The Amazing Shadows of Africa Guiding Team!
Shadows of Africa
- Offices In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $250 to $1,500 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 Vincent Longo | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most incredible experience - ever!
Just returned home from a 5 day unforgettable Safari experience and can't believe what an amazing time we had. The trip was absolutely incredible and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life as it exceeded every expectation and more. I can't thank Shadows of Africa enough specifically Jake McCormick, Safari Specialist, who helped plan an amazing adventure. Jake was very helpful from the start. He was easy to correspond with, was prompt in response, he pointed out things we overlooked and he made suggestions that he thought were fitting and he constantly updated and emailed detailed descriptions of our trip as we kept amending our itinerary. The best part about Jake was that he never pressured us to do anything as he fully answered all our questions in length and because of his professionalism and knowledge Jake laid the groundwork for an amazing journey so if you are reading this Jake, thank you again for all your help!
While Jake deserves so much credit for handling the logistics and the administrative stuff it was "Dickson" our assigned tour guide who carried out the journey of a lifetime but before meeting Dickson and prior to our arrival I have to admit we were little apprehensive because while everything looked great on paper unfortunately our overall research did reveal a few horror stories such as tourist being denied entry with Visa issues or tour companies ripping off tourist, so, here we were, half way around the world, a few bags in hand, a Tanzania guide book, terrible cell service and all we had was a piece of paper saying we booked a tour with Shadows of Africa and thankfully as promised we were greeted at the airport with a smile and transported to our first destination in Arusha and then the following day we met our tour guide Dickson.
After meeting Dickson we geared up and hit the road. Everything was going as planned. We were very happy. We took lots of pictures along the way and then settled into a 5 hour drive and within an hour we realized that the person driving the vehicle was going to become a very instrumental part of this experience and it turned out we were right. Dickson was a true professional. He's experienced in both game tracking and navigation which is important because you don't want to get lost in the middle of the Serengeti as some guides do. Dickson added his own touch by carefully explaining animals habits and tendencies which was both informative and educational. He was friendly with all the other drivers. All kinds of people took a liking to him which great to see. In the bush, he had a keen eye for spotting Lions and he was always well aware of his surroundings. It was really also great to see that Dickson truly respects the environment and it's habitat and as he is a true conservationist at heart. He's very observant, he's really smart. He takes a lot of pride being from Tanzanian and he really respects when people value and respect his land. Dickson is truly the real deal. Aside from all that the one thing that stands out the most is that Dickson made us feel safe and secure during this adventure because make no mistake a drive to the Serengeti and through the Serengeti is rough, rugged, dirty and raw. The terrain is unforgiving. A true professional is needed. Dickson was a pro. And with that I just want to thank Shadows Of Africa for putting so much responsibility and trust in someone like Dickson as he provided a safe and secure viewing experience. It was the ultimate. Thank you Shadows and thank you Dickson. I just wanna add one last thing, if you're looking for a band new safari vehicle that's air-conditioned and luxury oriented you need not apply but if you're looking for an authentic, vintage, rough around the edges, the real deal experience feel safe to put your faith in Shadows of Africa and request Dickson who's one cool cat.
LV
Email Margarita | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great 3-day safari
Everything was great from the first day.
We choose 3-Day Northern Circuit Special with accommodation at Ngorongoro O'Ldeani Mountain Lodge (2nights). We were at Lake Manyara National Park, Tarangire National Park, and the real treat - the world-famous Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Our guide was ERICK MANYECK - a nice person who showed us the most beautiful places and listened to our desires and needs. Recommend! The car was comfortable. The journey was not overly tedious.
Everything was arranged perfectly from the company. Easy to understand plan. No hidden costs. Acceptable transfer rates from airport to hotel (arrived a day before the safari).
O'Ldeani Mountain Lodge was a paradise between safari trips, with 3 meals included (the lunch box that was given to the safari was very good).
A 3-day trip is the perfect to not get too tired.
Thanks, Shadows of Africa and Erick! :)
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Email Pat | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful! We saw so many animals! We saw animals hunting, mating and taking care of their young! A+
A trip to Tanzania was number 1 on my bucket list. To make this dream happen, I contacted “Shadows of Africa” to help me put this trip together. I could not picked a better company! The trip was wonderful in every way.
I did my homework before I contacted “Shadows of Africa” and had a general vision of what I would like the trip to be like, parks to visit, timeline, and accommodations. Jake McCormick and Stacy Breen, the Safari Specialists, with “Shadows of Africa” listened to my vision, and did their best to make it happen. They answered all my questions in a timely manor. They made good suggestions to make the most of our trip. The accommodations they lined up were wonderful. A good, balance between tented camps and lodges, all well run, that added to our safari experience. Shadows of Africa has a USA office in addition to an office in Tanzania.
