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
US
Email Jim | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bright African exceeded our expectations in more ways than we could have imagined!
The short version is this: You're in great hands with Bright African. Don't hesitate to arrange your safari through this locally owned company. Be sure to request that Junga guide you and Jamal do your cooking. Those guys are just great and we still stay in touch via facebook.
Here's the long version:
Just like you, I waded through the huge numbers of safari companies I found online. In the end, I relied on the reviews and a gut feeling about Bright African. Our group of four was sooooo lucky that I recommended BA.
From the start of our inquiry through finalizing the itinerary for our 8 day northern circuit safari in mid-September, 2016 and all the logistics, Msangi, the owner, and Rukia, his delightful office assistant, were prompt to respond to emails and were true professionals. It was such a pleasure to meet them when we arrived in Arusha!
Little did we know that Msangi had chosen a man to guide us who, quite honestly, none of the four in our group can describe with words alone. There just aren't enough superlatives for Onema Junga. (Everyone calls him "Junga".) I'm sure all of Msangi's other guides are wonderful but do yourself a favor and juggle your trip dates if that's what it takes to make sure Junga is your guide.
This man went above and beyond in every way imaginable. From dealing with broken leaf springs in the Serengeti at night and getting us to a camp site at midnight to turning around as we were leaving Ngorongoro on our last day when reports of a rhino sighting came over the radio he was superb. Junga could have just called it a safari and headed out of the crater but he was relentless in his pursuit of our satisfaction. We got the big 5 and more.
He has an uncanny ability to anticipate what animals will be doing and putting the vehicle in the best viewing position possible. Other safari companies' guides weren't doing what Junga did and trust me, we were treated to better viewing than many others. He was also relentless in his search for animals in spite of the long hours behind the wheel. Junga did this even though it meant extra work for himself and Jamal. He would also stop to offer help to any other vehicles or guides that looked like they may need help. He struck us as an overall good and trustworthy man.
Here are a couple of examples of how Junga went above and beyond. We were at a hippo pool and were enjoying the scene for quite some time when he popped the driver's hatch and announced that he was going to find us a snake. Five minutes later he announced that the game was on for us to find it with our binoculars. He described generally where it was and said its recently shed skin was nearby. We had the best time spotting this snake, a boomslang, and it was a treat. Its bright white skin being right next to it was just a great bonus. While I can't guarantee that the other safari vehicles parked near us didn't spot a snake, I highly doubt it.
He brought us in the "back entrance" to Lake Manyara which was absolutely the right call. It seemed we had one entire section of the park all to ourselves. It made for a longer day and another late arrival at camp that night but Junga really did put our interests ahead of his and Jamal's comfort.
As for Jamal, our wonderful cook, again there's good news. We had some onerous dietary restrictions and this man bent over backwards to accommodate us. I gained weight on the trip due to his huge portions of delicious food. It was simple but delicious and exactly what you'd expect on a camping trip. We even had a scratch baked cake and banana custard a couple of evenings! I was glad to have brought plenty of snacks, though, as it sometimes got be a while between meals.
Msangi went above and beyond as well. He met us at the Mvuli hotel at the end of our safari to see how things went and to say goodbye. When he learned we were going to Zanzibar for a few days he arranged for a taxi driver to pick us up at the airport and take us to our hotel. He told us that even though our safari was over, we were still his clients until we left Tanzania and to let him know if we needed anything. How gracious!
We forgot to pick up a couple of t-shirts at the Bright African office and Msangi learned this after we were on Zanzibar. Imagine our surprise when his taxi driver arrived at our hotel with the t-shirts. Msangi had them sent to Zanzibar on a flight later that day and arranged for his taxi driver to deliver them to us! Unbelievable service!
Here are a couple of helpful hints for you. Number one is tipping. I'd read many formulas for what constitutes an appropriate tip and saw one of Msangi's posts that suggested 10% of the safari price. We ultimately took the 10% as a base and increased it significantly for Junga and Jamal going north of 15% to make a nice round number. I also gave each of them our headlamps to help with future night breakdowns and tent set-ups in the dark. Last, I gave them what remained of the roll of duct tape I brought. Do yourself a favor a bring a roll along - we made good use of ours several times.
I could write a novel about the vehicle breakdowns (yes, plural) but be advised these vehicles take a beating on those roads and if you don't have at least one breakdown I'd be amazed. We saw other victims of the worst washboards you'll ever drive. Just be patient and realize that AAA does not exist in Tanzania. No complaining. Hakauna Matata. You're all in it together and you'll have a great story to tell.
