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 Melissa Merheb | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing!!!
There are not enough words to describe how incredible our trip was, and Soul of Tanzania played a major part in this. Everything was organized perfectly and there was not even 1 minute of delay or a shadow of problem.
Although our international flights issues (due to SAA strike), Soul of Tanzania staff was always available and kind to reacommodate our pick up and hotel reservation in Arusha.
Since the pick up at Kilimanjaro airport, when Hassan (super nice boy!!) took us to Arusha, to the meeting with Beatus giving us a very detailed itinerary explanation, everything was great!
Ally is the most incredible person we met in Tanzania, the best guide we could ask for to share this experience, such a nice and intelligent guy, always with a smile on his face. We loved everything! The game drives were all amazing, the hotels were superb, kuddos to &Beyond Manyara Lake staff, the best we have ever met! Serengeti and Manyara were the best for the animal sights, but Ngorongoro is just the most beautiful and incredible place!
At one point, during the game drives, my friend looked at me and said she was with her jaw hurting from smiling so much LOL. We did have an one of a kind experience with some many animal sights (all the big five and more!). The food was always on point and I am a vegetarian, so they had to go an extra mile here, but everything was always delicious.
Then we had the Zanzibar extension, what a place! We were received by Sully and he was our driver to the last day, always letting us know interesting facts and making us feel so comfortable. Rashid, another amazing guy! He came to the hotel to meet us, helped us choose the best tours and booked everything from the pick up to taking us back to the hotel. In all the tours we made, Rashid was always calling the driver/guide to make sure everything was well and to talk to me to ask how it was, it really made us feel cared and safe all the time. He is so professional, polite and kind!
We were all really impressed with the organization, the kindness and attention, there was literally nothing for us to worry about, besides wake up in time... It did exceed our expectations. I am an Africa lover, I have been in SA, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, but this was the best trip, no doubt!
And it all started with Luis, from Soul of Tanzania giving us all the attention, help and support, as you did. When we were looking for an agency, we chose 2 to get in touch with, and at that point we decided to go with Soul of Tanzania solely because of how Luis attended us.
I really hope to come back and will for sure book Soul of Tanzania again as well as be the strongest advocate here in Brazil, to get my friends and family to do so as well.
Email Mike P | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding from Start to Finish
We booked a week long safari in and around the Serengeti, followed by a week relaxing in Zanzibar and I have to say, that from our initial contact with our planner, Luis, to returning home, nothing could have run more smoothly.
SoT do not organise international flights, but once the trip was finalised and flights booked independantly, SoT acted like a high class tour operator, meeting us at the airport and transporting us to our first accommodation.
Our trip included visits to Ngorangoro, Ndutu, Serengeti and Lake Manyara, followed by a relaxing week in Zanzibar.
In terms of wildlife, we saw all we dreamed of and more. Our guide Felix, who I thought of as a friend by the end of the safari, was so knowledgable, not just about the wildlife and where to find it, but the history and politics of his country, he made the whole trip far more enriching than I thought it could be. His driving was pretty good too, seeing us through some "interesting" situations in the unusually wet period. Picnic lunches were cooked affairs with wine, not sandwiches, plenty of water was available throughout the trip, the vehicles even had 3 pin 240v plug sockets on board to charge batteries.
I don't know what else to add, SoT are outstanding, I will visit the area again and will only consider SoT to travel with.
Thank you for making this trip so special
US
Email Susan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly Recommend Helena P & Emmanuel Macha
We met Helena P. at the NY Times travel show at the Javits Center in January 2019. All I knew is that I wanted to see the great migration and I had no idea how to plan the trip. Helena made everything so easy - we just had to pick a level for the safari (exclusive) and we added on Zanzibar and she took care of everything. Helena also took care of the changes we made due to COVID - eliminating our visit to Kenya and adding on to our safari in Tanzania.
Emmanuel Macha is an amazing guide. We saw everything you could want to see on safari - the big 5, pride of 20+ lions, 2 lioness & 6 cubs tracking & killing a warthog, and the wildebeest crossing. On safari you spend a lot of time in the jeep and Emmanuel was great company.
