd 50% payment. It was a little awkward because we're talking about thousands of dollars here. We had been previously staying in Arusha, so we didn't require a pick up from JRO, and we expected to meet our guide in the morning on the start of our safari.
And that is where my qualms began. I had to reach out to SoT to confirm the guide would meet us at the hotel, I wasn't provided his or her name at all. The morning of the safari, we checked out of the hotel at 8AM promptly, and had to go searching in the parking lot for our guide - it seemed like he couldn't be bothered to actually meet us. In fact, the first thing he said after hello was how much he expected to be tipped at the end of the safari. Off-putting, to say the least.
The car was fine, it wasn't that updated and the charging ports didn't work. It certainly managed across the rough roads and terrain. There was water for us, which was great, but there was also no hand sanitizer or wet-wipes, which in a post-COVID world should probably be standard. Setting out from Arusha, we made a pitstop to "support the local community" and were basically asked to buy trinkets from folks at a roadside gas station. Moving on to Manyara, the animals weren't out but our guide was indeed very good at spotting them and highlighting them for us. There were several times, however when we had an opportunity to take pictures of certain animals (giraffes, for example) that we asked him to stop and he did not, saying we needed to be "kept on schedule". After blasting through Manyara, we made two - two - pitstops at gift shop tourist traps. We expressed our non-interest in doing so, and the guide told us that we would stop because he got credit for how many tourists he brought and would get a present at the end of the year. It was frankly a bit annoying that it seemed like we rushed through Manyara just to spend time at gift shops selling the same things, and yet another Tanzanite Experience, neither of which we wanted to do.
The first night's accommodation was fine. It was us and another solo traveler staying at the Mandhari Lodge as the original accommodation was booked up. The food was fine, nothing to write home about. The bed was comfortable and the coffee was strong. The staff was friendly and I really enjoyed chatting with them. The second day was a long drive to Serengeti which was fantastic. The guide was informing us about the great migration, and how we would see a lot of wildebeests and zebras. However we stopped at **two more** gift shops and were asked multiple times if we wanted to go to a masaai village and make a "at minimum" fifty-thousand schilling donation. We were exceedingly clear we didn't want to stop at anymore gift shops nor the masaai village and it seemed that it annoyed our guide.
The accommodation at the Acacia Central Camp was by far the best of the entire four days. The staff at Acacia was professional, warm, helpful, and just a great deal of fun to be around. We clicked more with the guys at Acacia than we ever did with our guide, unfortunately. The dinner and breakfast at Acacia was wonderful, and the bed and tent were sublime. No notes.
The third day was more Serengeti and the drive back to the Ngorongoro Crater. Ngorongoro was fabulous, however we were slightly disappointed at the accommodation when we arrived at the Pakulala Luxury Safari Camp. This was also the most expensive accommodation (at $740/night) and so I think we had a certain expectation that the food would be fantastic and the place would be comfortable. We were disappointed - the food was fine, but not great. And there was no electricity so we sat eating dinner with a high-powered halogen light in our faces. Not entirely sublime. We don't discount that the remoteness of the camp makes it more expensive, but the camp was also located between two permanent, luxury lodges, that were priced not that much more than the camp.
When we booked the safari, we contracted that the SoT would take us straight from our fourth day at Ngorongoro to JRO for our evening flight. We spent the entire safari reminding the guide that this was something we expected - he very clearly did not want to take us to JRO and in fact arranged for another driver to take us - he drove us to a mall outside of Arusha where another driver picked us up and took us to JRO. It was super awkward.
Finally - the lunches. The website goes to great lengths to say that your lunches will be the envy of other safari groups, with hot plated lunches and wine. We had three plated lunches, all variations of spaghetti bolognese and all stone cold, to the point that I was curious about food safety concerns. The wine was fine, it was incredibly inexpensive South African wine that was served room temp and in glasses that weren't cleaned. The lunch on the last day was a piece of cold pizza wrapped in foil and some cookies and juice. I was really not impressed with the lunches and I strongly advise a potential customer for SoT to manage their expectations.
My partner and I were happy with the animals on the safari and with the people we met - we had a fine time with the guide though it seemed like he was pre-occupied with other things, to the point of watching videos while we were stopped trying to take pictures of animals. We certainly don't discount that safaris are expensive, and that we were in an expensive country. However, we definitely did not feel that SoT, nor our guide appreciated just how much money we had spent to even do this safari - we felt a little like we were treated as an ATM, and it soured the experience a little bit. Our guide tried to even have us agree to stop at the same four gift shops we stopped at on our way out - it was a bit much.
I also got some insight from a friend in Arusha who runs another safari company (I didn't know this before booking with SoT, else I 100% would have). She informed me of the things that she does for their clients (provides a recommended list of packing, reminders for sunscreen, bug spray, etc.,) and I realized that SoT was only communicative when it came to getting the payments - I never received a recommended list of anything, a highlight of what to expect, emergency contact information, nor even the name or picture of the guide so that we could find him on our first day.