If you're doing the budget camping trip like we did, be prepared for very refreshing, almost cold, showers at some campgrounds. Take sturdy sandals and expect no place to hang your towels or set your shampoo. It was also helpful to have some good sturdy sandals for the campgrounds in the evening. The first night I used flip flops and got a few nasty stickers in my foot that were difficult to remove. It is also a good idea to bring toilet paper as it was frequently in short supply in their bathrooms. Oh, and I saw a fairly creepy spider on/under a toilet seat so be prepared to do a toilet sweep and sit at your own risk.
I was a little nervous about the comfort of tent camping but they provided very comfortable cots and sleeping pads with good wool blankets which I found surprisingly comfortable. I was still a bit chilly when we camped on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater so bring some warm clothes and socks if you itinerary takes you there.
Take along some type of plastic bag in case you have to relieve yourself in your tent in the night because the buffalo/lions are too near to risk going to the restroom. Better to go in your tent than die by buffalo.
Get the best binoculars you can, they will make the animal viewing even more spectacular. We rented Swarovskis from optics4rent.com - Todd, the owner, is great. When Junga first saw them, he immediately told me they were the best. No kidding! We were all amazed and trust me, when your Rhino and her baby are 400 yards away or you can count the whiskers on the leopard in the tree you'll be glad you brought them.
The Mvuli hotel has basic clean rooms - it's not a Hilton but you're not paying Hilton prices. It's really off the beaten path at the end of a very bumpy dirt road. Going into town will require a taxi. The food was good. Check out your shower before you accept the room. The first night we stayed there, our shower had virtually no pressure. After our safari, I made sure we had a different room. They will also do laundry for you for a small fee and have it folded and ready by morning.
Start your safari with a trip to Arusha National Park. Do the walking safari with an armed park ranger. It's a great appetizer for what lies ahead at the crown jewels of the northern circuit. It also gives you a day to get over jet lag before you start driving long distances. If you do it at the end of your safari it won't have much of an impact.
They did not ask for additional passport photos or a copy of our passport when paying for our visa at KJO airport. Just $100. Be prepared to stand in lines for about 45 minutes.
Be careful at the roadside curio stands. They are ruthless, high pressure negotiators and we ended up paying higher prices than we found later in Zanzibar and even at the airport for the same articles. As much as I would like to support them I felt the prices were pretty outrageous.
We tried to pack light and do laundry every few days but if I were to do it over I would just pack enough clothes to get through the whole trip. Since you are sitting in the vehicle most of the time you don't really get too hot and sweaty so it's no problem to get a few days out of shirts and pants. Laundry was difficult to do in the showers and did not dry by morning causing unneeded hassle. The zipper pants were handy as the mornings were a bit cooler but as it warmed up it was easy to unzip the bottoms and convert to shorts.
AE
Email rein | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top guide
From the start of our inquiry through finalizing the itinerary for our 8 day northern circuit safari in mid-September and all the logistics, Msangi, the owner, and Rukia, his delightful office assistant, were prompt to respond to emails and were true professionals. It was such a pleasure to meet them when we arrived in Arusha!
Little did we know that Msangi had chosen a man to guide us who, quite honestly, none of the four in our group can describe with words alone. There just aren't enough superlatives for Onema Junga. (Everyone calls him "Junga".) I'm sure all of Msangi's other guides are wonderful but do yourself a favor and juggle your trip dates if that's what it takes to make sure Junga is your guide.
This man went above and beyond in every way imaginable. From dealing with broken leaf springs in the Serengeti at night and getting us to a camp site at midnight to turning around as we were leaving Ngorongoro on our last day when reports of a rhino sighting came over the radio he was superb. Junga could have just called it a safari and headed out of the crater but he was relentless in his pursuit of our satisfaction. We got the big 5 and more.
He has an uncanny ability to anticipate what animals will be doing and putting the vehicle in the best viewing position possible. Other safari companies' guides weren't doing what Junga did and trust me, we were treated to better viewing than many others. He was also relentless in his search for animals in spite of the long hours behind the wheel. Junga did this even though it meant extra work for himself and Jamal. He would also stop to offer help to any other vehicles or guides that looked like they may need help. He struck us an overall good and trustworthy man.
Here are a couple of examples of how Junga went above and beyond. We were at a hippo pool and were enjoying the scene for quite some time when he popped the driver's hatch and announced that he was going to find us a snake. Five minutes later he announced that the game was on for us to find it with our binoculars. He described generally where it was and said its recently shed skin was nearby. We had the best time spotting this snake, a boomslang, and it was a treat. Its bright white skin being right next to it was just a great bonus. While I can't guarantee that the other safari vehicles parked near us didn't spot a snake, I highly doubt it.
