Good Earth Tours & Safaris
- Located In:
-
United States
Canada
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 1995)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, TATO, IMEC, BBB & KPAP
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $220 to $550 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Another Excellent Safari Experiences!
What a wonderful company to deal with! Baraka (in the US office) was very quick with responses, he planned a wonderful Safari for four of us.
This is the third long safari we have taken with Good Earth Tours and it was just as good as the other two. Having been to Tanzania many times before, we knew exactly where we wanted to go and where we wanted to stay and it was all arranged with no issue and at good prices being repeat customers!
Good Earth is not the cheapest but it is worth every cent. Accommodation was amazing, food and service fantastic. But the best was our guide/driver Joseph, words can't describe what a wonderful guide and person he is. If the sun too bright for photos he would move the van to get the best shots, he obviously is a keen photographer as he was so aware of all the issues photographers face. He will go extra distance to make sure you see absolutely everything!
Definitely book with these folks and if possible, ask for Joseph.
CA
Email John S. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime with Good Earth
Good Earth arranged a month-long Africa trip for my wife and I to Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. We could not have been happier with every phase of the trip, from travel, to meals and accommodations and most importantly our guided tours. Many, many thanks to our guides John in Kenya, Aron in Tanzania and Andrew in South Africa. Each of them were incredibly knowledgeable and helpful every step of the way. And a big thanks to Baraka who helped us plan the trip and provided all the support we needed. This was our best trip ever.
US
Email Herb | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
They take care of you from the time you land in Kilamenjaro to when they wave goodby - Unbeliveable
From the first conversation with Baraka for the trip planning to the last animal sighting with our guide Abdul, Good Earth Tours made this trip, "The Trip of a Lifetime". The game drives, Bush camps, Lodges, cultural tours and knowledge of the animals and the land, nothing could have been better. Food was great, service in all of the camps was wonderful. I would recommend Good Earth Tours to anyone who is looking for a Safari experience that will be talked about for years to come.
CA
Email Darryl | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari Experience
We booked a longer safari (8 days) through Good earth, and their representative Baraka was very helpful in setting up custom portions of our trip. They looked after us from the time we landed in JRO at 3 AM, maybe too well as with the excellent food on safari we were putting on weight, and looking to pitch in to get active! We did the comfy camping, in which we slept on cots in a canvas dome tent. Very comfortable, and it was great to be out where animals could travel by as you slept. Gerald, our guide, had an uncanny ability to know where to find game and spot it, and maintains high standards of conduct with respect to wildlife. He is friendly and knowledgeable, an excellent guide. We had our own cook / porter, Yusuf, who was a master at putting together delicious and nutritious meals. We saw the big 5, as well as cheetah, hippo, and crocs, wildebeest and zebras migrating and fording rivers, a lion kill right in front of us, and an epic lions vs hyenas confrontation over a kill. A lifetime of experiences in just over a week.
Highly professional company
GET developed a bespoke package to meet our needs. Best week of our life.
Their experience shines through
US
Email Anitha | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Perfect Personalized Safari Experience!
My wife and I just came back from a 10 days safari in Tanzania and it was AMAZING.
We selected Good Earth Tours as our tour operator and couldn’t be happier with our choice. We had contacted a few other companies but Good Earth Tours was the only one that responded to our many questions in timely manner and gave us appropriate advises all the time.
We stayed in amazing camps and lodges (mostly Serena Hotels) and were all of great service with very nice meals.
We had Moses as our guide. He is very professional and incredibly knowledgeable about the parks, history of the country, the culture, and especially the animals and birds. With his expertise we were able to an insane amount of different species of animals and birds. We were very pleased with both our driver and the safari vehicle.
Would highly recommend Good Earth Tours for its very personalized service without reservation.
US
Email Alex | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unfortunately, Can’t Recommend
This review is long but explains why we would not recommend GoodEarth after two weeks and two excursions with them. We were on back to back safaris with GoodEarth; we did the Kilimanjaro Machame Route Hike and Serengeti to Masai Mara safari from June 25-July 10. We really REALLY wanted this company to work out for us as we spent collectively nearly $12k (USD) on everything and it seemed promising. However once the tour was handed over to the Arusha based team - things quickly fell apart.
It started at the airport for pickup. We landed 4:30pm on a Sunday and were told we’d be greeted by our driver with our names on a sign. We waited and waited and reached out to all the WhatsApp numbers we were given multiple times before we were informed the hotel driver had the wrong name on the name plate. So we waited for nothing. That was our first impression.
