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 Susan and Andy Desai | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memories for life with Soul of Tanzania AAA+
We booked our tour with Soul of Tanzania in February 2017 with tour dates of July 30 - August 7 2017. In hindsight booking with Soul was the best decision we made to make this trip a luxury safari experience and memories that we will cherish for life.
Pre-Tour: Responses to all emails from Joao, Luis and Iris were prompt and specific. No fluff – straight to the point responses that shows clear understanding of request. So in the end – you get what you are promised. We booked an eight days tour airport to airport.
Upon- Arrival: Soul of Tanzania car received us at airport. What impressed us most was that their driver waited till 3:00 AM in the morning when flight plans for one of the couples travelling changed last moment when they missed connection and reached Kilimanjaro in wee hours.
The Safari: Four things that made our safari a memory of lifetime.
First – the guide – Benedict. He is excellent - wonderful, patient, understands animal behaviors and has sixth sense on when action may be forthcoming. He is serviceable and shares detailed history and animal traits. Now we know Soul of Tanzania has many guides who are equally qualified, but we are beyond happy with Ben. Without Ben, this experience could not have been same.
Second – Vehicle. Our Toyota Land Cruiser was well maintained, had refrigerator, charging stations and was washed every day for best clean experience. Very comfortable for six.
Three – Food – Our premium upgrade provided hot breakfast, lunches and dinners served on tablecloth in real cutlery and premium wine at lunch. Quite a feat to relish in middle of nowhere. Ben was very considerate of food restrictions and preferences.
Four – luck and patience. Once again this is where Ben helped us find right excursions and his read of animal mood to say if a kill or river crossing was imminent. In my view if you leave it to locals and stop second guessing their instincts, you have better chances of seeing the best.
As to our safari, lots of details here but in a nutshell –
Day 1 – Mount Kilimanjaro
Day 2 – Tarangire national park . Saw a baby elephant calf milking his mother. Spent evening with Flamingoes at Lake Manyara.
Day 3 – South Serengeti – close encounter with Cheetah. Spent half day with Maasai tribe
Day 4 – Central Serengeti – Started out with lions in love act and drove through seeing tens of thousands of Zebra, Wildebeests and Giraffe migrate towards great river crossing
Day 5 – North Serengeti , wildebeest migration and river crossing at Mara River – Giant croc kill
Day 6 – Day of Lions in Central Serengeti. Saw over 40 lions in a day. Saw a gazelle give birth and newborn take its first step and lioness chase and kill a gazelle… circle of life
Day 7 – At NgoroNgoro crater with microcosm of all the wildlife at Tanzania…
Day 8 – Arusha coffee plantation, shopping and flight home
Post Safari – Iris met us to take our feedback. She is professional and genuinely interested in how they can drive continuous improvements.
In summary – while there are many tour operators with good credentials, you cannot go wrong with Soul of Tanzania.
Inept and dishonest company. Never received even one explanation or excuses.
Soul of Tanzania is a scam. Poor service, bad information, rather none, very manipulative situations, change prices, while traveling we never got a local emergency phone where we can claim , for this we were always given a Sales Office phone in London!!! ,distant many hours of flight. We asked for the address of the office in Tanzania, which we were denied it repeatedly Soul Of tanzania post a POBOX, and the phone they post on the internet never answered. We wanted to talk to this Jose, who never wanted to give us his last name, a man who calls himself ridiculously "Travel Designer" who for our misfortune took from the beginning our booking and who has no idea what it is to attend a passenger who goes for the first time to Africa. Jose sends the customer where he wants, ignores the passenger’s wish, he charges a crook for air tickets inside Kenya and lies when it comes to fixing problems. He sent us to bad hotels , another under construction, denied us that there was an airport near Ngorongoro in order to take us, against our wishes ,by land from the volcano to Kilimanjaro airport, finishing us by buying directly our air tickets Lake Manyara/ Kilimanjaro to the air company. We ended up booking directly the hotel in Nairobi because the one that José quoted us was a plague and very expensive . In Nairobi we asked him to reimburse us a significant amount of money that he overcharged us before we left the hotel, so we could pay the bill, but Jose did NOT fulfill his commitment, He refused to talk to us and reimbursed us at the hotel in Masai Mara because it was convenient for him. On arrival in Masai Mara charged us for moving to the hotel, in circumstances that transfers from the air field to the hotel were provided by the hotel and "are free" .. In short, DO NOT look to be scammed into services by these companies. . They operate Kenya through another company, which is called Spirit of Kenya, which is also a disaster; this company denied us the phone of the so-called travel designer responsible for "organizing our trip" in Soul of Tanzania. We needed to talk to him quickly, not once but several times and Joseph never showed his face but always hid. A scoundrel. We raised a complaint to the INDABA association of African vajes agents that never answered us because, after we knew, these two agencies do NOT belong to those official organizations therefore any claim falls into the void. We wanted to write to a newspaper in Nairobi but it wasn’t very effective either.
