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 Manika | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent planning and accommodations limited communication post payment.
I searched high and low for a safari that offered luxury accommodations for an affordable rate. When I came across Regional Tours I was very excited with the accommodations and the price. I took several days to shop around and could not find anything more affordable that was similar in accommodations. The Regional Tours representative was in constant communication ensuring that I was knowledgeable about the safari and wanted me to complete booking quickly. I was initially apprehensive regarding the payment arrangement of Wiring money. I spent 5% more than the requested price to pay with a credit card. I did not receive a confirmation of payment, and when I reached out to the company to confirm the payment I did not get a response for a few days which made me nervous. I also sought answers regarding my confirmation of accommodations and plans before a big trip such as this. I did not receive communication for several days at a time. I felt that once my payment had been made they had vanished and my money was taken. After doing some research I learned that this was common behavior for this company. I was relieved upon arrival in Tanzania that my safari guide was waiting and ready with a sign with my name on it for me and my friend. The safari over all was well planned, the accommodations simply beautiful, and could not have been more pleased with the safari jeep. Me and my friend googled interactions with safari guides on safari as our guide was quiet a lot of the time and we were unsure if this was the typical dynamic of a safari. Amani was very knowledgeable about the animals however we felt that he did not have the enthusiasm that would have made this a safari more exciting. We certainly enjoyed his safety measures taken during the safari and his extreme Passion for following the rules, as we like to feel safe on vacation. We would have liked more communication throughout as to what we were doing so that we could be more informed. I was disappointed one day when Amani decided to leave the game drive before inquiring if we were ready to go. It was my favorite location for me, not knowing exactly the routes I was not sure of our whereabouts and didn't notice that we were leaving the park. Another area of negativity was the back door of the safari jeep was not working therefore we had to lug heavy luggage multiple rows down a narrow Jeep in-and-out daily, em 6oi. Uwith not much assistance from our guide. We could tell that he was not eager to carry or lift our bags so we did the grunt work on vacation which was not fun. We tipped the typical amount, however felt we should have reduced the amount due to having to work so hard with our luggage. Overall it was a wonderful vacation and I would certainly recommend Regional Tours and Safaris.
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Email Safina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enjoyed the tour thoroughly, good safari guide
Don't leave loose ends. Negotiate the whole trip beforehand including the trip to whichever airport you are flying out of. Make sure all the quoted camps/hotels are booked before you arrive.
Communications was good.
FR
Email Marie paggetti | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good safari, good accommodation choices, and lovely driver
Super safari, we saw a large number of animals, felt welcome, good accommodation, punctuality and smile, only downside the last day a little quickly shipped, direct return to the airport ...
Email Rohit Nigam | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organised, friendly staff
Overall a very good experience and would recommend the company.
Took a 5 day Tanzania private tour during start of June 2016
Maturaf got in touch with us 1 week prior to the trip to confirm our flight timings etc (booking was done in April). Staff was present at the airport to help with the immigration, followed by pickup from Alex who outlined the tour while driving us to Arusha. He was very friendly and explained all the key points quiet well.
Our guide (Didas) was quiet experienced (more than 15 years in the job) and was honest about the possibility of seeing animals (he told us on day one that all the big herds have moved on and hence its all down to luck to see the main wildlife). While we were initially disappointed, we appreciated his honesty and were lucky enough to see substantial wildlife.
The accommodation provided was as stated in the itinerary and of excellent quality (in particular the tent inside Serengeti). The itinerary was very well structured and covered the major parks in a reasonable time frame.
NZ
Email Racheal-lee | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall our experience was an excellent one with good lasting memories
From previous travels we came with no expectations! so everything became a great blessing and experience. The communication with Regional Tours was overall very helpful. Although at times there were slow responses and follow up emails were needed, everything that was discussed came into fruition and we were very happy with all aspects of what was planned for our trip. When changes were needing to be made regarding our accommodation there was no hesitation for Regional Tours to personally escort us to new accommodations and sort out the delivery of our luggage that did not arrive with us. The Safari guide that was with us was most excellent, very attentive to what we were looking for on our Safari, engaging, good humored and very perceptive and knowledgeable. He made every effort to give us the experience we hoped for and will remember!
