Serengeti Smile Team
Serengeti Smile
- Office In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2020)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board & AMREY Flying Doctors Insurance
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $650 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
FR
Email Nicolas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazon !!!!
We had Zack as driver, and we spent an amazing 4 safari days ! Every prestations was absolutely perfect (lodge, meal, driving, parc…). Thank you Zack your kindness, your smile every days and your stories about animals and the culture of the country. We loved spend time with you, and we loved our holidays in Tanzania and we will come back !
FR
Email Anaëlle and Nicolas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, thank you Zack for everything !
We had Zack as driver, and we spent an amazing 4 safari days ! Every prestations was absolutely perfect (lodge, meal, driving, parc…). Thank you Zack your kindness, your smile every days and your stories about animals and the culture of the country. We loved spend time with you, and we loved our holidays in Tanzania and we will come back !
DE
Email Sandra | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a very great Safari and the organization was very good.
The Safari was very good and we saw so many animals. Both guides was very friendly and know everything about the animals. The Lodges were very nice and the view of the lodges was great.
US
Email Macy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best guide in Tanzania.
Look no further. I cannot recommend Serengeti Smile, specifically our guide, Ayubu, enough! We went into the experience pretty blind, and we got so so lucky.
I truly believe Ayubu is the best guide in Tanzania. Everywhere we went - from Tarangire to the Serengeti to Ngorongoro - he was head and shoulders above any other guide we interacted with. At one point we had 5 guides following us because they knew Ayubu knew his way around the park and how to best track many of the animals.
From the moment Ayubu picked us up in our Arusha until he dropped us off at the airport, he was incredibly professional, fun, knowledgeable. He made sure we had an incredible experience, understood what we were looking for in the experience and was incredible amenable.
ES
Email Jaime Martínez de Velasco | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best operator in every sense
My wife and I are very excited to recommend Serengeti Smile. I contacted several companies and Smile were the BEST to interact with, fast to answer emails and WhatsApp, always available for doubts, they adapted to our very specific itinerary while giving the best recommendations and with the best price/value equilibrium. When we arrived in Kilimanjaro Airport, we met John, our guide for the next 6 days, the best we could've asked for: he adapted to all our requests, gave us the best information and had the best conversation. We learnt a lot with him, not only about the Safari itself but also about Tanzania its culture, traditions and society. Game drives were great, we saw thousands of amazing animals, giraffes, zebras, leopards, elephants, hienas,... but it seemed like John had a radar to find SIMBAS (lions). But most of all, we could feel at all times Serengeti Smile were very professional, entirely focused on giving us the best experience... but most of all joyful, kind and great persons.
US
Email Tim | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive, professional, and flexible tour company that showed us the best of Tanzania's parks!
My girlfriend and I did a 10-day Tanzania safari plus Zanzibar beach vacation with Serengeti Smile, and we have nothing but great things to say about the company and the experience. Frank was extremely responsive and patient with our many requests and questions during the planning phase. He also helped to customize the itinerary so that we could fit in everything we wanted. (If you have a specific hotel that you want to stay at or a park that you want to visit, just ask!).
During our safari, we visited Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Serengeti National Park. Each one was unique, and we still can't decide which was our favorite. (Rainy season is probably not the best time of year for Lake Manyara, as the animals move elsewhere, but we had our most intimate encounter with a herd of elephants there!)
All of the logistics during the trip were very well organized and took all of the stress out of the travel during our visit. Our guide Champion was phenomenal - he was knowledgeable, entertaining, prompt, reliable, and flexible. When we decided we needed to take a half day off from game drives to relax, he retooled our plan to meet our needs. He was always on time to pick us up, and he provided just the right amount of information - enough to feel like we were really learning about the wildlife, landscape, and country, but not so much that we felt overwhelmed.
Each of the hotels we stayed at was incredible - great rooms, beautiful views, nice restaurants, and very friendly, helpful staff. The game drives were the best part - we traveled in late mid to late April, which is supposedly the height of rainy season. It rained heavily most nights, but during the day the weather was perfect - cool enough to keep us comfortable, and just the right amount of clouds to make for stunning photos. Our guide felt bad that we didn't see as many animals in the Serengeti as he would have liked due to the high grasses of rainy season, but we saw way more than we were expecting. Dozens of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, and lions, plus hundreds of thousands of zebras, wildebeest, impalas, and gazelles. And the birds were incredible! Maybe we got lucky during rainy season, but we highly recommend April for the low crowds and enjoyable weather. (Zanzibar was a bit of a different story, as it rained pretty steadily about half of the time, but the other half was sunny and beautiful).