Brizzi Family , five people, Kenya and Tanzania, June 2013
ES
Email Justo & Mónica | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our lifetime journey
My husband and I went on safari for five days and we can say, without a doubt, that it was the best journey of our lives.
First of all, we would like to highlight Sandy's management, because with her help, cooperation and quick feedback we were able to tailor the trip to our needs. We were guided from the beginning about different alternative routes, we were provided with different suggested lodges, where we could stay, and left it up to us. Moreover, we must underline that never, even when there were setbacks before the trip, did they forget about us.
Secondly, we would like to give a big thank you to WILSON, our guide during the safari. WILSON is an attentive, friendly, helpful, polite, very intelligent, knowledgeable about the places, the weather, the animals and a very patient man. From the very first moment we connected and we will always remember how lucky we were to have him to elevate the experience of our journey. We had interesting conversations, he solved all our doubts (which were not few) about the flora and fauna in Tanzania, he told us curiosities and anecdotes and we learned with him the true meaning of HAKUNA MATATA.
Our safari started with the pick up at Kilimanjaro airport. Later on, we went on the safari through Tarangire, where we were lucky enough to see a lot of animals (baboons, elephants, giraffes, impalas ...) and after the game drive we moved to a lodge overlooking Lake Manyara (Kilimamoja Lodge) where we rested. What to say about this place: IMPRESSIVE. We will write the corresponding review on the page, but the attention, the details, the location, the room and the love, made our experience there excellent.
From there we left the next day to Serengeti via Ngorongoro (we saw lions, leopards...) and spent the night at Karibu Sametu. This camp enchanted us. The welcome was excellent, with exquisite manners and politeness. They took us to our room (always accompanied so as not to find any surprises) and we loved it. Spacious, beautiful, elegant and with a glass window from where we could see the sunrise of our dreams. It was simply a fantasy.
En route through the Serengeti, we arrived at the Melia Serengeti. The change of scenery was incredible, especially now in the rainy season. On that day we had the opportunity to see crocodiles and hippos, among other species. Of the Melia, which we will also review, it goes without saying that it is a paradise on earth. The facilities are breathtaking and the staff members (we had the pleasure of meeting Fernando and Nacho (Melia Ngorongoro) were charming, thoughtful, friendly and made us feel at home. It's great to see young people with such energy, enthusiam and a desire to take on the world.
The last two days were divided between the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. The final night of our stay in Tanzania was at the Karibu Lion Paw Lodge. I don't think there are enough words to describe the beauty of the facilities, the breathtaking scenery, the service and friendliness of the staff and all in all, like living in a fairy tale.
The food was excellent in each of the lodges and the picnics were exceptional, due to the location and the surrounding nature and, above all, thanks to WILSON who took care of even the smallest detail.
We are very happy that we chose Soul of Tanzania via Safari Bookings, because thanks to them we will always remember the trip of a lifetime.
ASANTE SANA
US
Email Tjiska | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Organized, efficient, professional, experienced, and responsive to your personal interests.
