NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience, thrilling to be "up close and personal " with so many different wild animals
Communications with Jude Hartley was excellent. She helped out in so many ways and that was much appreciated. Our tour guide Anthony was just the best. He was so knowledgeable, interesting and considerate of all our needs. Tour group size of 8 people was ideal. Good to have one empty seat in land cruiser. Vehicle was a little older than expected and took a battering on all the bumpy, uneven surfaced roads and tracks. This aspect of the amount of time and distance traveled (about 5000Km) was not clearly stated in the initial information about the trip. A reasonable level of physical fitness and endurance is required. However our group of mostly over 65's coped extremely well and we all maintained a positive and cheerful attitude. "Don't worry, Be happy" was our our theme song played many times on CD while travelling.
The standard of accommodation and food throughout the trip was excellent. Wonderful to have comfortable beds with clean sheets every night. It was fun preparing our own food and sharing cooking responsibilities together on some evenings. I enjoyed the African "banquets" in the larger restaurants also. Probably the best of all was the 5 days /4 nights out in the Chobe National Parks. Our team of 6 locals looked after us superbly well and prepared delicious meals cooked over a fire. The long days and early starts in the morning were worth the effort , and rewarded by the most amazing sightings of so many different animals. As this was the main purpose for our tour, I was just so thrilled to see the full range of animals and birds and vegetation so typical in Africa, but only seen in books or zoos here in New Zealand. My 10/50 binoculars were perfect, and I spent many hours observing close up these amazing creatures living in their natural environment. The huge number of photos and videos taken will be a lasting memory of the unique and wonderful experience. Well worth every dollar spent, and excellent value for money.
A couple of suggestions. I know this was primarily a wildlife and game park reserve and we also had so opportunities for some sightseeing, in particular around Victoria Falls which was magnificent. However, for me personally I would have enjoyed a few more opportunities to visit local communities and get to interact with the local people in their on environment . Also some more chances of walking around the areas, as I missed my regular exercise regime.
Another idea. While the Okavango Delta visit was a unique and special place, and I really enjoyed the peace and fascination of the environment, my suggestion would be to condense this visit into one night only, by including a plane trip to to local airstrip on the first morning early, do the beautiful sunset cruise, and mokoro pole cruise the next day through the the delta, then return to Maun that afternoon. Include the flights in the full costs instead of paying for additional sightseeing trip from Maun. This would mean one less day on the Tour, but would eliminate 2 long days of travelling in the cruiser over very rough roads. Just a thought.
Thanks so much for a wonderful experience. I will be thoroughly recommending to others.
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything is well planned
it was perfect, everything is well planned and as talked. Thanks.
MX
extraordinary! amazing!
Everything outstanding. The guide (Good luck), the truck, the hotels, the landscapings, everithing! More people should do a Safari with thhis company. Best prices also!
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful impressions of Uganda
We - parents with 18 year old daughter- made a round trip from Kampala to Budongo-Murchison-Rwenzori Lake Mburo-Kampala in 10 days. We don't want to spend much money and choose good and not expencive Lodges. The Budongo EcoLodge has good meals (2 of us are vegetarians-no problem) and is situated in the forest. We enjoyed the birding tour very much with a guide who had much knowledge. Great was the game drive and boat cruise in Murchison NP. Red Chili hide-away has a nice view over the NP and friendly stuff. In Rwenzori NP it wasn't easy (for us) to head to Ruboni community hill trek. To see a three horned chameleon during the walk was fantastic.
In Lake Mburo the Rwonyo camp with tents is simple and it is not easy to get to the restaaurant at the seaside. You always need a ranger to get there because of the animals on the way. We meet Felex from Rainforest Tours, drivers, park wardens and rangers who all arrive in time and are very helpfull and friendly. Our expectations are more than fullfilled.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A breathtaking experience
First of all, I would like to thank our amazing driver and guide mr Raymond. because of him we had an incredible safari and very close up experience with the big five. Not only is Raymond very knowledge of the park, but he is also very well connected with his colleagues and as result of that we were in the front row and saw a lot of animals. we were able to take great photos too. This safari has been years in the making for me and my family and Raymond made it the best most memorable experience. I would highly recommend Karibu safari in Kenya.
