Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful 121-130 of 456 Reviews
Tammy   –  
United States US
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 18, 2023

Email Tammy  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Serengeti Smile Highly Recommended - Ask for "Champion" as your Guide!
5/5

If you are considering tour operators for a visit to Tanzania, definitely consider Serengeti Smile. We booked a private (2 guests) 4 day guided tour during our short stay in Tanzania, and we customized our tour. We visited Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation, Ngrongoro Crater, a Maasai Village and Lake Manyara National Park. We covered a lot of ground in the short visit and the time was well spent, as our guide, "Champion," knew just where to go to have the highest probability of seeing lots of amazing wildlife. Obviously, no guide can guarantee to see the Big Five, but we were fortunate to see everything we had hoped to see and more! Champion was sure to keep us moving quickly enough to use our time wisely, and also to allow us plenty of time to take photos and just observe the animals as long as we wanted. We were never rushed, and we didn't waste time. Champion and his trainee, Dominic, were both extremely knowledgeable about the locations and the animals. They even had guidebooks on hand and looked up the animals so we could read more detail, if we were so inclined. For a young man (or a person of any age), Champion's knowledge of the places we visited, the culture and the wildlife was impressive! Champion speaks excellent English and has a very pleasant personality an sense of humor! Champion was a safe driver, and we always felt in good hands during the trip. During our first day in Serengenti National Park, we got a flat tire when we were just about 7 km from our lodge for the night. Champion and Dominic quickly and confidently changed the tire and had us on our way to the lodge in no time at all. We were very happy with all of the lodges we selected as a part of our tour, and all of the meals were excellent with great selections and options. Champion and Dominic were attentive to be sure we had everything we needed and that we were enjoying the visit. Every part of our trip was well-coordinated. Do not hesitate to book a tour with Serengeti Smile. I'm sure that all of their guides are great, but if you have the chance to request Champion, you will not be disappointed! I highly recommend Serengeti Smile and "Champion" as your guide!

Julien kroll   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 23, 2023

Email Julien kroll  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Amazing experience and great guide
5/5

Really loved the safari. Our guide ( Ayoub) was super good, he spotted animals that I struggled to see with my super zoom camera ^^
The car is very confortable. Cleaned every day.
Our experience was magical. We saw lions cheetah leopard zebra giraffes buffalo elephants wildebeest antilope impala, monkeys,,…
Only missing the rhino from the big 5. We saw one in Ngorongoro but from very far. Couldn’t get a descent picture.
We stayed at the Serena hotel and it was the best choice we made. It cost more but it is worth it. Really make the full experience magical.no regret.
I compared many options and Serengeti smile was the best for price and options. You can’t beat them on the Serena Hotel price for sure.

Mike   –  
France FR
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 24, 2023

50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Professional, responsive, friendly - great for tourists, but may be not for wildlife experts
5/5

Just returned from a great holiday with our 3 children with 5 days safari, 1 night in Stone Town and 3 days in Villa Kiva.

From the start Serengeti Smile responded extremely quickly and professionally to our questions, and made tour adjustments to meet our needs, plus were competitively priced. The trip proposal was very similar in layout to other companies and really met our needs well. We saw many more animals than expected, and enjoyed getting to know our friendly guide, visiting a Masai village and having great quality time together. Overall a real 5 star holiday experience.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the large animals, was enthusiastic and able to tell us many great stories. There seemed to be some knowledge gaps though when it came to birds and trees. When in South Africa previously and particularly when we hadn't seen a large mammal for a while our guide would point out maybe a bird, an insect or trees and plants to tell us more about them and keep us interested. I think this would have been helpful here particularly with the children, but wasn't too critical for us. If you are budding nature experts however, this may feel like a miss.

Maxime   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 25, 2023

Email Maxime  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Fantastic experience!
5/5

We had an incredible experience with Serengeti Smile. Our guide, Ayubu, went above and beyond to ensure we spotted the big five, making the journey unforgettable. The owner, Albert, was a joy to communicate with. We highly recommend Serengeti Smile as a tour operator for a memorable safari adventure!

Vincent   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 26, 2023

Email Vincent  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Serengeti Smile offers a better safari experience than anyone could expect in your dreams!
5/5

We booked with Serenget Smile because they:
- communicatie super fast and clear
- price vs value is great
- driver is superb, he drives safe and nice personality with safari radar eyes
- accomodation choices were realy good, food and location were better than we expected
- not any disappointment for us over the agreement we made and what Serengeti Smile delivered
- we did Tarangire, Manyara and 2x Ngorongoro in 4 nights without any rushing feeling
- i would advice anyone who is planning a safari to go with Serengeti Smile.
- we will be back soon

Markus   –  
Germany DE
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Oct 29, 2023

Email Markus  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Easily exceeded our expectations
5/5

"Serengeti Smile" organized and carried out a four-day safari for me and my daughter. My high expectations were easily exceeded. Everything went perfectly, starting from the planning, to the support from the office, to the implementation. We felt very comfortable throughout and very well looked after and informed, especially I can also highly recommend our guide "Champion".