We had sent an email to the Arusha office a week prior to landing about renting gear for Kilimanjaro but they weren’t prepared at all. We had to scramble at 9pm Sunday for our Monday morning climb. The morning of the climb - our tour guide, Fredy, forgot to bring some of the gear with him. On our way to the trailhead he asked US to purchase the gear he forgot to pack. We gave him a stern “No”, then he went and found the cheapest gear possible and it leaked our entire climb. Fredy was nice enough, but an EXTREMELY lazy guide. He needed to make frequent stops, was always late, and didn’t want to do anything for himself. At every meal he would call a porter from across the camp to come serve him food that was right in front of him. The entire time on the mountain we listened to him whining and ordering the porters around. It was deplorable, honestly. The last straw for me was when we missed our highly requested and once-in-a-lifetime sunrise on summit day by an hour because Fredy “didn’t want to be cold”. Luckily, Nestory was the assistant guide and respected our time on the mountain. Most of our hike up and the entire hike down was led by Nestory, as Fredy was too tired, too late, or too slow to meet our needs. We were so grateful Nestory was there and we should’ve insisted on him being lead guide on summit day to make the sunrise. The porters were great, especially Reuben and Ola. And Paul, the chef, was amazing - he even went out of his way to make us local food when we requested it. We were extremely grateful to reach the summit and for the rest of the climbing team.
As an apology, the company paid for our laundry and gave us free hats, which was really nice, but the time and opportunity lost (and money spent) were gone forever.
On our safari we ran into issues with the office apparently not paying the park entrance gate fee, causing an hour delay on our game drive at Serengeti. (Luckily the ranger in the gate office eventually had mercy on us and let us in.) At another gate, GoodEarth somehow didn’t realize the gate didn’t accept cash. So I had to use my personal credit card to pay our entrance. ($320 USD.) We were also delayed at that gate for an hour.
We did send our issues to Ndashy (the manager), but he only referred us back to Rose in the office. Rose was incredibly sweet but perhaps was overworked, hence the disorganization and mistakes.
No matter which company you choose, the type of guide you get is the luck of the draw. Your guide makes or breaks your experience… During our Serengeti safari we had Elias, who checked in with us frequently and made sure we were ok. He wasn’t quite as charismatic as other guides we’ve had, but he’s good. If you’re the quiet type, he could be a nice fit. Elias also helped me surprise my husband with the hot air balloon ride I had secretly booked to celebrate our anniversary. He was so clever in helping me convince my husband we were going for an late night/early morning game drive and I’m forever grateful to him for that! My husband had no idea and the surprise was priceless. We can’t recommend our Masai Mara guide - I’ll leave it there.
Maybe we were just very unlucky with GoodEarth. But it was significant enough for us to not choose them again or recommend them to loved ones. Beside that, obviously the animals and nature were absolutely unforgettable and we hope to visit Serengeti again…
US
Email Chuck | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Private tour with great guides, accommodations, and experiences.
We toured Cape Town and the Cape peninsula, flew to Victoria Falls, followed by three safari camps in Botswana. All was well planned and delivered. Thanks Good Earth.
US
Email KC Funk | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip for our family of 5!
I began planning our Africa safari trip for our family of five (three teenagers) about a year ago. To see a diverse sat areas in Africa and visit at least two different national parks. With a family of five budget was also a significant consideration.
Baraka did an amazing job to create a creative itinerary that allowed us to go deep into Zimbabwe and also visit Botswana as well. The facilities he chose were fantastic and within the budget that I had laid out.
His follow up through the planning process and while we were in country was also exceptional.
I highly recommend Baraka and Good Earth Tours if you are looking for a Safari tour provider.
Baraka can provide my contact information if you have any specific questions you would like to discuss.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari experience
My family and I went on a safari in northern Tanzania this summer. Our trip was more than what we expected, thanks to the experienced and knowledgeable advice of our tour consultant, Baraka and our tour guide, Juma, aka “Bush Baby”
Baraka was very helpful in setting up a customized itinerary for us, which focused on places we wanted to visit, animals we would like to see, and level of accommodations we would like to stay; and a guide who is the best for traveling with family with young kids.
All these exceeded our expectations, and “Bush Baby” was a right fit for our family to have such a great safari experience.
Everything went perfectly all the way so I cannot do more than recommending Good Earth big time!