NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trekking on foot and canoeing was absolutely the right trip for me.
This was the trip of a lifetime for me. My friends who have done safaris entirely by truck saw more animals and in greater numbers but did not gain the same knowledge of the bushvelt or experience the thrill of tracking and finding and following a herd of painted dogs or lions sleeping on the other side of a bush or mistakenly canoeing over a hippos head! I have pages of the names of all the birds we saw and photographed and can name so many of the trees and bushes and their traditional uses. I am still getting requests to tell friends about the thrill of it all. James and Tacksure were the most excellent guides and despite the hippo incident, or perhaps because of it, I was never afraid of their ability to keep us all safe. I have imagined this trip for over 30 years and it was so much better than I imagined. We were looked after so well and fed like royalty. Each morning I made a point of being one of the first ready to go trekking but on our day of leaving I was so sorry it was over I was last to jumble my stuff together and get on the truck. I didn't want to leave. Thank you so much for such a memorable experience.
Excellent service and great value
The 4 of us went on the 7-day safari by Wecam stretching from Nairobi to Lake Manyara to the Masai Mara, crossing into Tanzania and exploring the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. From our research online, we were hard pressed to find a tour that covered this much in Tanzania and Kenya with the relative comfort in accommodation (i.e. not pitching our own tents!) that we were looking for. Wecam's tour provided great value for money and they certainly delivered on their promise.
Their customer service was largely handled by a lovely lady by the name of Mercy, who was very quick to respond, able to answer our detailed questions on accommodation / itinerary, and generally a very helpful and courteous person to interact with. Thus from a management perspective, Wecam was able to meet almost all our needs - the only element that fell short of our expectations was their requirement to have the entire payment of the tour paid upfront (as opposed to an initial deposit and the remainder paid at the end). Luckily for us, we finished the tour highly satisfied with what we received.
Regarding the tour itself, we had two professional and seasoned drivers / tour guides covering each half of the trip (Kenya, then Tanzania). We particularly enjoyed our time with Peter (Kenyan half of the trip) who demonstrated a rich experience of these great national parks, animals, and local culture, but also shared a good sense of humour, kindness and friendliness. Both our tour guides were also registered with their respective country's tour operator community, providing them access to a radio and transmitter through which they could communicate any interesting sightings or call for help with breakdowns. We were lucky enough to see all the big five, but their radio communication in particular ensured we saw plenty of lions, a rare sighting of two leopards (being chased by buffalo!), four tiny cheetah cubs and more spectacular sights.
They also built in time for a few optional activities (such as a cycling / walking tour up to a picturesque gorge, time to explore souvenirs, and a visit to a local Masai village). The tour cars were the same models we saw most tour operators using and were reasonably comfortable and had a pop-up roof which offered great visibility / photo ops. Be warned that there are two days which involve particularly long periods of travelling in the car (~6hrs not including the game drive), but this is just a reality of having to cover large distances; not a reflection of Wecam. Many of the roads were very dusty and gravelly, so we actually recommend face-masks just for that reason; but again, this is advice for travelling through these parts of Kenya and Tanzania, not commentary on Wecam as an operator.
Accommodation was at the level of comfort we expected, with a decent hotel in Nakura and comfortable lodge at Ngorongoro. The tented campsites in Masai Mara and the Serengeti were a bit more basic, but contained beds, private bathrooms and electricity in the evenings and mornings which covered our essential needs at least. All meals were covered in the tour price and ranged from decent to delicious.
My entire group was very happy with our safari; it goes without saying the Masai Mara, Serengeti, and other parks we visited were spectacular and, at times, breath-taking places to visit. If these are the destinations you would like to explore, we would be happy to recommend Wecam as an operator that gives you great value for money with good people working for them, altogether delivering an excellent service.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Addo Elephant National Park by David Verbossche
There is a lot of open space which is ideal for elephant spotting. You will see a lot of elephant! Other game is harder to spot. It is also a very busy park.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Intimate experience
Tembe is a small park in Kwa-zulu Natal not many people have heard about. The park is managed and run by members of the local community. The nice thing about the park is that one can choose to be driven by a local guide or self-drive it with your own 4x4. Having done both we recommend starting with a drive from one of the local guides to get an idea of the park and then if you're up for some adventure to do it yourself. A 4x4 is a must though.
We have had some of the most amazing sightings there, male lions fighting over territory, lion and elephant confrontations, amazing birdlife. One can also sit at a number of waterholes and just wait for the animals to come to you. The scenery is the quintessential South African bush experience, it is thick in the summer months and more traversable during the winter months which increase the chances of spotting wildlife.
The tents are very comfortable and give you the feeling of camping in the wild while enjoying luxury. The staff are very friendly, something that I particularly enjoy is at dinner time the flags of the guests nationalities are placed on the tables to show who is staying and the menu is read by the "menu-teller". Something a very experienced person does this and other times something who is a first timer.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Mashatu Game Reserve by Oli.Anderson
Excellent wildlife spotting, incredible guides and very few camps meaning few vehicles. Great variety of scenery.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Linyanti Concession by Oli.Anderson
A surprising destination given transfers are undertaken through barren bushland (in dry season) - before you wind up beside the river where the scenery is superb. Relatively good wildlife spotting but not as good as that in some of Botswana's other parks, since the Salute Channel began flowing again. It looks as though the channel may dry up again, in which case guides in the area predict the wildlife viewing will be as outstanding as it once was.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Peaceful and thrilling in equal measure
The wildlife varies greatly between concessions - bearing in mind we travelled in low season when the water levels were extremely low. In the Abu concession we caught sight of plenty of leopard and wild dog, while the Jao concession proved more successful for water activities, including boating and mokoros. Scenery was varied throughout, from dense reeds to open savannah. Accommodation standards were very high, as was the food and guiding. Transportation less so - we were forced to fly between concessions which added unnecessary travel time. Guiding on the other hand was exceptional.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about South Africa by David Verbossche
Having lived in South Africa for over 25 years I have been privileged enough to travel extensively through the wonderfully diverse landscapes the country has to offer. It has something for everyone from its rugged coastlines of the Western Cape to the Majestic mountain ranges of the Drakensberg. The wildlife, although often limited to its national parks and private reserves, is abundant and can offer visitors any number of jaw-dropping and even life-changing experiences. South Africa allows for one to get away from it all, which is more suited to the adventurer. It can also cater to the urban cats who enjoy living it up in its vibrant multi-cultural cities.
It has something for everyone and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Botswana by Oli.Anderson
The quality of the guiding is brilliant, and while the parks and lodges are more expensive than elsewhere in Africa, they are well worth it.
PG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our experience was excellent; the guides; meals & accommodation; care & attention; very professional
Having never been on a Safari before we didn't know what to expect other than what our printed material told us. We were therefore impressed with the high standard of care and attention from all Natureways personnel; from the guides to the driver to the 'in-camp' personnel who were all very professional and courteous. The actual amount of wildlife we saw and the knowledge we acquired from the Safari itself was a little over-whelming so we started taking notes! Our Natureway Safaris is so good we are planning another. Congratulations to Natureways Safaris.