SMILE WITH US TOURS IN AFRICA 2024
Smile With Us Tours In Africa
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $490 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
JE
Email Elliot | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic! Surreal experience, like a dream!
Our adventure with Smile With Us Tours Africa was simply out of the ordinary.
Jacob’s helpfulness in answering all our questions in the booking phase, to helping storing our luggage whilst we were away was second to none. Nurdin came to pick us up directly from our hotel at 4am to drive us to the airport, he was punctual, welcoming and extremely polite.
Our exceptional guide Maarufu was waiting for us when the plane arrived in Mtemere airstrip. Maarufu really made our trip, he was extremely knowledgable of the animals and area as well as super friendly and great fun!
We started the stay with breakfast in a lodge outside Nyerere National Park. This was followed by a “Walking Safari” accompanied by a Maasai. We learnt about the different trees, plants and animals droppings of the bush - a really useful background prior to the game drives. The Maasai also demonstrated and let us attempt to make fire the traditional way.
Before lunch, we embarked on a “Boat Safari” during which we were able to see crocodiles, hippos and many birds.
After lunch, we left with Maarufu on our first game drive. After a brief discussion we agreed to travel along the highway for an hour with the goal of finding lions that had been spotted earlier. On the road, we met giraffes, impalas, pumbas, buffaloes and even elephants!
After about an hour and a half, and Maarufu’s expert guidance, the ultimate reward, a large family of lions with lots of cubs. The dream!
The lions came so close to the car to find shade that we could have reached out and touched them!
The drive back to the lodge was full of more animals everywhere we looked.
We spent the evening and night at Selous Impala Camp. The tents were very comfortable, the service very attentive and the food delicious.
The next morning we left at sunrise for a “Bush Breakfast”. Maarufu used his expertise to track the elephant footprints and to locate a family of elephants with many baby elephants.
We had breakfast by one of the park’s many lakes, a unique and memorable moment.
We continued the safari before returning for lunch at the lodge, before leaving for Mtemere airstrip, still spotting a number of animals on the way.
Throughout the Safari, Maarufu knew how to find the animals, bring the car as close as possible without scaring them so that we could be as close as possible to them. He also have us a lot of information about the animals and how the entire ecosystem works.
It is important to note that we were provided with an open top Jeep, entirely open on the sides, that was just for us. This was very different from the occasional others companies we saw which had a mixture of people crammed into the car, or no open sides.
Thank you to Jacob and the whole team for organising a wonderful two days and especially Maarufu for making it truly unforgettable, making us laugh and smile non stop and guiding us to all the animals of the Selous!
Email Jenny | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very accommodating and professional service
We did the southern circuit of Tanzania. From the very beginning Smile with Us were quick to respond to our queries, and were very accommodating when it came to tailoring our itinerary.
We had a fantastic journey around 4 national parks with a private guide/ driver Khalifa. We saw everything we hoped to see and lots more. Our guide went above and beyond to ensure we had the best experience. We would highly recommend.
FR
Email Aurore | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience!
Leaving in June 2023, we had an excellent time with your team, from start to finish!
First, with Omary, very friendly and a very good driver. It allowed us to meet children for the school supplies that we had brought, to enjoy the country thanks to the 5-hour car ride to go to the mainland, to observe the magnificent animals of the Nyerere park (zebras, leopard , elephant, impala, baboons, hyena, giraffe, crocodiles, hippos...), we saw very few tourists, it was great thank you very much! And he helped us a lot with the ferry!
Then, Mickaël, our French-speaking guide, perfect too! Very kind, attentive, he explained to us very well the life of animals and men in Tanzania, we met the villagers for supplies thanks to him, great time! There was also Abdul the driver of the safari boat, nice too! Then Didi the bushman gave us a great demonstration of jungle plants, he’s funny! The Selous is magnificent...
The accommodation was very good too, the restaurant staff chat easily and are always smiling and attentive, and the Maasai are good handymen to repair our broken sandal, and are also very friendly!
The organization was perfect, we thank you for everything, the memories are engraved forever, good luck to you!
(automatic translation from French)
Email Michael & Sharon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic, superior customer service
We have just returned from a trip to Zanzibar and used "Smile with us Tours" for a 3 day 2 nights Safari in the Nyerere national reserve.
From our first contact with Jacob it was so easy to work out what we wanted to do, agree an itinerary and get it all booked up.
1st class communication from end to end.
We paid a deposit and then the balanced on the day of our trip.
Every single part of the trip went as planned, top class service all the way, initial collection at our hotel, transfer to the airport for the short 30 min flight from Zanzibar airport to the reserve on the mainland, collected by our guide for the trip Mr Marufu (Mr Famous.) We had a safari jeep to ourselves.
Mr Marufu was a fantastic guide, loads of information about the flora and fauna and of course all the animals.
We set off from the landing strip and as we had an early start to catch the flight we headed to a camp near by for breakfast, a very nice surprise and an extremley good breakfast.