He brought us in the "back entrance" to Lake Manyara which was absolutely the right call. It seemed we had one entire section of the park all to ourselves. It made for a longer day and another late arrival at camp that night but Junga really did put our interests ahead of his and Jamal's comfort.
As for Jamal, our wonderful cook, again there's good news. We had some onerous dietary restrictions and this man bent over backwards to accommodate us. I gained weight on the trip due to his huge portions of delicious food. It was simple but delicious and exactly what you'd expect on a camping trip. We even had a scratch baked cake and banana custard a couple of evenings! I was glad to have brought plenty of snacks, though, as it sometimes got be a while between meals.
Msangi went above and beyond as well. He met us at the Mvuli hotel at the end of our safari to see how things went and to say goodbye. When he learned we were going to Zanzibar for a few days he arranged for a taxi driver to pick us up at the airport and take us to our hotel. He told us that even though our safari was over, we were still his clients until we left Tanzania and to let him know if we needed anything. How gracious!
We forgot to pick up a couple of t-shirts at the Bright African office and Msangi learned this after we were on Zanzibar. Imagine our surprise when his taxi driver arrived at our hotel with the t-shirts. Msangi had them sent to Zanzibar on a flight later that day and arranged for his taxi driver to deliver them to us! Unbelievable service!
Here are a couple of helpful hints for you. Number one is tipping. I'd read many formulas for what constitutes an appropriate tip and saw one of Msangi's posts that suggested 10% of the safari price. We ultimately took the 10% as a base and increased it significantly for Junga and Jamal going north of 15% to make a nice round number. I also gave each of them our headlamps to help with future night breakdowns and tent set-ups in the dark. Last, I gave them what remained of the roll of duct tape I brought. Do yourself a favor a bring a roll along - we made good use of ours several times.
I could write a novel about the vehicle breakdowns (yes, plural) but be advised these vehicles take a beating on those roads and if you don't have at least one breakdown I'd be amazed. We saw other victims of the worst washboards you'll ever drive. Just be patient and realize that AAA does not exist in Tanzania. No complaining. Hakauna Matata. You're all in it together and you'll have a great story to tell.
If you're doing the budget camping trip like we did, be prepared for very refreshing, almost cold, showers at some campgrounds. Take sturdy sandals and expect no place to hang your towels or set your shampoo. It was also helpful to have some good sturdy sandals, like Keens, for the campgrounds in the evening. The first night I used flip flops and got a few nasty stickers in my foot that were difficult to remove. It is also a good idea to bring toilet paper as it was frequently in short supply in their bathrooms. Oh, and I saw a fairly creepy spider on/under a toilet seat so be prepared to do a toilet sweep and sit at your own risk.
I was a little nervous about the comfort of tent camping expecting to be sleeping on the ground but they provided very comfortable cots and sleeping pads with good wool blankets which I found surprisingly comfortable. I was still a bit chilly when we camped on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater so bring some warm clothes and socks if you itinerary takes you there.
Take along some type of plastic bag in case you have to relieve yourself in your tent in the night because the buffalo/lions are too near to risk going to the restroom. Better to go in your tent than die by buffalo.
Get the best binoculars you can, they will make the animal viewing even more spectacular. We rented Swarovskis from optics4rent.com - Todd, the owner, is great. When Junga first saw them, he immediately told me they were the best. No kidding! We were all amazed and trust me, when your Rhino and her baby are 400 yards away or you can count the whiskers on the leopard in the tree you'll be glad you brought them.
The Mvuli hotel has basic clean rooms - it's not a Hilton but you're not paying Hilton prices. It's really off the beaten path at the end of a very bumpy dirt road. Going into town will require a taxi. The food was good. Check out your shower before you accept the room. The first night we stayed there, our shower had virtually no pressure. After our safari, I made sure we had a different room. They will also do laundry for you for a small fee and have it folded and ready by morning.
Start your safari with a trip to Arusha National Park. Do the walking safari with an armed park ranger. It's a great appetizer for what lies ahead at the crown jewels of the northern circuit. It also gives you a day to get over jet lag before you start driving long distances. If you do it at the end of your safari it won't have much of an impact.
They did not ask for additional passport photos or a copy of our passport when paying for our visa at KJO airport. Just $100. Be prepared to stand in lines for about 45 minutes.
Be careful at the roadside curio stands. They are ruthless, high pressure negotiators and we ended up paying higher prices than we found later in Zanzibar and even at the airport for the same articles. As much as I would like to support them I felt the prices were pretty outrageous.
