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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
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Reviews
FR
Email Ana Pereira | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari
Had a great safari experience with this operator. Francis from sales was amazing in discussing all my possibilities by phone and email and ultimately coming up with an itinerary that felt just right. Our guide Nico was a gentleman with an amazing eyesight and with very interesting conversations. Everything went great and became one of my best travels ever.
NL
Email Shauni | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari
Hi,
Me and my friends had returned from an amazing safari we went to Tarangire and stayed for one night at sopa lodge it was incredible. The staff was really nice, food was good you had enough choice of what you wanted. And the rooms were amazing.
I must say that was an unforgettable experience. I am still can image how many incredible pictures we were lucky to take.
We want to thank you for helping us with everything even the many questions we had!
Special thanks to Francis!
US
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.
BR
Email Mauricio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do NOT recommend
I have been struggling with doing business with this company since my early talks with them. I have requested phone calls to understand better the offerings and choose better what would be the best options for me and my wife, and think that's not asking too much right?
The hotels we stayed that were recommend from them were expect melia and the cliff that were really our exceptions.
The cars were OLD, rusty, outlets wouldn't work, seats were super uncomfortable, and they were not branded soul of Tanzania or Spirit of Kenya, I think we were not important customers so they "outsourced us" to different companies.
The water offered in the game drives were room temperature.
The guides made a good effort to find some nice animals life, but I would look for a different company.
Reply from Unlimited Expeditions: The Soul of Tanzania
Posted on Jun 28, 2024Dear Mauricio
Thank you for your detailed feedback. We're sorry to hear about the challenges you experienced with our services. Your concerns are very important to us, and we take them seriously.
We strive to provide personalized attention to all our clients, and we're sorry that you felt otherwise. Our consultants are always eager to discuss options and provide clarity, and we'll work on improving our communication protocols.
The issues with the vehicles are indeed concerning. Our vehicles should always be in top condition. If we had known about these issues sooner, we would have promptly replaced the vehicle. We assure you that these vehicles are now on "standby" for repairs to prevent similar experiences for future guests.
Regarding the accommodations, we'll make sure to review them to ensure they align with our standards.
We truly appreciate your acknowledgment of our guides' efforts to find wildlife, but understand that other aspects of your experience overshadowed this. We are committed to improving the overall safari experience for our clients.
Thank you for bringing these issues to our attention.
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
Mixed experience with Soul of Tanzania, likely would not use them again.
We booked a lengthy safari through Soul of Tanzania that included gorilla trekking in Rwanda and a 12 day safari through Kenya, Tanzania and back through Kenya. This review will focus on the role of Soul of Tanzania - i.e. planning, communication and execution of the actual logistics of the safari. Accommodations will be reviewed separately (with 1 exception) on their own merits. Every segment had a different operator, which in and of itself was an issue, but ultimately I worked with, and paid, SoT, so feel there is a role of overall accountability with them.
The Good:
Communication, responsiveness and professionalism with Luis throughout the planning process was excellent. Looking back, I think this is the "hook" that people look for. Our assumption was that the execution on the ground would have that same level of professionalism and this was simply not the case, for reasons mentioned below.
All our guides were there upon our arrival point - pick up at the Kigali airport, Nairobi hotel, border transfers between Kenya/Tanzania/Kenya, which was a welcome relief.
The guides were mostly good, with one horrible exception. Our itinerary meant we had 4 different guides. 3 were generally good but 1 in Kenya was very poor. As mentioned on SoT website (and it's true) that guides make the experience. So to have a very poor guide is not acceptable to me. All were good drivers and we always felt safe when in the vehicles. Mugabe in Rwanda was very personable and Shafino in Tanzania was excellent.
When I shared my concern/frustration with guide/vehicle in Kenya, Luis did offer a Land Cruiser and different guide for the second Kenya portion.
The Not So Good:
One of the first transfers arranged through SoT was from our hotel in Nairobi to the airport to fly to Kigali. They no-showed. It meant us hastily having to connect to wifi to WhatsApp SoT on a Saturday morning. The woman who answered sounded half asleep and rather annoyed and I had to coordinate with her and the hotel to have the hotel drive us and be paid by SoT. I was not happy. When I emailed Luis his eventual response was "sounds like it worked out". Yes but it was ME doing the legwork, otherwise I would have been waiting forever, as the driver had not communicated that he was not there.
