In front of our office
Northern Circuit Adventure
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- TATO & TTB
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Budget & mid-range)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $195 to $580 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good company that will do just about anything to make your safari an incredible experience!
I highly recommend Northern Circuit Adventure for several reasons. My group (three of us) due to a flight cancellation arrived in Arusha one day behind schedule. We were anxious about how Michael would handle this situation but he was very accommodating and made arrangements with the other traveler on our tour to shift the safari for us. Upon arriving in Arusha, it was much colder than we had expected so Michael went out and found several coat vendors to come to the hotel and show us some. He then drove us to an ATM to get shillings and showed us around the town, telling us some about its history and development.
On the safari, our guide Elias and chef Gabriel were absolutely amazing. Elias would stop at nothing to find an animal we wished to see. He once drove around the Serengeti for three hours to find a cheetah, and he didn't fail us. A similar situation happened in Ngorongoro with a buffalo. He never stopped until he knew we were satisfied and experienced what we came to. Gabriel's cooking is incredible! His soups are probably the best I have ever had. One of my friends has health problems that restricts her from eating many foods and Gabriel always made sure to make special food for her that she could eat.
Overall, amazing experience for a very good price!
CA
Email David | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome guide and cook, excellent communication and value, average mechanics
We booked our Safari at the very last minute and Michael, the owner, on-boarded us on an existing 5 days / 4 nights budget-level 6 people group tour that corresponded to what we wanted to see. We had been told that the group was to be 4-5 people but it ended up being 6 at the very last minute. I do understand why they try to book the groups as much as they can at this price level, but still I would have appreciated a better management of our expectations in terms of group size. Other than that detail, communication throughout the arrangement process was clear and efficient.
We arrived in Arusha the day before our departure and Michael was at the airport himself to welcome us, very nice touch. He took us to a - basic but OK - hotel downtown for the night, at no additional cost. The morning we left, Michael came back to brief us at the hotel and we realized we did not have much warm clothing. So Michael was kind enough to lend his sweater to my girlfriend (which, by the way, she needed! - if you go to Ngorongoro Crater, BRING SOME WARM CLOTHES, it's freezing cold at night in July at 2800m of altitude in a tent). He really does everything he can to please his clients.
Having booked a budget-level safari, we were expecting the worse in terms of accommodation and comfort. We were delighted to see that on the first and last nights of the safari, we were actually sleeping in a very nice tented camp with bed and private bathrooms. On the other 2 nights we slept in tents that were packed in the land cruiser and brought with us. If you don't have your sleeping bag they provide them, but already used by other people, so keep that in mind.
Our guide, Dennis was incredible. He had a good sight for animals and was very patient. One of our group members was quite demanding (to say the least) but Dennis always stayed professional and was extremely patient. He was always very informative and deployed a lot of efforts to make sure everyone was happy. Our cook, Gabriel, was also very nice. Although a bit shy and distant, his food was excellent and always in gargantuesque quantities.
The Toyota Land Cruiser we traveled in was not in perfect shape. The suspension was literally destroyed and this made the travel on dirt roads quite uncomfortable. During our return from Serengeti, the vehicle's engine stopped. We were stuck on the side of the road and Dennis and Gabriel were trying their best to fix it. We were lucky another driver who was going to get his clients at the airport passed by and offered to bring us at the park gate (our 24h time to be inside the park was almost done). This is when we realized how much of a bad shape the suspension on *our* car was. This new car was cruising smoothly over each bumps, whereas ours was really struggling. Anyways, it took Dennis about 30 minutes to fix the car with the help of another guide and we were back on track. During our return to Arusha on our last day, the car stopped twice, apparently because the fuel was exhausted. Don't know what to think of this one, but anyways, we got to Arusha a little late but we got there :)
Looking back at the learnings after our safari, my only advice to you the reader is *don't try to see everything*. The tour we booked allowed us to visit 4 national parks in 5 days, but looking back, we would have been a lot more satisfied seeing only 2 (probably Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater) in the same amount of time. Travel time between national parks is SIGNIFICANT. Serengeti is *far*. If you want to enjoy your time with the nature and animals as much as possible, please try to limit your urge to see every national park in the region. Select 1 or 2 that you really want to see and go for a real safari! - not highway travel... We had a very limited time to book our safari so we jumped in one of the existing packages Michael offers, but he can also arrange more custom safaris. *I highly recommend* going for more modest aspirations in terms of the number of national parks you'll be exploring during your safari. For most people this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so do it good or don't do it :)
We are happy we found Michael and his company for our safari... we were not sure if we could trust the reviews here but now we can say you can definitely trust them. NCA comes highly recommended.
BE
Email Debbie, Natasha and Jason | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Totally excellent safari and highly recommendable company !
I did many safaris in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia in the past, together with my safari-guide former husband. The safari I did now in July 2014 with Northern Circuit Adventure is definitely right up there at the top of my list.
As a single mother of two children, ages 15 and 12, I needed to be budget conscious and was not afraid to go for basic camping. The director, Michael, was always quick, efficient and very patient in answering my many emails of questions for a tailor-made safari, always going out of his way to satisfy my wishes and budget. He gave us a very welcome warm meeting at the airport and provided us with a 6-day safari taking in Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngoronoro Crater.
We travelled together with my sister, accompanied by wonderfully patient, competent and friendly guide Elias, our excellent cook Gabriel (best pilau rice I ate in the whole month in Tanzania ! and plenty of other delicious food) and trainee-cook/fun companion for my children, Sweetbart. They were all extremely pleasant and dealt with the couple of much-to-be expected vehicle problems (considering the terrain we travelled and amount of kilometres covered) with totally efficiency, ingenuity and calmness.