We tried to pack light and do laundry every few days but if I were to do it over I would just pack enough clothes to get through the whole trip. Since you are sitting in the vehicle most of the time you don't really get too hot and sweaty so it's no problem to get a few days out of shirts and pants. Laundry was difficult to do in the showers and did not dry by morning causing unneeded hassle. The zipper pants were handy as the mornings were a bit cooler but as it warmed up it was easy to unzip the bottoms and convert to shorts.
US
Email KristenM | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime with Bright African Safaris!
I apologize for the length of this review, but it's hard to be brief when singing the praises of Bright African Safaris. This wonderful company recently organized an adventure of a lifetime for me and my husband, and we have so many good things to say about it. When we decided to do this trip, we looked for a local tour operator, as we wanted all of our money to stay in Africa. After reading reviews, we sent inquiries to several companies, and quickly settled on Bright African, because they were the most responsive and offered the most reasonable prices. Their trip planner, Salim, patiently answered our questions and reworked our itinerary many times to fit our interests and budget. We had the pleasure of meeting Salim upon our arrival in Arusha, where he introduced us to “the other Salim”, who was to be our safari guide in Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
I knew we’d really hit the jackpot when I heard this second Salim was our guide, as I had read so many positive reviews about him. After spending eight days with him, I can confirm that all the rave reviews are bang on. Salim is a very kind, conscientious and caring person who made sure we were always happy and comfortable. He speaks perfect English and, to my delight, he is also very fluent in French. He is very engaging and intelligent. He has so much experience that he brought us to three Mara River crossings with virtually no wait time, and led us to the most remote corners of the Serengeti (without a single wrong turn!) for up-close animal encounters with no other jeeps in sight. He even took us to the Eastern Serengeti, where other jeeps do not seem to venture much, and although the wildlife was less plentiful there, we were very excited to discover a hyena den. He taught us the value of patience! The other guides have great respect for Salim and call him a walking encyclopedia, as he knows pretty much everything you’d ever want to know about every animal in East Africa. He is also absolutely amazing at finding the animals. I truly think he has eyes in the side of his head, as he is able to look left and right to spot animals, all while navigating very bumpy and challenging roads in the parks. With his eagle eyes, we were able to see pretty much every non-nocturnal animal in his wildlife handbook, even an African wild dog, which is apparently very rare in Tanzania. The only exception was the elusive rhino. Salim tried very hard to find rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater for us, even stopping rangers to ask if they had seen them, but alas, the rhinos had decided to sleep in the deep forest that day, and not even the rangers had seen them or heard of anyone who had. We were one of the last jeeps to leave the crater, as Salim wanted to give us every possible chance to spot them. We have decided we will just have to go back one day to see the rhino, and if we do, we would certainly ask for Salim as our guide. Other than the magnificent animals, he was the best part of our safari!
We were also very happy with the tent camps and lodges arranged by Bright African, with their luxurious beds, hot showers and good food. Our favorites were the Tanzania Migration Bush Camp at Mara River and the Serengeti Safari Lodge. We were also particularly thrilled with our amazing lunches, usually eaten in the middle of nowhere! The few times we did eat at picnic grounds, we felt sorry for all the other tourists, whose companies just provide boring brown bag lunches, for not only did they have to see us set up a beautiful table, with a tablecloth and proper plates and cutlery, they then had to watch in envy as we indulged in a large selection of delicious food that had been kept warm in environmentally-friendly stainless steel containers. We even had coffee made fresh in a French press every day, and Salim always made sure I could top off my meal with chocolate! He kindly spent his own money picking up treats like avocadoes and bananas from roadside stands. He also got up early every morning to make sure our jeep was spotless and stocked with everything we’d need. Extra touches like these make all the difference and really set Bright African apart from other companies.
Bright African’s excellence even crosses borders, for we got the same royal treatment when we went on to the next part of our trip, in Rwanda and Uganda. Upon arrival in Kigali, we met our second wonderful guide, Bosco. He is also a very conscientious and kind person, and he did a great job driving us through the beautiful Rwandan countryside, with stops at the quaint Migano Café with spectacular drinks (Try the Bob Marley!), and a very fun roadside eating area where we got kebabs, hot sauce and banana beer. Bosco set up WiFi in his car so we could catch up on messages while driving, and he even got a link to a Canadian radio station to make us feel totally at home! We told him that we were so comfortable that we could happily spend the rest of our holiday in his car, but in fact, the highlight of our trip was yet to come….a gorilla trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest! I didn’t think anything could be more exciting than our safari, but seeing a gorilla in its own habitat is an experience like no other. Gorillas are so like humans, and being in their presence is indeed a magical experience that I’d suggest to anyone with a little adventure in their souls (and lots of money in their pocket, as it is quite expensive!)
