US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service and an experienced driver/guide (Ben) made this the trip of a lifetime.
Image Travel was easy to deal with and plan with online. They promptly responded to all inquiries, and we received everything we were promised. The trip itself exceeded expectations. Ben, our very experienced driver/guide, made the safari itself thoroughly enjoyable and memorable. His knowledge greatly increased our safari experience. He knew where to go and when to make the most of the animal viewing activities. We would definitely travel with this highly reliable company again. Image Travel also arranged for our three day trip to Rwanda to trek for the mountain gorillas. That trip was also well-organized and resulted in the most fantastic, unforgetable gorillas sightings.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thinking of Tanzanian Safari.... go with Safari Infinity
My wife and I were planning an African Safari for quite some time and once our minds were set, we started looking for tour operators. We got in touch with Lucia @ Safari Infiniti through a friend of mine who did his safari with Lucia's company as well. Although my friend rated Safari Infiniti the best, I still contacted 2 other tour companies to ensure we get the best. Soon I realized how easy was it to work with Lucia. Her level of commitment, professionalism, flexibility, attitude towards getting things right, knowledge about Tanzanian Safari was hard to beat. I remember calling her or she calling us multiple times to go through our itineraries, questions, etc. and making multiple changes to them as per our request(s). Since it was our first time, we were pretty apprehensive about the trip as well (things such as food options, hotels, travel, etc. ) but Lucia made it all easy for us. We ended doing a completely private safari with lodging in one of the best camp sites in Serengeti area. It was spectacular. Our tour guide Vince was the best one can get in a foreign land. He is so polite, down to earth, humble, and again knows so about the land and the way animals react. It was 7 days - 6 night safari with Vince and I would say it was the best trip ever. My wife and I make a lot of international trip together but this one tops it all. Vince was like a family member to us and was considerate to all our needs / requests, etc.
Tanzania is a beautiful country with amazing wild life. We did a few national parks such as Ngorongoro, Terengire, Serengeti and were lucky enough to see every possible animal specie along with The Great Migration and the Crossing - thanks to all the planning with Lucia and the actual safari with Vince. A special shout to Lucia's husband Simon as well. It was awesome to meet them in person and share a meal together.
We would highly recommend Tanzania and Safari Infinity.
Jambo,
Abhi
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent game viewing and a professional staff
My best friend and I went on a 5-day safari with widllife safaris and had a great time. We first stayed a night in a private game reserve near Kruger and the rest of the days in Kruger NP. It was a great overall experience with excellent game viewing (we saw 4 out of the Big 5), quality mid-range accommodation and a wonderful and knowledgeable guide; Clive! Not only did he tell us a lot about Kruger and its wildlife, but also about South Africa and its historical and future challenges, which really added to the whole experience.
It was a small group tour and we had a lot of fun with the other guests as well. Too bad they specialize only in a couple of parks, because I would have loved to also use Wildlife Safaris to visit other safari destinations.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Honeymoon
Makasa was recommended to us by one of my good friends in Tanzania. As it was our honeymoon my wife and I prefered to do a private safari as opposed to travelling with a group. We found Selma to be very knowledgeable and helpfull . We even decided to get Makasa to organise the Kenyan part of our safari as well. We had an amazing 3 weeks visiting wild life parks in Kenya and Tanzania thanks to Makasa.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organized, accomodating, knowledgable and fun
We are a family of 4 with children 11 and 13 years and went on a 12 day camping safari through northern Tanzania with Easy Travel. During the planning, Easy Travel was helpful and always quick to reply to our e-mails and many requests. All the details were taken care of for the safari from the pick up at the airport in Arusha to dropping us off at our next destination in Uganda. The safari itself was amazing - we saw tons of wildlife and, thanks to the sharp eyes of our guide Adriano, we witnessed a cheetah hunt a gazelle up close. Just incredible. It was the trip of a lifetime for us and we will always remember it fondly.
Makasa was professional, knowledgable, organized, friendly and welcoming.
From our very first contact Makasa were ready to help and advise. They met us at Kilimanjaro Airport on our arrival and were there for us during the entire trip until they dropped us back at the Airport for you return home.
The Safari was fantastic ! They took care of everything - every detail. No request was ignored or refused.
Our Safari driver, David, was amazing. He was a great driver - dispite the roads ! He was knowledgable, competent, patient, and courteous.
The entire staff of Makasa were very professional and responded to all of our questions and needs.
It was an amazing Vacation ! Thank you, Makasa !
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My expectations were high, but E-Trip far exceeded them.
