African Polecat Safaris team
African Polecat Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2019)
- Member Of:
- TTB, TALA, TANAPA, BRELA & NCAA
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $650 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Apoorva | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible choice!
From start to finish, the African Polecat Safaris team was highly responsive, attention, and supportive for an exciting and well-rounded experience. Once I filled out an interest form online, James messaged me on WhatsApp, ready to answer my questions. I still wasn't sure of my schedule and preferences, but he accommodated my needs and customized my safari based on the number of days I wanted, time of arrival, and need for hotel stay. As opposed to other companies who only followed up to see if we would book with them, African Polecat Safaris was patient and responsive to our needs. Our guide for Tarangire National Park, Aron, was absolutely incredible--highly experienced and was able to spot lions and leopards in the most difficult to see spaces! Our guide for Ngorongoro Crater, Joseph took his time to show us as many different animals as possible, even through the cloudy rain. Both days, the experience surpassed my expectations, and Aron and Joseph shared a lot of context and history about both the animal population and the Maasai people living in the area. Each day we had homecooked meals brought into the parks, and the lodge we stayed in overnight was comfortable with a full home-cooked buffet. When I expressed interest in doing something in Kilimanjaro the day after my safari, another team member John was able to add me to his one-day Mt. Kilimanjaro hike last minute. Traveling solo can be intimidating, but African Polecat Safaris made me feel I was always in good hands and have the most exciting and beautiful safari experience. I highly highly recommend them to anyone!
Very professional and attentive
Everything was really great, our guide very nice and knowledgeable, and always seemed able to spot the most elusive animals. Great driving, the kids really enjoyed it even though it was a lot of driving for them.
The food was absolutely great - I can't figure out how he managed to pull off so much delicious cooking in such short times...
We did the 5-day Tarengire / 2-day Serengeti / Ngorongoro / Lake Manyara tour. The last day in Lake Manyara was a little unlucky as we didn't see anything there, but Serengeti and Ngorongoro were absolutely stunning. I might recommend trading it for one more day in Serengeti.
The team did everything to accommodate our demands (e.g. a slightly early flight on the last day, and retrieving a camera lens cap I forgot in one of the accommodations) and was very keen to hear feedbacks and improvement suggestions.
GR
Email Nikolaos | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best Choice !!
We did our search and concluded to have a 3 day ( 2 nights ) safari from Arusa to Serengeti and Ngorongoro at the end of November.
James was ALWAYS there answering all of our questions no matter how silly or not they may seemed.
He organised us to stay in lodges instead of Camping ( of course with an extra charge but this was what we wanted to do ) and actually was able to change the schedule of the organised Safari 2 days before the safari in order to please us.
In addition, when we asked for an extra excursion before our flight, he suggested the Materuni village with the coffee beans and the coffee experience instead of a day hike in Kilimanjaro . We LOVED the extra excuersion!
John his driver for the excursion was super cool and friendly, always there to answer all of our questions and willing to explain more about their culture.
We loved our choise and are thankfull that we found African Polecat Safaris, James and John .
DEFINATELY suggest them ! Reach them, explain in detail what you have in mind, what you want them to prepare for you and feel relaxed that everything will go as planned.
Email Terry Fairweather | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, knowledgeable & accommodating
From the 1st contact to the last, James was highly accommodating, meeting with us the night before our safari, going over the itinerary & introducing our guide & driver - Abu.
James also stored our luggage while on safari.
Abu was highly knowledgeable, engaging & humorous - regularly spotting birds that are easily ignored.
It was a great pleasure to share a meal with Abu - not only lunch (beautifully prepared by chef David).
I highly recommend African Polecat as it was the people - Abu & James who made the experience so much more memorable.
BE
Email Kristof | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great
As I travelled in Afrika for the first time, from Rwanda through Tanzania to Zanzibar The last leg of my journey was a safari in north Tanzania, from bustling Arusha to taranjire to ngorongoro. This was a great experience! The organisation was very professional and correct. Very much worth its price! What stood out was our guide/driver Malisa! His beautiful personality stood out! Combined with a high degree of professionalism/patience/people skills. He made everybody feel comfortable and enjoy. His unlimited knowledge of the local fauna and flora and photography skills are memorable! He made my safari exceed my expectations! I felt blessed!