We are very grateful to Bright African for arranging all of these wonderful adventures, and would heartily recommend them to anyone interested in travelling to East Africa. They are also looking at expansion into South Africa, and we hope to use them there one day. After our trip, I had a lovely email exchange with one of the founders, Msangi, who told me that after working as a waiter, and then as a driver/guide, he built Bright African from scratch. What a fantastic job he has done! In addition to our excellent guides, we had many lovely drivers on our journey, and each one of them seemed to take great pride in their work and their company. Many congratulations to Msangi and all of his team for creating such a special company, and many thanks for giving us the trip of a lifetime. I was a little nervous about everything that could go wrong on this trip (insect-borne diseases, tummy troubles, security concerns, etc.), but all of my fears were unfounded. We had nothing but pleasure on our holiday thanks to the excellent work of Bright African Safaris.
A few last useful tips:
We wished we had bought our Tanzanian visas online ahead of time. Although the visa process was very smooth in all other countries we visited, Tanzania is in the process of converting from a manual system, and the line-ups to purchase a visa can be extremely long, so I would not suggest waiting to get the visa upon arrival.
I would not fret too much about insects in the dry season. We sprayed all our clothing with permethrin and brought 100% Deet, but never actually saw a mosquito. It’s probably better to be safe than sorry when mosquitoes carry malaria, but having spent much time in Canadian woods, Africa in September seemed like an insect-free paradise in comparison!
If you travel with Bright African, you probably don’t need to worry about bringing binoculars. They had excellent ones in the jeep. We also could have left behind our anti-bacterial wipes, as they provided them for us.
The toilets in East Africa were surprisingly clean, and we tipped every bathroom attendant to show our gratitude (After a recent trip to China where the bathrooms were filthy, I was hugely relieved!) That being said, there are not a lot of them in the parks, so you will need to be ready for “bush pees”. Bright African kindly supplies toilet paper, but I must say I was grateful not to have any tummy troubles!!
SG
Email Ken | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A most fantastic and memorable experience for the entire family.
While researching for an African safari tour operator, I read about BAS on some of the online forums, and reached out to them (and a few other operators) via email. Their marketing person, Salim, was always very quick and helpful in his replies to us; and was able to accommodate some of our requests, like an extra night at Tarangire and Serengeti, a stopover at the Olduvai Gorge for a quick anthropological learning session for the kids on human evolution.
Everything was conducted smoothly, and no hiccups. Options for payment were plentiful: cash, credit card (with additional bank surcharges) or TT the funds to their account.
Prior to our flight from home (Singapore), we were informed who would be our guide as well as the telephone nos in the event of emergencies or if we need to contact BAS on arrival to Arusha. On arrival, Hamis, our guide was there waiting for us, and with a bright smile to greet us. We felt at home almost straightaway.
Our first leg of the journey was to Tarangire National Park, and Lake Manyara National Park. Tarangire was our first introduction to African Elephants (many of them), warthogs (Pumba), hyenas, Masai giraffes, and lions. The lions were a bit more challenging to sight. It was amazing how Hamis was able to rattle off the names of the birds that we saw during our trip. At the Lake Manyara, we saw more elephants, tons of baboons (we saw a troop that numbered around 300 - 400 baboons), hippos and buffaloes. We were not able to see the flamingos up close, but it was not the season for the flamingos to flock to the lake as yet.
Then we had to change guides as Hamis fell sick along the way and felt it was not best to continue on the journey with us (into a more remote part of the country aka Serengeti) and we got a new guide, Salim (or Salim Salim to differentiate with the office Salim). Salim had a gift (as I'm sure so do the other guides) of finding animals far away with only his eyes and we're still trying to look for the animals using our binoculars! And at the Serengeti, he made an effort to try to get us to see as many types of animals as possible. Including a whole morning hunting for a cheetah (success), and we came across many packs of lionesses and cubs along the way. At the Ngorongoro crater, he found 2 lionesses stalking a pair of water buffaloes, whereas we at that time was a bit tired of seeing all the lions not do much.. except he said to look at the posture of one of the lioness, was one of stalking the prey. We stayed for a good 20 minutes while the pair stalked the buffaloes and got to see some action, the chase, the fight back... but it would not be a successful hunt. But exciting nonetheless.
