US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Comfy car, great accomodation & experienced driver
We had a Safari on our bucket list and decided to book via Safari bookings. We were happy with Safari hub's review and found them responsive to communicate with and extremely knowledgeable about Tanzania. In the end we opted for a weekly group departure as the itinerary looked good and more importantly fit within our budget (Flights are expensive to Kilimanjaro). The vehicle, driver and accommodation was as per itinerary and comfortable. In the beginning we were rather apprehensive about this trip, but are now looking forward to a similar adventure in the future.
Parks visited: Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Serengeti.
June 2015.
US
Experience level: over 5 safaris
There's no one better to set up your safari for you.
I've been on safari 17 times, visiting S. Africa the majority of those trips. I was fortunate to meet Marianne and her husband at lunch at one of the reserves I had been to many times. Since then she has set up several safaris for me in whole or in part and answered questions to the point where I sign off as "The Pest. " I'm normally reluctant to recommend anyone for anything , but with Marianne I don't hesitate a nanosecond before giving her name and email. Just referred a wonderful client and Marianne set up a safari for seven which they absolutely loved. Hope to go again in the future and there's only one person that will be handling my trip. I've dealt with the "big" operators and they can't compare as far as knowledge, working with you and response time. She started as my travel agent and I now consider her a friend, as well.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
Our trip to Uganda was to be the trip of our lifetime, so we needed a good safari operator to make our dream come true. Did we get lucky. We started working with African Big Five Safaris ten months in advance of our 24-day visit. Our trip was to be more than a safari - we wanted a "total" African experience. Meet the people, experience the culture, learn the history, and of course, see all the animals.
The staff of African Big Five patiently worked with us to create a tour package that exceeded our high expectations. Geoffrey responded instantly to every request and presented various options to us. Our package was based on a moderate budget, somewhere between budget and luxury. We were pleasantly surprised.
Our driver and guide, Musa, was exceptional. His personable, easy going manner, extensive knowledge of his country and its wildlife, and superior driving skills, were appreciated by all four of us. He had a very very thorough knowledge of all the game parks, and provided close encounters with every game species, including hundreds of bird species, his specialty. From our well equipped Landcruiser with pop top for game viewing, we saw countless elephant, giffafe, hippo, buffalo, lion, antelope and primate species. Not to be missed, if course, was the gorilla and chimp treks.
Our accommodation never disappointed. African Big Five constantly monitors the lodges it uses, and drops any that don't meet expectations. We are vegetarians, and were impressed that each lodge was prepared in advance to meet our dietary needs. All meals, for the most part, were very good, and service from lodge staff exceptional.
African Big Five Safaris is a small, Ugandan-owned company that, in our opinion, provides big service. Their approach seems to be - look after the details, provide a package tailor made to the client, and build a reputation to ensure their future success.
Because of the length of our tour, we were glad that we had planned for enough rest time in our itinerary so we didn't wear down from the busy schedule.
Uganda is truly the Pearl of Africa. We highly recommend this rich and diverse country as a destination and African Big Five as your tour company.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best among many I contacted
Kathy Simon was incredibly attentive, responsive, and on top of all details for our safari spread across two different game preserves. I contacted about 8 different operators and solicited quotes from all of them, and Kathy's was quite competitive, and consisting of well-reviewed properties. More importantly, she was the MOST responsive agent of all of them, always getting back to me right away with answers to my questions. This was decisive for me. She even made a last minute adjustment to some of our transport, arranging things while we were on vacation in the bush. In the end, I actually found a better deal for this than she did by searching a bit online, but when I told her about this, she booked it at the same price, which I really appreciated. Outstanding service, reasonable prices.
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Guide is extremely knowlegedable, knows where to go, sharp + good sense of humor
The guide Hansa has a broad knowledge about Mother Nature, not just the animals. He is able to spot them before you see them under almost 180 degrees. he's very patient and stay at a place when you want it. On top he is very flexibel with respect to wishes of his clients. And the last important thing is, he has a good sense of humor - quite important when you go on vacation!
All in all, we had an extremely pleasant experience with Hansa
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
well exposed to the wild.
