FI
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
15 day best Birding & Classic windlife safari in Uganda was fine but very exhausting trip.
The trip was extremely packed of action. I would say, too packed. The lodges/hotels were very good, but they often situated too far from the birding or safari areas. For that reason, we had to wake up (2 weeks) almost every morning about six a´clock and often it was impossible to get to sleep before 23 or even midnight.
However everything was arranged properly and the fasilities were in every place exellent.
Before the trip I was quite confused about what things really included in the price of the safari, and the real surprise was, that we had to pay 390$ more when we arrived to Uganda. Explanation was: the prices had rised so much! That is not good bisnes policy. We should have known it before the trip.
In nature I got unbelieveble experiances.
Experience level: first safari
Great safari
We booked the mid range 2 day safari package (Tarangire and Ngorongoro) and it cost $800pp. This was my first time booking a safari and I didn’t even know where to start! I found this company through safari bookings, an online safari finder company, which helped. I was in regular communication via email with John, which also helped out my mind at ease. We paid $800 via card using pesapal and also had to pay 5% surcharge taking the total to $840, we paid the remaining $800 in cash when we arrived. Our arrival flight was changed to an earlier time and John was able to arrange a driver to come and pick us up from Arusha airport.
Day 0- we stayed at Green mountain hotel, which is a 3 star hotel; I’ve written a separate review for this. John met us at the hotel and gave us a briefing about the plan for the safari, including start times; we also paid him the remaining $800 and were introduced to our driver, Frank.
Day 1- after breakfast we met Frank at reception and started our 2hr drive to Tarangire. The jeep had a cooler, which was stocked with water (we had an allowance of 3L/day per person, which was fine as I usually drink around 2L/day). Frank kept us informed of things/pointed things out to us during the journey to Tarangire. Animals we saw during our safari: zebras, lions, pumbas, antelopes, elephants, buffaloes, giraffe, baboons, a leopard was spotted by someone but we didn’t actually see it. We then stopped off at the picnic site to have our packed lunch and it was delicious, especially the samosa and chicken! After lunch we continued the safari for a few more hours and saw more animals. After the safari we stopped off at a local shop where we were able to browse and buy souvenirs if we wanted; I bought some earrings and an Africa wooden plaque….they are open to haggling but don’t take the micky!
We were then taken to our 2nd night accommodation, Fig tree lodge, where we had dinner. I have written a separate review for this. When we originally booked our safari package, it was for marera valley lodge but after we had paid the deposit John emailed to say the accommodation was fully booked and that he will book country lodge instead, which I agreed. However when we arrived at the first hotel John told us that he had booked fig tree lodge instead, which he said was very similar to marera valley (I’ll have to take his word but from the research I had done online, marera valley and country lodge seemed to be much better so I was a bit disappointed as fig tree definitely felt more budget than mid-range).
Day 2- Ngorongoro- very early start, 5am breakfast and left the lodge at 5.30am and arrived at Ngorongoro around 7.30am. Animals we saw- bush buffaloes, zebra, wildebeest, jackal, lions, rhino and a leopard! After our game drive we stopped off at the crater viewing place to take some pics then we headed out of the park and had our prepared lunch at a local shop/restaurant. The lunch was rice, chicken and vegetables and it was YUMMY! After lunch we headed back to Arusha airport.
This was my first safari and all in all it was a great experience. John was helpful with the initial booking and questions and Frank was helpful for his knowledge during our safari. I would use this company again but I would definitely opt for a more luxury accommodation next time and ask for confirmation that the advertised accommodation is available before paying the deposit. Or perhaps I will arrange my own accommodation and use them for the game drives as this is the part I most enjoyed.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice lady. Knows a lot about all the animals
We had a great experience at the Pilanesberg Safari. We did see 3 out of 5.
Engaging and professional
Great value for money and overall awesome experience. Transportation was good and I liked that we had a choice for lunch.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice route, nice guide, nice cook, improve cold and toilet
Nice Safari to do. The guide Kalulu and the cook Tito were insanly great at what they do. Our guide inform us really well, answer all our questions with high quality informations. Our cook was the best! I was in tent, the locations were nice, but the toilet/shower would need improvment. An additionnal blanket would be nice in february at two locations, it was cold at night. 8.5/10 for me.
FI
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organized and managed tour, we liked a lot.
We had 15 Day Best Birding and Classic Wildlife Safari in Uganda. It was very nice experience though not a very easy one. The gorilla ( especially this) and chimpanzee trekkings were quite challenging in physical sense. A porter was a must in gorilla trekking. We had a very professional and nice guide with us all the time and also the other guides in National Parks were very professional. They found us many birds and recognized them well.
We had nice mid-prize accommodation in the country yard in every place, not one in any town which was very good. The service and the stuff everywhere was very friendly and helpful. The food was good in most places. Only one member of our group was vegan and her food was not so good in every place.
Quite expensive but worth every euro. Thank you Maraka Safaris!
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A reliable, friendly well established company
Always open, friendly Communication. They have long experience in the Safari Market in Arusha. Good Service, Comfi Safari Jeeps and very good drivers who know a Lot about their country and animals. I did many safaris already with Lem Carnivor and will always choose them again.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unique experience.
I booked the 6 days safari with Hyrax. A unique and incredible experience.
Roselyne always ready to answer any possible questions. The first camp was worse than I expected, but the second was much better. The hotel was acceptable.
The best thing about the tour was the driver guide Simon. Always ready for any question, always attentive to the animals and the road.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great communication
Douglas was our tour operator and he responded to our quearies brilliantly. He maintained contact during the trip and communicated clearly about the whole process as we were travelling with children (aged 11 and 9 years).
Our tour guide was Clinton and he was fabulous, he informed us about each trip the night before. He was compassionate when my son got sick and enroute to Nakuru we stopped at a pharmacy to get help.
Clinton was with us from start to finish, airport collection to airport drop off and gave us some good information about the animals.
The actual tour in Masai Mara was amazing, seeing all the animals up close felt so surreal. Definitely one of the best experiences ever. Food was good you just have to be careful as some food will make you ill. The Miti Mingi Eco camps were ok, lots of mosquitoes, take bug spray to kill them off and use insect repellent on yourselves.
Thank you for such an exciting adventure.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They offer great stress relief.James
3 Day Epic Holiday Safari- Murchison Falls N.P
Me and my friends had a 3 day safari in Murchison Falls and thanks to Pascal everything was well planned and organized.
Wonderful experience. You can really appreciate a lot of fauna in the wild.
I totally recommend Twipa Safaris.