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65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Dusty Roads gave us the most beautiful experience we could imagine !!!!
Our Tanzanian safari was the trip of a lifetime for us and Dusty Roads Safaris and Tours made our dreams come true. From their efficient help with the planning, competitive rates to accommodating our special medical needs, to applying their expertise to the scheduling, they bent over backwards to meet our needs and make this the best trip ever. Mr. Lodaru Mollel was great at responding to our questions and working to get our itinerary just right for what we wanted to do and see. Our itinerary took us to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara parks. Our driver, Geoff, made each day special for us by being punctual, knowledgeable, safe, fun and he has the best eye sight in the world for spotting animals! The two major things we wanted to see were leopards in trees and the wildebeest crossing the Mara River. Both happened, and in addition we saw so much more spectacular wildlife that made this an extra special trip to remember.
Would we use Dusty Roads for another safari? Absolutely! Out of a 5 star rating, we give them 10!!!! Thank you Mollel, Geoff and Dusty Roads for an awesome safari! You guys are the best of the best.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
It was wonderful to travel with my sister, she planned everything & it all went so smoothly.
As Jamela Africa Safaris is very reliable, having travelled with them before on two separate holidays, I had no hesitation in just leaving everything in Sheilagh Dewil's hands as she knows what I appreciate and organises really well. A trip to Kruger National Park was the absolute highlight, Sheilagh knowing which camps to visit and which tours to use. I can highly recommend the services of Jamela Africa Safaris.
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A once in a lifetime experience
We assembled a 14 day trip to Tanzania through a wildlife photographer and Essential Africa as the tour operator. Our group was 6 photographers plus our local guide Ally and Karine Aigner (photographer) for the entire trip. Given their experience they set up 4 days in the southern Serengeti and then 8 more in the northern Serengeti at a total of 3 different camps. The flat plains of the south was very different from rolling hills of the north and the Mara River. Generally there is more wildlife in the south during February than in the north but we certainly did not lack in sighting in the north and in one area near the Kenya border we witnessed a herd of several thousand animals. The limitations of the Serengeti National Park are that you must stay on the trail with your vehicle so we spent much of our time in the Ngorongoro Preserve to permit off road adventures. The advantage to this was also minimizing contacts with other vehicles and the disruption multiple vehicles have to the wildlife. In the northern camps we saw no more than 3-4 other vehicles each day in comparison to the south where you can have a dozen vehicles around a leopard sighting. We always left at 6 am and stayed out until the park closing at 6:30pm with a short stop back at the camp near lunch unless we were traveling a good distance and then we brought along lunch with us. Our first camp was a tent camp and once you get used to the bucket showers it was really quite comfortable. The northern camps were permanent camps, had superb accommodations and all three had excellent service and food. Weather was generally excellent with rain only as a short part of two days. The bush plane flights between camps were an added adventure that was a blast but a little tight on space if you are large. All members of our party totally enjoyed the adventure and other than short bouts with tse tse flies there were really no complaints at all. In terms of wildlife we had a huge number of sightings and saw most major species with the exception of rhinos (OK we saw one about a mile away) and many opportunities to photogragh all of the large cats from very close up. Hard to ask for more than that. Simply put it was a fabulous trip that was superbly planned and run.
The most outstanding safari destination in the world.
We travelled to South Luangwa National Park in August. We'd only been on safari once before - at a private reserve in South Africa. We'd asked our travel agency for the best safari experience and they said South Luangwa was it... and we can't disagree.
We stayed in two bush camps: Nsolo, a Norman Carr camp, and Lion Camp. Both were great! Staff couldn't do enough for us, the game drives were amazing and the guides' knowledge was encyclopaedic! Nsolo was smaller, more personal and more luxurious; Lion Camp was bigger but in a more rich area of the national park. However, if you're going for 5 star luxury - don't go to South Luangwa - this place is all abut the game, which is wonderful!
Let's face it, if you;re looking at South Luangwa, you're after great game sightings. It will not disappoint. A co-traveller has safaried across Africa for the last 20 years and said he'd never, ever experienced anything like South Luangwa; at a later stop, Sindebezi Island near Livingstone, we were speaking to a traveller who'd just been on a two week walking and river safari in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia (south) who, on hearing what we'd seen, said "Well, that's it - you can't go on safari again as nothing will compare to that". That's how great South Luangwa is.
