Bright African Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2007)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & TLTO
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $85 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email peteanddenise | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari company and guide!
We recently (July 2018) returned from a 11-night Bright African Safaris safari in Tanzania. We enjoyed every minute of it and it was a trip of a lifetime. The way the itinerary was set up, the progression of parks was fantastic, starting with one of the small parks with a walking tour at Arusha National Park and moving onto the larger parks at Lake Maynara National Park, Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and finally Ngorogoro Crater. All of the lodging was comfortable with a unique African flare, especially the tented ones, such as Serengeti Tortilis Camp right in the middle of the Serengeti and Sangaiwe Tented Lodge just outside Tarangire. Our guide, Khamis was very knowledgeable about each animal species we came across and taught us about Tanzanian history and culture. He was also an amazing and an incredibly safe driver. Khamis made sure we saw every animal and was patient in positioning us to get the best photos. He also quickly figured out our meal favorites and had the lodges prep tasty lunches for us while out on safari. By the end of the safari, we had gotten to know Khamis so well, he became like family. From initial contact for booking to when we said our farewells, Bright African Safaris was there for us, and we loved that they were a local family business. Msangi and Salim (in the office) were always polite and responsive to our many questions and updates to itinerary from start to finish, and they even met up with us on the last day to ensure we were happy. If you are looking for a top-notched safari company to plan your safari, Bright African Safari is the one to choose.
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Email Jon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime
My Wife and I did an 11-day safari with Bright African Safari and it was a truly memorable experience. Salim was very accommodating and responsive to our requests and tailored an itinerary that was perfect for what we had requested. They were able to quickly and easily deal with my flight delay which also involved coordinating picking up my wife from Moshi, picking me up from the airport and getting us to our hotel in Arusha.
The trip itself was amazing. Malisa was an incredible guide and always made sure we were having a good time and doing what interested us. He was willing to start our Safari as early as we wanted or as late as we wanted if we wanted some extra sleep (which we rarely did since each day was packed with adventure). Malisa would take us to areas that were not crowded where we saw some truly amazing sights such as a lioness taking down a wildebeest, two lionesses with two very young cubs and a massive Jaguar in a tree. Malisa was very responsible and respectful of nature when visiting these areas, never did anything to disturb the animals or put us in any danger.
We are very glad we went with Bright African Safari and feel like we had the perfect vacation.
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Email Tricia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bright African Safari gave us an incredible African experience with their superb service!
Went beyond our expectations! Eye to details! Best
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Email Nicole & Jon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari Adventure of a Lifetime!
My husband and I went on a 9-day safari organized by Bright African Safaris in mid-August 2018, and it truly was the trip of a lifetime! In the initial research stage, Salim was great with communicating options and creating possible itineraries for us to consider. We were originally planning a shorter trip, but ended up extending by a few days. We absolutely loved the itinerary Salim put together. We started with a walking tour in Arusha National Park, then Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Central Seregeti, Northern Serengeti and finally, Ngorongoro Crater. We were lucky to have Malisa as our guide/driver the whole trip. He is a walking, talking encyclopedia of wildlife! Truly a great person and we felt so lucky to share his company for nine days. We felt safe throughout the trip, even around the lions, elephants and other large animals. Malisa tooks us on more scenic routes when possible and always checked in to make sure we were comfortable during long drives. He has such a great eye for spotting wildlife, some of which I had to use binoculars to see! Highlights included watching the great migration in Northern Serengeti (especially watching the wildebeest and zebras crossing the Mara River), watching a mama lion take down a wildebeest and share the bounty with her cubs, watching a leopard come down from a tree to protect his freshly killed prey (an eland), watching zebras in a tussle and sleeping in migration camps in the middle of the Serengeti. We heard lions, zebras and wildebeest outside of our tent and it felt rather surreal to be there. We chose the mid-range option in terms of accommodations and were very happy with all the hotels, lodges and tented camps booked for us by Salim. We were so impressed that the tented camps had running hot water, electricity and very comfortable furniture (including real mattresses and comfy bedding), which was like living in the lap of luxury after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro the week before. I would highly recommend Bright African Safaris for anyone looking for a local, well-organized, high quality safari in Tanzania. We would choose them again in a heart beat!
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Bright African Safaris exceeded our expectations in every way!
We booked an 11 day Safari through Bright African Safaris and it was the best trip of our lives. They exceeded our expectations on every level. The accommodations and hospitality of every camp we stayed in was fantastic. Salim (our guide) was spectacular. His knowledge of the area and ability to find the animals was impressive. Each day just kept getting better and better. I highly recommend Bright African Safaris as they can put together a great Safari for every budget. Every aspect of the trip went just as planned. I would use Bright again in a heartbeat.
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Email Todd | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent trip and terrific memories - John (our guide) was great!
