Hilary and Martin - owners of Suricata Safaris
Suricata Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2016)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $190 to $600 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
ES
Email Alberto | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience with the best personal and company!
Is incredible is a complete program. You will see all the animals that you want and very close to you. The attention is incredible and the guide to. Is all perfect with this company, the food aswell.
IT
Email Giovanni | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Organization / Grande Organizzazione
Hello, I am an italian guy that booked directly a Safari with this tour operator without agency. The only one thing that i can say about the experience with them is: STUNNING! I was a little scared about a direct booking with a local tour operator but the guys of Suricata (Hilary and Mandela) was great to realize our expectations related to the accomodation and the Safari tour. I will thank them forever.
Ciao, sono un ragazzo italiano che ha prenotato direttamente un Safari con questo tour operator senza agenzia. L'unica cosa che posso dire dell'esperienza con loro è: MERAVIGLIOSA! Ero un po' spaventato da una prenotazione diretta con un tour operator locale, ma i ragazzi di Suricata (Hilary e Mandela) sono stati bravissimi a realizzare le nostre aspettative relative alla sistemazione e al tour. Li ringrazierò per sempre.
IT
Email Daniele B. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top Safari,Top Staff.
Safari formed by an exceptional staff always smiling and pronto.Hillary responds to emails very quickly, the drivers explain the animals and nature always.They are always smiling, and ready for your excellent and varied service.Food served in ceramic plates and steel cutlery, it makes the difference. Si I am very satisfied and I recommend it.
IT
Email Vanessa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect
Our dream came true thanks to the professionalism of Suricata Safari. Everything was perfect, organized in the best way. People were friendly and always available.They prepared really delicious and always expressed food for us (thank you from the bottom of my heart Mussa). They accompanied us on a 5-day tour to discover the best parks in northern tanzania, they searched and found all the animals for us. The jeep was comfortable, our driver Vincent, the most authentic and smiling person we could wish for.
The tents equipped with mattress and sleeping bag.
Tonerei and would choose Suricata Safari a thousand more times. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
(automatic translation from Italian)
IL
Email Shye.S | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Real True Professionals
My experience with the company was unbelievable.
I took the 4-day Mid-Range Safari Tour (Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro National Parks).
Hilary and Ally (The managers) went out of their way to ensure that my Safari tour would be as enjoyable as it could be. They took care of everything from top to bottom.
Our Tour Guide and driver "J.T" was amazing. Not only that he was very knowledgeable, but he was also extremely funny.
Email Adam | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic safari, a fantastic experience
The safari was fantastic in terms of the variety of habitat and the range of animals seem and we had a great time as a family.
What made it though was our driver and guide, Josen, and our chef, Ben who were both outstanding.
Josen, was engaging and informative and enabled plenty of time for photographs. He was always friendly, polite and relaxed.
He was also a brilliant spotter seeing animals which we would never have seen otherwise; notably a cheetah and their cubs, a lioness hunting and a a lioness with her cubs (amongst many others). He engaged both our teenagers really well.
Ben provided cooked meals throughout of a restaurant quality which was outstanding in a camping kitchen and catered well for two vegetarians. He was always happy and polite. The variety was great with no repetition of dishes, good portions and something for everyone.
The parks included Tangarire, Lake Manyare, Serengeti and Ngorogoro crater; all fantastic in different ways. We were lucky enough to see pretty much everything you could hope to see in terms of animals and habitat.
On a more practical level. The vehicle was in good shape. Simple things like drinks and regular toilet breaks were always thought of. The tents were always swiftly put up. The campsites were what you would expect for camping (in particularly spectacular locations at times).
The company offered transfer from the Mount Kilimanjaro airport to a modest but perfectly reasonable and secure hotel iand then after the safari back to the hotel with an inclusive transfer to Arusha airport.
A couple of side trips were appreciated as we had the luxury of a bit of time over 7 days. This included a cultural tour of a village which was engaging and did not patranise the local people; including local agriculture, a traditional drinking place and a an art cooperative - there were chances to buy good quality goods but no pressure to.
Separately visiting the Olduvai was interesting and humbling in terms of learning about our human origins.
A deposit in advance was expected which was a bit daunting based mainly on trip advisor and safari.com but in retrospect we have no regrets.
I very rarely get excited to this degree about experiences but this was experience we will really remember and treasure.
If you want a brilliant safari
- I would choose this one
Email Hugo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good guide and experience
On vacation in Tanzania, we spent 4 days of exceptional safari with meerkat safari … a truly unforgettable experience.
We had the chance to see the big five in two days but also lots of other animals. We were accompanied by our driver Luta (who took the time to look for the animals, to answer all our questions about them) and our chef Pius who knew how to treat us.
An organization at the top!
Always on time and very kind
We recommend without hesitation and hope one day to be able to return!
(automatic translation from French)
NO
Email Dilan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great wildlife, but disappointing tour operator
We did a small safari tour over 3 days, where we slept in tents. Our experience was very two sided.
Pros:
1-The animals and nature we got to see was incredible. We saw almost all the animals we were hoping for.
2-The cook was amazing, considering his working conditions in public camping sites. Every single meal was really tasty, and had a good variety. He was always polite and explained in detail which food he served.
3-The tents were as expected for two adults in terms of size and weather resistance, but the campsite toilets and showers were dirty and lacking toilet paper. There were also too many tourists per toilet.
4-We have beverages in the jeep (water and soda) every day.
5-Two person per row in the jeep allowed everyone to have their own window.
