Fourways Travel Service

Safari with ups and downs but definitely worthwhile

As a group of 56 people we took a 3 day safari at the end of September to see the beautiful Serengeti. We booked our trip over Fourways Travel Agency and were guided by Masumin Safaris. The communication via mail was really friendly and easy.

1st day - 22.09.14:
09.30 Pick Up
10.30 Buying groceries
11.30 Driving

The Car was in moderate shape. Nice to have 8 seats for ourselves and enough space for our luggage. The cigarette charger was not working (I guess we wer expecting to much from Tnazanian standards).

13.30 Start Safari
14.30 flat tire (rear right)
15.00 pushing car (engine didn't start)
17.15 2nd flat tire
19.00 ride to camp with another company
19.45 arrival at camp

The time at the campsite was truly intense. One is used to see animals in cages at the zoo. In the Serengeti it is the other way around. For our own safety we were eating (Meat smells delicious for wild animals) in a big fenced hall. It was a mind-blowing experience. Being a guest in the wild, where the animals are superior. This “humiliation” felt amazingly good!

On part of the agency, the tents were pretty old (e.g. broken zipper) however we could fix it and were probably once again expecting to much from Tanzanian standards. Maybe this experience helped us too.

2nd day - 23.09.2014:
05.30 wake up (planned start of safari 06.00)
09.20 departure new car, Start of safari
18.30 finished game drive

I will never forget this day. Even though we started late we had perfect timing, being able to see a gepard hunting from under 20m distance. We were so excited when he finally began to run and chase the antelopes that were lying in the savanna around 100m away. The leopard chased one of the younger antelopes down and running with a speed of around 100km/h he managed to jump to catch the antelope by the neck and tear it down. We were so stunned and almost all of us had tears in our eyes. The rest of the day was full of great views and thousands of beautiful animals. For a fee of 15$ we were invited to visit a Massai village and exchange thoughts with some of the English speaking villagers. We visited the huge Ngorongoro crater and saw all of the local animals – even one of the few rhinos. Thank you so much.

3rd day - 24.09.2014:
06.00 wake up
07.30 breakfast
08.30 Start of safari
10.15-11.00 break
11.00 Safari
17.00 Return to Mwanza

The last day was a combination of returning to Mwanza (our starting point) and more Safari. We saw a family of elephants, many young giraffes and plenty of Zebras, Gnus and Buffalos. We returned to our starting point and received our car, that we were allowed to park at the company. The next day we received a refund for the missed hours due to the broken tires, which were 20% of the expenses of the agency. The rest (more that the half of the money) goes in to Serengeti park fees and is not refundable.

Overall, the agency and the gear was ok, the guides and the food were good and the Serengeti was perfect! Thank you so much for this unforgettable experience.