It was my first trip to Kenya and it was made memorable by this company. Bush dinner made me feel come back to Kenya and also the beautiful landscape of samburu national park. Would love to go back for more experience
KR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An exciting safari trip that really allowed us to embrace the African culture and wildlife!
My husband and I booked a safari through Odyssey Safaris for his 40th birthday and we were very happy with the trip! Not only did the company cater our travels around our personal requests and interests, but they also added some great recommendations. We had a very memorable time and would definitely recommend Odyssey Safaris to others!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Miss sold safari package, asked for a refund and never got even an apology. Total rip off
1) Number of passengers in the cars, we have agreed for MAX 6 passenger and for several days there were 7 people in the car making the game drive very uncomfortable since there is no space for everybody to view from the roof.
2) Road Trip from Masai Mara until Nakuru
We and other 4 clients has to wait for 3 hours at the restaurant for a connecting van/safari group (coming from the same place!!!).
This delay meant that we were not able to have the evening game drive in Nakuru as per schedule
3) Road trip from Naroku until Amboseli
We passed to Nairobi to pick the chef and an other passenger instead than going directly to Amboseli, we found a lot of traffic to get in and out from Nairobi and this deviation made our travel longer of probably 2-3 hours and made our travel even longer, obviously we missed the evening game drive as advertised on the schedule
4) road trip from Amboseli until Arusha
the arrangement of this trip was just unbelieveble, we waited for 4 hours at the border with two other spanish tourist due to your arrangement (travel in a 15 pax) as we first had to get our visas (10am) wait for the shuttle (12am) and wait for another three hours for the other 15 people and one BUS!! to get their docs. As a result, we had lunch at 4pm and missed our afternoon game drive in Navaisha (arrived when it closed 6pm).
The result of this delay was the cancellation of the evening game drive to lake Manyara and the change of schedule for the rest of the trip in Tanzania
5) Lodges advertised, you advertised on your schedule Mara sidai camp and we stayed in a different one (Lenchada), without internet (as advertised and a very low quality) None of the lodges have internet in the contrary of what you told us.
6) Advertising a cross country package that you cannot offer, your company is cleraly not registred and authorized for doing business in Tanzania, and therefore you cannot sell a package without saying that it would be provided by a different company (Aruexpeditions).
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A second visit to Africa
Recently we decided to again visit Africa after our fleeting visit 4 years ago. Having been very happy with what Encompass Africa organised back in 2011 we again contacted them via email for ideas for this trip. They were extremely prompt with their reply with suggestions and costings and we finally settled on an itinerary with Danica.
Our trip last month was fantastic - visiting 2 safari camps in Botswana before a mini bus tour on the garden route near Cape Town to eventually finish the 3 week trip at Nottens Bush camp in Sarbi Sands.
The animal sightings were a highlight seeing the Big 5 many times over but also animals that perhaps aren't seen as often including cheetah, serval cat, honey badger - the list goes on
Encompass Africa attention to detail is fantastic and I continue to sing their praise. The pre trip paperwork had all the detail needed and the backup assistance in Africa during the trip with phone calls and being met by their staff at airports was first class. If money allows and we go again we would only turn to this company.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What an amazing way to seeing the best Tanzania has to offer!!!
We had a wonderful time on safari it was amazing!!! The children loved seeing the abundance of animals and really enjoyed the roof of the 4WD being up and driving open air!!!
Fikiri was great, met us promptly at Firefly and informed us of what to expect. He is a very safe and considerate driver who took all our needs into consideration. We all felt very safe in his hands. He found animals in the Serengeti with ease and got us as close as we could get and still showing respect to the animals and their space.
It was just wonderful how you were able to design and cater a trip that suited our family just perfectly. The accommodation was really lovely and the food was perfect. I was even catered for with my gluten free.
Alex was also just brilliant and we all enjoyed his knowledge and relaxed nature with the children.
As a whole we were very pleased with the organisation and the care taken with our family.
We will definitely be recommending your company to anyone who might need a safari company.
Thank you again, it was a terrific experience.