6-The cars used for transport to and from the airport were in good condition
Cons:
1-The lodge where we stayed before and after the safari was very low-budget. The shower had only cold or burning hot water, and the water pressure was way too low. No hand towels were provided, and we had to ask for a second shower towel both stays. The breakfast was decent and the staff was polite. The room had poor sound isolation, so we were kept awake by other guests.
2-Our guide/driver (James or Jimmy) was often driving very erratically, so that it was often difficult for us to take good videos or photos of the animals. Sometimes he wouldn't stop when all of us saw animals we wanted to photograph.He was often giving information while we took pictures, but he kept demanding our response whenever we were busy with experiencing the wildlife. The way he approached different tourist in the jeep seemed unprofessional to us. When the tour was over, he didn't even bother helping with our bags, or even say goodbye. This was after we had paid the tip that was suggested by Hillary.
3-The driver should have a microphone, because it is almost impossible to hear his voice while the engine is running, especially if you are sitting in the back of the jeep.
4-Our contact at the lodge (Mr. Ally or Ali) gave us a very unenthusiastic introduction to our tour, where he said that we "must" pay a tip of 15 USD per day per person, even though Hillary's email said it was a recommendation. Only after we said this, he changed his choice of words. After the safari was over we met him again. Then he asked "give us a 5-star review on Tripadvisor, both of you today". We told him we would review the experience from home, but he kept asking to do it immediately. The only purpose was to keep Surikata Safari on top of the list at Tripadvisor, rather than honest feedback. Future tourists should keep this in mind when you read all the 5-star reviews. We had some extra time on our last day in Arusha where we said we wanted to relax. Instead he kept pushing for us to pay for more tours. The transport to the airport was 45 - 60 minutes delayed.
Overall what we suggest especially to couples is that to choose a mid-range (more luxurious) option compared to the one with tents. Then you might not be annoyed by some of the things we have listed.
Reply from Suricata Safaris
Posted on Aug 23, 2022Dear Dilan,
we are glad to receive your feedback and especially the positive points. We are very sorry for some experiences you had and we will work on improving. We are a young and growing company and feedback like you did is very important for us to revise internal conducts and miscommunications. We are very aware that improving our and our associate accommodations (campsites, lodges, hotels) service quality will reflect on the way our actual and future guests live their Suricata Safaris experience and experience Tanzania. Our focus in to make this really a memorable moment.
Let me go through on all the points you mentioned and give you some explanations:
1-We are in close contact with our partner accommodations and are working on checking the points you mentioned. We will create a checklist to revise ourselves the sites to improve. Some of the points are a bit tricky as we are bound to the infrastructure we have in Africa and that is sometimes a bit different from what our guests from other regions of the world are used to. Rooms insulation/noise sometimes is due to the location of the rooms inside the lodges; we are working on choosing the best solution taking into account budget restrictions that come with the packages that are booked by our guests. It is important to notice that these problems don’t happen in medium/higher budget safaris, where the lodges’ structure, architecture, atmosphere and staff conduct are designed to provide a more exclusive/calm experience.
2-Our guides/drivers conducts are on a constant process of improvement. We will reinforce with all of them the importance of the photo/video’s moment to all our guests. For sure calm/silence is needed to enjoy it fully. We have a steady flow of people and have actually very good feedback on our guides. We apologize if your experience was below expectation. The experience is until the last “goodbye”. We are aware and will make sure that such an experience does not happen again.
3-We are aware of the acoustical limitations in the safari cars. We have chosen not to put microphones because we think that silence is an important feature when observing wildlife. While very close to animals the best conduct is to turn off the engines, because silence is needed. On the other hand some guests want to experience safari almost in silence, so we will think about how to improve this point, including the distribution of people closer or not to the driver/guide.
4-Our guests’ recommendations are for sure very, very important to the company, as it is the way people can understand better the coming experience. The tips are a recommendation only, and is important to say that the tips are a very important income to all the people that work in safari business in Tanzania. We will solve the internal miscommunications about the tips and the approach to new experiences.
We are working to improve every day, we are sorry for the inconveniences you mentioned. Thank you for your time, you feedback is valuable to us.
Hillary and Suricata Safaris team.
BE
Email Laura | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience!
We had a fantastic time with Suricata Safaris on our 5-day group tour! Communication ahead of the trip was very smooth, they replied quickly and responded to all our questions. Mr. T, who was taking care of the airport pickup and drop off, is an extremely nice and reliable person and we felt in safe hands right away.
Jimmy (James) our Safari tour guide was just wonderful: reliable, knowledgeable, experienced, a safe driver and lots of fun to spend time with! He is extremely passionate about his work and transmitted his enthusiasm and knowledge throughout the trip. Beyond his impressive knowledge about wildlife, he also gave us great insights into the culture, history and life in Tanzania. Great animal viewings and a great time are guaranteed with Jimmy!
Another strong point of Suricata is the food! A lot of other safari companies only served sandwiches to their clients’ lunch, whereas we had a warm, delicious meal every day cooked by one of the company’s cooks.
The lodges and tented lodges we stayed at during the safari were all very nice (only the lodge in Arusha we started off from (summit lodge) could have had better service).
Thank you again Suricata for this unforgettable experience!
CZ
Email Vít Jelinek | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly and accommodating. Provide us many informations and take care of us very well.
Safari trip was very instructive. We visited many parks like Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We saw many animals and enjoyed beautiful nature. Driver was very friendly and provided us many informations. Chief prepared very tasty food and provided very pleasant atmosphere. Our group was good team.