Maurice, Your Personal 24hrs Safari Consultant
Africa Safari Classics
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- ATTA, ASTA, NTA & FTA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $250 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Reuben | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great 25 days in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania)
As a photography enthusiast, I wanted to find a company who can work with me to tailor made an itinerary that is suitable for my needs. I was happy that I was able to work with Africa Safari Classics who tailor made an itinerary for me to explore and photograph Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania. I was happy with the communication from the start with the Sales Director Maurice who was professional, friendly and timely in all his communications. We just concluded our 25 day safari excursion and was totally happy with it. It was smooth when we move from one country to another and Africa Safari Classics was able to coordinate all transfers, lodges and game drives to meet our needs. All lodges were excellent except for two that were Eco Lodges that we were not aware of. But Maurice was there to fix those small issues that we experienced through his partners and overall we had an excellent experience.
The food was great, logistics were carried out with details and the game drives were excellent. The guides knew their parks inside out which is very important in any safaris. As a photographer I was able to capture some amazing images and you can check them out at Images by Reuben (On IG, FB and website).
Gorilla trekking in Uganda was a mind blowing experience for us. We selected the parks based on our needs and Amboseli and Serengeti never disappointed us. Overall we loved our safari experience and want to thank Maurice and his team for a great itinerary and experience. All their guides did an excellent job with ethical guiding which is very important when you are in the wild.
This trip was originally booked for last year and due to Covid, we were able to postpone without any issues through Maurice. All our deposits were transferred to this year and all went without any hazzle.
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Email Frances W | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Organized, caring, detail oriented, fantastic, enthusiastic, connected just sensational!
This was a trip of a lifetime! We felt spoiled rotten with the customer care we received from Africa Safari Classics. Maurice planned and executed our itinerary with excellence. We had local guides that helped us with flights, transfers, hotel/camp check ins, tours, and anything we needed so we never felt like we had to know everything. So nice!!
The safari guides knew everything about anything we asked - the animals (SO MANY!), topography, the local people,, geography, schools, you name it.
They found all the animals we wanted to see and more - so many birds and trees to learn about too. We were blown away by their knowledge.
We visited Kenya Amboseli (visited a local village which was so moving) and Maasai Mara (do the hot air balloon!) then flew to Rwanda and did gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park and visited the genocide museum. The country is so beautiful and clean. The people are proud they have healed from past horrors. Everywhere we went the people were so happy.
Tanzania was our final stop where we visited the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Parks.
We loved the difference this country offered from the other two. Maurice checked in with us daily to make sure all our needs were met. He chose a variety of accommodations so we could have different experiences in lodgings. They were all AMAZING!
Thank you Maurice to you and your team of drivers and safari guides! We could not have asked for a more perfect trip!! VERY happy we chose you!
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Email Patrick | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a Lifetime
Our safari in Kenya was the trip of a lifetime! Our guide, Tony, was incredible - he went above and beyond to make sure we saw the Big Five multiple times along with many other animals and birds. He was also an excellent driver and extremely knowledgeable about the parks. We did the 5 day safari with Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru, and Masai Mara. We highly recommend staying at The Ark Lodge right next to the watering hole and splurging on the optional hot air balloon safari - those were our two favorite experiences. Africa Safari Classics was very responsive through the planning process too even when we needed to move the trip multiple times for COVID. We also upgraded to the Land Cruiser vehicle which was comfortable on the bumpy roads and easy to see everything from when standing on game drives. Our only thing we would change - we stopped at a lot of tourist trap "gift shops" where there was a lot of pressure to buy crafts at lofty prices. Other stops to use the bathrooms would have been ideal.
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Email Tony C | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Maurice was responsive, thorough and competent, and booked an exceptional safari trip for us.
We recently completed a 10 day safari adventure with Africa Safari Classics. It was one of the best travel experiences I have ever enjoyed. Maurice was extremely responsive and promptly and thoroughly answered all of my questions and e-mails. He reviewed options with me, and assured he booked us in the accommodations we desired. Maurice coordinated our pick up at the airport, and all of our guides and transfers for the entire trip. Peter and Levi were awesome as our guides, and our tent rooms at Satao Elerai and Mahali Mzuri were incredible. We felt safe and well cared for the entire trip. I would highly recommend Maurice and his staff for your safari planning, he provided the trip of a lifetime.