The tour went exactly as planned but included some flexibility to take advantage of seeing as many animals as possible. My guide, Benny, was extremely knowledgeable and experienced at tracking animals enabling us to see a wide variety every day to the extent that it was almost jaw dropping! The personnel have a sincere commitment to making this a memorable experience for you and go out there way to ensure your trip meets all your expectations. Mine went beyond - not only did I see so many animals but I learned a lot about their social behaviors and surrounding habitat which made the viewing so much more meaningful and inspirational. Accommodations are first rate as is the hospitality offered capping off exceptional days with warm, welcoming comfort. I recommend Soul of Tanzania to anyone looking for an unique, fully satisfying, professional and exceptional value for a game drive of a lifetime!
My Safari Was Beyond My Dreams
I've been waiting almost 60 years for this trip. I'm so glad I didn't wait any longer. This was the GREATEST trip of my life! Every day brought new adventures, animals, and smiles. My guide, DANIEL, was a perfect fit for what I was looking for. He knows where to find the tough-to-find animals, has eagle-eyes, and he knew his birds. He was personable and thoughtful of my special situation. He was a joy to be with for our 14 days - not easy to be for 2 weeks all the time. He went beyond the call of duty to make sure I was happy. I HIGHLY recommend Daniel Mkojera for your guide/driver. The other guides follow him. 14 years experience and always bright everyday.
The Land Cruiser vehicle had plug-ins for charging, a cold electric cooler, comfy seats, pop-up roof, and of course a hot lunch each day. West Kilimanjaro, Tarangire, Manyara, Eyasi, Ngorongoro, & Central/Northern Serengeti were the parks plus 3 villages: Maasai, Datoga, Hadzabe. I wouldn't leave out any of it.
We were in very special moments among the animals. Highlights: I saw the Big 5 and some of the Little 5: Cheetahs & lions hunting, all kinds of baby animals, elephants doing all that they do, my visits to 3 different less touristy tribal villages and the Great Migration to mention the highlights. My favorite memories: a baby white rhino (on my separate day trip in Kenya to Lake Nakuru arranged by Luis), 2 lionesses spreading out to trap their prey, zebras lined up in a defensive posture, listening to a lion sleeping, hunting with the Hadzabe, watching giraffes run, seeing a serval cat, and having my own stampede of wildebeests-zebras-giraffes in front of my final camp on my final night.
Every part of my trip starting with my arrival in Nairobi airport until my departure from Zanzibar was taken care of - even the various transfers. Every part was detailed so there were no surprises. I asked PLENTY of questions before the trip & ALL were patiently answered by Luis, my safari designer. Pretty much from when I arrived until I left - my days were all laid out according to MY plans and each day had flexibility to small changes. I traveled solo so I could have the flexibility that I needed. Soul of Tanzania has no problem setting up private safaris for just you & your family. I loved my standard lodging/tent camps - it was hardly "standard". The food at each place was very good - nothing was skimped. Everywhere we went - the staffs were outstanding. I am hard-pressed to find a complaint - other than that it had to end.
For someone who had never been here I have no hesitation to recommend Daniel, Luis and Soul of Tanzania to design your own dream.
If your dream is to go on safari then please do it now. Tanzania relies on tourism and every worker needs us badly for their livelihood.
US
Email Hank and Julie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a Lifetime
We toured Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater with Soul of Tanzania. Our guide, Saiid, was very knowledgable and helpful in naming the various animals we saw in the wild, and in providing more information about their habits. All our meals were top notch, and our guide paced the tour to our preferences.
We had been given excellent guidance from Mei Ling of Soul of Tanzania in planning our tour ahead of time, to ensure that the duration fit our desires and that the accommodations were to our liking. By staying in a tree top lodge in Tarangire, the Four Seasons in Serengeti, and a coffee plantation in Ngorongoro, we had a variety of lodging experiences.
Our only suggestion for improvement was that we felt an upgrade of the vehicle fleet could help the customer experience. While we realize that we were traveling along dirt roads with many ruts and holes, we felt that improved air suspension and more comfortable seats would make the rough ride more tolerable.
