Dancing Zebra Safari
- Located In:
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United States
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2016)
- Member Of:
- Africa Travel Association (ATA) & The International Ecotourism Society (T.I.E.S)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $550 to $2,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email George & Ruth Lamberty | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime - Perfection
Dancing Zebra is owned by Jessica Matthews. She is simply the BEST for organizing a safari in Tanzania. She has all the right connections to get the best deals especially with the Lemala camps. This was our first safari and from what I have seen and heard, we were blessed. Everything was thought of and nothing was spared to make this trip memorable. We had two guides, the first one for days one and two were with Edson and the remaining six days were with Ian. Wow, both of them knew everything there was to know. The best part was they tried to stay away from the main routes so that you had an individual experience. Jessica picked the best. As far as seeing wildlife, we never would have expected to see so many animals. Again, attributed to the guides. The camps of Lemala were exceptional. We felt like kings. We fell in love with every single person we met in the camps. To me that is the experience. We even had a local meal prepared for us. Delicious! We would most definitely recommend Dancing Zebra Safari and when we decide to do another one there is not doubt we will come back again.
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Email Elaine & Andy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded our expectations! Thank you Jessica for a beautiful safari experience!
There is definitely a reason why every review here is 5 stars. Jessica listens to what you want in your safari and will tailor a trip to give you exactly what you desire. Where Dancing Zebra stands out from the rest, Jessica will come back with alternative options for you to consider, and explain what each option will offer you. Not like other companies that may want to give you a standard package tour. Thank you Jessica for all the time spent with us on the phone!
Our safari was specific to Tanzania, starting in Arusha and then to Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Central Serengeti and Northern Serengeti. We were fortunate to have Ian as our guide for the entire journey, and after just one day with him, we felt like we were traveling with a friend, not just a guide. Ian's passion for the wildlife was quite evident and he was enjoying the viewing of animals as much as we were. We enjoyed him telling us details about what we were seeing and why the animals were doing certain things. And his ability to spot animals far away is incredible. I'm seeing a dot on the horizon and he is telling me exactly what animal it is!!
The camps Jessica selected for us were perfect. We started at Nykani Camp in Tarangire and then to 3 Lamala camps in Ngorongoro (Lamala Tented Camp), Central Serengeti (Lamala Ewanjan) and Northern Serengeti (Lamala Mobile Tented Camp). They were all somewhat similar in appearance with excellent staff that was eager to please and very personable. We all felt like family. I hope that perhaps we will see them again in a future adventure.
If you are considering a safari, you need to look at Dancing Zebra. If you don't, you may be sorry later.
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Email Kathy and John | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dancing Zebra Safari Company: Simply The Best!
Words cannot describe the amazing 12 day Tanzanian Safari Jessica planned for us starting on 9/26/21. Our planning involved numerous phone calls, emails and zoom meetings. She guided us through the ever-changing COVID restrictions. Jessica took the time to get to know us, our interests and designed a unique Safari experience incorporating input from each of the four people in our group. Her recommendations were perfect!
Our adventure began with a flight into Kilimanjaro and a night’s stay at the lovely Hamerkop House where we were treated like royalty. Dinner and breakfast were amazing!
Early the next morning, we started our journey with Ian our guide. He is extremely knowledgeable, engaging, fun loving and most importantly, loves his job! Within minutes of meeting Ian, we were at ease knowing we had the ideal guide.
After leaving Arusha we spent two days at Tarangire National Park at Nykani Camp. The accommodations at this camp and all those that followed had incredibly comfortable beds. The warm bucket showers felt relaxing after a long day of game drives. It was quite an experience leaving up the canvas of our tents to listen to the animals throughout the night.
We saw impalas, zebras, lion and at one point counted more than 50 elephants. An hour was spent watching elephants frolicking in the river. Our group was surprised at how close we could observe. We learned about termite mounds as we watched 4 cheetahs sitting on one. Most mornings we headed out at 6 AM when the animals were most active and had a bush breakfast.
Our next stop was Lemala Ngorongoro Camp. We took a short hike (accompanied by a ranger) and was surprised to find a sundowner with drinks and snacks set up by staff at the rim of the crater. Accommodation, food and hospitality continued to be first rate!
Our journey continued to Central Serengeti for three night and then on to Northern Serengeti These were also Lemala Properties with great food, friendly staff and great campfires at night.