The hotels and lodging booked by BAS was first rate. A word of caution for Tarangire Osupuko lodge was that it was powered by generators and there would be no power for most of the night and early morning (it got quite hot in the room), but the view of the national park was lovely (situated right on the edge of the park). The best time we had in terms of lodging was at the Serengeti Tortillis Camp, which I am glad we booked an extra night. The kids got to learn about near zero carbon living, and while luxurious, it was as close to camping as they got in a while. And the night sky was wonderful! Sadly it rained for part of the time we were there so not much chance to see the striking sun rise or sun sets.
Overally, it was a first rate tour from BAS, from start to end. Could not have been happier with the trip, and the team at BAS.
OM
Email Vena and Dewi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing and Incredible 6 Days Safari Trip
I actually planned the trip with Bright African Safaris in Sept 2016 but had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances and since than I have been communication with Mr. Msangi, the owner. Finally me and my wife were able to do the trip in the 1st week of Sept 2017. Mr. Msangi responded to all my queries timely via email and whatsup for all queries in 2016 (eventhough we cancelled the trip) and 2017 again. He and his team organised the trip beyond my satisfaction. I am very confident Bright African Safaris will ensure the same to all their clients. I was so confident with Msangi that I infact paid 80% of the trip upfront via my bank remittance from Malaysia to their company account in Arusha, Tanzania and he confirmed receipt with 2 days.
About the Trip:
We covered Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Central and North Serengeti (Mara river wilderbeast crossings). The trip was very well organised and catered to our needs of mixed accomodation of 2 nights camping at Public Camps and 3 nights in Lodge accomodation. We had an unforgetful lifetime experience of wildlife from day 1. I have to stress that our guide/driver was Mrindoko was excellent with very good knowledge of the wildlife and conversed in a simple manner for easy understanding. Mrindoko's knowledge, communication, patience, sharpness in sighting the wildlife was beyond our expectations. He along with Mr. Rama (cook) made sure we had a great time and saw so much of wildlife. Our cook Rama was very good and made sure we had more than satisfactory food and even cooked Tanzanian food at our request since we wanted to try. Both made us extremely comfortable for the entire journey. The journey is in the wilderness and ofcourse the roads were bumpy, dusty but Mrindoko tried his best to make it easy for us. Both were careful and safe at all times and ensured stopping at the safe places for bush toilets. Most of all we had a great and fantastic time watching all the animals guided by Mrindoko, with his sharp skills supported by Rama. We were delight to see the Mara river wildebeast crossings, Lions mating, the illusive Rhinos twice and a lot,lot of wildlife. Our only negative was the 1st night at the public camp was without water had only squating toilets making difficult for us. It's good to check this before the trip if accomodation is in public camps. Overall tops marks to Bright African Safaris and their team, Guide Mrindoko and Cook Rama. By the time we finished the trip we have become very good friends. Do expect minor issues with the 4x4 vehicle during the travel. Our 4x4 had radiator leaking during the journey and Mrindoko and Rama ensured it was fixed. On the way we stopped to help another Safari company 4x4 struggling to fix a flat tyre , yes they asked our permission before helping we gladly said yes. They are an excellent team and will ensure customer is more than satisfied. A little patience by clients is required for see, enjoy and make the trip a lifetime experience.
Email Conrad | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Choice for a Safari in Tanzania
After 8 days on safari around the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, I got to see a lot of the other tour companies, the standard of their vehicles (some were pretty dilapidated); how knowledgeable and professional their drivers were; and how many people they crammed into a car. After 8 days with Junga and Bright African Safaris, I have no doubt we chose the most professional and value for money tour company on offer. I can't recommend them enough. They aren't the biggest, but they are the best and most professional. There were just too many other companies around with inexperienced guides or vehicles that weren't maintained, to not go with these guys.
I emailed Rukia back late last year and she was very efficient in listening to what we wanted to see and she put together 4 very detailed options for us. The price was very reasonable and value for money. I came close to booking something off a website, so I was so glad I went with the email to Bright African. We stayed in hotels or permanent tented camps for our safari and had four of us in the one car,
Needless to say we had a fantastic time on Safari, seeing all of the big 5, countless jaw dropping scenes of various wildlife and the Wildebeest Migragtion in the southern Serengeti had to be a highlight (aim to be there around the first week in March). Hell, it was once in a lifetime experience - unbelievable!!
See my photos below to give you a guide.
Junga was a fabulous guide and an all round great person. We were looked after for the whole Safari and enjoyed his company each day on the road. He was a very experienced driver (which you need on the Serengeti with no paved roads and as soon as there is a little rain). He also knew exactly where to go to avoid the crowds and see the best things. We passed a scene where 20 4WDs were looking at a couple of cheetahs laying on the grass only to be the first and only car around to see 3 cheetahs bring down a wildebeest not 15 mins later. Junga was also an expert an bird and animal calls, many times an animal would wander off to the 4wd for a look.
