CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Knows his Stuff
I got in contact with Joseph about a report of a Cape Eagle Owl I’d heard of that I thought he might know something about. He was incredibly gracious and knowledgeable and assisted me in locating and organizing to see the owl. Would highly recommend his services for those seeking to find the lesser known species in this part of the world.
TT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The BEST Tour Guides In Tanzania!
I took the Marangu Village Culure and Coffee Tour on June 16th 2019.
Main points:
- always on time
- very polite tour guideswho are knowledgable about the country
- very accomodating to any needs you have
- fascinating Chagga tour, with excellent coffee (from someone who has tried many coffees and never liked any except French Vanilla)
- refreshing hike to Kilasia Waterfall
- free wifi if needed
- photographers on demand if required
Full review:
I was immediately emailed after booking the tour to confirm my pickup location, after which we confirmed the pick up time for 8:30. It was a solo tour although I thought it would have been a group, and being a young woman with two male tour guides I was apprehensive at first. However, their personalities and nature shone through immediately, and I felt at ease in minutes. They arrived on time, and were very courteous and polite. During the car ride to our first destination (Mt Kilimanjaro Park), they allowed me to stop briefly and take some photos in a field of sunflowers.
Bujo asked about my other vacation plans, and then I proceeded to try to hire them as drivers the next day. Bujo offered to call my tour guide for details, and it was then he was informed that the guide wanted me to pay them extra for the tour I had already paid for online. Bujo was doing a hot springs tour the next day and offered to let me join, but I insisted that I wanted to do a day trip to Tarangire. So while we drove to Mt Kilimanjo Park, Bujo called around to all the tour operators he knew and got me on the tour I wanted for the next day! He then let me tether off his phone to cancel my booking with the previous operator (and took me to the new operator after the tour was completed so that I could pay for the tour).
When we arrived at Mt Kilimanjaro Park it was very cold! (I am from Trinidad and Tobago) I was wearing latex tights and a vest, even with my jacket on I was still very cold, this is just a note in case you are also used to a warm climate. This was very informative, and I learned about the first men to climb Kilimanjaro, as well as other facts about the mountain. After a tour of the park area, we went outside to the souvenir shop look around. Then my guides told me they would take me downtown after our tour to get souvenirs because these are pricey. This was a great tip because I wasn't sure of how things were supposed to cost.
Next stop was Kilasia Waterfall! This was a difficult hike downwards, mostly because the paths were not easy to walk on. However, I had one guide in front of me and one behind me, always ready to assist when needed. They also went at my pace which was great. I wore hike shoes with lots of grip, while Bujo was wearing dress shoes, however I was the one who slipped a few times, so perhaps how you experience this hike depends on how often you hike and where. When we got to the bottom, we got a view of the waterfall, unfortunately we were not able to cross the river and hike to the top of the fall because on this day the river was very rough and so it wouldn't have been safe to cross. The hike up was much more demanding than the way down. According to the guides, this hike was the equivalent of a day hike on Kili. When we made it back to the top, I had the opportunity to hold chameleons. (this is a service offered by some villagers, and they expect a tip).
The last tour stop would be the Chagga Village. Before we began we had lunch. It was quite a lot, and as hungry as I was, I was only able to eat a little bit. Our guide there was a young lady named Amy, very soft spoken and polite. At this point I was joined by three travelers from Holland who were on tour with another guide. We learned about the Chagga history and present situation with the Maasai, the Chagga houses, the Chagga caves, and how the Chaggas made coffee. I was able to participate in the grinding and sifting parts of the process of coffee making. We had a cup of coffee, chocolate, and biscuits. The coffee was amazing! You then had the option of purchasing coffee either grounded or the beans.
The tour officially ended at 4pm.
However, three things happened afterward. I really wanted to get sunflower seeds to take home. Bujo called around to see if he can locate them. We also passed by a local market to look for them. I was also taken to the location of my Tarangire tour operator. Finally, I was taken to "Muungano Makonde Arts & Carvings Tingatinga" to look for souvenirs. The guides were very helpful by informing me of good prices of items, and ensuring that the locals gave me proper prices, and change.
I had such an excellent experience with them this day. Their service was above and beyond, I could not believe it. I hired them to take me to the bus stop on the Tuesday. Bujo was my personal host while I was in Moshi, making many calls on my behalf to locals as needed and ensuring I got to where I needed to be safely. AND YES, I did get sunflowers, at no cost!
Finally, Bujo gave me an excellent tip which I must share: it is better to book directly through the local tour operators, rather than through online services.
I recommend doing any tours with these gentlemen!
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was arranged perfectly. I did not have to worry about anything.
I booked the safari without many expectations. It turned out to be one of the best trips I have ever done. Because of my guide, Charlie, I got to see a lot of the Kenyan wildife.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very professional and reasonably priced
We are from Australia. We wanted to do African safari at a reasonable price and did some online research and found Adventure Africa Expedition run by Dickson. We were met by the driver in Nairobi and everything exceeded our expectations. We had a great safari trip to Masai Mara. Very reasonably priced too. Highly recommend this company based in Kenya.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wild week in a wonderful country.
