50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great time. Reasonably priced.
Rajab was very responsive to all my inquires. I scheduled a two day trip for Kilimanjaro. When I asked about sleeping accommodations he sent pictures. Other companies offered the same trip at much higher prices. Adam, our driver, picked us up near the Kilimanjaro airport. Adam (same name ) our guide for the hike was great. Maximus, our cook, prepared excellent and delicious food. I highly recommend the two day trip over the one day. If you do the one day be prepared not to see Kilimanjaro. I have already recommended Rajatours to a friend.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Splendido Safari
In January I was with my family in Tanzania to spend a couple of weeks between Safari and the sea (Zanzibar). For the Safari, after a long search and selection of local agencies, I have chosen the AAA Express Adventure and I must say I did very well. The manager of the agency Jalala proved immediately helpful and competent, he patiently answered all my (many) questions before leaving and when we arrived he went out of his way to make this travel experience unique. I also might appreciate his organizational skills during a small mistake regarding a booking, solving the problem in a timely and smart way. Finally, I can only conclude this brief review by thanking our driver Emily who accompanied us throughout the Safari and who, with his experience and professionalism, has allowed us to live a dream. Thanks again Jalala !!!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Peter designed the perfect custom tour of Kenya and Tanzania for my family: Trip of a lifetime!
We worked with Peter to design a 10-day tour of 3 parks each in Kenya and Tanzania in late Oct / early Nov 2018. He helped select just the right type of camps and lodges that fitted our restricted budget and made us feel like we were living royally. All of the accommodations' staffs were welcoming, attentive and kind. Most of the food was buffet-style which enabled all of us to find things we liked to eat. Both of our drivers took great care of us -- especially at the border crossing from Kenya into Tanzania -- and communicated with other drivers to ensure we saw the best of the wildlife in each of the game reserves. For us it was a trip of a lifetime and I'm so very glad that we worked with Africa Flash McTours.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great 2 week Safari with a super Guide, Livingston kept us informed of every detail and answered !
Everything was great during an almost year long planning process to the very end. Communication was perfect and the Safari spectacular and varied.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful 2-week Tour!
Two of us took an incredible 2 week vacation in Kenya and Tanzania in January. We started planning this trip 16 months ago. The first company we booked with turned sour, but luckily gave us a full refund. Upon excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, we ended up then booking with Amazing Memories Safaris and what a great decision that was. Anne (general manager) was great to work with, answering my emails & questions and planning out & booking our trip. We were on a budget, so we needed a mid-range priced tour and Anne delivered. We were impressed with the camps and lodges we stayed at; most were 3.5–4 Star ratings. Not super fancy, but they were surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable. The autos we traveled in weren’t new or perfect, but they got us through the mud and we LOVED the pop-up roofs for viewing.
We visited Samburu, Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru, Naivasha, Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Amboseli. Can't really say what our favorite park was as they all were unique and wonderful. Our driver/guide in Kenya was Joseph; with 20 years experience he was such a great asset and really made for an excellent tour experience. It was uncanny how he could spot the animals, network with other drivers, and was just simply a friendly, thoughtful and pleasant person to be around. We happily invited him to share a few meals with us, just to spend more time with him and hear of his life, tour experiences and Kenya.
In Tanzania, we were turned over to a partner company called Migada Adventures Tours & Safaris. (Evidently Kenya drivers can’t do Tanzania, and visa versa). Donald was our driver for 3 days; a good driver. Again, Anne coordinated all this for us, and going through immigrations/visa at the border, going and coming, was easy and simple.
The only negative issue we had (and it wasn't really their fault, I guess) was when we arrived into Nairobi at 10pm on a Sunday night, there were only 4 Kenya immigration/visa agents processing all the passengers on our Boeing 747 plane. It took us 2.5 hours to be processed and there was still more passengers behind us that waited longer. Not smart on Kenya’s part. Our driver, waiting for us, left… guess they figured we missed our flight. We had to take a taxi to our hotel. Amazing Memories apologized and refunded to me the money I spend for the taxi. But beyond that issue... our tour was WONDERFUL and was truly a trip of a lifetime.
We highly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris and would choose them again for tours in East Africa.
Now, if interested… some tips for fellow travelers, from our 2-week tour experience:
1. Take lots of new or newer USD for tipping, Visa’s, village visits & drinks at camps. We took about $1200; part of which was $200 in new $1 bills and they really came in handy tipping porters, housekeeping, waiters and security people. We found out that tips left in ‘camp tip boxes’ don’t always trickle down to staff. Staff genuinely appreciated the personal tips. Most camps & roadside shops, took Visa/MC, but not all. We did withdraw $200 in Kenya Shillings from ATM – probably only needed $100.