The hot lunches with wine were also a nice touch and I can't say enough good things about Helena & Emmanuel Macha.
CA
Email Muna | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The most organized, well planned and well executed trip of my life.
My husband and I went on a 18 day honeymoon trip to Tanzania in September 2020. Our honeymoon was organized with Luis, he was so helpful, treated us with so much kindness, and patience. Every request we made was met. We were quite nervous about booking a trip during COVID-19 and had a lot of questions about Tanzania’s protocols and Luis response time was really quick and he informed us of everything we should expect. Soul of Tanzania took a lot of precautions to make sure we were safe. Luis also created the best itinerary for us! The amount of effort to make us feel good about our choice was the sweetest guesture and it left us speechless. Our trip was so organized and so well thought out. Once we arrived in Tanzania our guide Steve worked very hard to make sure we saw all of nature and the beauty Tanzania has to offer. He was so amazing, we are very grateful towards him. Steve was very educated and taught us a lot about nature and we had the best experience with him. We became a family and it was the biggest take away for me. We would start our adventures at 8 am everyday. Steve though would be up 2 hours before to make sure the cruiser was in tip top shape and properly sanitized so our day would go very smoothly. Every hotel we stayed at was impeccable. We were treated with so much kindness and care. We truly believe we could never experience something like this in any other country with any other tour. On the safari it was very clear the difference in the way Soul of Tanzania treated clients than other companies did. Every day we received the best hot lunches and Steve took us to the best places first. We were always first on the scene and saw the best show! We saw the big 5 animals, we saw the great migration of 2 million wildebeest crossing the Maya river, We saw the most intense hunts just a few meters from our vehicle. It was the most surreal experience watching live what we would see on National Geographic. The most surprising thing for me was how breathtaking the landscape was. Every morning we would see the most glorious sunrises and every night we would be humbled with the most beautiful sunsets. The noise you hear when it is completely silent in the wilderness is a phenomenon I cannot explain. We heard the thunder of the wildebeest footsteps, we heard the Erie laughing of hyenas near our camp at night, we heard the magnificent roaring of Lions and the trumpeting of Elephants always left us speechless and in awe. We live in Canada and it is currently the dead of winter, we reminisce about our trip constantly and the beautiful weather in Tanzania everyday. Our videos and stories has made all of our friends and family praying to go to Tanzania and get the chance we got. We will always recommend soul of Tanzania to everyone we know. Thank you very much Soul of Tanzania and if we could come back we definitely will come back to Tanzania in a heart beat. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have the best honeymoon any couple could possibly have. If you are thinking about booking a trip to Tanzania, you will not regret it! Book with Soul of Tanzania to get the best experience of your life!
US
Email Tina | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Soul Of Tanzania delivers more than you have ever dreamed of!
Vincent was the perfect guide. When we said, "On Wednesday we would like to see a leopard," not only would Vincent deliver, but he would double the result by showing us a leopard on Tuesday as well. Vincent was the best game spotter, identifier of bird and beast, listener to our conversations to provide extras before we even knew we wanted them, safe driver and ostensible appreciator of our jokes, a combination of talents that makes Vincent invaluable to Soul of Tanzania.
Our accommodation suited our needs the whole way. The Outpost Lodge had a wonderful shower and mosquito net arrangement, Angata Ngorongoro had the buffalo eating mere feet away from us in the evening, Chaka Kiota Camp's walkie-talkie system should be part of all camp accommodation and Sanctuary Kichakani Serengeti Camp had the most magnificent setting. Chaka Kiota Camp had by far the most all-around value.
Tanzania is beautiful and we had the privilege of sharing it for eight days. We are physically back in our hometowns but our Soul (is) of Tanzania.
