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
FI
Email Linda | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stole our soul
Long story short, everything was perfect! During the safari we celebrated my birthday and our engagement. We did see a lot in our three days safari in Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. Unfortunately we didn't see the leopard, but it was close! The food was very good, other companies did have lunch boxes but with Soul of Tanzania we felt like in a restaurant. Tarangire Simba lodge and Rhino lodge were more than great as accomodation. Big Thanks to Soul of Tanzania and especially to the best guide ever, Heaven!
US
Email Haley M. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded our expectations in every way!!!!
I don’t even know where to start with this review, we were just beyond pleased with every part of the safari. From the moment we were picked up, our guide was accommodating and helpful. We had a flight change come up, and the office was happy to change our last night’s accommodations to get us closer to the airport for a very early flight. Moreover, at the office during our “orientation”, they asked if we were okay to change our schedule around to try to catch the Wildebeest migration. They had expected it to be more south at that point, which is where we were booked to stay, but had learned that they hadn’t made it that far yet, so they rearranged our itinerary last minute to get us in to see that. AMAZING service all the way around.
Beyond the logistics, were were highly impressed on safari. Our guide got us up close and personal to all of the Big Five. He gave us all kinds of interesting information about what we were seeing without going overboard. Emmanuel made the trip exciting, adventurous, informational, and definitely memorable. Some of the places we would go there would be “crowds” of trucks around, but for the most part we were seeing some very exciting moments with nobody else around. We got close enough to lions and cheetahs that they were—I’m not kidding—four steps outside of the truck. Had it been safe, we could have reached out and touched them. Emmanuel also went at our pace. If we wanted to linger and watch longer, he waited, and if we had seen enough, he carried on. We also had a couple of animals we wanted to try to find, and so he got us close to those as well. Our last day in Serengeti, he took us off the beaten path to a section of the park where there was nobody else around for miles and miles. We saw the plains stretch out for what seemed like forever while herds of zebras grazed around us. We could see a rain storm off in the distance, which just enhanced the beauty. We enjoy several quiet moments just there appreciating the beauty and standing in awe of what surrounded us.
A very important note is that we got a hot lunch every day. Every other tour group around us, without exception as far as we saw, ate a boxed lunch every day (a sandwich, chips, and apple, etc.). It seems like not that big of a deal, but it really does make a difference. Most other groups were quite jealous of our lunch. As far as accommodations go, we stayed mostly in the economy lodges, and we felt even there the service was exceptional. All of the food we ate was great and did not make us sick. We also never felt like we were in danger, as staff made safety a top priority.
I could honestly go on and on for a long time about how amazing this trip was. We had never really necessarily wanted to go on a safari, we just found ourselves in the right time and place to do one. Soul of Tanzania completely exceeded our expectations in every way and from here on out I will be telling everyone I know that they need to go on a safari, and to book with nobody other than Soul of Tanzania. It was truly the experience of a lifetime, primarily thanks to the care and attention to detail that Soul of Tanzania provided.
FI
Email Susanna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 3 nights Safari
We had 3 nights Safari at the beginning of January. Safari was part of our honeymoon and included Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Manyara. It was very easy to communicate and plan with Soul of Tanzania. They personalized the trip to fit our schedule. Everything was well organized an we didn’t have to rush anywhere.
Our guide Vincent was amazing! He was so talented to spot animals that we saw the Big 5 already during first 2 days. He also had good knowledge of animals and nature so we learned a lot and got answer to all of our questions.
Everyday warm lunch and wine was a nice extra during Safari days. We can only recommend Soul of Tanzania Safaris and our guide Vincent!
Email Patrick | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience!
We just returned from an amazing Safari in Kenya and Tanzania. Before booking anything we read many reviews which helped us form our opinion of what to do, where to go and what safari company to choose. Here is a review of our amazing journey and hope this helps anyone making any decisions….
We booked our Safari with Spirit of Kenya and from the very beginning their customer service was excellent. The person in the office replying to our emails, Tiago, was very patient and helpful. He responded to all our emails very quickly and helped us understand the process of booking the Safari very well. Tiago gave us different pricing options and explained everything in detail every step of the way while tailoring the safari to our needs. This service was one of the main reasons why we chose Spirit of Kenya from among other Safari Operators. Although we booked everything with Spirit of Kenya, the safari in Tanzania’s side was taken care of by Soul of Tanzania.
Our first part of the Safari was in Kenya and we had Stephen who was our guide and game driver. Stephen was very experienced, knowledgeable, careful driver and took good care of us. We did the Kenya part in a 4x4 minivan which was good but maybe in hindsight we should have upgraded for a 4x4 Land Cruiser as the minivan could not go everywhere due to the limitations of the vehicle and very muddy roads. This was only a small issue and Stephen still managed to drive us around in Masai Mara and see many animals up close. The tented accommodation, Julia’s River Camp, was very good and the staff were very welcoming, attentive and helpful! The food with Spirit of Kenya was good and we enjoyed our picnic in the bush!