2. Tipping: We followed Anne’s advice of tipping $10 to $20 USD per day per person to our driver/guide and $10 USD per day per room to Camp Tip Box.
3. After reading lots of blogs on the internet on what clothes to take on safari (i.e. only beige colors; no black, white, blue, camo, bright colors), our experience was that it really didn’t matter… take & wear what you have and are comfortable in. Don’t go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. You will see people wearing everything. In warmer parks… we wore shorts and tank tops, comfortably. We found our converted zip-off pants to shorts, invaluable.
4. It sounds like "high season" is July-Sept, when the Migration happens. Yes, we missed that, but we are so happy we went in "low season" as the large crowds in the parks were gone, temperatures were comfortable, hardly any bugs, and in two of the camps... we were the only ones there. Very personal service & memorable.
5. We really didn’t need it, since we didn’t see many bugs… but before we left for Africa, I treated our shirts, pants & shorts with Sawyer Insect Repellent; just spray on and let dry. Our Friends that do a lot of traveling swear by it for controlling bugs.
6. Ahead of the tour, we were a little concerned about the food we would eat in East Africa. Don’t worry… Lot’s of great food at camps and lodges and we never went hungry. Lot’s of rice.
7. Wi-Fi was spotty or non-existence at most lodges and camps we went to. Don’t expect to rely on it.
8. Expect some long days, riding many hours on dirt, dusty & bumpy roads. We found the roads in Tanzania are better than in Kenya. I wear contacts so can’t tolerate dust. I took with me some compact padded motorcycle goggles (Global Vision Aerodynamic Eyewear) and they really saved me a couple of days in avoiding the dust.
9. Last comment-Our opinion: You will spend a lot of money for a trip like this. You will enjoy your vacation in Africa more if you go with the right attitude. Not everything will be perfect. Don’t be demanding. Just go with the flow and you will then be pleasantly surprised and appreciate the African experience more.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great way to travel with kids!!
We travelled around Tanzania (4 adults, 3 kids) with Let’s view Tanzania. We had our own tour which we planned, 4WD Toyota Land cruisers at each Trip of call at our disposal, an English speaking guide when we went to tourist attractions, great food ordered in advance (they catered well for the kids). Overall it was an easy holiday!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience, perfectly organized
Kenya is a beutiful country, and visiting ir is a priviledge. Beverly made the experience even better by arranging for a trip that was perfectly tailored to our needs and our budget. She was available during the trip to provide any support we might have needed.
Our safari driver and guide (Francis) was extraordinary, friendly, truly professional and he clearly knew what he was doing when driving aorund the parks. I would definitely recommend this company if you are planning your next trip.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely brilliant!
Cuan was amazing, he planned everything perfectly. We couldn’t fault anything from the luggage storage, air and land transfers arranged to the places we visited and the wonderful safaris. He was extremely prompt with his email responses and patient when we were deciding what we wanted to do. The whole experience from the planning with Cuan to the safaris was well beyond our expectations, unforgettable and was worth every penny. Cuan’s father looked after our bags in J’burg whilst we were on Safari which made our holiday stress free as we had luggage we couldn’t take on the small planes. The staff and the service at all the places we stayed were wonderful. They encourage their accomodation to feel like your home and bend over backwards to help you in any way and make your holiday memorable and special. The food is delicious and there is so much variety and ample food-no one will go hungry! The experience with the animals is perfect and can’t be described- it is something everyone should experience, it is so special and we can’t wait to come back and start planning our next Safari adventure. Thank you Cuan for planning the most unforgettable and special honeymoon!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best Experience!
Congo Discovery Safaris helped me fine tune my itinerary so it would suit me down to the very last detail. I had an amazing adventure in Rwanda, DRC and Uganda and did many things including gorilla tracking in Congo and a climb of Mont Bisoke in Rwanda.
I was a bit concerned before going about safety and visa etc but I was helped with all of those issues and everything went very smooth. even when I wanted to swap a hotel for another, it was not a problem. Barack (Company chief) and his team are honest, knowledgable and passionate about their jobs and we had many laughs together on this trip as well as me learning a lot about the this part of Africa.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
reliable and very fast responses to our questions
we had an amazing and exhausting trip to/with the gorillas. Ambrosi our driver was very nice and made the trip to/from Bwindi as confortabe as I could be. The lodge and meals were also very good, in summary a great experience.