Overall, we were quite pleased with the experience and recommend Soul of Tanzania to anyone who wants a true safari experience.
PT
Email Diogo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Memorable Honeymoon - 4 day safari
I want to start by stating that Soul of Tanzania delivers a service with a very high standard which you don't usually see anywhere in the world.
Before reviewing my experience in itself, I would like to give information about a matter that you don't usually see in the reviews and I believe can help other people when planning a safari.
I was somewhat hesitant to transfer the down-payment as all the contacts I had established at the beginning of my planning were only by email and it was a significant amount of money. My advice - don't worry! Soul of Tanzania is extremely professional and your money is safe!
Also, during the planning phase, I have to give a special word to Sandy, the person we always had contact with. She was amazing, always replying fast and very patient to all our requests, which were changing constantly. I just hope we didn't give her too many complications!
Regarding the experience, it was AMAZING! I was so happy we decided to book a tour with Soul of Tanzania, it was the perfect choice for our honeymoon. We liked it so much that we already want to go on another safari! We visited Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
Talking about the tour in itself: our guide, Nickson, was very good! We felt very lucky to go on the tour with him. He was very experienced, he was always spotting animals where we couldn't see anything and he had a lot of knowledge, he answered all our questions very easily, besides being a very nice person.
During the tour, the lodges we stayed in were incredible. All of them had a very good service and each of them had different highlights, which we found really nice.
The vehicle was also excellent! It was very comfortable, it did not have any issue on the road and had a lot of space. It was so good that I even fell asleep in the car in one of the days when we had a larger trip from one place to another.
Another thing that I feel it must be pointed out was the food. It was unbelievably good! We ate so well during the whole tour, we loved the food! And it was really a great advantage to have full meals during the tour instead of the lunch boxes the majority of people had.
But above all, what we think was the best in our tour was the organisation as a whole. We never had any issue with the check ins during the safari, Nickson was always ready on time, the vehicle was perfectly equipped, etc. SoT provides a very good service, it is a very high standard which I feel most companies cannot reach.
The best example of this was when Sandy sent me an email (when the safari was already over and we were spending the night in Arusha) telling me that the flight to Zanzibar was moved to an earlier schedule and when we asked at the reception of the hotel we were staying in to have an earlier breakfast, they told SoT had already contacted them saying precisely that the flight was earlier in case we didn't see our email.
The only thing that didn't go so well was the airport pick up. And why do I feel it must be stated? Because it was so perfectly taken care of that it just shows again how well SoT works.
In fact, our flight had a delay and we also took much time to pass through immigration. When we finally exited the airport, our driver wasn't there, which was a bit overwhelming because it was the middle of the night and we were very tired. Nonetheless, I had the phone number (provided on the planning phase by Sandy in case anything went wrong) of the operations manager, Mr. Beatus, who solved the issue in 5 minutes. It is in fact a great organization.
To conclude, I want to ask Soul of Tanzania to keep up the good work. We will never forget our honeymoon and an important part of it is because of the amazing service you guys provide! Asante sana!
Email Jamieson | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari company possible!!
My husband and I went on a 13-day safari with Soul of Tanzania in June 2019 and I cannot recommend them highly enough! I am from Australia and initially contacted local companies about our planned itinerary. However, after they all said they needed to consult “their providers” I decided to contact Tanzanian safari companies directly instead. From the first email, Luis from Soul of Tanzania was responsive, thorough and extremely helpful in planning the best possible safari experience for our timeframe and budget.
The quote from Soul of Tanzania was broken down into specific costs, providing us with numerous options for accommodation and activities at each location so we could customise our safari to completely suit us. We worked with Luis over the next few weeks to finalise our once in a lifetime trip. We decided to choose Soul of Tanzania for our safari because of Luis’s exceptional customer service – it was far superior than any other safari company I had contacted.