NZ
Email Anne E | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience- great guide
Went with regional tours because others had used them. Was not disappointed. The guide we had on safari was amazing , Allen was his name, he did ever thing he could to make our experience great. He had information on hand and if he did not he found out the info for us, which he did not have to do often as he had the knowledge.
Will return to Africa again and would use regional tours with out hesitation. Our stay in Zanzibar was different would have preferred to be placed on a tour of some sort in stow town but when we got to our resort on the other side of Zanzibar it was amazing. Regional tours made sure we had transport between accomodation and all our domestic flights were sorted. Only negative comment would be that regional tours need to understand the client eg we were two single girls and twice our accommodation was not accomodating this fact but each time hotel sorted for us.
Regional organises good safari program particularly the part at Serengeti.
My husband and I had generally good impression about the Regional Tours & Safaris. We were satisfied particularly with our program arrangement and log location. The whole safari left us very good and deep impression at each every stop where we stayed. Tanzania is truly a beautiful country. We shared our good safari experience with our friends and recommended them to choose Regional as their agency for their safari trip in Tanzania.
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Email Sue | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This service is reliable and professional. Hotels and meals selections in Safari is great
We bought a package which included a six-night-seven-day safari and three nights in Zanzibar. The reason I gave four stars instead of five stars is the hotel in Zanzibar did not live up to our expectation. Other than that everything was excellent. If we did not have the three nights in Zanzibar I would have given Reginal a five star review for the Safari.
All the hotels/tent we stayed for the Safari were excellent. The meals and services at every place we stayed were excellent. Our driver for the Safari, Emmanuel, was very nice. He was a very good driver. We experienced a lot of rain. The drive was very difficult, he was calm and managed all of it. Emanuelle kept Communications with other drivers so that we could find the games.
Zanzibar hotel was described as luxury hotel in the description. One of the reason I don't think it was a luxury hotel was that it had a very strong bad smell. We asked for a different room. Similarly, the new room had the same strong bad smell. I could only stay in the room for three minutes. Having to stay there for three nights was miserable. Maturaf, the owner of Regional, was very nice. He booked different hotels for us for the rest of the nights.
Regional is a very good company. Very trustworthy. My balloon ride was canceled because the pilot was sick. Regional refunded my money no problem.
I will recommend this company to you for the Safari.
CO
Email Mario Hernán Pedraza | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good experiencia. Se have a very nice guide and driver
Well every thing was according with tuve progrmation the time betwen places good and we had good draiving guide call Didas
PH
Email Raymond Caunca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip indeed!
After careful considerations between different operators, my friend and I decided to go with Maturaf as he provided the best rates with the most amazing choices in accommodations. Although there were small lapses during communications while working on the itinerary, Maturaf had been very cooperative working on our requests. The guide that he sent us named Peter was also amazing. He was as well cooperative and made things work all throughout the Safari trip. Except for the rhino, we saw the rest of the Big Five and made close encounters with a bunch of lions.
The safari accommodations were great. We stayed in Zawadi House in Arusha upon arrival, Lake Burunge and Serengeti Kati Kati tented camps, Serena Hotels in Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro, and Tloma Lodge. We visited Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Serengeti National Parks.
The Zanzibar accommodations we stayed in were also amazing although personally, we prefer La Gemma dell'Est over Hideaway of Nungwi as it provided guests activities that they can join in such as beach soccer, water polo and beach volleyball. La Gemma dell'Est for me is more family-oriented but the facilities in Hideaway of Nungwi are more luxurious, as well as the food spread in their buffets are better. We stayed 2 nights each in both hotels.
The only downside, as my friend has been pointing out the whole trip, was that most of these accommodations failed to "sell/market" local cuisine but rather serve the usual intercontinental dishes.
Overall, the experience was amazing and proud to say this trip checked two places/activities in my bucketlist.
I highly recommend this team. KUDOS to Matural, Peter and the rest of Regional Tours!