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
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An excellent 29 days in East Africa
I was really fortunate to come across Aurelie from E-Trip Africa, who organized a once in a lifetime 29 day tour throughout East Africa. I started organizing the trip on my own with my trusty Lonely Planet. It did not take long before I realized this was beyond all my travel experience to Europe and South America.
While Africa might not be all that more complicated, the lack of current information leaves you turning in circles. So after I was completely frustrated, I contacted 7 different companies to see what they could offer. Most of them seemed to only know about one country or another and it quickly became clear they were going to pass me off to some other unknown person once I crossed the border. I even had a good laugh when one gave me only part of my tour request and that the other countries would be added 4 or 5 days later. Hmmmm.
There were two that clearly had on the ground staff in the countries we wanted to visit. Each proposed an incredible proposal to fill the 29 days, but the prices were far from similar. I worked with Aurelie a lot to modify the trip to be exactly what I wanted, as her initial suggestions were much closer to what we had requested. In the end I then also asked the other company to give me the price of the same trip so I could have an idea. E-Trip Africa’s price was nearly $250 per day cheaper, which was enough to decide to book with them even though they are a lesser known company than the other.
We started our trip in Uganda and drove from Entebbe to Kibale where we spent a full day with the Chimps. This was one of many suggestions that Aurelie had given me and it was worth paying a little extra for the experience. Then we headed to Queen Elizabeth and had a fantastic visit to the park. The boat cruise is another very memorable experience.
After that we drove to Buhoma and spent a night there at the beautiful Mahogany Springs before hiking through Bwindi to the south side of the park. This hike was a nice way to meet local people and learn a bit more about their everyday lives. From the South part we tracked the Nshongi family. Spending that time in nature with the mountain gorillas is the most magical thing that I have experienced. From here we slowly worked our way to Rwanda, visiting several of the lakes between Bwindi and Lake Kivu. We spent 3 days resting at Lake Kivu before going to Nungwe Forest. The forest was very nice with a nice canopy walk. We then went to Kigali to visit the genocide memorials. Now Kigali is quite a modern city to my surprise and seemed to be very safe.
From here we flew on a small plane straight into the Northern Serengeti and then worked our way south to catch the migration on its way North. While it is not as emotionally intense as the gorilla encounter, the migration is also an amazing experience.
We finished up the safari through Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, and then Tarangire before heading to Mafia Island to do some diving. We had thought about Zanizbar, but Aurelie suggested Mafia to avoid crowds, and again she picked the perfect location.
Everything went surprisingly smooth. E-Trip Africa provided us with excellent guides that have a passion for wildlife and sharing their countries with those who visit. Even though our budget was for mid-range, the hotels were carefully recommended by E-Trip Africa to provide us with the best value, allowing us to upgrade our stay in Mafia.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One cup of perfect planning, one cup of great guiding, and a pinch of luck = A perfect Safari
E-Trip Africa organized a mind blowing tour to Tanzania and Rwanda for us this summer. The manager Ben and our Guide Rajai were at the airport to greet us when we arrived and joined us for a welcome dinner in Arusha at Arusha Coffee Lodge, which is a beautiful lodge located in a Coffee Plantation just outside of Arusha. We spent two nights at Arusha Coffee Lodge in order to recover from the long flight. On the “recovery” day, Ben joined us for an outing to Shanga House, where handicapped and disabled people are employed to create a variety of hand crafts, like blown glass. Ben then took us to Plaster House, which is an inspiring project that does surgeries for children whose families can’t afford such medical interventions. I nearly left the place in tears, seeing how strong such young people can be. As a rule, we find a way to give something to the places that we have traveled. I was turned off by the numerous scams that we had heard about in East Africa. But you can see that E-Trip Africa is really involved with the community and they were able to find some real projects to introduce us to.
We started early to get to Tarangire National Park. As a first African safari we really had no idea what to expect. Tarangire is a perfect place to start the journey. Elephants and Giraffe mixed with the huge baobab trees that seem to go off into the horizon. It was not long before Rajai had us driving down a small track near a dried up river bed. There were no other cars in sight, so I naturally though he was taking a short cut or even got lost. But then all of the sudden he stopped and pointed at a Sausage tree. I stupidly assumed he was showing us another Sausage tree, but then we saw her. A beautifully majestic leopard, not even 20 feet above our heads, was taking a nap on one of the large branches. She opened her eyes and glanced at us and then dosed back off. After some time relaxing and enjoying the nature, we continued the drive enjoying the elephants, giraffe, ostrich, lovebirds, beaters, and the grandiose baobabs. We then spent the night at Tarangire Safari Lodge, which as promised has “the best view in Africa”.
