US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable Adventure!
This truly was a once in a lifetime experience. Seeing the great migration first hand is something I will never forget. Nature at its finest with some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Amazing experiences of lions eating their kill and taking shade under our vehicle. More elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions than I ever expected to see...and so close!!! Our guides were the BEST. I've never left a trip so desperately wanting to stay longer.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
a Must for elephant lovers
We fell in love with South Africa when we first visited the country in 2011. Since then we returned almost every year. During the last years, we visited a large number of national parks in South Africa. Addo Elephant NP was on our itinerary almost every time, with ever increasing time spent there: the first visit, we stayed only one night, and on our last visit during Dec2015/Jan2016, we stayed 6 nights. The park's main attraction are the elephants, and you will not be able to miss them due to their huge numbers. There are also lions and rhinos, but they are very rare. There a no giraffes. We can spend hours at the waterhole simply watching the elephants interacting with each other. Their social behaviour is very much like humans. We particularly like watching the little ones, and there were always many of them.
The bird hide next to the restaurant is also worth a visit. Lots of red cardinals and weaver birds.
We always stayed in one of the park's chalets. They offer sufficient comfort and you are close to the animals. Although outside the park there are more luxurious accommodation for almost the same price, we always opt to stay in the park, because there is a major advantage: People in the park are allowed to enter 1 hour earlier and leave one hour later than people staying outside (this is because the gates between street and Addo rest camp close earlier/open later than the gates between rest camp and game area). Add the driving time from your accomodation to the park and you can easily calculate that good light for photography is impossible when you stay outside.
A typical day as we organize it looks as follows:
- get up 30 mins before the game gate opens
- have a coffee and some cookies or light breakfast (kitchen available in the chalet)
- enter the park when gate opens (usually at or shortly after sunrise)
- stay in the park (mainly at the waterholes) until 9 or 10a.m.
- return to the restaurant for breakfast
- during the day, get the sleep you missed (aircon available in chalet)
- around 4p.m. start the afternoon drive (some cookies and coffee before come in handy)
- leave park when gate closes
- have shower and dinner at the restaurant (but self cooking at chalet would also be possible)
- sleep
It is advisable to bring in your own supplies, especially if you want to cook yourselves, because the shop has only minimal choices.
Queen Elizabeth national park is beautiful
My first time to visit in Uganda and i visited with my daughter to Queen Elizabeth park for 5 days. I visited the kyambura gorge to see the chimpanzee and also the walk in the gorge where we found many birds. This park has about 606 different bird species and very wild selection of animals. Visit it and enjoy everything
AE
Musa is a very knowledgeable n experienced guide who made the safari wonderful.
Ashnil mara is a beautiful property on the mara river n what makes it stand out are its Staff. Attentive, friendly n hardworking! The food selection was also very good n tasty. It was an experience of a life time we saw Wildlife, up close n personal! Our tour guide Musa knew exactly where to go n view the animals. The weather was a lil crazy with it being too hot when the sun was up. N too cold as the sun set. All the people we met from start to finish went the extra mile to make us hav a memorable n wonderful holiday.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
It was a great experience to visit several national parks in Kenya and get a close view on a big variety of animals such as elephants, giraffes, antilopes, buffalos, cheetahs, zebras, hyenas, lions and many more. Our driver was really helpful and always tried to get us as close to the animals as possible. Also, he was very experienced both with driving on Kenyan roads and with the animals, so I think the trip couldn't have been better. The accommodation that was pre-chosen for us was really great in all cases and the food was also excellent. All in all, there's nothing to complain about. We had great holidays in Kenya. Advice: We were in Kenya during the rainy season which is not that bad. There's short and heavy rainfalls maybe once a day for 30 min but apart from that the weather is great. The good thing is that there are not that many tourists around during rainy season and this often makes you get a much closer look at the animals.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kili Climb + Safari: Safe, Reliable, Comfortable
I recently traveled to Tanzania for a few weeks with my girlfriend and her brother. We did both the Kilimanjaro climb and safari with Materuni Tours.
To keep it short and simple: both were phenomenal experience and no doubt enhanced significantly because of the dedication of Matruni and their staff to making the experience truly unforgettable.
