US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The best safari driver/guides for experienced wildlife photographers
I've been using Alex Marti, the owner of Larga Safaris, as my driver/guide in Tanzania for 4 years in a row and already signed up for 2017. I've had over 55 days of experience with Alex and he was a referral from a photo buddy who had used him for several years in a row as well. My photography focus is on the big cats, especially young cheetah families which are the most difficult to find, and I've had home runs on every safari (see wildliferyhms.com). Alex has been driving/guiding since 1986 and he has extensive experience at all of the Tanzania parks plus some experience in the Mara. Finding a driver/guide who knows how to support the needs of serious wildlife photographers is not an easy task and I find Alex to be the best of the best; i.e., he's an excellent driver, follows park rules, knows how to find animals on his own (not just follow other vehicles like most Tanzanian drivers), is tireless and flexible, and gets you in the right shooting position quickly. His son is also one of the driver/guides and he has an extensive network of experienced drivers buddies to fill in when more are needed. Alex owns/uses land rovers which I prefer over land cruisers and they are serviced after each safari. I know his entire family and they are delightful. Payments are made via wire transfer and I've never had a problem sending payments to Larga Safaris from the U.S. Alex is fun to talk to because he's a first generation Maasai, has lots of interesting bush stories to tell, and he's very involved in the local community. As a company owner, Alex is very responsible concerning client safety/health and since I'm a female photographer who often travels alone, this counts for a lot. I highly recommend Larga Safaris if you're an experienced photographer/seasoned traveler and have the patience to do what it takes to get great images. Larga Safaris specializes in cultural safaris too and friends have enjoyed that aspect of their visit to Tanzania as well, in addition to a wider range of wildlife viewing.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great trip
We did a 3 night safari with 1 night and a gorilla trek in Uganda and 2 nights with 1 gorilla trek and 1 golden monkey hike in Rwanda. I would definitely recommend this operator. We were met at the airport as promised and the entire trip was just as described. The Moountain Lodge in Uganda was very rustic but perfect for our needs. The lodge in Uganda was alittle more upmarket but still fairly simple. Both were more than adequate for this type of trip. The treks can be very physically demanding so be in good physical condition. The experience of seeing these magnificent animals up close and in their natural surrounding was a once in a lifetime experience. Our guide David was friendly and helpful throughout. Highly recommend!!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fun and Fantastic!
This was my 4th time going on a 1-day wildlife safari with Tanzania Choice Safaris. (Not counting the weekend they booked me into Zanzibar!) Each time, the service has been professional, reliable, and friendly - both for the planning, as well as on the tour itself.
Kakasii and Brenda, along with their other expert guides, provide lots of information - and lots of smiles - to make the safari experience beyond compare. Highly recommended!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect African safari
We enjoyed a sunset and a sunrise safari in Tarangire National Park and both were excellent. Our guide was extremely knowledgable and entertaining. He tailored his approach with us depending on our interests and told us so many stories about his time as a guide! Our safari jeep was great and seated six comfortably, not that we sat down for much of it.
We spent one night at a campsite in the park, which was basic but comfortable enough, and we heard lions roaring nearby to our tents as we slept. The food was great, it would be impossible to go hungry. We saw only a handful of other tourists whilst we were there.
Highlights were the number of elephants (we saw so many!), the baobab trees, extensive bird life, a trio of cheetahs and driving alongside a charging herd of wildebeest.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience
My first safari trip to Tanzania involved a 14 day adventure organized and guided by Justin and Alex with Tembo Adventure & Safaris. We went in mid February. The trip lived up to all my expectations and the service and knowledge of Justin/Alex was outstanding. Our group stayed at 4 different lodges as we toured Ngorongoro, Ndutu, Serengeti and even a few bonus days on Zanzibar. All accommodations were a little bit different but all were amazing. Tea in bed in the morning listening to the birds and roar of lions in the distance as the sun comes up - doesn't get any better! Each game drive took us to different places and we saw it all. Justin's knowledge of the area and its wildlife was outstanding. We went to some out-of-the-way places to get away from the busier vehicle areas and were treated to some of the best wildlife viewing and photography opportunities one could ever want. Everything was well organized and went off without any problems even the picnics out in the middle of nowhere. Justin's good sense of humour and stories made every day one to remember. I would highly recommend Tembo Adventure/Safaris for anyone wanting to see this amazing country.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A safari beyond expectations
My wife and I have been on a private 10 day safari trip with Epic in four of the northern parks of Tanzania: Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti. Our friendly guide Temba has a outstanding knowledge of the wildlife and their habitat. He was always keen to spot rare animals and happy to give us (detailed) information. Thanks to him we were able to see the big five. We have even seen over eleven rhinos! In my opinion, Temba is also familiar with the favorite spots of the animals in the parks. Therefore we have been able to watch the animals before other cars showed up.
The trip was also well organized by Epic Tours. Temba picked us up at the airport in time and arranged everything we needed. Also the meals which were prepared by Peter (the cook of Epic Tours) are outstanding and a good combination of the local and international cuisine. Furthermore, Epic Tours responded very fast on our e-mails in the planning stage of the trip.
In short, this trip highly succeeded our expectations and has left us with astonishing pictures.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari trip!