The next morning we started the day early slowly working our way out of Tarangire, when we spotted two cheetahs. We still don’t know how Rajai was able to see the animals while navigating the sometimes nearly impassible roads, but he spotted them and then pointed it out to us. Once again we were alone, but this time on a much larger road. He said we should wait to see if they were hungry. And sure enough within 15 minutes they were on the hunt. We crept along as they moved and finally, the burst out after a herd of Thompsons Gazelles. By the time they had caught one they were quite far from the road, but we could still see the action. Then to our surprise two female lions appeared from behind some bushes and the poor cheetah lost their breakfast. By that time several other vehicles had arrived and we decided that it was time to move on.
We gratefully joined the tarmac road again and drove to the south to enter Lake Manyara. Originally our plan did not include this park, but Ben as a Bird Man, said it was one of his favorites and convinced us that we should give it a day in the trip. We are so glad we did. While it was not easy to top the excitement from the morning, Lake Manyara National Park was a splendor in itself. The coexistence of so many different animals all in one area really made me feel that this was a special place. At one point not far from the hot springs, we had 17 different types of birds, along with a huge troop of baboon, giraffe, wildebeest, buffalo, and mongoose all feeding in the same place. We actually spent over an hour there just enjoying all of the interactions, sounds and movements. In the afternoon we drove to Ngorongoro spending the night at Serena Lodge.
Again we started the day very early. Rajai wanted us to get down to the crater floor first thing so that we could see the animals when they are most active. The drive down to the floor was quite impressive. This is where we encountered our first Hyena, of which we must have seen almost 100 during the morning drive. There were also some new birds to see, Crowned Cranes and Kori Bustards were new for us. This time it was not Rajai who had the luck but one of the other E-Trip Guides who radioed Rajai to tell him that two Black Rhinos had been spotted. We then headed off in a bit of a rush. We arrived to find 5 other cars there and the rhinos where quite close. Rajai told us that Jon was an aggressive male that is the father of most of the rhinos in the crater. He has also killed some of his sons once they reached sexual maturity. So the park is thinking about moving him to a better place. Within about 20 minutes there were nearly 50 cars lined up. We left our space for someone else and we then headed off. Near a small stream on the floor we came across a female lion that had 4 cubs with her. She was alone, which meant that the cubs were still less than a few months old.
They were adorable to watch and since everyone else was viewing the rhinos, we had some time to ourselves to enjoy. After lunch it was time to drive out of the crater and to the Serengeti. The one surprise we had was the large numbers of Maasai People and the fact that there are so many cows in the conservation area. I don’t really see how the area can support the wildlife and so much live stock.
From Ngorongoro to Serengeti the road is very bad. I never saw a road this bad in my life before. It was two hours of bumpy, dusty madness. We then spent almost an hour at the entry gate and continued to Nieleze camp in Serengeti. The camp is small with six tents and located near a small hill. The next morning we had a sunrise breakfast on the top of the hill, which was a nice surprise. We then enjoyed two days in central Serengeti, where we saw over 40 lions and 3 different leopards. The highlight though was a mother cheetah with her cubs near the den.
From Nieleze we drove to the northern part of Serengeti which was also long and dusty. The road was not as bad as before, but nearly. Rajai took us on a few loops along the way. And as we got further and further north there were fewer and fewer cars. We spent the following two nights at Bolongonja Camp, which was a bit more rustic than Nieleze. However, it was perfect for the location. The sense of really being in the wilderness was ideal.
Ben & Aurelie had warned us that the migration was very unpredictable and not to have our hopes too high. Seems once again the stars were aligned perfectly. When we arrived there were still some large herds of wildebeest around. We drove by and waited for hours, but they just moved back and forth with no real desire to cross that river. But the second day when we returned, they had changed their mind. There were thousands of wildebeest jumping in the water and two got taken by crocodiles. Rajai said that this was actually a rather small crossing, but it was big enough to enjoy. On our way back to the camp I spotted what I thought to be an elephant, but then I decided it must be a hippo. Rajai laughed and took us down a small track to get up close. It was another black rhino. This time all to ourselves.
The next morning afternoon Rajai took us to the airstrip where we said our goodbyes and then we boarded the small plane to Rwanda. We arrived there to find Ben waiting at the airport with our guide Joseph. We spent the night at the upscale Serena hotel in Kigali.