The vehicle we had was a purpose built Toyota Lancruiser troop carrier that was very comfortable for 4 people for the 8 days. It had a very efficient fridge, power points and the pop up roof. Mind you it doesn't count if you don't an experienced driver (like we did) and a company that makes sure you have solid off tyres with good tread (like we did) :)
As a guide to their customer service, before we arrived the company also arranged an Aitrel SIM card for when I got there. I popped it straight into my iPhone and worked a treat from day 1. It was on a TZS 35,000 (about $17) for 12gb for a month. There was better than expected coverage along the way and was good to share some photos with family and friends & track your progress on the map.
The hotels along the way were better than expected and more than sufficient for 1-2 night safari stops. The Serengeti Acacia lodge and Lake Ndutu tented lodge were fantastic and please understand that these aren't really tents. Lake Ndutu was more like an upmarket 4 star villa with balacony and canvas roof. Permanent plumbing and electricity.
Tips: I recommend you invest in the largest and best quality binoculars you can get. Take a zoom lens camera. On day 1 Junga stopped at a small grocery store where we got some beers and other things for the trip - it was nice to have an ice cold Serengeti beer in the afternoon while lazing in the back of the car on the Serengeti. Spend some time in Zanzibar afterwards.
Overall we had a fantastic time - once in a lifetime stuff. Do yourself a favour and at least email Bright African safaris before you book anything else!
AE
Email pavel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Wildebeest watch trip
Africa Safaris is one of our life long dream. After long searching for the most knowledgable and accommodating tour companies, we decided to go with the Bright Africa Safaris. I and 8 friends had a fantastic and memorable trip. Thanks to our guides, Yonga & Othman, we witnessed migration and wildebeest crossing, and encountered (with safety distance) lions, cheetah, and leopards many occasions and of course at the last minute we spotted the rarely seen rhinos at Ngrongorn crater (Our 15 days trip filled with dust but also filled with excitement, laugh and educational moments (learning animals' habit and behavior, bushman hunting).
We enjoyed all of our lodging arrangements (especially at Tarengeri Resort lodge) ; and food was wonderful!
We certainly full filled our dream with the Bright Africa Safaris!
US
Email Whitney | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Safari Experience with Bright African Safari in Tanzania
I can't say enough good things about Bright African Safaris. My entire experience with them, start to finish, was top notch. I was referred to them by a friend who did a trip with them prior, who also had a great experience. Doing safari in Africa was one of my bucket list trips and so I spent a LOT of time planning and investing in the trip as a whole. Msangi, the owner, worked with me from the start to build out a custom trip based on what I was looking for. We did a range of parks, blends of accommodation types, and overall I was very happy with our selections. The only thing I would change is cutting out one of the parks, as the wildlife I was most interested in seeing were the cats and larger animals and on our last day the one we did one that was known for it's birds so it didn't do it for me like the others did. So that is my only suggestion, make sure to be vocal about the types of parks and animals you want to see. But from start to finish, Msangi and his team were VERY knowledgeable and went above and beyond to make the trip and experience fun, easy, exciting - basically how you want it to be. I would put all my trust in them to do it all over again. All the tour guides were great, and we had a wonderful experience with ours - Mirandko, who we nicknamed Tanzania's Dale Earnhardt, was fantastic. :) He was great and a real pleasure to be with throughout our trip. Overall, I would highly recommend doing a safari in Tanzania - it's a beautiful country with incredible park....Serengeti being my absolute favorite. And the people are so nice. If you chose Tanzania for your safari, you can't go wrong with Bright!
MY
Email Nade | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari of a lifetime.
Amazing! As cliché as it sounds, I have no other word to express my experience going on a safari with them.
It was my husband and my own first time in Africa and we had booked a trip to Tanzania on a whim. When I finally started looking to book us a safari, it was already late December 2016 and I was overwhelmed as where to start. I knew from the very beginning though that I would want to book through a locally owned company. Finding a reputable one was another headache. I can't express my thankfulness enough to have come across Bright African Safaris.
Everyone at Bright African Safaris (BAS) has been nothing but accommodating from the very beginning. Rukia wonderfully put up a few customised itinerary options for us to choose from through e-mails based on my request and budget. She was so patient dealing with me although I kept amending the itineraries. And finally, when I thought we had everything figured out, I realised I had booked the wrong dates as we were supposed to arrive earlier. I immediately contacted Rukia, and within 2 hours (I kid you not), she came back saying it's okay and she would take care of the logistics with the lodges and hotels. No nonsense given whatsoever. Phew!! That's some customer service there. As we had an extra day in the area before our flight out, we also asked them if they could arrange a day trip for us to Lake Chala and again, they took care of the request. Thank you so much for making my life easier.