Even though I had an enormous amount of confidence in Soul of Tanzania based on their online reviews and my interactions with Luis, I was nervous about sending such a significant amount of money overseas. However, my confidence was definitely not misplaced and our safari was PERFECT from the moment we were greeted at the airport by our guide Ahmed – right up until our sad departure from Tanzania.
During our planning, we provided Luis with numerous details about ourselves which helped him suggest the best possible itinerary, but also helped Luis match us with the best possible guide – and Ahmed was definitely our perfect guide! Ahmed is an extremely knowledgeable and friendly guide, with a passion for both wildlife and birds, a fantastic sense of humour and he is dedicated to ensuring his guests have the most amazing experience possible.
Our safari took us to Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Central Serengeti, Western Serengeti and Arusha National Park. Ahmed was with us for the entire trip and his exceptional spotting skills meant we saw some amazing sights, including over 150 species of birds and over 40 species of mammals and other wildlife. Ahmed was extremely patient with us when we wanted to take additional photos, and always tried to position us so we had the best lighting to get the best shot possible – resulting in some amazing photos to put on our wall.
The vehicle was in excellent condition and Ahmed kept it clean at all times, and our hot lunches were consistently delicious, with Ahmed setting up in the perfect picnic spot everyday with a cold glass of wine and a hot tea or coffee. Very indulgent when you are in such picturesque and remote areas.
We cannot be more grateful to Ahmed, Luis and Soul of Tanzania for making our Tanzanian safari better than we ever imagined it could be! Soul of Tanzania is a small company who customises their trips to suit each guest and provides the best service you could possibly ask for. For anyone planning a trip to Africa (Soul of Tanzania operate in countries other than Tanzania), make sure you contact Soul of Tanzania!
IN
Email Nimrit | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experience of a Lifetime!
After a lot of consideration we decided to go ahead with Soul of Tanzania for our honeymoon. Our 5 day safari was tailor made and focused exactly on what we had asked. Right from our first email exchange with Soul to the time we said our goodbyes, everything was given special attention. What's special about Soul is that when they say - full board - they mean serious business. We had hot lunches everyday with new dishes and a mini fridge at our disposal which was always stocked with beverages and fruits!
Our guide Daniel who was truly a professional, left no stone unturned in order to get us up close and personal with the 'Big 5'. His knowledge about the flora and fauna of Tanzania coupled with his hospitable and friendly nature was more than we could have asked for.
We had a six seater land cruiser to ourselves. It had charging points which really helped in charging our cameras and phones. All national parks have check points and picnic areas which are quipped with clean bathrooms which was a blessing!
I would recommend booking with Soul to not only our friends and family but everyone out there who wants to experience African wildlife in it's full glory. We would never be able to forget how this experience made us feel.
Most definitely, this wouldn't have been possible without Soul Of Tanzania!
RU
Email Yulia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari with great company!
Journey started with planning. I reviewed a lot of proposals on Safaribookings and liked the one proposed by Soul of Tanzania. Unfortunately it was only for 4 days and I wanted for 6 days. I sent a request for custom journey with some personal wishes and immediately got and answer from Sandy with the custom proposal. We discusses many detals before the trip, Sandy always answers immediately.
Then we made a payment and came to Kilimanjaro. Our guide Edward (a real professional!) met us in the airport. After this moment we could relax and thought only about which animal we can see today)).
We could see leopards twice, one time even with kids. We've seen cheetahs, many lions, elephants and many other animals.
We had no one issue during our journey. Just relaxed, didn't worry about anything. It's very important for us that the journey was exactly how we planned, no even minor changes. Accomodation as planned (I could check the ratings beforehand on Tripadvisor), planned routes. No surprises!
Clean and new car, as many water as I need, and I espessially like hot meals for lunch instead of lunch box.
There was a power socket in the car, we could charge camera batteries and phones. It's very important as our Serengeti camp had problems with charging.
We took standard accomodation variant and found all camps and lodges quite acceptable. The staff was friendly and rooms comfortable.
Next time I will go to safari only with Soul of Tanzania.