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Email Marie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Planned an 8 day safari that far exceeded our expectations!
Unforgettable trip! Far exceeded my expectations! So glad I chose Africa Safari Classics to plan our trip. My mom has had a safari on her bucklist forever and we finally decided to go despite the current uncertainties with the pandemic. Glad we did. Went the last part of December 2021. My 72 year old mom, my college age son and 2 daughters in high school. Great trip for everyone in our eclectic group.
Went into the trip thinking we would see a lot of animals but not everything. I was hoping for a cheetah or a leopard. We saw EVERYTHING! Saw all the big 5, cheetahs, hippos, etc! Not only that we saw it all very close. Saw lionesses with their cubs eating a zebra, a leopard with its kill in a tree, and so much more! I was worried that my camera would not be powerful enought to get the photos I wanted. So it was so awesome to see everything so close! The pictures my kids got on their phones were amazing because our drivers got us right up to the animals.
Highlights included:
Seeing all the animals so close!
Night game drive.
Hot air balloon ride during sunrise over the Mara.
Also recommend going to different parks/conservancies. Loved Amboseli, Mara, and Eagle View (Naboisho Conservancy). Glad we didn't spend the whole time at only one national park.
Our guides were wonderful! Tony was our guide for the majority of the trip. He has been a guide for 15+ years and was great! My mom said she appreciated his patience answering all her questions and we never felt rushed.
Maurice did a great job planning it all out for us. I just emailed him with my list of what we wanted to see and do and I let him plan it since he knew what would be best for that time of year.
Can't say enough about how much I would recommend going with Africa Safari Classics.
Email Ignacio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Simply Amazing! The best service one can wish for.
Incredible 10-day safari at Maasai Mara
This was our third trip with Africa Safari Classics, and as usual everything was excellent. Maurice helped us plan the trip on quite short notice, and his recommendations were just perfect. All the camps had incredible accommodation and service, lovely and kind staff and very well located for game drives.
Maurice was on top of everything, calling us on texting to ensure things were running smoothly as per plan. He even took the time to come to meet at the hotel before departing to the reserve. And this was on a Sunday!
I can’t recommend Africa Safari Classics enough. They have the knowledge, the experience and always strive for the best quality. And at affordable prices.
Special mentioned to our guide and driver, Peter. He was the best! Not only does he have an incredible knowledge of the wildlife but also, he is the most patience, respectful and understanding guide you can wish for. He was always willing to give us more time with the animals, share his knowledge, accommodate the day based on our preferences. Honestly, this trip would have not been so good without him! 5 stars also for Peter!
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Email Rahul | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was best trip ever!
We loved our trip. It was phenomenal experience going to Kenya and staying there for few days and it was perfectly planned by Maurice (Africa Safari Classics).
Overall the best service we had, camps were absolutely amazing with breathtaking views and good food. Hospitality and Customer Service was great. We loved drivers they covered lot of places to hit the BIG Five experiences.
Thanks a zillion to Africa Safari Classics.
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Email Max G | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible honeymoon safari to Kenya & Tanzania
Maurice prepared an action-packed 8 day safari of Kenya and Tanzania for our postponed-from-2020 honeymoon. Like many others, I had narrowed my search down to operators who could provide the joint Kenya/Tanzania itinerary we were looking for. As operators aren't able to provide tours across borders, this means finding a company with a strong ground operation in both countries through partnerships, of which Africa Safari Classics absolutely does. Our 8 days consisted of game drives in Amboseli, Masai Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro; before departing for Zanzibar.
I can't speak highly enough of Maurice's professionalism and constant, but balanced communication. I strongly encourage others to go with Africa Safari Classics -- the personal touch you will get from dealing with a medium-sized company truly makes the difference once you're on the ground. While we had initially planned for the trip in the summer of 2020, due to the pandemic we postponed to 2021. Maurice was able to shift our entire trip to this year with ease. Once on the ground, Maurice made a point of coming to greet us on our day of arrival at our hotel and also to introduce us to our driver, John, for the Kenya portion of the trip. Given the additional logistics required due to Covid, he also researched and arranged our Covid tests needed to get us from Kenya to Tanzania. Only surprise from the Tanzania authorities (not published anywhere I could find) was that in addition to the PCR test we obtained, a $25 rapid test was required on the spot. Would just be prepared for those also planning similar cross-border safaris.