The next day Ben took us on a tour of Kigali. We started the day visiting the Ivuka Art Studio where children are given the opportunity to express themselves with art. We then drove to Volcanoes National Park. Along the way we stopped at the Gorilla Doctors project which provides medical care for Mountain Gorillas. We then headed off to Gorilla View Mountain Lodge for the night. The lodge was okay, but not quite at the level of those in Tanzania.
The next morning we were up early and of to the park to visit the Mountain Gorilla. The rangers gave us some coffee and then told us a little about the family we were going to visit. Our family was the Susa group, which we were told had 28 gorillas in it. From the ranger station you get very good views of the 5 volcanoes that are inside the park. I did not take pictures here because I thought we would see them better from the forest, but you don’t see them at all.
We drove to the start of the trail and the rangers gave us walking poles. The hike was a bit difficult and it is high so not so easy to breath. We walked about two hours and then the rangers stopped us and told us that we needed to get the cameras ready and to leave our bags. We then walked a few more feet to a clearing where there were several gorillas. The rangers lead us into the middle of the group. In our sight I counted 14 gorillas but I could hear some others that we could not see. The sights, smells, and sounds are all so overwhelming that the 60 minutes passes rather quickly. I still have not figured how to put the experience in words, but I can say it was the highlight of a perfect trip.
I am grateful that we came across E-Trip Africa, as they building this amazing trip for us and where there from the start to the finish. Ben and Aurelie provided useful insight and expert advice. Rajai and Joseph are fantastic guides and passionate people that have a love for wildlife.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very memorable experience!
I traveled to Tanzania with three friends in July 2014 with the assistance of E-Trip. Ben and his team planned our entire 15 day trip, which included a 7 day trek on Mt. Kilimanjaro, 2 day Safari, and 3 days in Zanzibar. E-Trip was incredibly accommodating to our needs and answered all of our questions prior to and during our trip, which even included a pre-trip Sykpe session. Ben and his team were very knowledgeable about the country, culture, and travel options for us. We felt very prepared (even with the help of a detailed packing list) and were able to accomplish everything we hoped to in Tanzania. All of us made it to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and we felt safe and taken care of during the entire trip by our guides and trekking team. E-trip provided us with a detailed itinerary outlining our schedule and travel plans for each day we were in Africa. We also appreciated the personalized attention that we received from Ben and his team, as we met with Ben at three different occasions to discuss our climb and next steps in our itinerary. I can speak for myself and our entire group that we would HIGHLY recommend E-Trip to anyone who is planning on or even considering traveling to Africa. We all had incredibly memorable experiences and enjoyed every moment of our trip.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
wonderful experience
E-Trip did such a wonderful job and the entire time I felt completely taken care of and no detail was overlooked. All the staff was so great, from the porters to the guides, all were professional and were exceptional in every way. I was a little nervous about the whole trip, as this was my first big trip abroad and wasn't sure what to expect and the whole trip was beyond amazing and I left with so many great memories and have E-Trip to thank for that. The food was excellent..our cook was fabulous, we never went hungry and looked forward to our delicious dinner every night!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Experience!
If anyone plans on hiking Kilimanjaro or doing Safari, I wouldn't recommend using any company other than E-Trip Africa. We did Kili, Safari and Zanzibar and the experience was beyond anything I'd ever expect. They were easily available to us via phone and email prior to the trip for any questions/recommendations. They put together several proposals and quickly revised them as our group finalized our trip. The personal service was better than anything I'd ever seen with a travel company. The owners met us at our hotels before and after the hike (3 or 4 times total while in Tanzania). For Kili, they hand pick their guides and they all have medical training. Our vitals were taken every single day to ensure our health during the hike. There were no shortcuts in terms of gear or crew members. The entire trip was flawless and meticulously planned. And for added assurance, the company is registered in the US. If I could give E-Trip Africa 100 stars I would.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Efficient pleaseant and reliable all equaed to a very enjoyable trip
All expectations were met and even exceeded. Replies to queries were immediate accurate and honest. E-trip have a good understanding of the area and how things operate and the CEO was on hand to meet us and make sure everything went according to plan.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I got help with gorilla permits!
My sister and I were planning an independent trip through southern Uganda and wanted to purchase gorilla and chimp permits in advance to make sure we didn't miss our chance to see them. After emails to many different companies and even the government agency that issues the permits, E-trip Africa was the only company that was helpful and responsive to our needs. For a reasonable fee, they arranged the purchase and delivery of the permits. I'm very grateful to Ben for all his help and knowledge. If I had gone with an organized tour, I would absolutely have chosen E-trip Africa simply because of their excellent customer service!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Uganda/Rwanda trip well done!