US
Email Barbara | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Provided us with a safe and amazing safari to Tanzania
We just returned from a great trip to Tanzania that had been arranged for us by Soul of Tanzania. We had a wonderful itinerary that had been worked out for us with travel specialist Manel at Soul of Tanzania, actually last year when the trip had to be canceled due to COVID. We had an excellent, knowledgeable, and very personable guide named Azeria. Every day, he served us hot meals on a table with a tablecloth and real plates and silverware that he set up in the bush for us, which I felt was much safer than stopping at local cafes. He was great at spotting wildlife, so we were thrilled to see so many of the animals we had hoped to see and photograph. Azeria also was an excellent and safe driver and handled the bumpy roads as best as could be expected. As for Covid concerns, the staff in the lodges where we stayed wore masks, but most of the local people were not masked. We had a private safari with just the four of us, so we were not around other people that much. In fact, at the lodges, we were sometimes the only guests, and there were never more than a handful of people except at the Ngorongoro lodge. The lodges were ecstatic to have guests, and they rolled out the red carpet for us, greeting us cordially with cool drinks and song, and served excellent food for all meals taken at the lodge even though there were very few guests. We had many concerns about Covid testing requirement both going and returning, but it all worked out with help from Soul of Tanzania in getting us registered and taking us to the testing site. We are grateful for a safe and healthy return
PT
Email Manuel Schmidt | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari support preparation with the BEST guide in Tanzania
My first Safari in Tanzania was 25 years ago with my parents and back then I promised to come back with my own family. I started to prepare this dream vacations in June 2019 being my main concern to select a professional Safari company with excellent guides that would really make the difference. After many customer reviews the choice of Soul of Tanzania with their local partner Gosheni Safaris Africa was indisputable. Since day 1 I really got a very professional support attending all our requirements and proposing several options. Due to COVID pandemic que whole programme was rescheduled 4 times but we never gave up and ultimately enjoyed a spectacular safaris together with several cultural visits to the local tribes during July 2021. On top of this all we had THE BEST safari guide in Tanzania , our Professor Erasto nicknamed because of all his knowledge and experience of the wildlife and all its inhabitants, from bid mammals to the little birds. Erasto really made all the difference in this fabulous experience ! So if you want to have THE BEST Safari in Tanzania definitely contact Soul of Tanzania/ Gosheni Safaris Africa and ask for Professor Erasto !
PT
Email Ricardo Barbosa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience with Soul of Tanzania and Ukadi
We (33M and 33F couple) booked a Safari with Soul of Tanzânia after watching some Portuguese influencers and some YouTube videos recommend the agency as being quite reliable company. After some e-mail back&forth with very quick replies by Marta which was always extremely helpful we booked a 4night/5day safari (Tarangire->Serengeti 2n-> Ngorongoro).
We had a quite nice experience, everything went very well, seamless and according to plan, all the transfers, camp bookings, everything. I could even borrow from Soul of Tanzania some Beanie Bags (helps with photography) and an extra pair of binoculars.
We went with the Standard accomodations and its was more than enough for an affordable luxury experience at a Tanzanian safari.
We would say however the strongest point making our Safari successful and unforgetable was our guide. His name is Ukadi and he probably deserves more credit in our Safari that I can probably put into words, but here we go:
Ukadi is pretty outgoing and very good to make you feel confortable, he was all the time adapting and trying to make sure we got the best experience according to our "goals" for the trip.
All our jeep travels were a learning experience, Ukadi taught us some much about Tanzânia, life in the country and the Parks that I almost have material to write a good book about it :)
Ukadi is truly a Master spotter and some of the other guides were nicknaming him Eagle eye! 2 quick examples: Ukadi spotted 2 rhinos from Ngorongoro viewpoint, all other guides were astonished because they were coming from the crate and had seen none. Two days after when entering the crater he spots again a Rhino from far out, crazy!
In Serengeti, in a straight line of 4 jeeps he was the only guide to spot a Chita in the Shadow of a tree, like 200m away, for my naked eye and even at first sight in binoculars all I could see was a small boulder xD
As soon as Ukadi noticed my photography hobby, he was all the time helping me with photo composition and making sure we were on the right spots to nail the optimal shots - because sometimes moving the jeep 50cm away makes quite a difference.
All in all, highly recommend booking with Soul of Tanzania due to their professionalism, willingness and quickness to accomodate your requests but our strongest recommendation is to MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR UKADI and then, Hakuna Matata, enjoy your Safari!