We have just two pieces of advice for travelers, and neither one is meant to reflect negatively on Serengeti Smile. First, beware of the gift shops you may stop at during the safari. At least during the low season, the prices they initial cite for you are outrageous, and many the items that they swear are locally made are the same souvenirs you can buy in countries throughout the region and continent. (I found the same coasters that I had bought in Uganda 10 years ago for $10, and the shop in Tanzania initially asked for $60 for them!). You can negotiate the prices down significantly, but it can be an anxiety-producing experience for those who are not used to bargaining.
Second, we 100% loved the parks we visited near Arusha and would happily go back some day, but we probably don't need to go back to Zanzibar. It is a beautiful place and there are plenty of activities to do, but the economy is based on tourism, so you are constantly hassled by people selling goods and services as soon as you set foot outside your hotel (and sometimes inside of it, when outsiders pass on the beach and try to discretely offer you things until security shoos them away). And after five days of feeling pleasantly isolated in the national parks, the stop and go traffic jams of Stonetown were a bit jarring. That said, the Stonetown tour itself was very interesting and informative, and if you've always wanted to visit Zanzibar, by all means do it, as it is a fascinating place with a unique history. But if you are debating between Zanzibar and a safari, we recommend the safari!
This is the first tour package I've done, so I can't speak to how the value compares to other trips, but we certainly felt like the trip was well worth the expense. Thank you to Serengeti Smile for an enjoyable and unforgettable experience!
Email Penny | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Perfect Trip
We approached Serengeti Smile for a bespoke safari trip. They were incredibly responsive to our questions and created a bespoke itinerary for our time and costs. We stayed in luxury lodges for a very good value.
We had a great five days, with Champion our guide. He was very friendly, organised and fun. He helped us see all the 'Big Five' and gave lots of information on the wildlife and Tanzania. We did a walking safari in Arusha Park, a wildlife packed day in Tarangire (so many elephants!), the Ngorogor crater was unbelievable and a final day in Lake Manyara.
We had a perfect five days. Thank you.
IE
Email Brian J | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
the tour operator Frank was very
my wife and I wanted to travel to Tanzania and explore part of the Serengeti. We planned this trip by researching the different options available to us on the internet. We came upon Serengeti Smile website and Frank the owner communicated with us directly. This company organised a private guide and driver in a well equipped 4 x 4 vehicle, accommodation in the Marera Valley Lodge and the Bougainvillea Safari Lodge. The guide Champion spoke fluent English and was very informative. There were very good reference books appertaining to animals and birds in the vehicle for us to read. A picnic lunch which was very good was also included in the game drives. The hotels that were chosen for us were of an excellent standard. We also requested that we do a coffee tour. This was an amazing experience. Overall, this company organised a high-end tour for us. We will contact Frank again to organise more safaris in the amazing country that Tanzania is.
LT
Email Vygantas | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing
We (three couples) had a private seven days safari. We visited Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara - our trip was amazing!
We were extremely fortunate to see all big 5 as well as an extraordinary number of zebras, antelopes, giraffes and wildebeests.
Our driver, Ayoub Kileo, was a very experienced and professional guide with extensive knowledge of wildlife, exceptional driving skills and extraordinary ability to spot animals. He really made the trip care-free for us and we’re so glad to be guided by him.
We chose Serengeti Smile as Frank was very reactive and offered tailor made itinerary with competitive price. We recommend Serengeti Smile to everyone.
Thanks to Serengeti Smile for making our amazing safari!
DE
Email Aydin | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful
We had a wonderful safari with Serengeti Smile in Tanzania. We did 7 days trip to Tarangire, Southern Serengeti for Migration, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. The booking process with Frank was very easy and a lot of flexibility regarding all the wishes we had. Our guides Sadik and Godwin were supper amazing. They managed to get us in the right spot to see the animals and to take beautiful pics and made this experience unforgettable. We had such a great time with them. We would recommend Serengeti Smile to everyone.