Next we needed to cross the border and start our journey in Tanzania. Be prepared for a very long and tiring drive!
In Tanzania and we visited Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. When we crossed the border we were greeted by Vincent who was our guide for the next part of the journey. Vincent was a great guide who drove us around in a very good 4x4 Land Cruiser (which was a great upgrade from the 4x4 Minivan - This also included a socket for charging our cameras and phones). Vincent was very sharp, adventurous and had hawk-like-eyes who could spot the smallest animal from miles away! We also had a few laughs together when we took a series of photographs with him on Christmas day in the middle of Serengeti Park!
In Serengeti we saw many animals and were much more abundant from what we saw in Masai Mara. This could be due to the time of the year we visited these parks. There were days were we saw up to 20 lions in one day! On our last day we went to Ngoronoro and visited the crater where we saw plenty of animals in the most beautiful surroundings!
In Serengeti we stayed at Pumzika Tented Camps which had a beautiful setting and beautiful tents. Their hospitality was also very good and friendly. In Serengeti we spent full days out and Soul of Tanzania provided us with hot lunches, including fruit, wine and coffee!!
At Ngorongoro we stayed at Rhino Lodge which was a basic and decent lodge. We somehow prefered the tented camps as these were more adventurous, however at Ngorongro the climate was very cold so we appreciated sleeping at a permanent lodge.
At the end of our safari Vincent drove us (a long drive!) to Arusha were we finished our safari and Soul of Tanzania also provided us with a complimentary airport transfer 2 days later.
We are very happy to have experienced this special part of the world with Spirit of Kenya and Soul of Tanzania! We managed to see hundreds of animals including the Big 5 on many occasions! Thank you all for making this experience such an unforgettable special one and for making new friends along the way!
Patrick and Maria
PT
Email bruna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing experience! amazing job before and during the trip, everything was perfect
perfect! the agency is really fast in answering doubts and always available! the best service and ever had!
PL
Email Bartek | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience
It was one of the best decisions to book my safari experience with Soul of Tanzania. I have sent several enquiries to best safari tour operators and from the very first contact with SoT they made the best impression. First of all they have provided a selection of accommodations from different price ranges, they were always very responsive and answering all my questions with patience.
Second of all they have asked whether I would like to select a specific tour guide based on customer review. I was lucky enough to select Nico who was always very helpful, had tremendous knowledge about the animals and had good relations with other guides, which is very helpful for finding the best spots. Nico is also a very good driver which is really important on the bumpy African roads. Nico made almost everything that I could cross out from my bucket list the Big 5.
Third of all, SoT offers many small details that make the safari once in a lifetime experience. They are the only tour operator offering hot lunches with ice cold wine, the car was spacious, clean and had a power adapter so that my camera batteries were always full.
Finally, the camps and lodges Soul of Tanzania have recommended were more than exceeding expectations.
So I would definitely recommend Soul of Tanzania as tour operator.
BE
Email Marc Eeckhaut | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Super good safari-experience
Thanks to Soul of Tanzania we had the best safari-experience we could imagine!
On our 4-day “Touch of Wilderness” we visited Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, we saw 4 of the big five (except the rhino) and everything was best organized.
In the planning phase we had very good contact with Luis by email, he provided correct info about price, quality and possibilities for the accomodations and together we designed our perfect private safari.
Special thanks also to our driver/guide Edward, his very good driving and exellent knowledge of the wildlife made our stay and tour more than memorable!!!
Imagine, a tastefull lunch with a good glass of wine in the middle of the Serengeti....we will never forget...
Thank you so much for everything!!!
ES
Email Marion | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, fantastic, superb, excellent, wonderful, unforgettable, unbelievable and incredible
I always do an enormous amount of research before booking any trip and as this was my my first safari, I wanted to make sure I picked a great company.
I used the top 10 ranked companies on Trip advisor and looked at the reviews (the good and the bad), checked how recent they were and whether the companies had responded. I looked at their web sites ( if a company can't put together a decent web site - why would anyone trust them with organising a safari), eliminated those that were not based in Tanzania and ended up with 6.
I wrote a comprehensive email explaining what was important to me and containing a series of questions, sent it off to all of them and waited for the responses to come flooding in. Most were surprisingly slow to respond, but one company stood out a mile above the rest.