The hotel for gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park - Mountain Gorilla View Lodge - was awful and should not be offered. We had no hot water for 3 days, it was dated and run down. Not the responsibility of SoT, but just should not be an option. In Rwanda the day of the gorilla trek there was no lunch provided on the trek. It was absolutely required, we were hiking in difficult for conditions for most of the day. All 6 others in our group had been provided a packed lunch. Thankfully I sourced some of my own snacks. The Ibyiwacu Cultural Village was listed as optional on our itinerary and we expressed our desire to go. The guide said we'd have to be pay $20/each entry. I questioned this given it was listed in our itinerary. It should have been included. Again Luis was responsive and suggested an alternative, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
The guide and vehicle in Kenya for the Lake Nakuru/Masai Mara portion were not good. When he picked us up at the hotel in Nairobi to start the safari there was no welcome, no overview, no introduction - just get in the vehicle and go. Within 3 minutes of leaving, the guide asked for $20, which was an apparent shortfall in the amount paid but had been resolved prior to even leaving with Luis. Very poor first impression. We were surprised that the vehicle was a minivan. I guess this was in the fine print somewhere when we were booking, but it is a very poor vehicle for a safari. I could not see out the side window without slouching down. Imagine being on safari and not being able to look out the window properly... This guide was actually just a driver. He provided almost no information on flora or fauna and did not spot one single animal on his own. We just followed the masses of vehicles or would go to a location based on the radio chatter. At picnic lunch, we mostly set up and packed up ourselves. He was eating before we were and at one point was burping in front of us. It was entirely vulgar. At the end of the first Kenya portion on they way to the Tanzania border, he started asking for the $20 again! I was so frustrated by this point, it resulted in raised voices. For the amount we paid AND that the issue was resolved and documented via email, this was entirely tone deaf. When I provided my feedback to Luis on the guide his response was that the guide would be immediately suspended, but guess who we saw on the first night at second time in Kenya. Just saying what they think the customer wants to hear.
The food. The SoT website really markets their food as a differentiator. It was not. At all. Of the 12 days, we had "hot" lunches twice. And they were cold by the time they were eaten. Trust me, there was absolutely no food envy by any other safari goers. And not ONCE was a table and chairs set up. It was either on a blanket on the ground or at park site concrete picnic tables. Most days were cold lunch boxes like every other person had. In fact when we enquired about hot lunches at some of the accommodations (including the Four Seasons), they said they will not provide them due to food safety issues.
There was too little information provided on the details. With a trip of this magnitude, I would have expected more details than a 1 page summary of the itinerary. There should have been much more information provided prior to departure on what to expect, how to prepare, etc. We had to source all of this entirely on our own. As previously mentioned, when we started the safari in Nairobi, there was ZERO information provided, just get in and go. I had to ask if he was going to be our guide or is he a driver, etc. The accommodations provide varying inclusions in terms of beverages with meals. Some offer full open bar, some offer beer and wine, some you even have to pay for water. There should have been a short summary provided on each place and what to expect, inclusions/exclusions, etc. We learned we had to ask about this at each check in. Other travelers had professional looking folders full of information provided by their tour operators, luggage tags, etc. We were not provided with one single item.
Soul of Tanzania appears to be a marketing name only. The providers (even in Tanzania) were not SoT. They seem to just be an organizer who then contracts to guides, vehicles, etc. In Tanzania alone, the guide and vehicle was actually branded Exclusive Africa Safaris and another vehicle was branded Gosheni Safaris. This seems to result in an overall lack of cohesion and accountability.
Drive times were understated by up to 50%. This became a running joke, and not in a good way. 4 hour drives as stated in the itinerary would become 6 or 7 hour ordeals. There needs to be transparency and honesty in drive times based on the (very poor at times) road conditions.
For us the animals and some the accommodations we chose made the trip. Would I do a safari again? Absolutely! Would I choose Soul of Tanzania again? The answer is, unfortunately no.
It felt like an ad hoc freelance organization, thrown together from far away, without care.
The up front communication was relatively professional, but as soon as the trip started so did the problems. We sat in our hotel lobby in Moshi at 7am waiting for the pick up. We were the only guests in the lobby, but the driver was sitting in his van outside, instead of looking for us. The van had no markings to indicate it was from Soul of Tanzania. After about a half hour, he finally came inside and found us, and we were transferred to a safari truck in Arusha, again with no company markings. It seemed to be freelance, arranged ad hoc, and the results felt the same. Our contact at SoT, Jose, when he finally replied later that morning about our pickup issues, wasn't even apologetic. "I was informed by my operations team about the misunderstanding and I am glad that everything was sorted out."
In the truck, when we started seeing animals and asked for the binoculars that were included in our tour, we were told they were broken. Luckily we had brought one not very good pair from home, and had those to share between us. The driver found a pair at the camp that night.
Our driver drove slow on the public roads, when other trucks were all passing us (not a great feeling after a late start thanks to the pickup "misunderstanding"). On the other hand, he flew on the park roads, shaking the truck apart, with thick layers of dust coming in his open windows. We had to ask him to stop when we saw animals. On the first day we noticed that each time we asked him to stop, he would take out his phone and be playing on it until we said "ok, we can go". After asking him to be more involved, thankfully he stopped doing that and told us a bit about the animals.
At the end of a particularly long day, with a morning game drive in Manyare and then drive to the Serengeti, he couldn't find our camp. The sun set, we were exhausted, and we were still in the truck. I was trying to use google maps to help find a tented camp. Eventually we found a park staff camp, and got directions from them to find our camp. We checked in after dark, ate, and slept asap, to get up at 4am for the hot air balloon. Imagine our dismay when, the next night going to a different camp, we were lost again. We stopped at 2 very nice camps, and the 2nd camp let us use their toilet and sent one of their staff with us to show him the way. It seemed like a tiny amount of preparation could have avoided both issues, and especially after it happened the 1st time.
We saw the big 5, and a lot of of animals and beautiful sights, but we couldn't help but feel that we were an afterthought, just thrown into any car with any driver, and when the inevitable issues arose, we didn't find they had any interest in admitting mistakes or making them right. I thoroughly recommend doing a safari in Tanzania, just not 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