Meet the Team - eTrip Africa
E-Trip Africa
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ATA, IATAN, IGS, KPAP & CODE
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $200 to $1,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Andrew | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Experience
My wife and I contacted four different agencies to discuss our dream of an African Safari and E-Trip Africa was by far the most responsive and accommodating. We expressed our interests and Ben from E-Trip Africa tailored an itinerary that fit perfectly. We are active people and his suggestions allowing us to explore by both foot and car allowed us work off excess energy (didn't take long at those elevations!). Pre-trip communication was fantastic making us well-prepared for our journey.
Key to success was having an excellent guide and a comfortable vehicle. E-Trip Africa came through in both regards. Our guide Silas was personable and well-versed on both animals and plants in Kenya. He studies the wildlife and is able to identify species (birds and beasts) from a distance while providing a synopsis of their characteristics. He is trustworthy and fun. He maintains a healthy network with other guides which helps him find things that other guides don't. Indeed, other guests at each of our camps were envious of the sights we enjoyed. Finally, his vehicle is the best we saw for handling the rugged terrain while providing a shady and cool enclave to observe the wildlife.
This was an excellent experience and we appreciate all that E-Trip Africa did to make it that way. We highly recommend them!
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Email Sarah | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Remarkable in so many ways!
My planned this trip and worked with E-trip to work out all of the details so I am not familiar with the back and forth scheduling of the trip but what I can say is that it was the smoothest trip I have ever been on. Our trip was for almost 3 weeks, 2 different countries and we didn't have one detail or part of the itinerary that went awry. We had a delayed arrival and got in in the middle of the night, walked out to a sea of people in hopes of finding the person that was scheduled to pick us up. Gideon walked right up to us and welcomed us to Nairobi. The same experience occurred in Rwanda when Edmond picked us up. Everyone was welcoming, very prompt and made sure that we got to where we needed to go at the time we needed to be there. I can't say enough about the whole experience. The people, the land, the lodges, the flights, the transports & especially the Guides, all fantastic and fantastic just doesn't do it justice.
Great trip after a last minute snafu was resolved
Due to storms in the US, I missed my connecting flight to Kigali and was a day late arriving for a 3 day gorilla trek tour with E-Trip Africa. They were so very helpful in arranging a driver to pick me up at the airport and take me to meet up with my tour group. I still missed a day, which was unfortunate, but I arrived in time to do the gorilla trek. If I'd missed that opportunity I would've been so disappointed!
The hotel E-Trip Africa booked for us was lovely, as was our guide. I really enjoyed the entire experience and highly recommend their services to all my friends and family!!!
Email Deb and Bruce | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Highlight of my travels
Our Tanzania trip with guide Elisha from e-Trip Africa was absolutely amazing and we saw so many animals, beyond anything we had imagined. We stayed in fantastic locations, very comfortable and varied, and always had delicious meals and service. The people of Rwanda and Tanzania were so kind and thoughtful in every way. Elisha knew so much about his country, the wildlife and driving/guiding. We would hope to see a particular animal and next thing we were there, seeing it all up close. It was sooo sooo amazing, thanks to his knowledge and understanding of what we enjoyed. He was very adaptable, and we discussed our safari options each morning and afternoon to make the most of our time. The places we visited were all teeming with wildlife and we saw so many leopards, cheetahs and lions as well as thousands of elephants, giraffe, zebra, hippos, wildebeest and the list goes on. We were amazed by all the birds too, and learned so much about the animals and the circle of life. Our Rwanda mountain gorilla encounter had me in tears of joy - what a special experience. We were lucky enough to spend an hour with the Pablo family (25 gorillas of which we saw 22). These creatures are beyond beautiful and I could have watched them all day. Now we are busy telling all our friends about it and planning to take them with us next time. e-Trip Africa were excellent in organising everything, with replies to my emails coming within 24 hours (mostly less than that), even when we were on tour. Everything went smoothly and we would unreservedly recommend them to show you these parts of Africa. Thankyou!
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Email Barry Collyer | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime!