First full day in the country, we went for a little hike in Kilimanjaro National Park, arranged by BAS on our request. Our guide, Mr Elly is very knowledgeable and has been a mountain guide for 20 years. Though it was a rather short time spent together, he told us a lot about Tanzania and Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, to say the least, is spectacular. Oh yeah, our knees hurt and our legs almost gave out after 18 kms hike (to and from the first hut), but we arrived in Arusha before our safari with smiles on our first.
We went on a safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro afterwards, guided by Mrindoko and accompanied by Mr Jamal, our cook for the last night in Ngorongoro. We had chosen to stay in tented lodge in Serengeti but thought we should experience budget camping for at least a night. After a short briefing in BAS office in Arusha by Mr Msangi himself (I was a bit disappointed at this point when he told us that the migration is yet to be in full swing due to the delay of the raining season, so it might be best to skip Ndutu), we set out for Serengeti.
The safari itself was amazing and we wouldn't change a thing. Mrindoko is an excellent guide. He has excellent eyes for animals and I believe he has an ability to predict their movements too, especially lions. He asked us what would we like to see on the safari and my husband jokingly told him that he wanted to see buffaloes chasing lions. And, we got to see just that! On our last day in Serengeti, we came upon a big pride of lions resting. Few other safari vehicles were around to take pictures and observe them but they soon moved away while Mrindoko asked us if we would like to wait a bit as he thought two of the lionesses were stalking a bachelor of buffaloes which were feeding on the other side. We didn't see the buffaloes before he mentioned them and we didn't notice any stalking motion. And true enough, after about 30 minutes, and more vehicles started coming in, we got to see the action. The lions managed to initially surprise the buffaloes but the buffaloes went after the lions instead and they got away. He also managed to find us leopards (a mother and two cubs) on a tree, during daylight, which we were told is quite rare. He was the first to spot them (from quite a far) and afterwards, radioed other vehicles. Thanks to him, we managed to see all Big 5 and more. We even saw a rabbit, few tortoises and a couple of hyenas mating on the road. He prefers to do game drive away from other vehicles and we really appreciated this as it gave us our own time and space to observe the animals, as long as we wanted.
Mr Jamal is an excellent cook. He didn't manage to cook more than one night for us but that dinner was the most delicious meal we had in our entire time in Tanzania. We got to the camp a bit later as our jeep had an unfortunate breakdown on our way out of Serengeti due to the deluge (Mrindoko and Jamal fixed it up, so we didn't have to wait hours for a backup jeep or anything and vehicle breakdown is fairly common on safari, so don't be alarmed). Even though it was late, Jamal went on to cook very delicious and hearty zucchini soup and wali while the rest of us set up the tents. We are so glad that he cooked us something local. I am now convinced that if you go on budget camping and you want to be properly fed throughout, you should ask for him.
Mrindoko also drove us on our last day to Lake Chala for a day trip before dropping us at JRO. Lake Chala, which is 3/4 in Tanzania and 1/4 in Kenya is a perfect place to wind down after a safari. Had we known we could stay there, we would have booked a night or two in the place. What a beautiful beautiful place. Both Mrindoko and Jamal are super friendly and easy-going, and always dressed neatly and professionally. Mrindoko attended to all our questions patiently, no matter how ridiculous they were.
After safari, we met with Msangi again for a debrief and he was really interested in listening to our feedbacks, even asked us what they could do to improve etc. We, of course, have only good things to say with suggestions for minor improvements, but those were really nitpicking. We are avid travellers and have been around the world a fair bit, but this is the first time the owner of a tour operator personally met up with us to ask for feedbacks and to say goodbye.
Rest assured, you will get a highly personalised service from everyone at BAS. If we ever return to Tanzania, they would be the company we would contact and go to for any future business. Thank you for making our trip of a lifetime a memorable one.
US
Email Laura J. | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very experienced and knowledgeable and helpful.
We had a meeting every evening regarding what to expect the next day. The accommodations were better than I anticipated and the food was exceptional. Our guides , Junga and Othman went above and beyound to make sure we were comfortable and found the best spot for viewing all the animals. We did see the "Big 5" and got so close to many of the animals. Our guides knew so much about the animal and it was so interesting to learn all about their interactions with each other. I would recommend Bright African Safaris and hope to travel with them in the future.