Join us for your African adventure!
Alika Africa
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2004)
- Member Of:
- Association for Promotion of Tourism to Africa
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $180 to $1,500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of our best private tours anywhere in the world, with a great guide
My wife and I went on a two-week safari with Duma Explorer this April, 2015 and it was a great trip; one of the best private tours we’ve taken anywhere in the world, and at a very good price. The owner Stacy planned the trip and we were guided by Shange. We were initially concerned about spending two weeks with someone in a Land Cruiser, but we particularly liked Shange, who was lively, fun, knowledgeable and particularly good at spotting animals. He has guided Prince Philip and actor Daniel Craig (James Bond). When my wife needed to contact her doctor back in Atlanta he helped her make the call immediately on his own cell phone. He’s one of our favorite guides, ever. He speaks perfect English and gave us a rich sense of Tanzanian culture and wildlife, filled with history and stories. (He has also started his own small school for poor children. He will talk about the school if you ask; we got a chance to see some of the adorable children at the end of the trip.)
It worked well to plan the trip by email and a Skype call to Stacy and we were able to tune the trip to our needs (mostly comfortable tented camps, combining cultural experiences with seeing animals). We stayed the Ndarakwai Ranch in West Kilimanjaro to get over jet lag, Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tarangire National Park, Isoitok Camp in Masaai county near Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge overlooking Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge overlooking the crater, and the Kiota and Chaka camps in the Serengeti. All were comfortable with good food and service.
Our trip was at the end of the rainy season when it’s cooler, less crowded, less dusty and less expensive, but also was sometimes more difficult to see cats in the high grass. (But Shange was able to find a lot, anyway).
Some particular high points of a great trip:
• Walking safari in the Ndarakwai Ranch; we will always remember seeing elephants and giraffes for the first time in nature.
• Spending time with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherer tribe, Datoga tribe and the Masaai near Lake Eyasi. We got a glimpse of how these people live, not very different from centuries ago. Shange and the local guide Hasim were able to visit tribes off the beaten path.
• The Isoitok Camp has extraordinary food and deep commitment to providing clean water to nearby Masaai villages.
• Ngorongoro crater is a Shangri-La for animals; we saw thousands in a few hours.
• The Kiota and Chaka tented camps in the Serengeti, owned by Duma Explorer, were extraordinary: comfortable with remarkable service and a sense of being in the bush, but perfectly safe. Kiota, the newest camp, has hand carved dual sinks in the ensuite bathroom!