Our trip consisted of my wife, my 29 year old daughter, my sister-in-law and myself. The trip was from July 7 to July 16. We flew from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro airport. We traveled from Arusha and visited Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongora crater, and the Serengeti National Park which included the northern Serengeti a few miles from Kenya. We flew back on our last day from the Lobo airstrip. We stayed at African Tulip, Tarangire Safari Lodge, Rhino Lodge, Nieleze Camp and Flycatcher Bologonji Camp (Reviews of these camps are separate but all were good). I selected ETrip based on the responses to our questions and the ability of the tour provider to adjust the tour to our requests. Ben Jennings is an outstanding person to work with and we expect to plan a repeat trip in the wet season. Our guide was David. He is a local with many years of experience. He taught us not only about the animals but also about the country. We left with a great appreciation for Tanzania. Our review and experience with ETrip is much like the other reviews: Outstanding.
Below are some comments that we have but were not provided elsewhere online:
(1) You need an experienced tour guide. We noted that several of the guides from other companies were just kids and I could not see following their lead. Our guide (David) even provided directions to some of the other guides. He did not use a map or GPS due to his many previous trips and experience. He spotted things that we would have missed. He predicted the animals behavior and we were very lucky to have him.
(2) You need reliable transportation. Most of the vehicles are Toyota land cruisers that have modifications like an increased wheel base and of course the raised roof so you can stand and see/photo the animals. We noted several vehicles with problems. Our driver felt a problem in the drive train and took a slight detour to have the vehicle checked and adjusted. A delay of an hour. He was making sure the vehicle would be ok for the trip to the northern Serengeti. He knew what he was doing and made every effort to make sure the vehicle would be reliable. I am amazed that these vehicles can take the punishment as the roads are very rough....rough from the standpoint of ridges across the road like thousands of little speed bumps. The driver/guides do not go slow they just charge on at normal speeds. So ask the age and condition of the vehicles. Also ask if the vehicles are open air instead of the raised top type. IF open air....you will be eating a lot of dust.
(3) Going to the bathroom. Being a guy this was of course no concern for me. However I was traveling with three women. I was pleased to find all the parks (except for the northern Serengeti part) to have good bathroom facilities. The need for a bathroom was never an issue. In the northern part of the Serengeti we did have to "check the tires" and the women adjusted well to this. This was also no real issue.
(4) Money issues: Once you leave Arusha do not expect to find an ATM. However in Arusha there are many ATMS. Bring cash in US dollars (I am American) but other currencies are also accepted. However the US dollar was widely accepted everywhere. You can also use the local currency you take from the ATM. But you have to guess how much you will need or take a hit when you exchange it back to your currency. Once you leave on Safari you only need cash for non-included meals, drinks (cokes, wine, beer) and any stuff you desire to buy. You also need to plan to pay (tip) the guide about $20 to $25 (USD)per day and the camps about $7 per day. Don't go half way around the world if you are going to cheap out on this....they earn these tips.
(5) Packing: You need to pack for half the days you will be traveling. For example for our 10 days we took 3 to four outfits. Bring some concentrated soap and wash your socks and underwear...wear some clothes more than once. Bring toothbrush, your meds, a hat, bug spray, stomach med, camera gear and a battery powered alarm clock. Bring a flashlight, light shoes (flip flops) to wear at night when you get up to use the bathroom. Leave all the "I might need" at home. Bring wet ones or similar towelets.
(6) Camera Gear. I left the heavy full frame Nikon at home. I used two camera bodies (Panasonic micro 4/3) so I did not have to change lenses in the dust. One camera had a 35 - 100 2.8 and the other had the Panasonic 100 - 400mm. The photos are outstanding. You need your chargers for the batteries and a blower for the dust. I brought a 42.mm f1.2 that I never used. I took about 6000 photos of which 25% are keepers.
While in the Serengeti ETrip arranged for a Bush Breakfast via the Nieleze Camp. This was an awsome experience.
ETrip arranged nice hotels at the start of the trip concluding in tent camps. This was a nice progression and the tent camps were fun and part of the adventure. A bucket shower is filled with hot water before dinner time. If you shower in the morning...it is going to be a cold shower. There is bottled water for drinking and brushing your teeth. The beds in the tents are comfortable. Hearing the animals at night (including a lion roaring in the distance) was part of this great experience. One morning we woke up to see elephants passing by our tent.
ETrip has a guest house that allows you to rest and shower before your flight. This is a wonderful place and another advantage that Etrip offers over the other companies.