Do the safari - it's an incredible experience and you will want to do more. We do, but we will not go with SoT the next time
PT
Email Mafalda Nogueira | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent days of safaris! It was really far beyond all expectations
I decided to organize a 6 safari days in Tanzania - Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Central Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro - and decided to contact Soul of Tanzania which was very helpful and professional.
I had Fuhah Kileo as my guide and he was the best guide I could have on this trip. He demonstrated to have a large experience, he was very attentive on all details, he had an “eagle eye” and gave me all the information I may need. Fuhah is very polite and easy going. We had 6 excellent days. We were able to see all the Big 5, wildebeest migration, to be with Lions on our side more than once, chetahs, leopards, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos, buffalo and even a rhino which is very hard too see.
I can assure that these days were above all my high expectations and I will never forget this trip.
I would love to return with my sons and I assure you that I will organize it with Soul of Tanzania and request Fuhah as our guide.
Thank you
CH
Email Madhu and Ekta | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organised with great caring team that always puts customers comfort and safety first!
Soul of Tanzania team are a pleasure to work with.
For our Mt. Kilimanjaro hike, we got the best team. They took very good care of us and made sure we reached the peak.
Sam, especially, is a great leader and guide. He was with us every step of the way. He is the best guide we have come across in our travels.
For our Serenegti and Nrongoro safari, we got the most polite and knowledgable guide - Emmanuel. He did everything - driving, food, picnic spots, explaining landscapes and spotting animals. We got to see the big five!! Both the camps organised were really nice with warm an friendly staff.
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda was an incredible experience too. we were taken care of right from the time we got off from the plane till we got back to the airport. Seeing those Gorillas was an experience of lifetime! Our driver Mbabazi was a kind and soft spoken person who was always punctual and taking care of us.
Overall an amazing and memorable trip!!
Email Cath | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb
We had the trip of a lifetime with beach holidays in Zanzibar at either end and an amazing 5 day safari in the middle covering Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. The trip was meticulously and efficiently organised by the very accommodating Marta and every detail was paid attention to so that it all went smoothly, as planned and without hitch. The safari itself exceeded our expectations; we saw all the big five and a lot more besides. The quality and extent of the sightings was down to the expertise and experience of our brilliantly knowledgeable guide Erasto. He was fantastic - we learnt a lot about the animals and the environment. He also catered for us incredibly well with the most amazing lunches in fantastic locations. We would highly recommend the company and the guide. The hotels on Safari were very special and well chosen and we experienced a truly exceptional holiday.
AE
Email Caspar | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic experience , great guide and planning
A well planned, well executed 8 day experience, with a customized program across Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and the Ngorongoro crater. The management team of the operator were very supportive and easily reachable both before and during the 8 day Safari. For a good safari the tour guide who looks after you and drives the 4x4 is essential, and Mr Wilson was simply superb at his job, with deep knowledge of animals, flora and fauna, the country, super kind to our family showing us an amazing experience while keeping us safe. I high recommend both the operator soul of Tanzania and Mr Wilson as an excellent guide.
AE
Email Rym K | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Incredible Safari Experience
An absolutely amazing and memorable safari experience, made even more special thanks to our guide Mr Wilson who was knowledgeable, pleasant, interesting, experienced and highly professional. In fact every aspect of the trip, from the planning to the airport pickups, meals, safari itinerary and safari cars, was top notch. I highly recommend Soul of Tanzania for anyone looking to explore the Serengeti region and if you get to have Mr Wilson as your guide, he is simply the best!
DE
Email E. J. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Honeymoon with Soul of Tanzania
We are very glad that we booked our honeymoon in Tanzania via Soul of Tanzania.
Everything was perfectly organized – from the transfers and guided tour to the hotel bookings. Also, a big plus were the fast responses from Jose to all our enquiries via e-mail and flexibility regarding our change of plans and accommodation requests.
As for our safari tour, we were extremely lucky to find our favorite animals - the cheetah and the hippo - several times during the 5-day trip.
Our guide Emmanuel was knowledgeable and he explained a lot about the wildlife as well as the African culture, especially the Maasai way of living as we visited one of their villages. He made sure we are always well fed during our trips, was always willing to take pictures of us (and with us) and adjust the schedule according to our wishes. Really excellent guide!
The hotels were informed that we are on our honeymoon, so some of them prepared nice surprises.
We would like to thank everyone involved for making our most important trip a truly unforgettable experience. Asante sana!
We will be back someday.
BR
Email Guilherme Dilda | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience in Tanzania
My wife and I scheduled part of our Honeymoon doing Safari in Tanzania and we chose Soul of Tanzania on the recommendation of a friend. The contact with Marta was great, she clarified all our doubts during the planning of the trip (also facilitated by her speaking Portuguese!). During our safari days we were driven by guide Enock and he was amazing! He went to great lengths to let us see everything we wanted to and he's a super interested and curious guy, which added a lot of information to our experience, making it complete. He guided us since the first minute, asking us to say about what we were thinking of the experience and if something should be different, showing himself to be very concerned about making our moment special. Our experience was fantastic and we know that a big part of this was thanks to Soul of Tanzania and, mainly, Enock! Thank you all and see you next time!