On our 8-day safari adventure, we hit all the highlights you would expect-The never ending expanse of the Serengeti, the awe-inspiring Ngorongoro Crater, the majestic Lake Manyara national park where the birds and animals at the lake were the stuff of National Graphic specials, Tarangiri National Park and its abundance of elephants, and of course Arusha National Park with a beauty and climate unique to itself. We also spent a day with our two fabulous guides making our way via the Marangu route to the Mandara huts on Kilimanjaro, which is a unique adventure in itself (bring a dry shirt to change into for the trip back down!) We visited a Maasai village where we were promptly inducted into the tribe and given a welcoming ceremony worthy of kings and chiefs, and we spent time exploring the adventures that are just the daily lives of the people of Arusha as they shop from ever-changing street marketplaces. All of this was made even more special by our wonderful guide Gabriel of the Foot Slopes Tours and Safaris. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge about everything relating to the animals, the birds, the flora and fauna, the Maasai, or just life in general in Tanzania (he seemed to know everyone and was well-respected by the other guides we encountered along the way). On top of all that, he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet and a great travel and dinner companion. I can't imaging a better person to spend nearly every waking hour of a week with. Foot Slopes Tours and Safaris took care of our ever-changing and demanding needs with grace and style. Our many thanks to them and their manager, Gabriel (not the same as our guide).
TW
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The parks are worth visiting.
The national parks in Tanzania are original. People I met are mostly friendly and polite. The country may look poor but the environment is generally clean. I took one day in Kilimajaro and five days in the national parks. I am very surprised no littering in these areas. My guide is very nice and knowledgable. It seems he knows many persons in the street and NPs. He was keeping rolling down the window and saying Hello to the persons. That is interesting. I highly recommend the safari tour and this country.
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Kilimanjaro Marangu Trek
My 2 friends and I recently did Kilimanjaro Marangu route trek with Vervet Safari Tours. Last year we went on a safari with Vervet Safari and loved the whole experience very much so it was a no brainer that we chose to go for the trek with Vervet Safari.
We had to prepare more for the trek and carried a lot of climbing gear more than we did for the safari.
We had Titto for our head guide assisted by Musa and they were a superb team. We also had 10 porters and a cook as part of our crew. The porters carried most of the party luggage leaving us with backpacks, they also set up the tents everyday and packed them in the morning. The cook as responsible for keeping us nourished and he did a great job. We had huge helpings of delicious food complimented with fruits.
Vervet have invested in great tents and bedding because we warm despite some nights being very windy.
We really had a professional team supporting us because we managed to reach the summit despite me and my friend Lucy suffering mild bouts of altitude sickness which Titto dealt with quite easily.
For those going up the mountain, consider paying USD 100 more to get the private mobile toilet because the public toilets maintained by the mountain authority can be quite messy and I am grateful that we heeded the advice from Rachel because the mobile toilet came in very handy.
I was even more impressed than the first time and we will hopefully go with Vervet to the Southern or Western Circuit and that must count for something!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Kenya Safari Tour
We received exceptional service throughout the tour - from the point of booking the tour whilst we were enabled to make customizations on the tour through to the tour itself whereby our driver/guide was incredible.
From day 1 whereby I was arranging the tour I received great service sorting everything out and making a few adjustments.
When the tour started I realized how lucky we were as our guide had 25 years experience in doing the tours and thanks to his knowledge we were able to see all of the big 5 plus so much more. From speaking with other people who were doing similar tours it soon became apparent how lucky we were not only in terms of what we saw but how close we actually managed to be. This wasn’t by chance and was solely down to the expertise and incredible patience of our guide who constantly went the extra mile to ensure we had the best time possible.
I would also like to highlight the amazing places we stayed throughout the tour both in terms of being great locations and the sublime service we received.
Doing a safari in Kenya will no doubt be a great experience irrespective, but doing one with Tekko Tours will be a one of a kind.
NL
Superb experience and highly recommended.
This was our second visit to Kenya and our second safari to Kenya and African comfort zone made this a fantastic experience .John was charming, friendly, intuitive and efficient. He responded to our emails within minutes (not days like some companies), my inquiries were adequately answered and John made it very easy for me to plan and book what I wanted. Our guide Evans was very knowledgeable, helpful, kind, professional and a delight to be with, always knowing when to share his expert knowledge and when to leave us to enjoy the extraordinary natural beauty in silence. He always got us in great positions to view the game seeing the big five was easy .Evans had also a great sense of humor making the trip so lovely. The lodges where great and food was nice. We look forward to a return trip to Kenya. We recommend African Comfort Zone.
DE
Professional and friendly
For our honeymoon, we decide to do a Safari in Kenya. Thanks to African Comfort Zone Safaris and particularly John for the organizing such a great trip. They were consistently in communication with us throughout the trip. The accommodation were amazing and clean. Everything was perfect and our guide was really nice and patient. Absolutely exceptional. Thank you again for making this experience memorable.