50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect!
This safari was perfect in every way. Everyone at Benson Safaris is professional, reliable and responsive. Our driver, Richard, was excellent. He is extremely knowledgeable about wildlife behavior, plants, trees and everything else involving Tanzania. Their office assistant, Pendo, was very responsive during the months leading up to the tour and answered all of our questions. Benson himself came to our hotel on the last day in Arusha to say thank you and gave us a local gift. We chose this company based on the all of the positive reviews, and everyone was right. I highly recommend Benson Safaris.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience for a budget safari
Bearing in mind the cost of this safari, everything went quite smoothly. Accommodations are basic, but clean. Food was decent, although not a lot of variety. Be warned that you will spend a lot of time in the vehicle, so it is advisable to stock up on snacks and drinks! Our driver, James, was fantastic and very knowledgeable about the animals and birds we saw. He also knew all the best places to find them and went out of his way to make sure we saw plenty of wildlife. In addition, he is friendly and courteous. We saw the Big 5 and much more on our 1 week safari. Overall, a great experience, thank you Karibu Safaris!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime experience!
We (3 young women 27-30) booked a 4 day/3 nights campingsafari withGreg and totally loved it! The trip included 2 nights in Villa Poa and 3 nights camping (simple tent as well as mattresses and sleeping bags are provided). Meals during our whole stay were also included. By the way THANKS to our chef Tuma!
Airport shuttle was totally trouble free (Arusha as well as Kilimanjaro airport). By the way the service in advance (mail traffic, flow of information, payment etc.) was great!
Safari itself included nationalparks Tarangire, Serengeti andNgorngoro. Our great guide Allan made everything possible, so we did'nt only get to see the big 5 but nearly every animal (apart from some birds), often from really close!
You spend the nights in Serengeti and Ngorongoro on a wild camping set in the middle of the parks so you might meet some zebras and elephants or get awake by the sund of a lion during the night. Such a great and special experience!
We can totally recommend a stay at Villa Poa! Thanks for all, guys :)
Perfect Experience
Vincent expertly planned our trip, fully taking into consideration our requests, and was helpful and communicative throughout the planning process. Our guide, Boniface, was an expert driver and a fountain of knowledge, often anticipating what the animals might do next and where to go for the best chances of seeing something special. As a result, we got to see everything we hoped to see and then some. The vehicle was always clean and the extra fabric cushions and seat backs made it comfortable even on warm days and bumpy roads. We booked high-end accommodations and the service and food there were outstanding. One thing to keep in mind is that most Safaris begin early in the morning and you might need to find a hotel for the night before.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing, Wonderful, Mesmerizing and Awe-inspiring Experiences
My wife and I had the most Amazing, Wonderful, Mesmerizing and Awe-inspiring Experiences with Wild Secrets Safaris. We did the Classic Tanzania Tour with guide Mussa. He was wonderful, very knowledgeable and fun to be with. We were able to see so many different animal and bird species. We saw all the big 5!
The vehicle was fitted with comfortable safari seats, charging points for cameras and phones, fridge and radio call that Mussa used to communicate with other guides for updates on the location of wild game.
We stayed in nice comfy hotels that provide great service. Mussa was very punctual and kept the vehicle clean everyday.
We surely enjoyed ourselves during the safari and thanks to Mussa!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honeymoon trip
We booked a one week trip with Encounter Africa Safaris as the first part of our honeymoon and all was perfect from start to finish. Chris was prompt at replying and easy to liaise with ahead of the trip. We had done a lot of research and had an itinerary in mind and Chris helped us to put everything together to make this happen for a very reasonable price.
On the trip we had a private vehicle for the entirety which was exactly what we wanted. Cyrus was our driver and an amazing guide - really friendly and knowledgable, working hard to find the things that we wanted to see and quickly understanding what was of interest to us/how much information to give.
Would highly recommend a trip to Uganda and booking with Encounter Africa Safaris!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dream come true
We always wanted to live a safari in Tanzania, and Kiliholidays made the dream a reality. The accomodations were interesting and amazing, and the experience overall was incredible. Our Guide, Justin, was so nice, so funny and so attentive, the trip was perfect. Everything was planned very easily and clearly, and all went perfect, sticking to the plan.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He was very flexible with us and on conclusion of our scheduled activities
He had a superb knowledge of both flora and fauna, analyzing animal tracks and scat to help locate animals. On top of this, he was very good at reading the body language of animals - this helped in locating a lion pride. Once back in Nairobi, we did the full day Nairobi tour, again with our driver. He was very flexible with us and on conclusion of our scheduled activities, made suggestions of other things that we could do seen as we still had time remaining. Highly recommend!
MY
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari experience with skilled/experienced driver/guide
We wen't on a 5N/6D safari across the parks/areas of Tarangiri, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Manyara in early June and were quite happy with Wildebeest Safaris.
While Noah Kuti, the owner, was as communicative and clear as we'd expect, the biggest factor in our satisfaction was no doubt our skilled and experienced driver/guide Hamza, who managed to give us great viewing experiences of not only the Big Five (Black Rhino at a great distance, though), but also a Great Migration event consisting of a frenzied herd of thousands of Wildebeest + Zebras crossing a river in central Serengeti. The latter felt like I imagine it would feel like to see a crossing of Grumeti River with crocs and all, just that there were no crocs in the particular river location we observed 'our' crossing.
The lodges and tent camps chosen by Wildebeest Safaris for our safari were also quite alright, with just one negative thing (not major) to note about one of them (in separate review).
All in all we were quite happy and satisfied with our safari trip.
I'd say, however, that it depends very much on which driver/guide you get, so our advise is to try to ensure that you do get a truly experienced guide. Our driver/guide Hamza's 15 years experience of doing safaris in the area, as well as his good understanding and positive attitude, certainly played a role.
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Time
We had the most amazing time on our safaris. We had the privilege of having Leonard as our guide and driver. He was informative, polite, friendly, knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor! On top of all of that he was an excellent driver. The roads are crazy bumpy and rough, but he always did his best to choose the best route.
Maggie was very accommodating with our few requests. She asked if we wanted to upgrade our car to a jeep for a minimal amount - well worth the money as this car was far more open and easy to see out of.
We got to see the 5 ugliest and the Big 5 - just incredible!