The four of us took our first balloon ride in Central Serengeti and we were glad we did.
Travelers, we don’t know how Ian planned it, but each day eclipsed the previous day’s experience! We experienced big cat sightings each day, along with herds of elephants, wildebeests, baboons, hippos and crocodiles. Additionally, we were fortunate enough to witness three crossings of the Wildebeest Migration. This was clearly one of the highlights of our trip. Also, so much was learned about the people and beautiful country of Tanzania.
This trip was well worth the money that was spent! Our advise to you is to follow the guides lead, while you relax and observe.
In closing, we cannot say enough about this company. We experienced a perfectly designed Safari and are deeply grateful to Jessica and Ian for all their planning and hard work.
Kathy and John
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Email Chuanxiang chi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip
We have a group of 22 people who visited Tanzania for 9 days which originated by Dancing Zabra Safari company (Jessica with her team).
We had a wonderful time and experience and life time memories.
The trip was well organized and the hotels we stayed in were very nice and all the staff in the hotels were friendly and helpful.
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Email Mel & Eileen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Dancing Zebra Safari arranges the most perfect safari you could ever imagine!
This was our 3rd trip to Tanzania arranged by Jessica Matthews of Dancing Zebra Safari. Each of our trips has been amazing, and every detail was arranged to perfection. The camps and lodges that we stayed at were outstanding. Each one would definitely receive 5 Stars for comfort, beauty, and service by the staff. The meals at the accommodations were extremely delicious and prepared by excellent chefs. Jessica also provides wonderful guides for your safari. Our guide, Ian, had the eyes of an eagle, and he always made sure that we had a VIP position for viewing the amazing wildlife, usually before other 4x4s arrived. There could be no better company for planning your trip! If we are ever fortunate enough to go again, we will definitely use Jessica and Dancing Zebra to plan our trip.
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Email Steve | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience was very efficient and imformative.
Our experience working with Jessica went very well. We had been referred to her by some friends who had used her the previous year and were also happy with their Safari. The only thing we were a little disappointed in was our two hard tented camps in Tanzania. The staff were wonderful and very accommodating, the food and condition of the properties were not quite what we had hoped for. We would upgrade to nicer facilities on our next trip. Both of our guides, Frank and Bosco, were first class in service, knowledge and personality.
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Email Christina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari and Beach Honeymoon
We booked our safari and beach combination honeymoon through Dancing Zebra Safari and had an amazing experience! In order to arrive at our final itinerary, we had multiple discussions with Jessica to ensure the safari covered what we were interested in seeing and that the overall honeymoon would be tailored to our preferences, budget, and expectations.
Through her guidance and expertise, we decided to go to Tanzania for a Northern Serengeti safari followed by a visit to Zanzibar - and from that point forward, Jessica took care of everything. She is a prompt communicator - always quick to answer any question no matter how big or small. She made me feel at ease on multiple occasions when I was anxious about our first safari (there's so much to learn!) in addition to planning my wedding.
We had the most wonderful experience. Our safari camp was spectacular. Because of their relationship with Jessica, they gave us the best accommodations available on the property. They welcomed us with sparkling wine, arranged a surprise private sunset happy hour on our 2nd to last night, and a surprise dinner under the stars on our last evening. Everyone at the camp was so warm and friendly - we really felt so welcomed our entire stay. The tent was luxurious with a wonderful view - we even saw animals from our room on multiple occasions. Our guide was hired through the camp and he was absolutely outstanding- the perfect combination of knowledgable, friendly, and accommodating. He made every day so fun and informative, and was critical to our experience. My husband is very knowledgeable about the Serengeti and the animals there (which is why we were so eager to go on a safari) - and so enjoyed chatting with our guide about their shared love of the animal kingdom. We were sad to leave camp, but excited to embark on the 2nd part of the trip.
We went to Zanzibar to get to explore more of beautiful Tanzania. Our resort was opulent, the staff was friendly, the food was excellent (my husband is a chef and raved!), the beach was stunning, the villa was incredible - it was the perfect way to relax after our days on safari.
Jessica took care of all aspects of our trip except for our international flights from NYC to Tanzania. This included accommodations, drivers/transfers, and domestic flights. She provided extensive information on how to prepare for the safari, suggested packing lists, information guides, etc. Everything went flawlessly - she was clearly communicating with the staff at our camp/resort to ensure that we were well taken care of.