My boyfriend and I usually like to travel independently. In Tanzania, the two of us traveled with our Shadows of Africa guide and driver Dickson Julius in a Toyota Land Cruiser, modified for safari travel. What a fantastic guide and driver he was! Dickson strived everyday to make our trip memorable. We just didn’t see animals. We saw animals doing thing like hunting, mating, or caring for their young. Dickson could read the movements of the animals, and knew when “something special” was going to happen. We saw so many birds and animals! Elephants, leopards, cheetahs, lions, impalas oryxes, jackals, hyenas, warthogs, rhinos, zebras, and MANY more. Dickson was a master at navigating the terrain. One evening, while we were in the Serengeti, we had a heavy rain storm, so the next day the roads were sloppy. That didn’t stop Dickson. He knew those conditions would be the best to see the hippos. When we saw the hippos that day, they were active in the water, with their mouths open, enjoying the infusion of fresh rainwater. Dickson was able to drive the Land Cruiser to places I never thought we could get to. But, he also knew where not to go. There was a river in Tarangire National park, that he decided not to cross at the first crossing. So we crossed it at a different location, further up river. Later in that day, we can back to the first crossing and there was another land cruiser stuck badly at that crossing where Dickson knew not to cross. I would love to go back to Tanzania, and without a doubt, I will use Shadows of Africa and hope to get Dickson as our driver.
Our trip consisted of 1 day in Arusha to overnight after arriving from USA, 2 days at Tarangire NP, 1 day at Lake Manyara NP, 2 days in the Serengeti NP- Ndutu Region, 2 days in the Serengeti NP- Central region, 1 day Ngorongoro Crater, 1 day Lake Eyasi, 1 day near Mt. Kilimanjaro and airport to fly home. Our trip was late February and Early March.
GR
Email Ioannis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Communication far from clear, the tours were good.
Our tour started half-an-hour late, and when the driver arrived he didn't know our names, nor our itinerary we had paid for (therefore we changed the order of the parks).
Charles is a good and professional driver, and he was friendly and helpful.
What our driver obviously was not informed about by the company, was that we had agreed (before paying) that we could be in the parks for as long as we wanted. We were disappointed that this did not happen.
CA
Email Veda Ko | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing once in a lifetime trip with knowledgeable coordinators and staff to help along the way.
This is my first safari and when I started my research it was difficult to decide which company was best suitable. I wasn’t sure how many days was ideal, or what a realistic budget would be, but after e-mailing and obtaining prices from a few companies I decided to book with Shadows. I choose a luxury tent experience (options were tent, luxury tent, or hotel). After the experience, I think what we paid (~$3,200 USD pp, ~$500 USD/day) was reasonable for 7 nights and 6 safari days.
COMMUNICATION: From the beginning, I worked with Jake and he was nothing but professional, responsive, and very helpful in all aspects of the planning process. As our trip came closer, he would touch base via e-mail to see if we have any questions, and to ensure that we were planning and packing accordingly.
During the planning, I was very confused about how many days I should go for and wasn’t sure what parks I should go to. Communicating via e-mail was nice but I wanted a more instant response and to talk to a live person as I wasn’t understanding the breakdown of the safari trip. I was able to speak with Jake and get a understand of what a safari trip was like, and this helped me with my expectations greatly.
Prior to arriving, my partner and I also got into a bit of a tangle in Rwanda and was afraid that the same situation would happen when arriving in Tanzania, JRO. I had reached out to our coordinator in Tanzania, Natasha, and cc’d the group. Our concern was addressed and taken care of. Airport pick-up and drop-off were also stress-free.
THE EXPERIENCE: Knowing what I know now, I would say for my partner and me, 30 y/o active couple, 4 to 5 safari days would have been ideal. The rides are long and bumpy. Our guide, Loma, was amazing; laid back, always on the lookout for animals, and had suggestions when we asked/were curious about other things/experiences during our safari. We were lucky and got to see all the animals we wanted to up close, except for the rhino that was far in the distance.
For the 6 days, we went to Arusha National Park, where we did a hike and a kayak ride. The hike was nice as we came across some giraffes and got some fun photos, but I would skip the kayaking experience. Lake Manyara National Park, which I personally didn’t enjoy because I felt like I didn’t get a lot out of that day. There are flamingos there, but we aren’t allowed to go up close to them or get out of the car. The next 3 days were spent in the Serengeti (south, east, centre and west). Jake had recommended more time to spend here as the park was very big and that the animals roam around. Yes, the animals move around freely, and you can be driving for hours not seeing anything new or fascinating, but we also came across some neat things. We were lucky enough to see vultures surrounding three hyenas eating a zebra, family of elephants up close, lions (literally behave like cats), etc. Ngorongoro Crater, we were hoping to see rhinos up close but instead, they were far in the distance…. But we did get to see hippos.