All our airport transfers (arrival into NBO, as well as to/from Wilson airport) were prearranged by Maurice and went seamlessly with no hiccups. Safari experiences with John in Kenya, and David in Tanzania were action packed. As my wife wasn't too keen on using the savannah as a bathroom, we had requested to John that we break up our day with bathroom breaks at the lodges. David was also accommodating on this request in Serengeti and Ngorongoro. As full-day game drives can be long (~10 hours), it helps to break up so much time in the Landcruiser. We got to get to know David quite well in Tanzania, as he was also our dinner companion at the camps. He has a great sense of humor and was just as excited as us to try and catch some of the harder-to-find animals in the park. We found Amboseli was a smart first stop as you can easily see abundant elephants, giraffes, zebras in a short amount of time (the game drives were also shorter here). Masai Mara had the most interesting landscape, but is quite a bit larger than Amboseli. The animal activity got more interesting there as well, with massive caravans of Wildebeest and Zebras as part of the Great Migration. Serengeti was where we finally hit our Big-5, after seeing two Leopards, and a Rhino (from a distance, they weren't out as much in the cooler weather). Finishing at Ngorongoro was perfect, as the landscape is unlike anything you'll see anywhere else in the world. Our accommodations also gave us a variety of experiences, from lux lodges in Amboseli, to "glamping" in Masai Mara and Ngorongoro, to the true bush camp experience in Serengeti.
All-in-all, Africa Safari Classics provided us an unforgettable experience that we are still fully processing. They should be the first choice for those looking for a tailored, full safari experience without breaking the bank.
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Email Jahaad | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing guide, that was very knowledgeable. He also had a great personality for the long drives.
This was the BEST trip I’ve ever been on. First, let me acknowledge Maurice for helping my boyfriend create the PERFECT itinerary. Each day it truly it truly got better and better. Our driver Kasimba was the absolute best! He made the trip so fun and adventurous. He had a great sense of humor and so kind to us. Our “kaka” forever. We thank you all for giving us the best experience in Kenya. -Bria & Jahaad
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Email Sam H.W. Sappington | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Two Amazing and Remarkable Safari Trips to East Africa with Africa Safari Classics!
I am nearly a year late in writing this review, but VERY Happy to do so! 2020 has been a very rough year for the safari travel business in Africa, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, international flights to Kenya have recently resumed and I hope my comments and observations here can help to generate renewed interest among potential safari-goers, as the industry slowly begins to recover.
We made our first safari adventure to Kenya back in November 2016, and booked our trip through Maurice Nzwii with Africa Safari Classics. We chose one of their 9-day itineraries ("Wildlife in Style"), which took us through 5 national parks and game reserves. It was an outstanding adventure, and we came home to Oregon (USA) determined to make a return trip as soon as possible. We came across some amazing airfares to Africa in the summer of 2019 (less than $650 RT from Seattle to Nairobi), and we booked our 2nd trip with Africa Safari Classics for November of last year. Once again, Maurice came through for us in remarkable ways, and gave us the single BEST travel adventure of our lives (followed closely by our first trip to Kenya in 2016)!
In planning a second trip to East Africa, we knew that we wanted to see more and stay longer. So, we extended this trip to two full weeks, and expanded our travels into Tanzania as well as spending our final three days relaxing at two beach resorts in Watamu (just north of Mombasa). We made a point of revisiting two of the parks we particularly enjoyed on our 2016 trip (Maasai Mara and Amboseli), both of which are true gems in the Kenyan National Park and Game Reserve system! We spent four days venturing in to Tanzania to visit the Serengeti National Park as well as the Ngorngoro Crater. We also made a point of visiting a couple new parks in SE Kenya (a private wildlife sanctuary in the Taita Hills and Tsavo East NP) as we made our way to the beach region along the shores of the Indian Ocean.
