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
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful people, service and value.
Our experience with Regional tours and its staff was incredible; they were caring, attentive and quick to respond to our requests. I simply can't say enough good things about this company. Working with Maturaf to plan the trip was informative and easy; we were able to plan out exactly the trip that we wanted without any up-selling or complication. Maturaf seemed truly focused on providing what we wanted and offering up great suggestions when we weren't sure how to proceed. We met many people on holiday in Tanzania that were basically doing the same trip as we were but paying a significantly more money to an out-of-country company. Regional Tours is a completely local company so your money stays where it should; in country. The camps and resorts that they chose for us were better and cheaper than the ones we chose for ourselves (fortunately we only chose for ourselves on two nights). If you are going to Tanzania then you need to contact this company and give them a shot at your business; if your rich you'll probably choose someone else but if your like me and this trip was a big financial expenditure then you'll love the money that you save. Everything was top-notch.
I want to add some comments about our safari driver Emmanuel; it's hard to imagine a better companion. On safari you spend a great deal of time with your driver and he can make or break your entire adventure. We didn't understand this when we planned our trip but hit the lottery with Emmanuel. He was an ambassador for his country; a blessing to his company; and a role model of his industry. His patience, knowledge and kindness added greatly to the best vacation of our lives.
We'll probably never be back to Tanzania; but if we do go then I guarantee that we will call Regional Tours.
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20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Safari and Beach Vacation in Tanzania
I recently completed a 9 day Safari with Regional Tours & Safaris. Everything went very smoothly and I would recommend using them to book your trip to Tanzania. We ended up picking this company because it was by far the best value relative to other operators with similar itineraries and Maturaf was very flexible when adapting our itinerary to our preferences and schedule. The highlights of the trip for us were Serengeti N.P. (make sure you spend 2 nights here!), Ngorongoro Farmhouse, and The Z Hotel on Zanzibar.
I was very happy with the quality of our accommodations, especially after traveling to other parts of Africa after Tanzania. I was also very impressed with the food everywhere. Our safari guide, Juma, wasn't extremely talkative but he was great at speaking with other guides to make sure we got to see where the animals were hanging out at any given time.
The only minor downside we experienced, as others have pointed out, was the quality and frequency of communication from Maturaf. Sometimes we would get a response with only half of our questions addressed. I think this could be resolved if Maturaf simply added more detail to the itinerary and/or had a FAQ page. There were a few moments of uncertainty but everything worked out in the end which is why I'm not deducting a star.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing vacation experience
Wedding Honeymoon was great with our tour manager Maturaf and his staff and friends. We cherished every single escapades all over Zanzibar. Would love to visit again.
MY
Email Jeff | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fast, straightforward and competitively priced
We found the company through other recommendations and it lived up to its review. The company was prompt in replies, helpful in some descriptions and efficient in assistance. The guide assigned to us was excellent, very experienced and trustworthy. Ask for Peter Pendaeli if you need a great guide!
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Email Stephan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent organised tour
We were looking for a short holiday in July that included a safari trip and a few days at the beach to relax, after checking for different options we found the offer by Regional Tours which covered all of our interests in one package (northern circuit and Zanzibar).
The correspondence with Maturaf (Managing Director) was good, he responded to our emails very fast and with the relevant information. As mentioned by other people before the frequency and the response time reduced after confirmation of the advance payment. However all arrangements and bookings were done immediately upon receipt of payment - so do not worry. The pickup drivers were always on time and the staff of Regional Tours very reliable. Everything was well organized from arrival until departure.
Our driver/guide for the safari Emmanuel was very helpful and informative. Every evening we would plan the next day schedule together with a lot of suggestions from Emmanuel which made the trip more exciting and we could enjoy to the max. Emmanuel is very experienced and knows the route, hangouts of the animals, fantastic places and viewpoints quiet well. There was not a time when we were bored, whenever we thought we had enough of the gazelles, zebras or the long rides we came across something interesting that made trip; that moment; special. In the end all we remember is the lovely experience and the treasured moments. Thank you, Emmanuel, for making our trip a memorable one.
The accommodations during the safari were on the upper end (Tanganyika wilderness camps) and the hotel in Zanzibar (the Z hotel) was great. Minor adjustments or additions to our tour on short notice (Trip to Kilimanjaro, safari adjustments and Stone Town tour) were organized easily and without any problems. I can and will highly recommend this company and our tour guide Emmanuel to anyone who wants a great organized trip/safari for a reasonable price.