We are an American couple in our mid-20's wanting to travel around Uganda and Rwanda on a budget, and E-Trip Africa did an excellent job suggesting activities in our interests that progressed nicely. We also wanted to be able to have a few days of navigating the countries on our own, so we were given a great itinerary that gave us some days of freedom while providing private transport to the locations that would be most necessary. All of the accommodations were clean and well-staffed; those that provided meals had delicious food! We had no trouble on our trip and our driver, David, was very helpful and punctual. We felt like we had a satisfactory balance of adventure and comfort all within our budget, and would highly recommend E-Trip Africa as a tour operator!
US
Email Seth | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good to know that these people actually exist
The bottom line: this is a glowing review of a longer than average trip (38 days) that was thoughtfully planned, meticulously arranged, and expertly executed. I have attempted to write the review I wanted to read when I was researching this. That is, one that contains information allowing me to relate our situation and desires to the experience of the reviewer so that we could make an educated decision. I’ve tried to break it into separate digestible pieces, so you can skip around to our thoughts on the company itself, our experience, our situation, etc. as you like. The information below was gathered from tour operators (this company and others), guides, lodge employees, local residents, and fellow travelers.
About us:
My fiancé and I are both 30-something, fairly active professionals (students until quite recently) who were lucky enough to get time away from work for a long trip. We enjoy outdoor pursuits, good food, and wildlife and are comfortable with a range of levels of luxury (i.e. camping to five stars). We are relatively well traveled and started out thinking that we would do much of this on our own. After a good amount of research we eventually concluded that doing East Africa on our own would likely lead to an inferior trip at a higher cost in terms of both time and money. That was absolutely the right conclusion in retrospect. We were after experiences rather than pampered luxury. We would prefer comfortable camping in the middle of the national park to the posh luxury lodge isolated from its surroundings by walls, fences, etc. As it turns out, you can’t stay in the middle of many of the national parks in East Africa without stepping up to some (rather high) level of luxury so we ended up staying in fairly nice places that were well worth the experience. We wanted a private journey, just us and a driver/guide. We weren’t sure we could afford it, but in retrospect it was well worth the relatively small additional cost. If we had a couple of friends that we knew well, it would have been OK to have them along, but I wouldn’t have wanted to spend hours on safari with strangers who have different interests and priorities. It’s just not the same trip. In very broad strokes, I would describe us as relaxed but discerning travelers.
Our trip:
A very brief version of our itinerary:
Kenya - Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli
Tanzania – Kilimanjaro hike, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti
Uganda – Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, Jinja
Zanzibar, Mafia islands
What stood out most to us about the logistics of our trip was the incredible amount of research that went into planning it. They had quite obviously been to every place they sent us, and had a discerning eye for the variables which would make the experience pleasant. It wasn’t just that they placed us at a comfortable place near to what we came to see or do. It was that they placed us at the comfortable place with the English speaking manager and the good food and nice rooms in quiet and beautiful surroundings that was near what we had come for. The level of thought and consideration for what the trip would actually be like as a whole was very impressive. Other companies who sold “customized” journeys seemed to be selling some combination of modular experiences. Something along the lines of: “combine the Tarangire module with the Ngorongoro module and the Serengeti module” where each module is a self-contained unit of a specific lodge and experience. Not so with E-trip. They listened to what we wanted, asked questions to clarify, and then gave us experiences and lodging that suited us. We weren’t tied to something simply because the tour company had pre-arranged itineraries or agreements with particular places. It was a truly customized journey, designed for us by people who took the time understand what we valued. I think much of this is a product of the fact that they live in Tanzania and are very plugged into the culture and economics of the area.