The climb is definitely not for the faint of heart, but you cannot imagine a more satifying personal accomplishment to achieving the summit - and the Materuni climb team, led by our two guides (Makashi and Joseph), were absolutely essential in making it happen. They were our guardian angels on the mounts. Their positive energy and dedication to our well-being were truly appreciated and will be forever remembered.
The safari was fantastic to do as a reward to ourselves after the climb. Our guide (Mkonyi) was an absolute dream to have by our side for three days. He was enthusiastic, fun-loving, positive and very knowledgeable - along with an absolute blast and all-around great guy to hang out with during our adventures.
Looking back, if we had to do it all again (and wish we could right NOW - we miss it so much already), there isn't anything we would have done differently.
Sincerest thanks to Ambrose, Tory and the entire Materuni Tours family. If you're looking for a company to go with, they come highly recommended!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Best Experience of My Life!!!!!!
We booked a honeymoon trip with Ancient Wild Safaris to Samburu, Lake Naivasha, Hell’s Gate, and Maasai Mara because of the very affordable price and because those were the exact places we wanted to visit. Everything went Perfectly!!! From Michael who is fantastic and answered all our questions and requests, to the Wonderful and Experienced Guide and Human Being Joseph, to seeing all animals we could see in these parks (lions, cheetahs, leopard, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, crocodiles, zebras, wildebeest – the migration – elephants, baboons, monkeys, all types of gazelles, ostriches, buffalos, warthogs, and an incredible variety of birds) to the Kenyan lifestyle and the very welcoming Maasai village visit, and to the great camping and lodging, everything went perfectly.
Joseph is a fantastic guide. He is kind, knowledgeable, on time, caring, smart, and generous. We spent a lot of time on the game drives. He is well respected and liked by other guides and we always got tips about where wildlife was. We spent lots of time in quiet, observing lions (we saw 5 the first day on our 2 h evening game drive!!!! and at least other 10 the next days), cheetahs, leopards and all the other animals. We saw them walk, run, sleep, and mate!!!! We saw it all and it exceeded our expectations. We took fantastic photos. Joseph knows very much about all animals and knows the names of all the birds. He is very experienced and drove us exactly to the places where wildlife lives.
Because we told Michael we were on our honeymoon we got the most pleasant surprise – a free boat ride at Lake Naivasha!!! It was one of the most wonderful experiences of our lives. We saw hippos having dinner and then get in the water and play!! It was so much fun. They are very active and interactive. One family was more territorial and snorted water in the air when we approached. It was a blast!!!
Samburu is awesome. It’s a bit warmer there than in Maasai Mara but we saw many animals concentrated together. Lake Naivasha is fabulous. Right by it is Hells Gate!!!! Do not miss Hells Gate!!!! I learned how to ride a bike 5 days before leaving for Kenya so I could ride a bike in the canyon. It was amazing. We were alone with zebras, gazelles, giraffes, warthogs, and wildebeest. And the walk down the Hells Gate gorge is out of this world. Maasai Mara is everything you expect from savanna and more. All the Big 5 and so much more. We spent 3 nights and 2 days there, which gave us enough time to do different things.
Joseph was great with the schedule. Told us every night what time we would start next day (which was earlier than others) and what we will do. He was Always ready before us and the car was cleaned every night! On the way to Lake Naivasha we passed by a private conservation park and we could see about 7 rhinos chilling, which was so unexpected. We also stopped at a rug factory and at Thomson’s Falls which were great surprises. We felt always taken care of and guided to see the most.
We never got stopped on the road by the road blocks and police, which I heard happens for other drivers, and our car was in great condition on all the difficult roads and specifically to Maasai Mara. We never got stuck any where. In fact all other drivers on the game drive knew Joseph’s great car and good nature and we stopped to help other cars stuck in the mud. This was fun because it gave us the opportunity to get out of the car to take more photos and stretch our legs.
We had no problems with lodging. It was all we expected and more. Everywhere we had our own private bathroom and electrical outlets to charge phones, cameras, etc. Food was fantastic at the Maasai Mara camp. The village visit was lots of fun and a life changing experience. We were short on cash but the village people are happy to trade souvenirs for anything you can trade (bandanas, a sweater, raincoat).
I don’t have enough words to say how happy we’ve been with this tour operator and our guide. They even accommodated our traveling plans. We requested an extra day in Maasai Mara because our flight left a day later and that was solved in our advantage because we stayed with Joseph and did not change to a new group. Michael was very responsive and very eager to please.