We saw an amazing amount of animals, including 3 leopards in 2 days, a pride of 12 lions, herds of elephants passing within 2 metres of our jeep, etc etc. If you can only afford to do one safari in your life, I can assure you that THIS is the place to come ! The lesser-known Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara National Park are also teeming with wildlife and worth a visit.
If it's luxury safari you are after, perhaps Northern Circuit Adventure can also organise that, but in any case, I highly, highly recommend them and am extremely grateful for all they have done for us. THANK YOU !
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great enthusiasm - and a great safari
Had a great safari with Northern Circuit in July 2014, four-day budget-tour starting i Arusha. The driver-guide (Dennis) and gave us a very good experience, he found almost all the animals and he put a lot of effort into talking with other drivers he met, about finding the animals. We saw them A LOT of lions, elepants, cheeta, buffalo, etc. (except the rhino), which is much more than I expected from the four-days budget-safari we went on. AND the driver-guide knew a lot about life in Serengeti, Ngorongoro and about animal and plants. The tents were ok and the food was really fine.
I will most definately recommend Northern Cirquit!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enjoyable adventure
We took 6 days safari with tent camping. If you are looking for a low key accommodation closer to the nature, friendly people, very relaxing schedule, you got it! Dennis, the driver/guide was knowledgeable, funny and very safe. We witnessed 2 hunts, one with chita and gazelle, the other one with a lion and gazelle. It looked like we were watching Discovery Channel but in real!! So exciting!
Moses (Musa), the chef was incredible! He was making delicious food in a middle of nowhere! Even a crepes for breakfast. So creative, fresh and tasty! Every time the food was served at the table with porcelain plates, glass caps and silverware, no plastic which was very nice. Modest but very clean!
We are thankful to the crew and Michael, our tour operator for bringing us the spirit, hospitality and beauty of this amazing country!
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
High quality budget safari!
This safari starts with the contact to the owner of the company, Michael. Michael is a very nice guy who will do anything to make sure his customers will get the best possible experience. Everything from answering your mails the same day, making sure your arrival and stay in Arusha is as good as it can be and even to make sure you will get safely back to the airport by helping arrange transportation. When he found out some customers were annoyed with the early prayers at a mosque close to the accommodation he used, he moved it to another location without any question.
The actual safari was beautiful! The guide (Deco) was great at spotting the animals and we saw them all! He was never in a hurry, he let us have all the time we needed and he also seemed to enjoy finding the animals. He was there because he liked the wildlife as well, not because of us. The cook made great food as well and there was plenty of it!
The car we drove was an old worrier, who luckily survived yet another adventure. We saw many cars broken down at the side of the road, especially at the end of our 5 day journey, but we didn't have any major problems.
The campsites have what you need and some of them more, so you can rest and get ready for the next day.
I was positively surprised by the quality Northen Circuit Adventure could provide in any way, since this is a budget safari.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent budget choice
Mike is very communicative and responds quickly to emails. Elias (guide) was excellent, lovely, knowledgable and friendly! We had a great experience with Northern Circuit. Great choice of camp in the Serengeti as it was well located and reduced long driving time each day. Good, hearty food and comfortable vehicle.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great time, great souvenirs, great services
We spent a great time in Tanzania thanks to an extremely committed staff. From the first exchanges by email, which Mike answered without delay including the personalisation of the tour, to the safari itself with a friendly and accurate guide together with tasty-food maker chef.
US
Email Shira and Jeremy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible Safari Experience
We had a phenomenal time with Northern Circuit Adventure. Mike was extremely responsive and accommodating to our schedule, even when our flights got shifted around and delayed we were able to contact him and arrange for an alternative pick up place and time. Once on the safari, we loved every second of it. Not only did Northern Circuit arrange 4 fantastic days including trips to 4 national/conservation parks and a Masaai village, but we were guided by Dennis, an extremely, fun, lovely, and knowledgable person. Moreover, we did the budget safari, but felt the accommodations were above and beyond what we were expecting -we stayed at wonderful camping site with amazing food and entertainment and slept in a luxury tent (which included lights, chargers, and a private tent bathroom with a shower). We have never written a review of anything, but we strongly feel that Northern Circuit deserves the highest of praises and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in going on a Safari in Tanzania. Feel free to email us by accessing our information through Northern Circuit for more information or to verify the recommendation.
US
Email Emily | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great budget safari for Serengeti and Tanz National Parks
The owner/ manager Mike was very helpful, personable, and responsive to our questions and requests. He asked if we had any dietary restrictions so that they could plan the meals accordingly, and gave us detailed itineraries of what we would be doing and when. He even helped us arrange tours with other companies on the days we weren't on safari and got us a more affordable mode of transportation to the airport (which was HARD to find!) We looked at other companies and this was one of the more affordable safaris we could find, and being able to pay online cut out extra exchange fees.
The safari itself was great, better than I would have expected. What made our trip though was the driver and cook (Hassani and Pius, request them!!) They took EXCELLENT care of us, were super friendly, professional, overall wonderful people. Our driver/guide was a walking encyclopedia of information on the fauna, flora, geography, culture, etc of the area and he was a very safe and cautious driver. We talked to other groups at the campsites and it was clear Hassani was one of the most experienced, professional and friendly driver/guides around.
I would recommend anyone I know to use this company.