After the planning was all done and we started our trip, I had expected that there would be bumps in the road. It seemed impossible to me that we could spend nearly 40 days traveling by car, boat, and plane across three countries and countless language and cultural barriers without something getting dropped somewhere along the line. Nope, it was all to plan without a hitch. I’m still dumb founded by it. As an example, it was day 30 something of the trip and we had driven from the east coast to the west coast of Zanzibar to take a tour of Stone Town before our flight out to Mafia. The detailed itinerary we were given more than four weeks prior said there would be a driver to take us to the airport at noon. After we met up with our tour guide and walked around Stone Town for a few hours, we returned to where we had met our guide to find a driver whom we had never met waiting for us. We hadn’t called him, our guide hadn’t called him, he was just there. It’s quite likely that he had received at least one phone call from E-trip in the day or so preceding our arranged meet, but at the time it seemed like logistical wizardry. Thirty something days into a trip and the guy is just sitting there waiting for us 10 minutes before we were supposed to be there. What’s more is we had come to expect this kind of treatment. It’s hard to overstate the value of being able to relax into the journey knowing that someone skillful has taken care of every little detail and you really don’t have to spend one second of your time in Africa thinking about how to get things done. Looking back at the itinerary, the driver’s phone number was on our itinerary along with phone numbers for every lodge, driver, etc. during the trip just in case, but we never needed them. That’s how well it was planned. I think it would be extremely difficult to plan a 40 day journey around my home town without something going wrong, and these guys did it across three countries in Africa which speaks volumes about how tight of a ship they run.
The company –
They are run by a husband and wife team (American and French ex-pats) who live in Tanzania with their young son and are intimately involved in making sure things go well. They both have a long history of trying to make this world a better place and of doing so in Africa specifically (peace corps, etc.). As a result, they are very knowledgeable about the geographic, social, and political climate in the areas they work. This sets them apart from the vast majority of other companies who will tell you that they operate locally, but in actuality they charge you what they will, take their cut, and then outsource your trip to somebody on the ground in Africa. The locally owned companies we came across seemed to do OK, but it’s not the same as someone who understands western culture but lives the day to day in Africa. There just isn’t a substitute for that combination. If you have a problem, and somebody has to call somebody on another continent to try to fix it, it’s not likely to go as well as if you hop on the cell phone provided to you at the start of the trip and call the owner of the company.
It has been my experience in the past, that people who have a heart and strive to lift the world around them are not necessarily the most business savvy. That is absolutely not the case with these two. They are quite business savvy; they understand the expectations of western tourists, and embrace the accountability which that requires. They do business in an incredibly responsible and transparent manner which allows you to make value judgments about your experience ahead of time and to feel as though you’ve contributed to making things better in Africa afterward. It became clear when we were researching that companies charge a premium for the service of arranging a trip for you (which is reasonable), but will not detail the costs associated with that service or even the individual portions of the trip like the price of a particular lodge. That makes it very difficult to make value judgments about what things are really worth to you. These guys took the time to answer our emails thoughtfully, to discuss things over the phone in great detail (via skype), and to get an idea of what we wanted not just what we were asking for. At each step they told us what each individual thing would cost so we could talk about what things we really valued. In addition, they don’t own or operate any lodges of their own, so they don’t have any conflicts of interest when it comes to picking a place for you to stay. This is a big deal and one many companies aren’t necessarily forthcoming about.
In the end, the level of research and effort that went into constructing our customized trip was clearly so far beyond the 40 or so other companies that I communicated with, at a lower and transparent cost, that the choice became obvious. I even spoke with a few tour operators who wondered aloud how it was possible to arrange the trip we took at the price we paid – they simply couldn’t do it. Suffice it to say that I think you would be foolish not to at least call/email them to see what they can do for you. Do it and you will see what I mean.
US
Email Kathy Barker | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Finding birds and relaxation in Kenya!
We had 9 days after a meeting in Nairobi, and wanted to see animals and countryside, with a focus on birds. E-Trip Africa arranged for a wonderful driver, Moses Kangara, and 4 bookings of 2 nights each (we wanted to be able to relax and listen to sounds and enjoy the wonderful places we were booked at, not just spend all that money to sleep). Making the arrangements on line was so easy, as the E-Trip folks were very responsive as the trip planning evolved. Every thing was much, much better than I imagined.
We stayed at:
Island Camp in Lake Boringo (watching a full moon rise over the lake from the cottage, bird guide for a walk on the island and another for a small boat exploration),
Sleeping Warrior Lodge in the Soysambu Conservancy (Best sighting- an aardvark on a night drive!),
Mara Eden Bush Camp in Masai Mara NR (giraffes and hippos seen from the campsite, big 5),
Malewa Wildlife Lodge in the Kiglio Wildlife Conservancy (along a river in the woods, listening to hopes and rock hydraxes screaming at night. Peter took us on some terrific bird walks).
Each place was so different in looks and landscape, but the same in the beautiful rooms and excellent service and delicious food (we are vegetarian and each place was alerted by E-Trip and made amazing and healthy dishes).
Everything and everybody completely exceeded our expectations. It was the trip of a lifetime.