The wonderful, amazing, Helena from Soul of Tanzania, got in touch within 2 hours of me sending the enquiry. She had clearly read every word of my rather long note, answered all my questions and provided a wealth of information. She included a sample itinerary as a starting point but made it clear that everything could be changed/customised to suit me and offered different accommodation options (with links to their websites) for each day to suit a range of budgets . But most helpful of all was the completely transparent breakdown of the costs, so it was a piece of cake to work out where savings could be made to bring the total cost within my budget. In the end, our email thread contained over 19 messages, but as she always responded within an hour or two, the whole process from first email to final confirmation and payment, took only 3 days. The other companies I contacted didn't stand a chance!!
As my trip approached, I had other more general questions and a quick email or WhatsApp to Helena, gave me the information I needed immediately. Throughout the whole process, she made me feel like a valued, important customer - even though I had opted for a "budget" safari.
Now to the safari itself.
I was met at the airport by Azizu, who drove me to my overnight accommodation. He was warm, friendly and full of information about the area.
The next morning I was picked up by Deo, who in my humble opinion must be the best safari guide on the planet.
Over the next 7 days, Deo went out of his way, to make sure my safari experience was the best it could be and on many occasions he said if I was happy, then he was happy. He had a great sense of humour, was fun to be around and made loads of suggestions that would make life easier for me. e.g. starting our visit to the smaller lake Manyara park very early, so we would avoid the pesky and painful Tsetse flies that come out in force during the hottest part of the day.
This amazing man clearly has some sort of sixth sense when it comes to the animals. His eyesight was incredible and he could see and identify tiny little blobs, barely visible to the naked eye, but it was his ability to know where the animals were and more importantly, how they were going to behave that made it so special.
I wrote a daily blog about my safari and this excerpt from one of the posts, sums up Deo perfectly.
"By the time we arrived, the line of cars was nose to tail along the track and everyone had their binoculars and cameras pointing towards a line of palm trees that flank the river.
Deo double parked giving me a gap between the cars to look through and after giving me some directions, I found her. A beautiful cheetah walking through the grass. I'd just got the camera into focus, when Deo shouted "hang on" and sped up the track past all the cars, way past where the Cheetah was walking, turned the car to face the way we had just come and stopped at the entrance to a gully.
What on earth was he doing?
We were a fair distance from all the other vehicles, I couldn't see the cheetah any more and our previous spot had been much better. I sat down hard and pointed out this very obvious fact to Deo.
"Don't worry" he said with a grin, "she's coming this way and she's going to cross".
Even with all his experience, I have no idea how he knows these things, but by now I had supreme confidence that he knew exactly what he was doing, even if, not a single one of the other guides had followed this rather high risk strategy.
He was absolutely right of course and not only did she cross - she entered the gully right in front of us.
I was smugness personified, as all the other cars raced to our position. You can say what you like about safari guides, but the ability to anticipate the animal's movements and get you into exactly the right spot, is priceless. He is truly the best.
The cheetah made her way up the bank and walked off into the high grass. I managed to follow her ( I'm getting better at this every day) and then Deo ( who hadn't even stood up or picked up the bins) said, " she's going to get up on that termite mound". She did and I think he must have some secret communication system with the animals, because with a vast open plain in front of us, who would have guessed she would give us such an amazing photo opportunity."
As well as providing a truly outstanding guide, Soul of Tanzania offered many other small details that made a massive difference.
The Safari vehicle was clean, spacious and provided excellent viewing opportunities from every angle.
There was a 4 gang power adapter in the car, so I had no problems charging my camera batteries, laptop and phone.
The binoculars supplied were incredible ( way better than my powerful telephoto lens).
The hot lunches, served on proper plates with nice cutlery and a glass of wine, were amazing and were the envy of all the other visitors sitting there with their cardboard lunchboxes.
And finally - all the accommodation options recommended by Soul of Tanzania, exceeded my expectations by a mile, especially given my limited budget.
So in summary, I cannot recommend Soul of Tanzania highly enough. They genuinely seem to have thought of everything when it comes to providing an outstanding, first class Safari experience. So if you are planning a safari, book with Soul of Tanzania - it will be the best decision you have ever made.
CH
Email Giovanna Colangiulo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4 special Safari days
We made our Safari tour with Soul of Tanzania in October 2018.
Our guide was Huruma, he was really kind and he paid always attention to us.
He explained us really lots of things.
It was really a pleasure to notice that for him was not a work but really a passion to be a tour guide.
Anymore the food was always different and great.
We made just 4 days, but it was enough to see lots of different special animals.
We really suggest this tour.
Many thanks another time, Giovanna-switzerland
FI
Email Jaana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfectly organized and conducted Safari!
Our 5-day tour in Tarangire-Serengeti-Ngorongoro was pure perfection. Our driver/guide "Steven" knew all the animals and plants (not once did we hear "I don't know" from him), and told us a lot about Maasai culture and Tanzanian history as well. Also the picnic food on tours was really good, not just some stale sandwiches which others seemed to have. Accomodation during the safari was great, especially the Tarangire Sopa Lodge where the nature came to our doorstep!