After that we headed into the reserve for our first game drive - exciting times! animals everywhere, water buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, warthogs .... the list goes on and on
We chose to stay at the Selous Impala tented lodge, we were not disappointed with our choice, a fantastic lodge 5* service and facilities
Day 1 was a game drive till lunch time, rest in the afternoon at the lodge and an evening / dusk game drive then back to camp for dinner
Day 2 game drive all day, lunch out on the drive sat overlooking a lake watching the animals and life go by - an amazing experience
Day 3 walking drive in the bush and a river trip followed by a rest up at another lodge outside the reserve ahead of our flight back to Zanzibar.
We cannot thank Jacob and Smile with us tours for arranging a fantastic memorable trip!
NL
Email Kees | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A reliable and flexible company
We made a safari with Smile for 8 days.
We visited three NP, Nyerere, Mikuni , Ruaha. The company is very flexible and adjusted the program to our wishes.
They do what they offer and communication with Jacob Moshi is good. It is a reliable company and that is important.
In Nyerere park we had Mr Deo as driver/guide. We had an open car which is excellent. Mr Deo is enthousiastic and an expert.
For the other two parks we had Mr Saloum as driver-guide. He has a lot of experience in the parks.
In Zanzibar Smile is represented by Mr Nurdin. Excellent services.
Overall , good and reliable company.
Highly recommended.
DE
Email Katja | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memories of a lifetime!
We are back from our incredible 17-days-tour and I would highly recommend booking with Smile with us Tours in Africa! The communication and planning of the tour, choosing accommodations and activities was a very good experience. Jacob has arranged all accommodations and activities for our exciting individual itinerary and everything was very well organized, whereever we arrived.
Our guide on our long safari was Erick: He is speaking very good English and is just an amazing person with so much knowledge about nature, wildlife and culture – it was really a pleasure to travel with him! Up from our arrival at the airport we have enjoyed every minute of our long safari. There is nothing, he can’t deal with or what is impossible for him. Asante sana – we left with memories of a lifetime!
For sure we will plan our next trip with Jacob and his team to explore more places of this beautiful country.
Email James | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful tour guides, fantastic experience, trip of a lifetime
We were a family of 6 plus 2 single friends, we enjoyed a wonderful 5 night safari visiting Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere. When we first looked into safaris we thought it was going to be way out of our budget but then we found Smile with Us, they were excellent value for money.
Mr Msese and Omari were our tour guides, they were wonderful friendly men, with a vast knowledge of flora and fauna. We have a good knowledge about plants and animals but we learned so much from these men. They were also excellent drivers and we always felt safe despite the rough roads and crazy traffic. We felt truly cared for and looked after by them.
From the moment we entered Mikumi we were astounded at the wildlife, it was so special to see elephants, giraffes, hippos and lions as well as many other animals. All the accommodation was good but we especially enjoyed Nyerere Tented Camp at the end, it was truly special to stay in these luxurious tents, our boys even saw a hippo walk behind their tent late at night.
We highly recommend Smile with Us.
DE
Email Anja & Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Job! Unforgettable Experience!
It was a very special experience! Henry is a super friendly, pleasant guide with whom we were able to learn and laugh a lot, the car was well maintained and in good condition, we will never forget these 6 days. The safari exceeded our expectations. Everything was organized smoothly, always enough to drink and eat, as well as the opportunity to coordinate the process individually.
Asante
ES
Email Mateja Olujic | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall great experience
We went to 2 days Mikumi and one day Udzungwa mountains and we really enjoyed it. Initially our itinerary was to do 1 day Mikumi and 2 days Neyrere but after the drive from Dar es Salaam to Mikumi took nearly 9 hours because of the traffic, we decided to change the plans and the operator was flexible. Communication was good, I guess the only area for improvement is to provide more precise communication a couple of days before the trip instead of the client reaching out with questions (for example, who will be our driver and their contact, where will they wait for us, how to pay for the rest, and other basics). In terms of value, it is definitely not cheap and the safari vehicle was somewhat old, but the accommodation and food during the trip was good. Smile with us tours actually offered the most competitive price in relation to others (I got nearly 10 quotes from different operators). Overall, it was a good experience and would definitely repeat doing safari again.
Email Saara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience
We had an amazing 1 day safari with smile with us tours to Mikumi in December 2023. We were slightly unsure about the process but the team was great at communicating with us on WhatsApp and gave us all the tips and advice for the whole day. We had an early pick up by Mr Nurdin, who arrived on time to our villa. From there we caught a flight directly into Mikumi park where we were met with our guide Isaak who was absolutely fantastic. We had our own private open land rover, and Isaac knew exactly where to find the animals, what time to see them and we were also able to get really close to the majority of them. Even the lions who were walking right next to us in jeep. During the safari we were provided with fruit, juices and snacks and were well taken care of. We felt safe throughout the tour. Lunch was fantastic, lots of options and halal hot food. We made full use of our day there, seeing zebras, lions, lionesses, impala, water buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, many birds, giraffes and many other animals.
I would highly recommend this tour over the others as we had a much more personalised experience, flexibility in seeing the animals rather than following the other tour groups, and plenty of space in the car. The other tours appeared much busier and did not get as close to the animals.
Fantastic day, thank you to the whole team for creating such a great memory and experience for us!
