Welcoming guests in our office, Arusha
Passionate Guides Tanzania
- Located In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2019)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Association of Tour Operators
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $860 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CA
Email Leon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Passionate, charismatic, and extremely knowledgeable guiding experience in Kenya/Tanzania
I had the pleasure of being guided by Beatus and his team of Passionate Guides on a wonderful 12-day excursion in Kenya and Tanzania at the end of August. We started our safari experience in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru, drove south to Masai Mara, into the great Serengeti of Tanzania, Ngorogoro, Arusha, passed by Kilimanjaro, and drove back into Kenya for one final day in Amboseli.
There was not one moment with Beatus & Co. where I felt that our trip was lacking. From the food, choice of lodging/accommodation, and most notably the wealth of information shared with us – the guides far surpassed our expectations. David and Athuman were our drivers/guides in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, and seemingly had an answer to every single question when asked. They accommodated our wishes and catered to our interests each day, whether we felt like seeing birds, antelopes, cats, etc.
The lodging was truly fantastic. We stayed at some of the most visually-pleasing lodges/camps, like the rustic Ziwa lodge near Nakuru, luxurious Moyo camp in the central Serengeti, and the serene Kibo camp in Amboseli. Breakfasts and dinners were had with a view each day, and the packaged lunches were always delicious.
My mom and I are very outdoorsy and wanted to hike to Kilimanjaro’s Mandara Huts. Beatus, of course, accommodated and planned this in our trip. His good friend & expert mountaineer Kedi (who summited Kilimanjaro 360+ times as of the date of writing) guided us to the Mandara Huts as a short day hike. Kedi shared a wealth of information and history about Kilimanjaro while hiking with us in – believe it or not – Converse All Stars. This was such a great addition in the middle of our safari trip.
If you’re reading this review, I hope you see a trend throughout my review in addition to the other reviews on this site: Passionate Guides is very much true to its name.
Asante sana, Beatus!
CA
Email Sofia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Safari Experience One Could Wish For
This review for the Passionate Guides is way overdue. However, this is by all means no reflection of the service or the trip – on the contrary – I was trying to find time to write a review ever since I returned home but life got in the way.
There are a zillion tour operators in North America and Europe who offer great tours and I have not doubt that they are trying to do their best. However, I can guarantee that they are no match to Beatus, the owner of Passionate Guides and his crew in both Kenya and Tanzania. First of all, Beatus is located in Arusha, born and raised in Tanzania and took the leap of faith to start his safari company. Secondly, I have rarely seen the passion and dedication in all my travels and interactions with tour guides.
Beatus is doing above and beyond to learn his customer’s specific needs and wants and caters to specific requirements. I suggest that if in a group, you pick people who are similarly inclined (birds, plants, predators, all of the above). I was probably a tough one to please since it was my first safari and I wanted to do more or less everything. After our first contact, Beatus helped me with my itinerary providing valuable advice. Everything went smooth prior to the trip… and it only got better.
We were picked up in Nairobi, spent the first night there and were picked up in the morning to head out to Lake Nakuru and the Ziwa Bush Lodge – our first destination. Since this review is not intended for lodges / tents, I will not review those, although Beatus picked excellent accommodations throughout our trip. If there were any questions or minor issues, these were resolved within minutes.
Plenty of time is spent in the Jeep! They have plenty of space, and the guides (Athuman – we miss him!) made sure water was always available. As for the animals: Beatus and his team are the best animal spotters you can have! Of course, one cannot expect animals on demand, but the Beatus and Athuman knew where to go and look, were extremely patient with us taking pictures (constantly) and most of love – they love their work and are never bored or tired – it seemed that they we are discovering the wildlife together. However, throughout the trip we learned so much about the country, region, migration, animal behavours etc. And of course – always told with passion for the land and its creatures.
Our trip took us from Kenya (Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara) to Tanzania and the Serengeti, Ngorongoro … each area more fascinating than the previous and guided with passion and eagerness by our Passionate Guides. Oh… and we had the pleasure of several hot lunch picnics in the Serengeti… which was incredible to organize and set up… but Beatus and team did it with ease.
All in all, I can’t recommend enough The Passionate Guides. Thanks to their genuine love and pride for their country and desire to share it with us, we had one of the most memorable vacations of our lives.
JP
Email Yao | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A trip I am most proud of to recommend to my friends
It is very competitive for the safari business in Tanzania and we are lucky to know the Passionate Guides -- A small operator founded by Beatus. After comparing with another 14+ operators, we chose to go with the Passionate due to the professional suggestions, fast response speed and a better price. Even if we were still a little bit worried about the trip (as we've never been to Africa before) but we feel assured soon after we met Beatus and our guide Athuman at the JRO airport. After 7 days when we left, we were 150% satisfied with our trip and fully loaded with the valuable memory in Tanzania. After comparing with some of my friends going with other operators afterwards, I really feel there are several very good points worth my recommendation to the Passionates:
1. The safari jeep is in good maintanence: The road is pretty bad for transportation between and within the national parks (Especially the way to Lake Natron). Even if it is dry seaon in Sep, the safari Landcruiser can still easily break down on the super bumpy road. Our Landcruiser were all good across the trip and our guide Athuman drove skillfully and carefully. He also cleaned the window of vehicle daily to keep clear view for us. This is quite a basic requirement but many other operators still may not be able to notice it.
