African Big Cats Safaris
- Offices In:
-
United States
Australia
Canada
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $380 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
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Email Daniel Chaves Huertas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding service. Enhanced the whole safari experience. Highly recommended.
A safari is an experience that I recommend to anyone that wants to do something extraordinary during their holidays. It will put you in direct contact with wildlife in its most intact and natural way, and this makes it a life-changing experience. On top of this, we were lucky enough to have chosen African Big Cats to arrange our tour. There are several reasons why this company made our trip even better than we would have expected.
For starters, the communication is fluent, frequent, and transparent. If you have any doubts, any requests, any last-minute changes, or anything that might be important to clear out before, during, and after your tour, you can count on Justice to clear any of them or support you. They're responsive via email or Whatsapp, and if you are coming from a country far from Tanzania to do this trip, this is something you appreciate.
Although it is likely that each safari is different, ours started in Arusha, where our guide picked us at the airport and took us to a lodge where we met the rest of the team and spent the first night. This hotel, like any other hotel that hosted us during the safari, was particularly nice, with natural scenery, friendly staff, and very good food. As I said, it might be different from one tour to the other, but overall they offer anything you need to rest properly between days. Keep in mind that you won't be spending much time in the hotels, so you are aiming for good food and a good night's sleep. The Ilboru Safari Lodge, Eileen's Trees Inn, and the Heritage Tented Camp check positively on both topics.
The hotels' staff deserves extra credit. During our tour, one of our friends was having her birthday, and the staff at Eileen's Trees Inn arranged everything to make sure we could celebrate it. Each and every one of the lodges and hotels where we stayed was different, but overall they complement the safari quite well. This is because they are relatively close to the national parks we visited and offer exactly what we wanted. Actually, and in all fairness, the pictures that you might access online do not reflect what the hotels and inns are actually like. They're much nicer in real life. Be reassured that the hotels are excellent and in our case went above expectations.
I'll continue with the most important part of the tour. The guide. Ours was Endeni, a super friendly guy that accompanied us during the whole tour. He is knowledgeable, witty, punctual, and communicative. African Big Cats has other guides I'm sure, but if they are any like Endeni you're in great hands. My advice to anyone doing the safari is to become friends with your guide, ask them about their trajectory and the things they have done and seen. They will tell the story of a unique country, going from its recent story, its current status and of course, the wildlife. As mentioned before, ours was Endeni. The dude's a legend, you will be lucky if you get him.
During our safari, we visited three places. The Tarangire National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Serengeti. This review won't have any spoilers, that part I will leave it out. But do expect to learn a lot, amazing views, and close contact with wild animals. The tour can't guarantee it, by all means, but in general, you will see something unexpected frequently. The car is comfortable and you can enjoy cold drinks while at it. On top of it, our car had chargers so you can use your phone along the tour (for pictures, I hope).
In general, going on a safari is a life-changing experience. African Big Cats makes the experience significantly better.
ES
Email Claudia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever!!
Our experience with African Big Cats Safari was wonderful. The attention and care since the very first consultation was great, Justice solved all kinds of doubts, with fast and personalized attention
Already in Tanzania, our guide was Endeni. He managed to make us fall in love with Tanzania, with each story, with each anecdote, with everything he knew about animals, with his ability to take us to see incredible animals from 3 meters up close, guided by a simple footprint in the sand and mainly, for being a great person. (Endeni, we miss you!! ♥)
We knew that Tanzania and the experience of a Safari was going to be incredible, but they managed to exceed our expectations: the hotels were great, the kindness and help made us feel at home away from home, the food and preparation of everything, they left us very happy.
Emanuele, Justice and Endeni, you made us VERY happy!!! We carry you guys in our hearts!
The good experience was worth 1000%. Come to Africa and do this Safari!!
FR
Email Laura | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari with a great guide !
We had a lot of questions before booking the safari and Justice, from Big Cats safari, was really patient and answered all our questions very quickly. Then, we did the safari with Lodi, a great french speaking safari, who knows everything about animals. We had so much fun and emotions ! The hotels were great, the food was nice (even for a vegetarian), and the price was really reasonable. We would definitely come back to do another safari with Big Cats safaris ! Thanks to the team !
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Email Miguel Olivera | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever
It was a wonderful way to discover the wild side of Tanzania! The prize totally deserves the experience. The guide, Endeni, explained us all about the different animals with his amazing knowledge about it in a perfect Spanish. Also before travelling we had a really good service coming from Justice and Emanuelle.
The hotels selected where really nice and also the food there. One of the places where we slept was in the middle of the Serengueti!
Cool spots, drinks and friends. Totally recommended. Best plan ever!