We are already dreaming about our next safari trip - and would highly recommend Dancing Zebra Safari to anyone who is considering going on the trip of a lifetime.
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Email Trish | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Jessica at Dancing Zebra is knowledgeable and well connected to excellent operators in Africa.
Our tour set up through Dancing Zebra was excellent. Details of what we needed to take care of were well communicated. Information on each of our days were provided in an organized booklet we referred to often during our travels.
The places we stayed were excellent and our guide was a perfect match for our group. Two of the folks in our group were into photography. Frank our guide is a photographer and understood lighting and the best angles for taking pictures. He also knew animal behavior and often placed us just where the leopard was going.
We had once hiccup with an airline (precision airline) that impacted one of our group. Jessica realtime got her local contacts on board to help work the situation. As it turned out it was my daughter that had to spend a day in Nirobi. This event was harder on me than my daughter . This was the fault of the airline but it warmed my heart that her local contact Veronica kept in touch with my daughter through out the day ensuring she was ok until we linked up together that evening.
I give Jessica and her extended team that supported our tour high marks.
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Email Kathleen | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dancing Zebra made our safari the journey of a lifetime!
Jessica at Dancing Zebra listened carefully to what we wanted and created an amazing itinerary for our safari. She made recommendations based on her experience and put us in the perfect locations to experience the migration and experience the best of Tanzania. When one our group members missed a flight because of an airline snafu, Jessica and her team were right there to help her book a later flight and arrange transportation to catch up with the group.
Every aspect of our trip (accommodations, transportation, tours, guides) was exactly as described and communicated in the planning documents. The people, food, and accommodations at the Lemala Camps were outstanding. Our guide Frank was incredible. His expertise put us a step ahead of all the other vehicles for the best pictures and views. We learned so much from him and can't thank him enough for making the trip such an unforgettable experience.
I would highly recommend Dancing Zebra Safari and will be booking another trip with Jessica in the future.
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Email Kathy Dean | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dancing Zebra Safari recommended and planned the most amazing experience ever!
Being on opposite sides of the US was no problem for us as we had zoom meetings and lots of email correspondence with Jessica (Dancing Zebra) prior to our trip. She even took care of issues getting our visas for Tanzania! Omary, Mesuli and the others at our first Lemala accommodations in Tanzania were amazing, always answering our many questions with patience and smiles. Then we took a bush plane into the Serengeti where we were met at the airport by Robert. This man was not only the most knowledgeable guide, but also a genuine and kind person who loved to laugh with us. He was our guide for the rest of the trip and was like family to us by the end of the trip. He always knew the best spots and the best times to see whatever animals we wanted to see on a particular day. Often when we returned to camp and were discussing our daily adventures with other travelers, they rarely had seen half of the amazing things we saw. The 2 mobile Lemala tented camps (Lemala Mara and Lemala Ngorongoro) were in beautiful places with such kind "butlers" who prepared our talking showers. All the Lemala staff at each location was amazing. So friendly, kind, helpful, and ready to do anything to make your visit meet your expectations. My favorite Lemala camp was Lemala Nanyukie Lodge. The accommodations were totally amazing - a 5 star facility in the middle of the Eastern Serengeti! One day we sat on the private deck of our quarters that overlooked the Serengeti watching the baboons playing in a tree. The daily safaris were the highlight of my trip because we always saw wild animals up close and personal. Possibly the highlight of all the animal sightings was when we saw 2 young male lions work together to try to take down a hippo in the Ngorongoro Crater. I was able to video the whole scene. The young lions were unsuccessful but their effort was unforgettable. (I was pulling for the hippo because I really didn't want to witness a kill.) The one thing I would leave off about our trip would be the Olduvai Gorge Museum. It was an awesome gorge to admire but I would rather have had more time in our next location. I guess it did break up the long drive to our final accommodations in the Ngorongoro Crater. On our last day in Tanzania it was wonderful to have a cultural experience in a village with local residents as guides. We rode tuk tuks, visited a local artist co-op and had delicious, authentic local food on a banana plantation. Then we headed to the airport for our long trip home. What a trip! Totally amazing, awesome, and unforgettable!