I can't tell you everything we saw - the list would be far too long - but here's heavily edited highlights:
On our first night (Nsolo), we were sitting around the campfire after a delicious dinner when a staff member noticed some lions. Immediately, the truck was started up and we piled in. Barely two minutes later, we were sat watching a lion and lioness enjoying the moonlight... literally 3 metres from our bed! Suddenly, the armed guard who escorts you to and from your accommodation during the dark didn't seem overly cautious.
During the night, we had the best worst-night's-sleep ever. The sounds of the bush woke us delightfully often, including the resident hippo pod which lives right next to the camp and come out at night to graze around the edge of the camp.
My wife is a sucker for animal babies, so seeing hyena cubs, only a few weeks old, was amazing.
At Lion Camp, we saw, obviously, many sightings of the two prides which live nearby, including finding them lazing on the road just waking up after a night's feed. We sat in the middle of the pride, feeling like we were a little part of it rather than just observers. My lion highlight was seeing the full pride in a stand off with some painted dogs. Another was seeing a lioness move her 5 day old cubs from one nest to another: they were so young, their eyes were not open yet, and the tenderness with which she moved them in those huge, powerful jaws was stunning.
If you love elephants, you'll love South Luangwa. It seems like they're around every corner - and they're not afraid to let you know when you;re too close. We were mock-charged three times... but we never felt unsafe.
One thing we'd hoped for was seeing a leopard. We were not to be disappointed! Over 5 days at Lion Camp, we had 7 - seven - sightings, from glimpses in the night to sitting watching two different leopards in trees during the day. At one point, we were so close I asked the guide if it was purring - it wasn't: it was growling at us! We moved of sharpish. Another night sighting was wonderful - we'd seen the leopard at a distance and our guide swung the car round, went through undergrowth trying to second guess where it would head, and we were rewarded with it coming out of the undergrowth just to our side and making its way across the front of the car so close that, when in front, you couldn't see it over the bonnet.
For birders, which we are not, South Luangwa is wonderful. Some fellow travellers were birders and we caught a bit of the bug from their enthusiasm. Bee eaters and violet breasted rollers were my favourites, but the various eagles and vultures are spectacular in their size. We were even treated to a long, uninterrupted sight of Pel's fishing owl - something we appreciated but not fully until it was explained to us that this rarity is similar to seeing to a leopard.
Overall, if you love wildlife, if you love safari and if you want the greatest experience you've ever had, book for South Luangwa today.
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Review about Tanzania by charles young
If you want to see wildlife in their natural environment and doing what they do (and yes that means hunting) then Tanzania is a superb trip. In addition to the wildlife the landscape photography is stunning along with encounters with the local Massai tribe. All the camps were professionally operated and there was never a fear for security or safety. This is frankly a trip of a lifetime and we are already planning a return trip to Africa.
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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.
NL
20-35 years of age
Big value for money
I got more than expected, and it says a lot. The level of informations were of a very high standard before departure and the service at the camps and on game drive was excellent.
Our driver and the places we stayed were really nice indeed as well , We saw lots of animals in the wild , and had a fun trip !
It was not very but at least 110% satisfactory.
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We had a great time, saw a lot, and learned a lot with Patrick of Mmilot Tours.
Everything was great -- Patrick customized the tour for us, met us at the airport, made all the hotel arrangements, booked us at Kwa Madwala which we loved, and most important, was an obliging, informative, entertaining guide.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A buget safari with all details coverd
I went to Masai Mara-Nakru-Amboseli 6 days safari in Sep-16 ....3rd week
Highlights:
1. A worth visiting place & safari...a must see place
2.. Absolute Holiday Safaris is a reliable company and the Manager David was polite and good to us.
3. Driver cum Guide Stanley was extremely good. Initially he looked to be little different but he made the trip enjoyable
4. Stanley took us every where ... even near to the animals when other vans did not dare to do it.
5 . When I lost my video camera in Lake Nakuru and traveled 15 km with out knowing it , Stanley took every effort , called some one there and got back my camera safely.....Weldone....Thanx Mr. Stanley. God Bless you.
7. We enjoyed every hour of the day ....especially Amboseli,,,, but could not see Mount Kilimanjaro due to misty condition.
8. Over all the safari was well organised.
Negative points:
1. The tented accommodation was not up to the expectations.
2. Always the food was bread, jam/butter/ Watermelon /some rice/etc .
But I really enjoyed the safari .