PL
Email SERG | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The adventure of a lifetime. Epic safari tour - colorful, exciting, interesting, funny and safe.
It was like visiting Wonderland with magicians as a guides. Thanks to them you can not only see, but also feel the beauty and richness of Tanzanian nature and culture. An unforgettable trip, really.
I strongly recommend African Polecat Safaris.
James is a gentelman who do knows how to provide exellent service and organization during one week family safari.
Great communication, reasonable prices, safety. And a lot of pure fun.
Once again, big thank you my friend for a dream trip.
Hakuna Matata
SE
Email Sara | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very nice safari with an excellent guide and group!
We went for a 6 day camping safari and loved it. We had an amazing group and guide wich I think is vital for having a good experience. James was also very helpful and answered all of our questions before arriving and helped us with the booking. The only downside was that we didn’t get picked up at the airport as we agreed, but it was easy to find a cab at the airport and we got our money back for the cost of the taxi.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing adventure with great crew!
In February 2023 I went on a 6 day safari adventure with my brother with Polecat Safaris and it was an experience of a lifetime! The highlight of our trip was seeing the big 5 and so many more amazing animals, which was made possible by our incredibly knowledgeable and skilled guide/driver Eli. He was an absolute pleasure to be around, and made the entire trip so much more enjoyable with his comfortable driving and hard work.
The amazing food that was prepared in the middle of nature by the cook, DVD, was constantly surprising and delicious! We couldn't believe the quality (and amounts) of the meals that were served up on a daily basis, and it really made the whole experience much more memorable.
The owner, James, was very friendly and helpful in arranging the entire experience for us, and meeting is in the hotel lobby the evening before our safari to explain our trip. He even helped us out in booking some last minute day trips afterwards, which we really appreciated.
Thank you, Polecat Safaris, for an unforgettable trip!
DE
Email Lara & eric | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exceptionally professional, well-organized and most pleasant tour operator.
We did a six day safari tour with African Polecat Safaris in February 2023 having the best time of our lives.
Starting with a smart and professional booking cycle, where James (tour operator) was exceptionally responsive and helpful, we started our Tanzania trip feeling very well prepared. After a quick and uncomplicated pickup, including a face-to-face briefing the day before, we drove from Arusha to the Serengeti. Elly, our driver and guide, did a fantastic job, showing us the best spots, explaining the wildlife and scenery during game drives, and making sure we felt welcome and comfortable at all times. Together with "DVD", the chef of the tour, they answered every single question and helped us to have a great trip and an extraordinary experience. We never felt like just their clients, but always part of a group of friends joking together and having a good time.
The guys managed to exceed all our expectations! From always taking care of us, being friendly and helpful, to showing us ALL of the Big Five, which was an absolute blast!!!! Elly promised us he would fight to make this happen, and he kept his word :)
Overall, we had an outstanding time during our trip, with most lovely people who even became friends of us!
If you are thinking about doing a Safari trip, always keep African Polecat Safaris in mind and ask for Elly and DVD - those guys made our vacation unforgettable!
FR
Email Ahmed and Sarah | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Highly professional and attentively to the listen of our wishes of the discovery of Tanzania
During our safari, we were accompanied by Elly who's well experienced, jovial, patient and who did every possible thing to make our 9 days trip so joyful.
Our adventures were in Tarangire, Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, central and north Serengeti. He drove us in most beautiful and interesting places with maximum of security provided and lot of confidence despite the difficulties of the absolutely uncomfortable roads. Our strong jeep broke up with a real serious problem in transmission and we never thought that the problem will be solve easily buy he managed to secure our transportation to our lodge with all our luggage and also managed to receive the spare part from Arusha to fix the problem and the next day in the morning, we were again ready to continue our safari in our same well repaired car !
He knew well about best timing to see different animals and also to watch the fantastic migration of wildebeests without waiting for so many hours, we had to wait for only 40 minutes and we were ready for the unique event without any struggle.
He gave us lot of useful and interesting information about fauna as well as flora in all of the above mentioned National Parks.
Wonderful journey that will remain forever in our minds. Thank you very much Elly! Also thank you James for orchestrating our itinerary from office.
Ahmed and Sarah