Whenever we were having our picnic lunch around others, my partner and I noticed that our meals were nicely prepared with a lot of options, not to mention tasty. We were very happy with the food. The overnight experiences were also nice. Overall, we enjoyed our lodges/big tents as they were all very comfortable. For all the reasons I have mentioned, I would 100% recommend this safari company.
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Email jokemaster | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
7 Day Safari trip with Charles - BEST TRIP EVER - 5 Stars - 10/10 - August 2020
We researched and decided to make a last-minute safari trip to Tanzania after reading about the COVID restriction. We contacted numerous safari tour operators, and Shadows of Africa immediately stood out with their quick response and budget-friendly options. Our main point of contact before arriving in Tanzania was Lies. Lies was very quick to respond through Whatsapp and helped cater the trip to our preferences. Typically planning a safari takes months in advance, but Lies got everything set up in the span of 2-3 days!
We literally finalized the trip and paid our final bill on the same day we flew to Tanzania (a 24-hour flight). We were crossing our fingers and hoping everything would go well the moment we arrived at the airport since there was no way to contact while we were in the air.
We finally arrived at Kilimanjaro airport, showed our COVID results, paid for Visa, picked up our luggage, and then headed out to the arrival lobby.
Charles, our safari specialist, was holding up a sign with our names. Once we went to him, we were immediately greeted and brought to our epic safari truck. He helped us load the luggage, provided us with masks, gave us hand sanitizer, and wiped down the car's seats and door handles. We were exhausted from the trip, but little did we know that we were about to embark on the safari experience of a lifetime.
Our itinerary was as follows: Arusha, Tarangire, Masai Village, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater.
We are not going to go into the details of each day of our trip. But having Charles as our guide in Tanzania made the experience that much more memorable and unique. We have never met a guide who is more knowledgeable, hard-working, and has a passion for wildlife like Charles. The way he drove us around each park and showcased each animal to us was terrific. We had a goal of seeing the big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and African buffalo) and Charles went above and beyond and made sure we saw each animal. Charles even drove 100 kilometers deep into Serengeti just to show us cheetahs. Charles was so dedicated to making sure we saw all the wildlife, and we were so happy.
You know you have a great Safari tour guide when all the tour guides on the road are asking Charles for guidance on where to spot the animals. Charles can spot wildlife many miles away without binoculars, and we were always amazed. Charles's positive attitude is infectious and puts a smile on your face. He was social and friendly and conversed with us on the long drives.
Each day was an exciting new experience and allowed us to see so many of Tanzania wildlife. On our first day in the Serengeti, we were heading back to the camp after an exciting day time game drive. But we got lost because the original camp closed down due to no tourism. What should have been a scary experience, because it got pitch dark in the Serengeti turned into one of the most exciting adventures on the trip. We experienced a nighttime game drive, and Charles was pointing out all the animals as we were driving at night. I wished we would get lost every night!
Overall, we have ZERO complaints about the trip. We had such a fantastic experience. The parks were so empty because of COVID, so we really felt like we were the only ones and could see all the animals without interruption. Lies professionally handled our booking, and Charles expertly guided us throughout Tanzania.
If you decide to do a Safari, we wholeheartedly recommend Shadows of Africa and ask for Charles!
HK
Email Toby Chan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best over all travel agent in Africa
This is the real review from my true heart and want to share with all of you. I planned the Africa trips before one an a half years ago, I study and discuss with a lot of travel agents. Finally, i choose Shadows of Africa to plan my 13 days on Kenya and Tanzania trips. The staffs of Shadows all respond very quick and will give you useful and professional idea to you. We are very enjoy the trip. All the staff and guides from Shadow are very professionals, helpful, kindly and funny. Our trips is running smooth. (just have one communication problem but also fixed quickly). Thank you Megan😘, you are so helpful and give me awesome advice. We are so lucky to travelling with Shadows of Africa💯.
All the Safari guides are professional and politely . They all take good care of us. Driving skill are very professional, comfortable and safety. Knowledge of wildlife is professional. They know what we want, and know how to let us take a good photos and videos in safe and very close distance. Thank you Alex😊, Frank❤️💋 and Moses😍.
Especially Frank. He is so funny😘， easy going😜 and kindly. Sometime he will give you big surprise🤣🤣. He had an eagle eyes, can see 3km distance Rhino and leopard without binoculars . He let us collect Africa Big 5 (few times) and 5 times river crossing in our Tanzania safari . Frank is perfect guide i never seen before. Thank you so much. I think if you want to have great safari in Tanzania, Frank is your guides looking for. 💯💯💯💯💯
We want to say thank you to all professionals staffs from Shadows of Africa. Hope all the best to all of you.❤️❤️🌍🌍. We are so honestly to said that, if you are planning to travel in Africa, Shadows is best choice to you. 💯💯💯💯💯💯
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding Safari Experience
What can I say? Shadows of Africa knocked it out of the ballpark. Even though I was booked into the "standard" package, most of the amenities and camps would fall into the luxury category IMHO. Our guide Timo really knew his stuff providing info such as life span, mating habits, predators, average height and weight and even unique anecdotes about everything from the smallest bird to biggest of the Big 5. He's a great animal spotter too -- there were times when we were scratching our heads thinking, "How did he manage to see THAT?"