We had such an amazing time exploring national parks of Northern Tanzania on safari in January 2016. This was hands down the best trip either of us have been on! From start to finish, everything was so well planned and executed, that we never felt any of that normal vacation stress. Even when there was a minor issue with the weather and an outdoor activity, our itinerary was re-arranged so that we could still fit everything in.
All of our accommodations were absolutely incredible. We could not have picked them better ourselves! We especially loved how small each one was and how the staff/managers seemed genuinely interested in making our stay as memorable as possible.
In planning the trip, Altezza was incredibly responsive and worked with us to tweak our itinerary to fit in everything we wanted and some awesome suggestions we had not thought of (like the truly amazing experience with maasai tribe after Ngorongoro crater). We had a fantastic experience working with this travel company and will not hesitate to use them again for our next trip to Africa, which will hopefully be very soon!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beware - Unilateral changes in Itinerary, last minute flight changes, hotels not reserved
We booked a 10 day safari to Kenya and Tanzania followed by 4 days in Zanzibar. We were a group of four. Upon arrival, we were picked up at the airport and transported to our hotel, only to find out there was no reservation for us and the hotel was full. This required us to move to another hotel (much inferior in quality). The next morning, a representative of Africa Remote met us and indicated that the payments we had made one month earlier were still being held by their credit card agency and we would have to pay for the night's hotel plus US $160 (cash) for that day's entrance into Nakuru Nat'l Park - but that they would refund the money to our credit card. This they did but because we are not American, we do not travel with a lot of U.S. cash. We were told the money we paid should soon be available and everything would be O.K. Not so. When traveling from the Masai Mara to Amboseli Nat'l Park, we passed through Nairobi and were told the same representative needed to see us again. This time, were told we were required to pay the entrance fees into Amboseli - another $160 cash. Our U.S. cash reserves were getting very low at this time. We were assured everything would be O.K. once we crossed into Tanzania. The next day when we met our Tanzanian, guide we asked if all fees were paid. His response was that we were to pay the entrance fees for the parks. It took him over an hour to clarify our situation with the Nairobi office, but still we had to pay the entrance fee to Tarangire Nat'l Park. All these fees were eventually refunded. This is when things really started to go wrong. On our drive from Tarangire to Ndutu Tented Camp, our guide received a text message from the office that advised him to stop early at a 1 star (at best) roadside hotel until he could complete some necessary banking the next day. In other words, our accommodation at Ndutu had not been reserved or paid for. We wasted half a day at this hotel with absolutely nothing to see or do. The next day, we set off again and had to wait over 2 hours while our guide completed the banking. This resulted in a very late drive over some questionable tracks after the sun had set. To say it was nerve racking is an understatement. On our way out of Ndutu, it was obvious that no accommodation had been booked for the night. We had paid in advance to stay at the Rhino Lodge but ended up in the Bouganvillea Lodge (very pleasant, but cheaper) after our guide had a heated exchange with his office. What a surprise in the morning when we found out we had to pay for the night at the hotel ($186). That day was our flight to Zanzibar, which, at the request of Africa Remote, we had paid $280 each in May of 2015 - we were told it was necessary to pay early because the flights sell out. We had asked for the flight itinerary and when we passed through Nairobi were told that we were flying Precision Air at 1:15 from Arusha's domestic airport. At 9:00 a.m. we finally got our flight itinerary. We were now flying Fast Jet at 12:30 from Kilimanjero airport - over 2 1/2 hours driving away. They had booked us at the last minute on a Low Cost carrier (the tickets cost them less than $124 each -in other words, they made a lot of money). Our driver drove at breakneck speed to get us to the airport. We made it to the check in counter with less than 2 minutes to spare. Then we found out our flight not only had a 6 hour layover in Dar es Salaam, but we were charged luggage fees for each flight segment (another $ 70). Upon arrival late in the evening in Zanzibar, there was no one to meet us as had been promised. We made our way by taxi to the hotel listed on our itinerary (Pongwe Beach Hotel) only to find, once again, that no reservation had been made. Fortunately, the manager was very accommodating, had room for us and said he would work everything out the next day. He got an e-mail in the morning telling him to expect our arrival and "customer to pay". In other words, they had not paid for this hotel either. The manager tried to contact Africa Remote by e-mail and phone but had no luck. We ended up paying for this hotel for the three nights we stayed ($600). Pongwe Beach Hotel is a gem! Pongwe Beach even arranged our transfer and stay at our next destination in Stone Town. Africa Remote ended up owing us a considerable amount of money. It took them almost a month to process a refund. We are lucky because we had the resources to weather this situation. It might not be so for other travelers. Even though the two guides we had were excellent (Simon in Kenya and Hamza in Tanzania) the front office ruined this experience. We wasted time in hotels, while they were banking and sitting in an airport departure lounge. They caused us far more stress than any other trip that I have taken - and I have traveled to over 90 countries. I would never recommend this company!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Right people at the Right place
Safari Care has organized us an incredible trip! The staff were kind, professional and charming. They were easy to communicate with and chose the best accommodation in a breathtaking lodge. Our tour guide was very professional with a vast knowledge of the natural and wildlife habitat. We really appreciate Safari Care for the unforgettable experience and will definitely recommend them to everyone who wants to explore and enjoy Tanzania the way its supposed to be. Thumbs up!