CA
Experience level: first safari
Rock, Rattle and Roll
I have to say that Wildebeest was a disappointment for sure. Communication before our trip was excellent. I checked references and all was great. However, following our trip, and before writing this review, I gave Noah, the owner, a chance to respond privately to my concerns and he said he would look into it, but I have not heard anything.
1. Itinerary
My instructions about what we wanted was the Big 5 and the Migration. We did not see the Big 5--missed the rhino. We understood that seeing the actual crossing of the wildebeest is not guaranteed. However, I think that too many days were scheduled to try and see the crossing both in the Mara and the Northern Serengeti. We would have been better off remaining in the Mara for another day, rather than spending a day travelling to the Northern Serengeti--essentially wasted time. We saw thousands of wildebeests, but they did not cross when we were there. It was a very expensive part of the trip and I think, having had the experience, we would have been happy with just the Mara and skipped the northern Serengeti. As i said, it took a lot of travel time, and waiting around for hours on end, for the second time, became a bit boring. The other animals were not plentiful, the accommodations were not good. It also have been better spending more time in the central Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We had less than one day of viewing in each of them and in Ngorongoro we paid extra to extend our viewing in the crater as we were only scheduled for 3 hours. It was very badly planned in this respect. Also, I would recommend staying a second night in Ngorongoro, despite some extra costs. Again, we felt that we had too much wasted time travelling to a second lodge.
2. Vehicles
We had a number of concerns about the vehicles used. The first one, in the Mara, was okay, but the seats were permanently reclined--so not wonderful, but it was only a couple of days. The second vehicle which we had for 6 or 7 days was not up to par. We rocked, rattled and rolled---and though we did survive without a breakdown, the vehicle was below standards. It was old and literally rattled all the time so it was impossible to hear the guide unless you were sitting beside him. There were no seat belts in rear seats--which we believe was not legal. The windows did not operate well and were old and blurry--not good for viewing. The walkie talkie was not fully operational--and we think this had a significant impact on communications resulting in less viewings. We will never know! There was no cooler and water supplied was in huge bottles that got warm and were covered in dust. I had inquired from Noah about an air conditioned vehicle and was told it was not necessary because it was not the hot season. This was not correct. There were parts of the journey that we would have definitely closed the windows to avoid the dirt and dust, and this was not possible without the air conditioning, which was not working in the vehicle.
3. Accommodation
Our accommodation were all very nice except the Northern Serengeti where we were lodged in the Angata Migration Camp. The facilities were a bit too basic--not even an hand towel in the public bathroom and only tissue with no waste basket--kind of ridiculous in a place that was billed as "luxury". Also no hand towels in the room, rough floors, and extremely poor lighting. But most significant was that the bed netting was poor, it had holes and was dirty. This is in an area of the Tse Tse, so I spent 15 minutes every night re-arranging the netting. Food was okay at most places, but lunch boxes were not the greatest.
4. Guide/Drivers
We had two different guides. Eustice, in Kenya was very personable. knowledgeable, helpful, but very strict about rules, which we cannot hold against him! In Tanzania, our guide, who was a contractor, was very knowledgeable, but we had to ask questions to get the information. He was quite serious in personality and our main concern with him was his extreme confidence in himself which we felt prevented him from getting information from others. He also, without informing us, decided not to go to see some rhinos that were reported spotted, thinking they were too far away. He did not consult us and others at our camp were able to view them. He told us after we were back in camp! In the end, we never did see the rhino, and we do have some resentment over this. We would have said to go to see them for sure.