I travel the world for business...and through those travels, I heard over and over how the Serengeti was a must trip and simply magical. I spent the better part of two years thinking of and ultimately planning this trip. I primarily selected Bright African Safaris because of their terrific reviews on Tripadvisor. However, I also wanted to work directly with a company that was local and not have our money go to/through an agency...where it wouldnt ultimately go to the local economy. With BAS's help, we came up with a two week, customized trip.
Our guide, John Munhambo was simply superb!! First off, he was Safe! That was extremely important to me...since my entire family was in his hand. Second, he was exceptionally respectful...of the rules of the park(s), the animals, and other guides/tours. He made sure he got us into position to get a good photo but not at the expense of other visitors. I can tell you, other guides/companies were not the same! Lastly, he completely engaged with me and my family for the two week trip. He started off our guide and honestly, ended a friend!
The locations we/BAS selected were terrific. We had lions visit our camp at night on three of the nights. While a bit unnerving at the time, it was also pretty cool (after the fact!).
BAS was great at all phases of the trip. Preparation, quoting, organizing, executing, etc. I would highly recommend them to anyone considering visiting the Serengeti. While the arent the biggest in the region, they cant be beat.
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Email Eliza | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
It's a personal AND professional company that exceeded our expectations
We had 6 adults in our party (ages 26-71) with lots of individual requests for places to see. From the time we first inquired about a safari, Salim was extremely helpful and very flexible since we changed our minds a number of times. Once we got to Arusha, we met our wonderful driver and guide Rajabu. He was very knowledgeable of the birds and mammals and made sure we saw every possible animal. He was patient, considerate and careful for our safety in many ways including solving a mechanical problem with the vehicle very efficiently. The problem occurred in a remote place in the N. Serengeti and Rajab was able to figure out how to get the vehicle springs repaired and the vehicle back on the road capably. We really liked the tented camps and the employees there were very attentive (the lodges were less personal and the food in those was only fair). In addition to seeing the wildlife, we really liked our visit to Olduvai Gorge and the day with the Hadze (Bushmen) near Lake Eyasi with a local guide (Sadi). Both experiences should be added to a safari trip in order to better understand Tanzania's pre-history and culture. We had a fabulous experience and would highly recommend Bright African Safaris.
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Email Kim D | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This #1 bucket list trip of a lifetime photo safari to Tanzania lived up to everything I dreamed!
Bright was the first to respond when we emailed 3 different companies in the beginning stages. My daughter did 50+ hours of research to come up with 3 different companies and a good itinerary. We chose Bright African Safaris because they had such great ratings online and they emailed back very quickly with a more detailed itinerary. We could also do more for the money with them. Our guide for 9 1/2 days, Khamis, was wonderful at spotting animals and educating us in many areas about Africa, the people, animals, culture, etc. There were too many highlights to mention but we saw black rhinos, migration of the wildebeests and crocs feeding on 3, a lion and her fresh gazelle kill and 3 baby cubs, a monkey stole my muffin at lunch, a hippo visited at lunch, elephants raided the patio one day at lunch and 1000’s of zebras, giraffes and elephants and a multitude of other animals. Relaxing at Zanzibar beach island was the perfect 3 day end to a perfect vacation! All the tent camps and lodgings were all so different and unique also! August was delightful with highs 77-80 and lows in upper 50’s.
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Email Valerie C. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Safari Company!
We booked an eight day safari with Bright African Safaris in the middle of June 2018. From our first contact by email to our departure home from our wonderful trip, BAS exhibited an extremely high level of professionalism and competence with genuine warmth, caring, and thoughtfulness.
Salim, in the BAS office, was very responsive and helpful. He provided lots of great information in his initial emails to me including suggested itineraries, choices of accommodations, and pricing. He promptly answered every question I asked over the months preceding our trip including many questions about accommodations, getting a visa, and safari vehicles. Salim also went out of his way to drive to meet with us after our safari to say hello, inquire about our trip, and ask for any feedback. Needless to say, we were happy to let him know about our amazing trip and we couldn’t be happier.
Now I want to review our driver/guide. His name is also Salim and we feel so lucky that he was our guide. Salim is incredibly knowledgeable about the animals, birds and plants of the area as well as the people, cultures, and ecology. He has “eagle eyes” and can pick out animals and birds in the distance that we could only see with our binoculars! He could also find animals close by but hidden in rocks or trees. Most of the animals are so close that you can take a picture of them with your iphone, but Salim’s ability to find some of the shyer and rarely seen animals was truly amazing. He worked so hard to make sure we saw as many species as possible. He made sure we always had the best viewing and would anticipate where the animals would go next so we would be waiting for them.
We saw so many species including over 70 lions, 2 cheetahs, 2 leopards, thousands of zebra and wildebeest (migration), warthogs, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, baboons, monkeys, many species of antelope, 5 black rhinos, hyenas, hippos, crocodiles, foxes, flamingoes and many, many other birds.