Emily   –  
United Kingdom UK
Visited: September 2023 Reviewed: Nov 2, 2023

Email Emily  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Trip of a life time, thanks to Ayubu & Serengeti Smile!
5/5

We had the most amazing experience, all thanks to Serengeti Smile! The service from start to finish was 5 star. Albert from sales was so patient & answered all of our questions. We changed our dates & times so many times before deciding which trip to do & Albert was great - he wanted us to have the best trip! Once we arrived we didn’t have to think about anything but looking for the animals. Ayubu (best driver & guide ever!) came & picked us up from our hotel & was the most friendly guy you could have hoped for. We chose a 4 day / 3 night Safari & it was amazing. The accommodation, the car, the food - everything was exactly as we had hoped & more. We saw the big 5 by day 2!!! Ayubu was an expert in finding the animals & giving us so many facts - thank you!
Overall, I can’t recommend Serengeti Smile enough !!

Bruce   –  
China CN
Visited: September 2023 Reviewed: Nov 3, 2023

Email Bruce  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

perfect journal
5/5

The tour guide is careful, passional and professional. He knows where to find different animals and warmly introduces these animals.
The tour is well planned and reasonable, and we get a good price.

Graham & Deb   –  
Australia AU
Visited: September 2023 Reviewed: Nov 3, 2023

Email Graham & Deb

Serengeti Smile is courteous, responsive, and affordable, providing an excellent and friendly guide
5/5

We (two couples) had a fantastic time with Serengeti Smile in our 7-day Tanzania safari (Tarangirie, Serengeti/Mara and Ngorongoro) and 5-day Zanzibar beachside holiday. We chose Serengeti Smile as a mid-range provider (even though they are a relatively new company) based initially on the TripAdvisor review score of 5, and then on how reassuring and responsive Frank (the company owner) was in our planning meetings in What’s App and Zoom. He helped us design a customised itinerary that fully covered our various interests, was friendly, courteous and professional right through the organisation process and then during the actual safari, right down to arranging a sunset sail on a dhow in Zanzibar with just a few hours’ notice on our last day.
Our guide Ayubu was also excellent – courteous, friendly, and professional, with excellent driving skills, incredible animal-spotting skills, and a great sense of humour. He clearly knew his way around the parks and had a great rapport with other guides and so was able to get information from them on where they were seeing animals. We must admit that it did take a day or so to gain confidence in his driving skills at what initially seemed to be high-ish speeds over some rough roads. However, after a couple of days we realised he knew what he was doing, as he clearly knew every inch of the many kilometres we travelled. Ayubu was very skilled at placing the vehicle in the best possible place for viewing and photographing animals when there was lots of competition from (sometimes) 10 or more other safari vehicle looking at a lion pride, for example.
Our safari vehicle was a few years old but was comfortable enough with just four of us. Six people and luggage would be a squeeze. Our lodges were also very good, without being 5-star, and the tent camps in Serengeti were impressive in providing roomy spaces with comfortable beds, functional bathrooms, electric lights and even in-tent Wi-Fi facilities, as well as a dining room & bar tent.
And the animals were fantastic – not just the ‘big-ticket’ items like the Big 5, and the wildebeest crossings of the Mara (we saw two!), but the myriad and often ridiculously colourful birds and lizards, the amazing diversity of antelopes and more. Plus, of course, some insight into the lives of the local people – the Maasai with their herds, and the locals in the towns and villages.
Asante Sana

Shin Campos   –  
Canada CA
Visited: October 2023 Reviewed: Nov 5, 2023

Email Shin Campos  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Our amazing Tanzania safari trip with Serengeti Smile
5/5

We just finished our 8 day safari trip with our 2 daughters 12 and 14yrs old. We had been to Africa in S Africa and we always wanted to come back to show our kids once they were old enough to appreciate it.
We went with Serengeti Smile Tours and it was a trip of a lifetime. Not only did we see the Big 5 and many more animals in the Serengeti NP, Ngorogoro Crater, Tarangire NP and Manyara NP but also got experience the amazing people and culture of Tanzania. Visiting a traditional Masai village and hiking and learning about the Kilimanjaro Chaga people was truly unforgettable.
Serengeti Smile went above and beyond with the trip itinerary and everything was top notch. Accommodations was amazing and the food was great as well. Being able to sleep in the Kontiki Tent camp in the Serengeti falling asleep to the sounds of lions, hippos and elephants walking around outside of the tents was something we won’t forget too. Feeling totally safe from start to finish our AMAZING guide “Champion” always made sure we were happy. Champion really was the lynchpin making our trip truly a lifelong memory. Champion for the win!!!

As we leave we are a bit sad but can’t wait to share our experiences with our friends back in Canada and hopefully they’ll come here too. It’s well worth the money for the adventures and memories.

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