BR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
excellent planning and support service
I am very impressed with their professionalism and responsiveness. I got helped during the planning (6 months before) and the keep up following in all the steps. Also very good respond of all my inquiries during the time I was traveling.
US
The only way to experience the bush and animals!
My husband booked us into 2 Essential Destinations camps: Mdonya Old River in Ruaha and Lake Manze in Selous Game Reserve. It was an amazing adventure. I did not want an experience of crowds, competing for sights and space, high maintenance group concerned with material things and appearances, or a setting of disrespect for the environment. These 2 camps were amazing offering us our own flush toilets and showers, lovely tents, romantic candles and lanterns, companionship if wanted and privacy if wanted, incredibly creative and delicious food, and the best views of animals ever. The staff at both camps were friendly, kind, caring, walking encyclopedias of knowledge and they tailored our game drives to what we hoped to see. We learned an amazing amount about every animal, plants, the basics in tracking, identification of similar species and gender, and even droppings. I loved that just my husband and I were in the vehicle with a driver and guide (although the drivers are most likely also guides-not sure but very knowledgeable). Two sets of trained eyes are better than one. I was thankful for the open vehicle. I saw other game drives from different camps and noted that they were sweltering in a closed vehicle with only a driver (one set of trained eyes who is also driving) and had to stand up and look out of the roof to see, not my idea of a good experience. I loved the sights and practical and entertaining info. Leave your windows open to see and hear more animals in your cozy and lovely tent.
We loved every minute.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome safari, with afterwards an ok stay at Zanzibar
We went for a 6 day safari to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. Aferwards, we stayed at Zanzibar for about 6 nights.
We had an awesome safari with Shemeji! Our guide Harun and cook Isaack were both excellent at their jobs. Harun drove perfectly, told us a lot about the parks we went too and the animals we saw, put us (the customer) as his first priority (he stopped everywhere we wanted), has a very good sence of humor, is excellent English speaking (also very important!). Just. Awesome. Isaack was able to cook anything, breakfasts where good, lunches always nice and the evening dinner delicious. And the hamburger on the last day with some fries, yum. He was also a very cool guy, had a very good sence of humor, also excellent English speaking and always helpful. The parks were very beautiful, the animals so awesome and Harun and Isaack very cool guys. We wouldn't miss this trip for the world and thank them once more for the amazing safari!
However, the Green Mountain Hotel (overnight stay at Arusha) was ok. Don't expect luxury, just basics. Our time at Zanzibar was also very nice. Beautiful white beaches and a very blue sea. Mbuyuni Beach Village had lots of places to hangout and the lunch / dinner menu was always different. However, don't expect luxury here also, but just the basics. Some things could be much better, like the bed, sheets and some other things. The personnel however was always friendly, helpful and fun. Unfortunately, the same music is played every night and the food isn't always that good.
So, overall we had a good experience with Shemeji. The safari was awesome, our stay at the hotels ok. I would recommend Shemeji (and especially Harun and Isaack) to anyone! However, maybe choose your own hotels when you need some more luxury. Otherwise, these ones are just fine. Shemeji, thanks once more!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Self-drive trip to Namibia
We have just returned from a 2 1/2 week trip around Namibia organised by Simon at Native Escapes. The holiday exceeded our expectations in every way. Right from our initial conversations with Simon about what we'd like to do, Native Escapes gave us a range of flexible options and patiently went through each location in terms of accommodation, things to do, travel between locations etc... Emails were always promptly responded to and no question was too much trouble. All the documentation, itinerary etc. was very clear, the route and maps were very helpful and the on-the-ground agent, ATI, was v helpful providing local mobile phone, first aid kit, and even a cool box and ice blocks. One of our party had a specific dietary requirement which was recognised at every point from the airline flights to each lodge we stayed in. Finally the overall cost was very competitive when compared to some of the other big brand operators who offered exactly the same package (we know coz we met some of their clients at the lodges we stayed at). So thank you Simon and Native Escapes for a brilliant holiday and all your help in organising it.