Owner Natasha checked in daily via phone to make sure we were happy. Overall 10 out of 10. Would definitely book with them again.
Email Kylie Sustar | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari! Well worth booking with Shadows of Africa!
A friend and I enjoyed a spectacular safari with Shadows of Africa in January 2014.
Honestly, we were a little concerned before arriving in Tanzania as we had booked purely based on online reviews, however we soon realised we'd hit the jackpot!
We opted for the 5 day camping/lodge private safari as we were really keen to experience sleeping in the national parks. It was truly amazing!! It was very exciting to be woken up at 3am to the sounds of a wild buffalo chomping grass by our tent! A male (huge!) elephant also walked through our campsite twice to have a drink from the large water tanks!! Nothing quite like being that close to such a magnificent creature!
The safari trunks are well cared for. As are the staff. They seem very happy with their employment conditions and are mostly long serving staff. Our safari driver was great! Lots of knowledge and always happy to go put of his way to give us the beat experience. We also had a personal chef cook all our meals which were all wonderful! He even made us chapati on request and was happy to take us for African cooking tutorials :-)
The company is run by Natasha, who is the most wonderful hostess! She went above and beyond to ensure we were experiencing the best Tanzania has to offer. She checked in on us (by phone or in person) everyday. She was even so kind as to organise for us to be dropped off at a local orphanage for a little extra experience for no extra charge!
While Natasha is a very modest lady I must boast that she is extremely generous. Natasha funds a local orphanage which cares for 50 children. The money she raises from her safari company helps feed, cloth and shelter these children AND (if this isn't enough) she also pays to send them all to a private school to give them the best chance in fulfilling their dreams!
Shadows of Africa is a wonderful company. You are not only guaranteed a fantastic experience, but the money you pay is being injected back into the community to help the generations of tomorrow have a bright future.
Hope this helps! Happy travels :-)
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65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thrilling Trip for Young and Old!
While planning a 3-month multi-country trip with my granddaughter, beginning in January, I felt at a loss at where to begin to find a wildlife safari to kick off our trip. Turning to TripAdvisor, I began to read top reviews for Shadows of Africa, so decided to contact them first, expecting to wait a few days for an answer as it was a weekend. The response came within hours from Stacy (in California) and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship! From then on, all questions and concerns were addressed almost immediately.
Our timing was critical as we needed to be at our first volunteer program within a certain time frame, I wanted to arrive two days early to reduce jet lag, and I wanted to know what would happen after we arrived at an unfamiliar airport. I needn’t have been concerned about any of these things. Stacy assured me that everything could be handled nicely, and she was so right! She made arrangements for us at a clean, comfortable hotel, an airport pickup and drop-off, and made provisions for our extra luggage while we would be on safari. Knowing all that beforehand eliminated a lot of potential travel stress.
As we were checking into the hotel after a morning arrival, we met not only Richard, who would be our guide/driver, but also Natasha, the owner of Shadows of Africa. What a wonderful and personal welcome! We headed to our room shortly after for some much-needed sleep. Richard would be meeting us the following morning for a day tour of Arusha. Stacy had mentioned a possible visit to an orphanage that the company supports, but we hadn’t expected to have the extra day of attention. Richard gave us time at a museum, then strolled the streets of Arusha with us so that we could get a feel for local activity. Even though it took him an hour and a half to drive home, due to Arusha traffic, he wanted us to have a full day. The day included a visit, not only to the orphanage, but also to Natasha’s home for another visit with her. She assured us that we could keep our extra luggage there, which helped us immensely. We felt we were in the hands of friends more than a commercial outfit.
From the time we met Richard, through our day tour, then our 4-day safari, I constantly peppered Richard with questions, not only about the parks, but about life, customs, behaviors, current events, and even personal opinions. Richard always responded graciously, even when felt I was being a nuisance and apologized. Our days were full of wonder as we saw all the beautiful animals, even being within a stone’s toss of 27 elephants crossing in front of us and stared in awe at two magnificent male lions within whispering distance. We saw everything we could have possibly seen. But just as important to me was the chance to exchange thoughts and opinions with Richard, an outstanding host (guide/driver)! The only negative note to the experience was that Godi, our cook, thought we didn’t like his cooking. We could never convince him that our appetites couldn’t handle his overly-generous portions of wonderfully-prepared food.
I have already recommended Shadows of Africa to one of the volunteers at our next destination, and I will continue to do so, every chance I get.