Email Fran | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly a Signature of Excellence!
Seeing all the animals in their own habitat doesn’t come close to anything we’ve seen before.
All accomodations were superb, and the food delicious. SoT is I believe the only tour group that provide a lunchtime hot meal during the game drives most days.
Our guide Jovin was a excellent, with very keen eyesight and an abundance of information.
The days are long (~9-10 hours of game drives per day), so it was a pity we didn’t get to use the hotel facilities much, but it’s understandable as Jovin wanted to maximise the game drive time.
We did a 6 Nights, 7 Days tour - we felt this was plenty.
The canoeing experience at Lake Manyara was good fun but not what we were expecting. We were under the impression that it was a small lake and would therefore see the animals around the edge/ drinking from the lake. The lake is that big (and salt water) that you can’t see the borders and so we didn’t see any animals. So it was a fun experience but not quite what we were hoping for. The Hot Air Balloon Experience with the Champagne Breakfast was great. Very early morning start but the Sunrise from the balloon makes it worth it. Again, we expected to see animals concentrated together as on TV but in reality the expanse is so vast that they’re all spread out. Champagne full-English breakfast is set-up in an open area and was excellent - an elephant even came over to say hello!
Plenty of toilet facilities (very clean) and even wifi spots throughout the tour.
Lastly, our SoT tour booking operator Luis was magnificent. We had to rearrange our tour 3 times due to Covid, and each time he did it seamlessly. He provided lists of accomodations at each stop to suit our budget and requirements. He provided plenty of information on the different activities we could do throughout the tour. All the details were very easy to follow on his emails - an absolute pleasure to work with.
A Honeymoon we will never forget. Without a doubt would recommend SoT.
FR
Email Beloslav | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience with incredible guide and professional team
We spent 8 days on safari with Soul of Tanzania, visiting Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti Central, Serengeti North (to see the Great wildebeest Migration) and Lake Manyara. The trip was honestly the experience of a lifetime, and I cannot recommend Soul of Tanzania, and especially our wonderful guide Eddy (Edward) enough.
The company itself was very professional, with very prompt responses to our questions when we were planning the trip early on and very flexible with our requests / changes to the itinerary. Both our pick up from the airport in Arusha and our pick-up from the hotel the next morning were prompt and on time. The company also stands out from a lot of the other ones we saw by providing a delicious warm lunch every day which really makes the whole experience feel a bit more comfortable.
The main thing that made our experience so special was our guide Eddy. He really went above and beyond. Not only did we see the Big 5 (and many many more), but we saw each of them at least twice and all of them from extremely close (like could count the spots on a leopard close). As soon as we told him one of our group was a keen photographer, he would make sure to show us each animal from multiple angles so we could get the perfect shot. He also wasn’t just ticking boxes by showing us each animal once we saw each one in multiple states - for example, we saw lions sleeping in a tree, a lion climbing up and down a tree, but then also saw them stalking prey, watched some lion cubs playing and even saw them mating. He was incredible at spotting animals, and we were the first jeep on location on numerous occasions. He was also so knowledgeable about all the animals (and we really grilled him on even the obscure bird species) - he knew everything about the animals’ habits, behaviour, you name it. Patience was another of his virtues that proved times and times again very critical - we would wait as long as we wanted to see aniamls in actions. I think how great a guide he is and how committed he is to making the experience truly once in a lifetime is best captured by our trip to Serengeti north to try and see the wildebeest and zebra migration across the Mara river. We were expecting to maybe see them cross once. Eddy managed to find not one, not two but three groups crossing, with each group more spectacular than the next. Even the camp staff where we were staying couldn’t believe he’d managed to find three groups for us to observe in one day! Honestly cannot recommend him enough! Thank you Eddy for making the trip so special - ahsante sana, rafiki!
One thing we would recomment -- skip lake Manyara and spend as much time as you can in central Serengeti. We found lake Manyara a bit underwhelming with very little to see, whereas our 4 days in Serengeti would gladly be extended.