I cannot state this emphatically enough, but EVERY SINGLE aspect of this itinerary for our 2nd trip with ASC met or exceeded our expectations! First, I cannot find the words to convey how pleasant and satisfying it is to work with MAURICE NZWII from ASC in arranging all of our trip details. Travel costs in Africa had increased significantly between 2016 and 2019. Initial cost estimates for our two-week itinerary (excluding airfare) were nearly $6000 per person -- approaching double what we paid in 2016. However, after just a few rounds of email communications with Maurice, he was able to generate a revised and COMPLETELY satisfying alternative travel plan that was $1500 less, much more in line with what we were hoping for. Maurice is unlike ANY other travel agent I have ever worked with, and he is truly in a class of his own! He is totally dedicated to customer satisfaction, and he consistently communicates in a very friendly and timely fashion! He joined us for dinner on our first full day in Nairobi and he even met us at the Kenyatta Int'l Airport as we transferred for our return flight to Seattle. Maurice checks in with your driver EVERY DAY of your trip, just to ensure that everything is going well. You know you are in VERY GOOD HANDS when you set up a safari adventure through Maurice Nzwii! I cannot recommend him highly enough!
Let me say more about our driver as well, Boniface (a.k.a. Boni). We spent our entire 9-day trip in 2016 with Boni as our driver, and we had such a good time with him that we requested him once again for our return trip in 2019. And we got him! Boni has been a safari guide for 20 years, and he seems to know all the parks and game reserves like the back of his hand. He has remarkable vision and is able to spot all kinds of animals and sightings that the untrained eye would likely completely miss. Like his boss, Maurice, Boni is also completely dedicated to showing safari-goer's a great time! He will give you as much time as you wish to take photos or videos, or just to linger and enjoy what you are seeing. He also has a wonderful sense of humor, and every day brought multiple rounds of hearty laughter! We were SO Happy to travel with Boni once again and feel like we have become great friends! (It is worth noting that drivers cannot cross national borders, so our time in Tanzania was with another pleasant driver, Abdul. But Boni met us at the border once again for the remainder of our trip in SE Kenya.) We have become Facebook friends with both Boni and Maurice, and we continue to communicate with both of them that way, which is loads of fun!
I know this is getting to be a lengthy review, but let me also point out that we were completely satisfied with ALL the lodging accommodations that Maurice booked for us ranging from very nice hotels, to exotic tented safari camps, as well as relaxing beach resorts. They were all very nice facilities and we really enjoyed the variety! The service was consistently outstanding, the food was very tasty and satisfying (with no stomach issues at all across the entire two weeks). When Maurice brought down our travel costs by 25% from his initial estimates, we thought that might translate to staying at less appealing facilities, but that was not the case at all. We were not disappointed in the least with ANY of the 8 places we stayed at! Again, Maurice takes very good care of you!
Some final closing thoughts here. Our two trips to East Africa have been life-changing experiences for us, and have filled our hearts and minds with a treasure trove of wonderful memories! Both trips brought us to many different regions, covering large swaths of geography, and allowing us to see an impressive diversity of locales, landscapes, and local norms. It was interesting to note some of the differences between Kenya and Tanzania, something that only comes with international travel to new lands. We took both of our trips with Africa Safari Classics in the month of November, which we have found to be a very pleasant time of the year to travel. It is almost like a spring-time vacation during the light rains season, with all kinds of new greenery emerging, new water holes for the animals to enjoy, and the opportunity to see many newborn animals as well (oh, baby warthogs are SO cute!). It is outside the peak season, so there are far fewer safari-goer's. There were much heavier rains during our 2019 trip (and for the next few months in the region, we understand), but this did not create any inconveniences for us. It only added to the adventure, as we did have to contend with some low-level flooding in some regions. But Boni handled this like a real pro!! Boni did talk with us about his perceptions of the impacts from climate change in the region. Over the past 20 years, he reports seeing fewer trees from hotter, drier summers and a gradual decline in the numbers of animals as well. Our entire planet is being impacted by these changes, and it is not clear how many more years these kinds of travel adventures will even be feasible. If a safari is something you have ever dreamed of doing, we strongly encourage you to give this idea your utmost consideration!
We want to offer our full, heartfelt support to Maurice and his company, Africa Safari Classics, as they begin to bounce back from the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the safari travel industry. So many people in developing countries depend on the business generated by international travelers for their basic livelihood. You would not only be giving yourself a huge gift (and a possible adventure of a lifetime), but you would also be doing immeasurable good for the people of Kenya and Tanzania by taking the step of traveling to that part of the world! We cannot recommend this idea, and this company, highly enough!
