Ngekewa Tours and Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2021)
- Tour Types:
- Budget camping tours with set start dates and a fixed itinerary (clients assist with camp chores)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $280 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Michael keane | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellence Organization and Communication
A dream come true after visiting serengeti the Tanzanians most visited park with all the big five, its absolutelly stunning.
Thank you ngekewa tours and safaris for excellence organization and communication
CN
Email Maria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I was so pleased with the trip. Our guide and driver were outstanding knowledgeable and friendly
Very good tour and travel agency. I will be recommending your tour and I will also be taking another in the future. The tour guide was very professional and always available. He gave me great information and was open and honest.
Email Sarah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very friendly, great communication and awesome experience
My tour was the best experience! I visited Ngorongoro crater, the views are amazing and a must see. The tour guide was very friendly and informative. Loved seeing the animals and would definitely recommend this company. Can’t wait to return and experience more tours
FR
Email Mouldi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very good quality/price ratio for a safari
The safari experience was globally good with Ngekewa. The guide/driver they have chosen was kind (his name is Kelvin), helpful and professional. We really enjoyed our safari with him and his assistant/cooker.
There are some missing things, like the tents' quality (we were excepting bigger and newer), and the first (public) camp site was poorly maintained (probably because it is public and free); the other camp sites we have been were very good though.
Globally the safari was awesome and at reasonable price.
Also, I want to give a special mention to the communication officer, Miss Lulu Christopher. Her communication service from A to Z was excellent. She has been efficient, helpful, patient and very attentive to our needs. That is priceless! (I personally shunned another tour because of their poor communication; a red flag to me).
I really recommend this agency. Besides, we noticed that Tanzanian people are really kind, helpful and respectful.
Email Mar | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lucas was a very good driver and guide
Over all it is a good company. The communication was not always that good. It made me frustrated sometimes.
Lucas our guide was very good, funny and likes joking. He made my trip absolute amazing!
DE
Email Frank the Bärliner | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good Safari!
The Safari all together was good, but I changed 3 times the group in 6 days, which is quite annoying in the end.
So I dont know, with which operator I was going exactly.
But in the end it worked out, saw what I like to see and the Game Drives, where good and successfull.
The god thing, different to Kenia, you do need to spot the animals, means like I'm used to it.
The comunicación was very good, you get allways a response If you ask something.
NO
Email Henriette K | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Didn't get what we payed for
Travelling with a friend we booked a 5N/4D safari, with the last day being a private day to Lake Natron. The guides was really good and knowledgable and we saw all the animals we hoped for and more!
So for the Lake Natron visit we spesifically booked a visit to a Masai Boma. Firstly, Lake Natron was a dissaponitment in itself and was nothing like the pictures (pink lake) and looked just like any other water. We saw a lot more flamingos in the other days on safari than here, where there was suppose to be so many. I know that you can't guarantee for wild life but it just felt like this was not a good time of year to go or maybe it was not the right spot? And finally we did not go the Masai Boma as the guide was not informed about this. We told him in the morning, but he later told us that he din't understand as he was not informed about this. We have complained to the office afterwards and they just blame the guide for this and have not responded to my follow up questions and comments. My brand new suitcase (USD0165 )was also broken during the safari and caused a lot of hassle for me for the rest of my trip. This is also ignored.
Email Atilyo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was really amazing
We starting researching safaris about a year before travel. Because of Covid, I'm so glad we chose Tanzania in the end.
We chose to work with Salim because he is a local Tanzanian with tons of experience. Be careful with the bigger outfitters, you won't get quite as personalized experience and it will cost more.
Salim had great communication from the beginning and answered all of my many questions patiently. We chose to do an 8 day safari, visiting Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. Our guide was a true expert with years of experience and spoke perfect English (which is helpful because they are explaining so much about the animals). Having a good guide is vital to a successful safari as you spend so much time with them.
If you're looking to save a bit of money, here are my tips.
The affordable lodging is the route we went (mid level) and it exceeded expectations. Don't fret about staying at a fancy lodge, you're barely there, and when you are, you are exhausted. Save your money. I would have been disappointed if we spent extra on a nicer lodge because often we were gone from the room from 7-6pm.
Also, 5-6 days is plenty. I have no regrets about doing 8 days, but if I was on a tighter budget, we would have been just as happy with shaving a few days off the trip. We figured it was a once in a lifetime experience, so why not, but we definitely could have saved one day, which would have been about a $750 savings.
Flying from the Serengeti, or to the Serengeti, depending on how your trip is planned, is worth the money, but you could do the drive and save quite a bit. Our flights were $800 and in hindsight, I would have suffered through the bumpy drive back to save the money. BUT if you get car sick or hate traveling for long periods, spring for the flights, it does save time.
Here are some things I wish we would have known that I felt the internet was misleading about.
The clothing.
Yes, wearing lightweight clothing is important as the weather does change rapidly. That being said, you are in a vehicle most of the time. I certainly wouldn't have dropped as much money as I did on "safari" clothes if I knew we were barely going to get out of the vehicle. Bring a variety of clothes but don't fret terribly about the color.
Game drive time.
Everyone told me we needed to be up and on the road at 5:30, 6 am. This isn't true. We didn't start any game drives before 7:30 and saw plenty.
Camera gear.
Yes, having a long telephoto lens definitely helps if you're a photography junkie like me, BUT, you do get fairly close to most animals. Unless you're an pro or semi pro photographer, a 70-200mm lens will do you just fine.
The ONLY con I really have is the food, which isn't necessarily a con, just something to prep for. Most places you'll go are fairly remote and the cooks have to do their best with what resources they've got. While all the food tasted great, it is a simple menu. The packed lunches are quite simple as well, so bring snacks if you're a picky eater. For the total cost of the trip, normally food would be more "gourmet" so just be prepared. Once you see the landscape and the villages, you'll understand the depths the camps go through to provide good, fresh meals.
We had a phenomenal time and if you're on the fence, BOOK it! Using a local guide with on the ground knowledge like Salimu is the way to go.
Email LC | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Either the reviews are fake or I was the one very unlucky customer.
The 7 days Serengeti/Wildebeest migration/Ngorongoro crater/Foot of Kilimanjaro trip that never was.
It turned out to be a 5 day safari with game drives only, so I am short of 2 days of activities. During that time no communication from the company.
No accommodation was booked for me while in the Serengeti so it was 3 days of genuine stress wondering where I would sleep. The driver tried many times to be in contact with the company to no avail. I couldn’t join another group that actually wanted to see the famous crossing as I could not have bore the cost and could not be in contact with Ngekewa safaris anyway.
After initially denying any wrong doing on their part and being told I would have to pay for accommodation myself in the park, I was finally contacted one day after being dumped at a hotel in Arusha as my final destination. I had to arrange and pay for an extra night as my trip ended abruptly and before planned.
By the last communication, compensation was going to be offered but apparently only if we met in person. Which I find strange and couldn’t happen since I was not around. Now which compensation? I will never know. A refund? I doubt that. A voucher? …will I ever use them again? Nope.
Since then, not a peep. And zero communication from the company’s director either.
I am not going on a campaign against them and you can decide for yourself but as far as I am concerned, I have wasted a month’s salary, never saw what I paid for and did a very expensive bunch of game drives I could have paid for a fraction of the price in the neighbouring countries. A once in a lifetime experience they have totally ruined for me.
So maybe I was super unlucky but I certainly cannot recommend them.