We will go back to Kenya and we will surely use Ancient Wild Safaris again!! I fully recommend them for the best experience. They may serve budged safaris but they are of very high quality.
Thank you!!!!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent experience thanks to our guide and cook.
I believe NCA did a great job overall. Michael was very responsive to and of our queries. I thought our guide/driver (China) went out of his way to make sure we had a good experience and in the end it went far beyond my expectations.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Kili trek and Safari
We used Trekili for our climb up Kili and safari and couldn't recommend them highly enough- they were amazing. Our UK tour operator- Stubborn Mule- organised our trip using Trekili as the local operator.
Safari details:
After our first night staying in Planet Lodge, Arusha, we were picked up early by our safari guide/driver, Amenieli, after a lovely breakfast. The safari truck was the perfect size for us, which included 4 adults and 3 young children and all of our suitcases, hand luggage etc. It was a Toyoto Landcruiser long wheelbase, which 90% of safari companies use. After a brief stop in Arusha to pick up some Tanzanian Shillings (get them from an ATM located at the supermarket, whilst picking up a few food/drink items for your trip) we set off on our way to our Safari.
We had 6 days on the road, going to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We stayed at Maramboi Tented Camp for 1 night, which was amazing; Ngorongoro Farmhouse for 2 nights- very pleasant; Lake Ndutu Luxury Tented Lodge- again, amazing; and lastly Rhino Lodge- the most basic of our stays, but highly recommended.
Our guide was great. He was extremely knowledgable of all animals, the route and was really friendly. Travelling with 3 young children- aged 2, 4 & 6- he was so patient in what can be long drives during the day. Not once did he get annoyed or frustrated when the children had their occasional moans.
Overall, we could not have been happier with our safari. Our guide made sure we saw all the animals we wanted to (all of them!) including making sure our 6 year old saw the male lion she so wanted to see.
Kilimanjaro Trek:
Incredible. So much better than we could have ever imagined. I can't recommend them highly enough. It was a once in a lifetime trip which could not have been any better. My wife and I decided to the trek just the 2 of us, with no other climbers. This turned out to be a great decision and amazing to experience the climb together.
We opted for the "Alternative Lemosho Route via the Northern Circuit". Again, we would highly recommend this route. It is more expensive than other routes due to the starting point and the fact that very few people go via the Northern Circuit. This was ideal as it meant we saw for climbers for the majority of our trek, which meant it was so peaceful and for large amounts of time we felt like we had the mountain to ourselves. Other routes are not nearly as peaceful.
We had 15 (!) porters just for the 2 of us, which included our guide and assistant guide. They were so friendly and kind and we would recommend all of them. They treated us like royalty the whole trek. The food was amazing everyday and simply blew us away what they could make for us up a mountain. It included lots of fresh fruit/veg and massive portions 3 meals a day. We also were treated to afternoon tea/coffee with popcorn or biscuits.
Tents were of high quality, very new and more than big enough for us. There was a large mess tent just for us and a private, flushable toilet, which we would definitely recommend paying the extra for- the long-drop toilets on the mountain aren't great!
Our guides, Mathew & Gaudence, were amazing. Ask for them by name for your trek. They were so friendly, knowledgable and were the difference in us getting to the summit. Don't be under any illusion that this is an easy trek. It's not. Summit night in particular is very difficult, mostly due to the altitude, but also the steepness, cold and length of the day. You'll start at midnight, summit around 6 am and finish your walk down about 3pm. Not for faint-hearted. Having said that, this company will do their very, very best to make sure you get to the top.
Trekili owner, Joseph, kept in touch with us the whole time making sure that our trip was going well. He was always available to contact by phone/email before and during our trip and even came to meet us the evening before our Kili trek.
Highly, highly recommended.
US
A memorable and well organised trip
Our advisor was knowledgeable and helpful, and was mindful of the fact that we were hoping to have high quality wildlife experiences but that we did not have an unlimited budget. She made many helpful suggestions, and was very successful in meeting our aims. I spoke to Chris at one time, and he made some helpful suggestions which we later appreciated, particularly about flying from Arusha directly to Ruaha, and not taking the Dar Express to Dar first (which was our original plan so that we might visit the Usambara Mountains, but this would not have been feasible in the time available). Ellie's planning was very thorough, and everything worked smoothly. Seems that Safarihub was a good choice !