Highlights included a lion hunt (the prey got away), the great migration, and a huge majestic male lion on top of a cliff outcropping at sunrise.
Salim cleaned the land cruiser every night and made sure we had drinks and snacks. We had amazing boxed lunches out in the bush with a nice table and chairs. Salim is wonderful to spend time with and you can tell what a good heart he has after spending only a short time with him. He loves his work and enjoys sharing his knowledge with his clients. I noticed many drivers of other safari vehicles just sitting while their clients looked at animals. Salim had his binoculars out and was looking at the animals with us most of the time! We would discuss what we were seeing and he would answer questions we had. By the way, for the few questions he couldn’t answer, he had a couple of books in the truck and he would look it up.
There were 3 of us and Salim in a big 7 seat land cruiser for the same price as other companies were charging for a seat in a full vehicle with other people. We had plenty of room for standing up to see the animals/taking pictures and stretching out on the road trips. Very comfortable!
I could go on and on, but this review is already long! Please do not hesitate to book your trip with Bright African Safaris. You will be very happy!
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Email Regenia & Don | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
VERY Knowledgeable & Determined to find the BIG 5
From the first email, working with Bright African Safaris (BAS) was GREAT. I sent out 3 emails to local Tanzania Safari groups with a few questions + info about my husband & me & asked for suggestions. Of the 3 companies, one replied a week later & one replied in 2 days which said "let me get you some info". It didn't matter if the other 2 responded in a timely manner or not because SALIM @ BAS had already WON us over w/his Professionalism & Quick Response. I received a very detailed email from Salim in less than 24 hrs complete w/a suggested Itinerary, info about BAS's community service, email addresses of previous clients that agreed to give a BAS review & Salim's confidant promise that I wouldn't be disappointed in BAS. I told Salim we were celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary by visiting "7 Continents in 7 Months" & that Africa would be our last Continent. Salim said "You saved the best for last". Their reviews on TripAdvisor, Google & Face Book were Great. Within a few weeks, Salim had sent almost daily emails with suggestions of lodges & tented camps to make sure we were pleased with our accommodations & our African Safari was now all planned.
We arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport & had no problem in getting our Visa as Salim had told me exactly what we'd need, we got our luggage & waiting for us was our BAS Guide, RAJABU. It was 9:30pm but Rajabu was so friendly & helpful so we instantly felt at ease that we were in great hands. After taking us to our 1st stop, Lake Duliti Lodge which was wonderful, Rajabu went over the upcoming first day of our safari w/us so we were ready to start our amazing 9 day Safari & 2 day rest.
Our safari included Arusha N. Park, Tarangire N. Park, the endless Serengeti Plains, Central & Western Corridor of Serengeti N. Park, Ngorongoro Crater Rim & Crater Floor. RAJABU was so Awesome at finding the Wildlife. We saw Lions (even 1 pride of 24 lions), Cheetahs, Leopards, Elephants, Giraffes, DikDiks, various eagles & other birds, huge Crocodiles, Caracal, Honey Badgers in Daytime, Banded & Dwarf Mongoose, Wart Hogs, Hyenas, Black Backed & Golden Jackal, Hippos, Zebras, Wildebeest, 9 varieties of other Antelopes, Buffalo & Yes, the elusive RHINO. We saw ALL of the BIG 5.
Altho our safari was over, Salim arranged our 2nd BAS guide, HASIMI, for a City Tour to Arusha Markets & Heritage Culture Center on Day 10 of our trip after a restful night & relaxing breakfast & lunch at the beautiful Mount Meru Game Lodge. Our trip was far from over as I'd asked Salim about visiting a local community & a coffee plantation. So on our last day before flying out at 9 pm, our weekend guide, Hamisi picked us up as planned @ 8.30 am, then picked up a local guide, Gifttairo "Young Rasta", to guide us as we hiked to Materuni waterfalls, then to help make our own fresh coffee at Hillborn Organic Coffee, enjoy a wonderful Lunch provided by a local Chagga tribe, taste local brew made from Ripe Bananas and learned about the local culture of the beautiful people that live in this area. We then left for the airport with Hamisi but he announced "Kilimanjaro is in view now so we'll stop for pictures". Sure enough, the clouds had cleared & Hamisi took our picture w/Kilimanjaro.
This entire 11 day Trip was so well planned. I suspect Salim told the lodges about our 50th so we had a Celebration Anniversary Party w/cake at Sergenti Tortilis Camp w/singers, a tasty fruit-cheese-chocolate tray at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge & a bottle of wine at Mount Meru Game Lodge.
If you want to enjoy a worry free safari, just tell Bright African Safari what you'd like and they'll make sure you have everything that you can imagine. ASANTE SANA SALIM, RAJABU & HAMISI. The Perfect Team that made our African Safari PERFECT.
