Regional Tours & Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- TATO, ATA & ZATO
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience
I went on a Safari recently in February with my best friend. The tour was arranged very well -- excellent activities, hotels, and our guide - Didas - was a true highlight. We saw "The Big 5" (lion, elephant, rhino, cheetah, and leopard) within the first two days! It was very nice to have a blend of safari/beach trip as well -- Tanzania/Zanzibar combo is recommended. Maturaf planned us an amazing trip, although at times he was slightly unresponsive over email. Still, highly encourage others to use this tour provider and request Didas as their guide!
SE
Email Siw Chui | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional and friendly, quick to reply to questions.
Maturaf at Regional Tours & Safaris is very professional and pleasant to deal with. He swiftly responded to any queries, was honest and suggested good solutions. Regional Tours & Safaris tailormade a very good programme for us (4 adults and 2 children) according to our requests. It included overnight in Arusha, a five day safari at Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, in Ndutu and Serengeti in lodges/tented camps followed by five days in Zanzibar. It was very clear what was included in the price and what was not. Everything went extremely smoothly, there was always a car with driver/guide waiting to pick us up. We made several internal flights with three different companies and they all worked perfectly, they were even often ahead of schedule!
A special thanks to William, our excellent guide, who made our safari a memory for life!
In Zanzibar we stayed at Villa Kiva, which is an ideal hotel for people who like a green, quiet and relaxing place, and cats!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari guide and wonderful lodging!
My best friend and I went on a 10 day trip- 5 days safari and 5 days in Zanzibar. Our safari guide , Didas, was amazing! He was able to spot animals from a distance without evening using binoculars and was extremely knowledgeable and kind. The lodging- hotels and tented camps were beautiful and the food was great. We liked our hotel in Zanzibar - the Z Hotel - a lot. The only issue is that its far away (at least an hour) from most of the main attractions in Zanzibar- Stone Town, the national forest, spice tour, ect. Fortunately we were mainly there to dive, so we weren't really affected by that. However, given that there are many other great places to dive on the island, I'd probably pick a location closer to everything else next time. The only small complaint we have is that the gentleman who arranged our tour, Maturaf, became very unresponsive to email as soon as we put down our deposit on the trip, including neglecting to correct errors, like the spelling of my friends name and the fact that I'm a woman and we were not a couple. This caused a couple small hiccups at the airport and hotels were we ended up having to share a bed because he'd listed the room as wanting one bed. All in all, great trip and would use them again!
US
Email John W | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!!
We just returned from a 10 day trip through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, the Serengeti, and Zanzibar which we worked with Maturaf at Regional Tours and Safari’s to set up. The trip was amazing! It exceeded all of our high expectations. We customized the trip substantially and Maturaf was extremely helpful throughout the process.
When we were planning we continually e-mailed Maturaf with changes, most of the time he’d respond within a day, which I think is good given our time zone differences. Occasionally he would need to confirm availability which could take longer, but he always came through. Once the trip was finalized we made a deposit through wire transfer, which can be a little nerve-racking for some, but after much independent research we were confident we were in good hands.
The e-mails slowed down after the deposit. It would have been nice to receive independent booking confirmations from our hotels/camps; however I don’t think that’s common practice for remote lodges which often have power by generator and some have no internet service (Serengeti). So don’t take the reduced communication as a bad sign; we did receive confirmation e-mails when they were available such as our flight from Arusha to Zanzibar.
Logistically everything went off perfect! They picked us up on time, meals were all included like listed in the itinerary, accommodations were just like we booked, and the safari vehicle was private, clean and in great shape. Absolutely 0 issues. Our itinerary noted that water would be included on the game drives; we asked before we left Arusha and were told otherwise, so we stopped at Nakumatt (supermarket) on the way out of Arusha and got some. We found that our hotels often provided water in the rooms which may have been what our itinerary was referencing. Either way we spent $5 and had more water than we knew what to do with.