2. Willing to listen to clients' needs and act profesisonally: Since we met at the airport Beatus emphasized that it was always better discussing with our guide Athuman what we need in time. We indeed did as he suggested: We always discussed the next day's plan daily on the dinner table and told him what animals we wish to see. Athuman tried his best during day time satisfying our needs and provided us chances to take wonderful photos for the animals. Even if we spent long time for some day hurried from on location to the other, he would get up very early at 6AM with us to earn some time for our game drive. Good communication with the clients can make both sides happy, we really appreciated this from Beatus's team.
3. Providing professional gear and suggestions: We went to Antarctica before but were not aware of taking a professional camera for high resoluaiton shots. Therefore we prepared a camera with a heavy 60-600 mm lens with us for this trip. Before we arrived, we were checking if Beatus can provide us with bean bags for support the camera on the vehicle, and he prepared it for us for free as well as providing some useful suggestions for photo graphing for animals. This is a very good evidence showing their professionality.
When we went back home, Beatus and his team came to welcome and check with us the feedback for this whole trip. Throughout all these activities, I really feel they are seriously running this business with true passion in their mind for the career. And it indeed brought the clients like me unforgettable experience in Africa. Therefore, I recommend the Passionate for safari tour in Tanzania without any reservation.
Email Liam | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible experience which I could not recommend more!
Passionate Guides Tanzania provided an amazing experience for both my partner and myself. The Kenyan guide Dan and the Tanzanian guide Frank were extremely knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and professional, going above and beyond to ensure we had the best experience possible. The support staff, namely Hellen, communicated clearly and effectively and were extremely reliable when it came to making sure every possible aspect of the service we received was sorted out ahead of time. Hellen even sorted out a day tour of Arusha and a private transfer back to Nairobi for us once the Safari had ended. They provide a vast range of different personalised Safari experiences at very reasonable prices and I could not recommend them more if you are looking to go on Safari.
Email Mia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Totally Incredible Safari Experience!
Words can’t describe how incredible the team at Passionate Guides Tanzania were for our time on safari and afterwards. Dan (Kenya) and Frank (Tanzania) our guides were fantastic and incredibly knowledgeable about all the wildlife - always helping us get the best spots for photos and found us animals with no one else around!
All of accomodation was beautiful and they were super accomodating to us being vegan. Once we finished back in Arusha, Hellen went above and beyond booking us even more beautiful accomodation and sorting us a transfer back to Nairobi.
On our last day in Arusha they organised a town tour for us with the fantastic guide Gift, who took us to the cultural centre & art gallery, gave us a walking tour of Arusha’s main market and finished the day with a visit to a local orphanage.
All around an amazing experience with Passionate Guides Tanzania and could not recommend them enough!
US
Email Sarah | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Safari
We had a perfect 3-day safari with Jerry as our knowledgable guide! He was great company, a great driver, and was the first to find "honeymooning" lions and lots of other treasures of the Serengeti. The company even helped us getting our luggage that had been delayed by the airline. Highly recommend!
US
Email Paige | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Passionate Guides was so flexible and determined to hit everything on our safari bucket list.
Passionate Guides provided one of the best vacations I have ever been on. They accommodated to everything we wanted to do on our safari and more. They linked us up with the best places to stay in both Masai Mara and the Serengeti and the guides that we had for both the Kenya and Tanzania sides were spectacular. Our family wanted the most nature-filled, down to earth safari we could get and they delivered. Whatever safari experience you want to have they will get for you!
US
Email Doug B | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top notch safari in 3 different game parks. All details were handled including shuttles and hotels.
My wife handled the communication and booking with Passionate Guides however she reminded me during the process how easy it was to communicate with Beatus (owner). Our family of four (2 teenage kids) had some special requests during our week long safari and he was very willing to accommodate including special dietary needs. I did not have to think or plan a thing during the weeklong trip which Passionate Guides set up for us. There was even a last minute change due to a tent camp being damaged the night before our stay. Beatus scheduled an alternative stay for us and it was a seamless change for us. I highly recommend using Passionate Guides for any type of trip you take to Kenya or Tanzania. Thanks to them for such a great trip with lifelong memories.
US
Email Wendy Barta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Passionate Guides was exceptional at creating the perfect experience based on our interests.
We will be eternally grateful for Passionate Guides’ help in creating such incredible memories for our family. Africa truly is the soul of the world and we are so privileged that Beatus, Othman and David shared it with us. Beatus really listened to what was important to us when he designed the itinerary. We loved being integrated with nature at the tented camps. The service was excellent and the staff at every lodge made us feel at home. Our game drives were non-stop discovery of every bit of wildlife we could have hoped for. David (Kenya) and Othman (Tanzania) were experts - sharing their knowledge and knowing exactly where to find elusive animals. Wouldn’t change a thing! Thank you so much!!
US
Email Sawyer | under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experiences!!! :)
Our guides (through Passionate Guides) David in the Kenya portion of our safari and Othman in our Tanzania part were beyond accommodating, generous, and welcoming! They know the parks like the back of their hand and all the best spots where the animals may be hiding. I learned so much about the animal behavior and characteristics through the guides and appreciated their knowledgeable and thorough commentary! Additionally, when we had questions about local currency, paying habits and amounts, and customs both of our guides were extremely helpful and clear! I can’t imagine a better experience that worked perfectly for me and my family. It was an unforgettable trip!