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
US
Email Raag | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Prompt, reliable, responsive, and great value for money
My family recently (July 2024) completed a 14 day safari in Tanzania (plus a couple of pre & post days in Arusha and Dar Es Salaam). Of these, 7 days were in the North (covering Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro), and the remaining 7 days were in the South (covering Nyerere, Mikumi and Ruaha). It also included a couple of flights within Tanzania. The entire trip was arranged with the help of ‘Smile With Us Tours In Africa’, and I have nothing but nice things to say about them. All planning, booking, payments, etc. were centrally coordinated by Jacob, who has been absolutely wonderful!
I started by requesting an itinerary from Jacob. He was prompt, and the itinerary he shared covered all the parks I wanted to visit. I worked with him closely to fine-tune the number of nights in each park, change specific camps / lodges, and add extra activities like walking safaris and night safaris. This took several iterations, and Jacob was always very prompt in sharing the revised itinerary. I was working with a couple of other providers as well, and Smile’s quote was the best for the itinerary I wanted. Once everything was to my satisfaction, I finally booked the safari with him in July 2023 by paying 30% of the cost in advance (with the remaining due a few days before the start date).
Considering the amount involved ran into 1000s of dollars, I was apprehensive about the advance as well as the final payment. After all, I would be paying the whole amount before the safari had even started! What if Smile couldn’t deliver, or if things went wrong? Fortunately, my apprehensions proved to be completely unfounded!
From booking till the beginning of the safari, Jacob kept me informed periodically about the progress regarding hotel bookings, flight bookings, etc. He was also very responsive whenever I had any question – he typically responded within a few hours of my email, which was amazing considering the time difference of 7 hours between the US and Tanzania! A few days before the start of the safari, he also shared his local contact numbers as well as the contact number of the guide assigned to me.
Once my trip started, the execution by Smile / Jacob was flawless. All airport pickups and drop-offs were on time, and the guides / drivers assigned to me were pleasant, welcoming and knowledgeable. The camps / lodges were excellent, and the 4x4 Land Cruisers assigned to us both in the North & South circuit were in excellent condition with comfortable seating, a built-in fridge and outlets for charging.
I firmly believe that the true test of any organizer is when things go wrong, and Smile / Jacob shined there as well.
We had 2 nights booked in a lodge in Nyerere (Nyerere Tented Camp). When we reached there, it had a lot of things that ticked us off: the atmosphere was not at all welcoming, it had hygiene issues, and it had geckos – lots of them! Having geckos on the walls is one thing - this place had so many crawling on the floor of the restaurant!! I brought this up with Jacob, and he immediately found an alternate accommodation for the second night – and this was during the high season!
Another instance of making things right was when our Land Cruiser broke down on the last day (which is not a reflection on the condition of the vehicle – the best of vehicles break down in the tough conditions of these parks!). Jacob worked with our lodge, and arranged a game drive through them to make sure that our experience didn’t suffer and we ended our trip on a happy note!
All in all, I had a very positive experience with Smile / Jacob from the beginning of the planning to the end of the trip. I would not hesitate to utilize their services again, and whole-heartedly recommend them!
A special shout-out to our guide Salum Msese (aka Salim) – he was absolutely wonderful, and went above and beyond several times in the 7 days we spent with him on the Southern circuit. Just to give an example: We had a day full of driving (Nyerere to Mikumi that took 9 hours), followed by a night game drive (3.5 hours) - and he did it with a smile, without any hint of tiredness. The next day, he did an early game drive and then another long drive (Mikumi to Ruaha that took 7 hours) - and this was after only 4 hours of sleep! Salum was always eager to show us as many animals as possible, and took every effort to ensure this – he followed lion footprints, spoke with other guides, and made sure we had the best possible experience.
IT
Email Vincenzo Cipullo | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Organization
We are a family of 4 adults with 3 kids from 9,6,3 and all was perfectly organized from our arrival in Dar to Safari to our resort in Zanzibar - the kids and my daughter really enjoyed the Safari as was their first time - excellent
PT
Email Rodrigo | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very competent, knowledgeable and professional team
Excellent safari experience with Smile With Us. Everything went well, a very competent, knowledgeable and professional team with a lot of empathy for us. We always feel safe and accompanied. Very happy with this Safari. I recommend Smile With Us. Congratulations and continue your work showing Africa and defending the environment and animals.
Email Lee | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic
From the absolute start we were treated exceptionally.
Our driver Abduhl was very prompt and couldn’t have been nicer
The flight over was amazing and once we arrived at the park the same treatment resumed
Our guide Kennedy and our driver Dula were an amazing duo! We managed to spot so many animals and Kennedy was on hand to give us information about them. His knowledge of the whole savanna was incredible. I’d give this tour 100 stars if I could.
Email Joseph | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The have good and safe service according to my experience plus the do care much about the customer
There communication system was good i didnot get problems so far
BR
Email Vitor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience!!
I spent great days and experiences in the Serengeti with the help of this reliable company. It was a pleasure to meet Jacob and our Ranger (Amani) who is extremely polite, well run and has great vision to locate the animals. It is noteworthy that he has made our days much more peaceful and interesting. All the accommodations were very comfortable, clean, with good food and great staff. Company fully recommended, reliable and safe.
Email Araway kikaho | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
You gave me the reason to smile
On 29 dec 2018 I visited saadani national park 4 hours from dar es salaam.It was a fantastic and enjoyable days in my life,I see a lot of animals and a pond for salts making, Jacob done his part
FI
Email Florence | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Smile with us Tours do their job with Passion,Quality and Love!
The Company is very well organized and extremely professional in Safari experience.
I found very easy to organized the safari tour with my family.
The smile team knows what they’re doing and they’re open/friendly which makes easy to communicate with them.
With Smile tours, me and my family made our long time dream came true...The big five
Email James Tweeds | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the devoted tour operators I have met and work with
I think they deserve a five stars ratings regarding on how the serve and communicate with the customers compared to other services I have encountered this one gave me what I expected.
It was one of the best
Well the communication is excellent and their services is perfect that makes me enjoy so much.... It was more than my personal expectations..... In short it was super