For years I had dreams of an African Safari. In 2009 I started doing some research to plan the trip. I was put off a bit because the prices were so high. So I took an extra part-time job to save up the extra cash needed to make it a perfect trip. Then in 2012 we started doing the research again and it took us a while to find the right company, we sent emails to some 50 safari companies we found on this site and on TripAdvisor. We told them the parks we wanted to see, the dates and our overall budget. In the end E-Trip Africa was able to organize the trip at luxury camps and still stay within our budget. Several of the companies told us we would have to settle for a camping budget trip, which surprised me. Others told us they could not do anything within our budget.
When we arrived at the Nairobi Airport it was a little crazy, because there was a fire. The manager, Ben drove from the office in Arusha to meet us and introduced us to our Masai Driver named Joseph. Joseph was wearing Massai cloths the whole trip. Not only did he share a lot about his culture, but he was very friendly and never left a dull moment during the long drives. Ben and Joseph took us back to the hotel, where we had a briefing about the trip and he gave us a local telephone to borrow, which saved us some money when calling the folks back in the states.
We set-off the next morning and Joseph gave us plenty of good information during the long drive to Samburu. Driving past Mt. Kenya was amazing and then it was very dry in Samburu. The wildlife was nice as it was the first time to see Elephants outside of a zoo. We spent two nights there before heading to Lake Elementaita and Lake Naivasha. The Rhinos were so cool and I can't imagine people are killing them left and right to sell the horns to China. We stopped in Hells Gate to take a bike ride, which was nice as we had been spending too much time sitting in the car.
Then we went to the home area of Joseph. The Masai Mara... It was perfect to see the millions of wildebeest. Joseph had a very good sense of the wildlife and he could tell us what they would do. You can tell he really enjoys spending the time watching the animals. Twice I was a bit confused, because there were lots of cars around a kill and Joseph drove and parked about 300 feet away. Then all of the sudden the Lions got up and walked down to the water and shade near us, we had the best seat in the house.
The first two days we did not see any Cheetah. I was a bit down as I wanted to see them. I now understand that they don't like to be around all these other animals. So Joseph took us on a two hour drive to the middle of no where. And then all of the sudden he said look. We were alone, not another car in site. He said look very closely and there was a cheetah walking towards us. We sat for a few hours watching him. Then all of the sudden it bolted towards a small group of antelope taking one down. It was just like on Discovery.
The next day we headed back to Nairobi where we met Ben another time. He was really excited to hear our stories and Joseph was telling them even better than anyone. You could sense that Ben and Joseph also have a very good personal relationship. The next morning we were back to Nairobi Airport and then on our flight. A special thanks to Ben, Aurelie and the rest of the team at E-Trip Africa for organizing the trip. And an enormous thank to Joseph, who I now think of as my Massai brother.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent from Beginning to End
The best thing about Equatorial Wild Safaris is that they take the time to get to know you and understand what you want, your budget, and your schedule and then help to design a trip that is exactly what you want. From begining to end the service, accomodations, and itinerary were outstanding. They provide top notch guides which is essential to making the trip a success. I had an amazing trip and saw everything I was hoping for and more!
Safari - Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater - The Shadows Of Africa Way
Me and my girlfriend just returned from an awesome, 4 day camping private safari trip. Before we decided for Shadows of Africa, we searched and searched on the internet for the agency. At last, a friend of ours recommended us Shadows of Africa. We emailed them and they responded right away. We were searching for a low budget safari. They offered us a lot of information and helped us organize the whole visit in Tanzania, including Zanizibar. The driver/guide was amazing. He knew a lot about the animals, nature, culture ... His english was very good, his patience for our questions unlimited and good mood refreshing :) And then, there was the chef ... His cooking was incredible, serving as well (considering, we were on a camping safari in the middle of nowhere). Every day we had a cooked meal. Pancakes, eggs, bread, jam, fruit, coffee, tea etc for breakfast, lunch was usually packed in advance in a lunch box and we ate it on the way (we didn't want to miss a minute of this fabulous trip ;) ) In the evening we had cooked meal with soup, salad and main dish. My girlfriend is a vegetarian and he always prepared her something special without meat. Everything was very well organized and the trip passed by in what seems a blink of an eye. In the end of review I would like to note that the owner of Shadows of Africa agency personally came to welcome us and was always reachable for any questions or help that we needed.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari and great service!
This was the second safari that I've booked through Mark. I went to South Africa (Mala Mala) in 2001, and loved it so much and couldn't wait to get back. This time around, it was a last minute trip -- I emailed Mark about a month before I wanted to go, and he was able to book me lodges in both South Africa (Kirkman's Kamp) and Namibia (Sossusvlei Desert Lodge). He met me at the airport when I arrived in Johannesburg and we were able to chat for a bit before I flew out to the game reserve.