We were very impressed with our Safari guide, Johnson Eliyuko was amazing! We were able to see every animal we wanted to, and then even more. In fact we saw so many lions we eventually just asked to continue driving on past some of them. In Zanzibar, Omar leads a few tours and did an awesome job showing us around.
I’ve recommended Regional Tours to several people already and will continue to recommend to anyone!
US
Email Albie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime
Regional tours proved to be a valuable resource throughout the entire process of booking this trip and providing educational information about what to do in Tanzania. The service was excellent and the tour/trip they created lead to our most favorite trip to date. Our drivers and tours guys were always on time and friendly. The experience we loved best on this trip was the safari between the ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti. If you are looking to do a similar tour here are some recommendations on places to stay. Before traveling on the Safari we stayed at the Zawadi House which gives us exceptional service the the accommodations were top notch. The best place to stay when you get to the crate is the Serena Lodge which is 7,548 feet above sea level at the rim of the crater! The views are incredible and the hotel was beautiful.
Our tour guide Ewi made our amazing sight seeing experience even more spectacular. He made sure that we got to see all the animals we wanted to see and he genuinely cared about our experience. We could have not asked for a better guide to spend the long days with and we thank him for all the education and contributing to our greatest experience in life.
If your looking to book a Safari trip I would highly recommend the staff at Regional tours and when we go back to Africa we'll be sure to utilize their services.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Regional Tours & Safaris took the stress out of planning a complex vacation
A friend and I recently returned from a 2-week trip through Tanzania, Uganda, and Istanbul. We booked the Tanzania portion of our trip through Regional Tours & Safaris and were very satisfied. Our guide greeted us at the airport in Kilimanjaro at 1am, and we were ushered through the next 8 days by the tour company. All the accommodations exceeded expectations, and our guide got us extremely close to amazing animals in various national parks. I would definitely recommend Regional Tours & Safaris to any family and friends considering a trip to Tanzania.
FR
Email Girard murielle | 35-50 years of age
very good experience, it was better than we can thought
We have has sole trouble to be in contact by mail but all the travel was better than we can expert. The driver for the safary wax excellent and on Zanzibar Omar has given us good information . The blues safari was a very nice moment
Email Kit - Australian in Mozambique | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Value for money. Reliable, well organised and very helpful staff.
It was difficult to choose a Safari Operator just using the internet and I was very worried that I would choose a bogus operator. Although I could not find a lot of references on Regional Tours & Safaris in Zanzibar, I decided to go with my gut feeling and give them a go. This was largely based on the initial email I received from Maturaf (Managing Director) at my request for a quote on the 9 Day Affordable Wildlife Safari and Zanzibar Vacation. His reply was prompt, professional and detailed. A good start. Everything promised was delivered. We did not have one hitch and had a terrific holiday! The whole team seemed to go out of their way to make sure everything went according to plan and when my second international money transfer did not go through according to plan, Maturaf was quite happy for me to pay my final payment on arriving in Zanzibar. All our accommodation was great, our driver Mwinyi was a nice bloke and tried hard to make sure we saw as much as possible. We were collected at Kilimanjaro airport and delivered back there at our request and our drivers were always waiting for us - we were always supplied with their name and phone numbers as well. This tour delivered value for money and I would recommend their services unreservedly. Well done and thankyou Maturaf and the team! Very happy customers!
Well planned fand accommodation is good our guide Emanuelle was courteous.
We enjoyed the tour very much although we could have easily done it in 7 nights rather than 9.
Accommodations were good except in Arusha. The driver was good but didn't supply much information unless we asked. The car was good but we are glad, we never needed it for a fast get away because it took a long time to start.
BN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thought it would be good......but it was GREAT!
Would highly recommend our tour guide Donald. Good driver, great animal spotter, knowledgeable, friendly and fun. The Matipo tented camp was a highlight. The game drives far exceeded my expectations as far as how close and how many animals we would see. We had a few last minute unforeseen changes to our group and these were handled well. Thanks for an unforgettable holiday.