RO
Email Ana Maria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent experience
I chose African Big Cats Safaris after speaking with other 6 Companies on safaribookings. First of all, the guy from their office, Justine Justice was verry serious and very prompt with all our questions and advised us with diferent itinerary and price categories to the final itinerary ( 1 night Arusha, 1 Tarangire, 1 Ngorongoro, 2 Serengeti). At the airport waited for us our guide Lord, the best you could get for such an experience. We are a family of 4 , 2 adults and 2 kids, 16 and 10 yo … Lord is a very nice guy, speaking English very well, but also French and Spanish, very polite, punctual, very educated and well informed about many subjects. He implicated kids in many discussions. The car was in good conditions, found it washed every morning, with a lot of cold water, juices, even bear and wine in the fridge…Lord was restless and managed to show us the big five , beetween tens and hundreds of zebras,impalas wilderbeest,girafes, elefants,hipos, hyenas, jakals, mangustes , even a crocodil….so, for us was a complete experience, we strongly recomand African Big Cats Safary and especially their guide Lord.
RO
Email Cezar Z | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience if a lifetime
We have been on a fantastic safari with African Big Cats Safaries. Tarangire, Ngoronhoto and Serengeti were the magnificent places our safari has taken us to visit. To be very honest words are not enough to express our gratitude to both African Big Cats Safaris and to our guide Lord! We could never dream to see so much but for sure we could not expect a better guide! Lord, our guide, raised the bar so much … not only a very good professional but also a very knowledgeable individual regardless of the topic! Sure you expect the guide to know the places around and to know about the animals, but you don’t expect to meet someone that could very well be your business colleague or your good neighbor with whom you want to enjoy a barbecue during the weekend. We have enjoyed every minute spent with Lord and benefitted to the full from his passion for the job! One lion family, one ghepard or one pack of elephants was not enough! He was not into box ticking, Lord was all about delivering an experience that we will not forget (11 years old son, 16 years old daughter, my wife and I). We saw plenty of animals, big and small, solitary or social, but it was so much more. As Lord would say, it is not good to give up, so we didn’t! Therefore if you are considering a safari than African Big Cats Safaris, Lord and the team (Justine Justice eid a great job in planning the entire trip) will most probably raise to your expectations and deliver a bit more!
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Email Kristina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our tour guide - Lord - was the best tour guide ever (in my humble unbiased opinion).
My friend and I went on a 4 day, 5 night safari with African Big Cats and I have only amazing things to say about this experience - literally not a single thing I would change. The person who coordinated our trip, Justice, was extremely helpful, personable, patient, and responsive with all of our questions leading up to and during our trip. Our tour guide, Lord Lugard, aka 'the Lord' ;), was the best tour guide ever (I've never been on another safari to compare, but I know for a fact that my opinion is unbiased and he is truly the best lol). Our guide had an answer to every single one of the hundreds of questions I asked him, plus tons more knowledge to share about the animals, the land, different tribe's cultures and much more. He was a sniper finding the animals & recreated the animal's sounds in order to get some of them to look in our direction for a great photo. We saw ton's of different kinds of animals, learned about all different kinds of plants, and the landscape was absolutely breathtaking throughout the entire trip. All of the lodging where we stayed was beautiful & had great meals for breakfast and dinner. & Lord always had the car stocked up with waters, & drinks for us. I would highly recommend Big Cats Safari for all your safari trip plans. 10/10, 5 stars.
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Email Randy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent planning and exectution for our first safari
This was our first safari and from the beginning Big Cats Safaris was excellent. When deciding which operator to use, Justice was quick to respond and answer all our questions and very accommodating in designing a custom 10 day package to meet our desires. We decided to go with Big Cats Safaris because of their professionalism, competitive price and their size. We had some vehicle issues (a flat and dead battery), which is to be expected once you do a day drive on the safari roads! But the team was quick to solve them without us losing any time on our safari. We could of got another jeep but Emanuel our guide was quick to fix the issues in the evenings. The accommodations suggested were comfortable and the food was very good. Emanuel was fantastic! He was extremely friendly, personable and knowledgeable and I would highly recommend him and Big Cats Safaris.
During the safari, we saw the big5 including the rare black rhino! We had a great experience seeing more animals than we expected and closer than I had thought was possible. Hoping we get the opportunity to return in the future and if so we will go with Big Cats Safaris.
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Email Jaclyn | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lord was the most knowledgeable person I have ever met. He was so fun and knew all of the best spots
Big cats safari is great because it is private and completely planned around your schedule and preferences. We had the absolute best time with our guide, Lord! The animals were right next to our jeep and it was truly the experience of a life time! Justice made planning the trip so easy and we are so grateful for the both of them! We also did a hot air balloon over the Serengeti which was the most beautiful and breathtaking experience ever! Thank you so much big cat safari for a trip I will never forget! I will recommend this company to everyone!
AE
Email Camille | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beyond our expectations
My partner and I went on our first safari this year in June. We chose African big cats as we wanted something more private and they were the most helpful from the few companies we contacted by email. Everything went so smoothly from the organization till the end. We had specific requests prior and during the safari and they always accommodated it without any problem and went beyond to make sure to fill our needs.
Justice was our first contact and was absolutely brilliant. Our guide Emmanuel was very friendly, knowledgeable and made us feel comfortable and welcome at all times.
The lodges/camp the company picked for us to stay were always very good from all perspectives
I can say African big cats went above our expectations in terms of customers service and the experience itself. I would confidently recommend them to any of my friends and family.