We spent several days on safari and you would think it would get old after a while. We were out in the bush from about 8 to 6 PM. Every few minutes was something new and we never got bored. We were lucky enough to see two river crossings. The second was a little disturbing as the wildabeasts (about 5) got their foot stuck between rocks and were easy pray for the crocs. They just took their time and picked them off. One was very sad as it finally got loose but could not get ashore due to the weight of the croc holding on to its hindquarters. This is part of the life cycle in the wild.
Box lunches were ok...not great...but good enough to do the job. Dinners were excellent except in a few cases (Rino Lodge was ok but not as good as the other places).
The trip planning by Etrip (Ben Jennings), implementation (David) and overall experience was nothing less than outstanding. We will be talking about this trip for a long time...and the above does not even scratch the surface in describing our experience. Up to this trip a previous trip to Egypt and Cambodia were my top trips. This trip with ETrip easily tops them.
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Email Lisa R. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
100% Great
My husband and I did nine day trip around Kenya which included a little biking and hiking and a lot of safari. Our guide, Silas, was amazing; constantly communicating with other guides to find us the best experiences.
We were able to watch all of the big animals we hoped to see. For most of the various animals we were able to see adults and babies and see them often. The only big animal we only saw one time was a leopard; I felt very satisfied seeing the one leopard because that cat had caught and treed an antelope, wedging the horns and head in the 'V' of a branch.
The accommodations we stayed at were very good. The food was also very good with a significant amount of Indian and Asian influence. The hosts and chefs were willing to accommodate my husband's food preferences.
Our Guide, Silas, was a huge part of making our trip so wonderful. His knowledge of animals, birds, plants, customs, and history, made our adventure so much more meaningful and helped us connect to the country and people. I loved the adventure and the animals, but my favorite things was how Silas brought it all together and made me love the people.
My husband and I exchanged information with a school girl (and her family) who we met as we traveled. The school girl hopes to attend a university in the future, and I hope to be able to support her in that goal. This was not part of our "planned adventure" but it was a personalize highlight made possible because Silas knew of my personal interests.
I am sure Silas and E-Trip Africa will be able to meet any requests you make towards personalizing your adventure. They worked hard to get us what we wanted and made suggestions and answered our questions when we were making our plans.
On a side note, my husband had tried to work with another company that does the same type of tours. After communicating with the other company one time, they did not answer any of our questions: email or phone calls.
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Email Carol B. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reliable, efficient when planning/booking the trip while listening to our wants and delivering!
E-Trip was very transparent in cost and a very trustworthy company. We booked a wide arrange of destinations with several different types of accommodations with our requests and with their suggestions and guidance. Our safari drivers were very informative and accommodating. Everything was upfront and detailed in the itinerary. They were able to book us our Kigali city tour and Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda and 3 safaris in Tanzania. They also setup flights and transportation to and from the airports for us within the countries. I couldn't have been more pleased with my adventure in Africa with E-trip Africa.
Email Susan Smith | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Outstounding Experience
From my first email enquiry to our final drop off at Kilimanjaro Airport, Ben Jennings and his team at ETrip impressed me. Ben's professional approach was without comparison. He was quick to answer queries, made exceptional suggestions on places to stay and totally stayed within my budget requirements. His provided a detailed breakdown of costs per day which left nothing unanswered. David, our guide was simply wonderful, his knowledge of animals was exceptional, he had the ability to place us in exactly the right position at the right time for optimal viewing. We had lots of interesting conversations with him and shared many, many laughs.
I would recommend ETrip in a heartbeat for a truly magnificent, hassle free safari holiday in Tanzania and will use ETrip again when I return to Tanzania to see more of this amazing country.
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Email Jenny | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Every detail perfect - our guide felt like family by the end.
Our experience with eTrip Africa was exceptional. Ben and Aurelie in the office were always available to answer my many questions and give advice while we were making our plans. Our guide, Alladin, was very knowledgeable and easy going. He handled our family (including teenagers) with good humor. Everything went as planned with our arrangements. There were no disappointments. I've already been working on my brother to arrange a safari with them!
Email Lindsay | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Superb experience
The safari was more than we dreamed it would be. Ben and his team planned a fabulous itinerary catered to our preferences on destination, price point, and comfort. Every last detail was handled smoothly. Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, flexible, incredibly considerate. He had superhuman vision to spot camouflaged animals in trees and amazing instinct for where animals would pop out (and then made sure we were right there when they did!). This was not our first safari, so we had high standards and expectations and they were all exceeded. Highly, highly recommend E-Trip Africa.