US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
In panic mode! No response! No Informaion!
I worked with Barbara over email to organize a custom safari for my family this August. We sent nearly $50,000 to them 10 days ago with no response. Finally, I got though to their office on Friday and was informed that the owner Barbara has passed away and that the co-owner Victor is in the Hospital. The lady could not give me any other information.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Exciting Serengeti and Ngorongoro with WildRoot
We had an extraordinary, interesting 9-day safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro Game Parks, arranged and executed by Wild Root Safari. Beautiful landscape, we saw incredible amounts of animals: apart from the boringly famous "big five", endless other big and small animals. Especially pleasing to meet were leopard, cheetah, caracal, lion feeding on a buffalo (vultures and fox waiting!), a just born giraffe and hares (never thought of meeting a hare here!). Our driver was a reliable, knowledgeable , pleasant person with sharp eyes. The lodges allowed us to stretch our legs, feed and drink in friendly, comfortable surroundings
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
our agent was very efficient and replied to our emails without any waiting and worrying.
We went on Safari to Phinda Game reserve which was our choice as was the the choice of 2 nights on the Rovos train.Our agent was quite happy with helping us with anything we requested. We worked out dates of where we wanted to be and when and for how long and Meagan was very helpful in getting the whole trip to work in. She worked especially well with us as we chose to make some bookings ourselves and she fell in with we wanted to do. We would not hesitate in recommending Discover Africa to friends who are looking to spend time in your part of the world.
Epic honeymoon!
We booked our honeymoon with Sunny Safaris and the word that stands out is EPIC! Everything from booking the safari via email to the actual trip was very easy through Sunny Safaris. We booked through Jessica and she was very happy to change a particular hotel or add a hot air balloon ride for us. The lack of stress continued when we arrived at the airport and the driver/guide for the week was there to pick us up. During the safari we stayed at various Serena lodges, all of which were unique and very comfortable. Our favorite by far was the Kirawira Luxury Tented Camp, where we stayed for two nights. The tents were huge with very nice big bathrooms. The view was amazing! Our guide, Abdul, was easy to work with and he did a good job at finding the animals and getting up close (while always keeping safety in mind). We also booked our trip to Zanzibar through Sunny Safaris and again, all easy. They booked our flights for us and had someone pick us up and drop us off at the airport. Everything exceeded our expectations, from the number of amazing animals that we saw to the beautiful accommodations. I would highly recommend booking with Sunny Safaris to anyone!
Don't miss the chimps
We had the great fortune to stay at an Mbali Mbali camp and each day we trekked to spend time with the chimps. Everything was well organized and the guides were professional and well trained. This was a once in a lifetime safari . . . not to be missed. The accommodations were clean, well situated and certainly well run. The meals were impeccable and if we had special requests (which we did since my wife is gluten intolerant) they were met completely. Well run, friendly and can recommend without reservations.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Professionally organized
Lenia did a superb job organizing our 3 day safari to the Selous.
Everything went without a hitch.
Not only did she meet us at Dar es Salaam airport she followed up with us after the safari was over to ensure that everything went as planned
Highly recommend using MSafiri Travels
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tropical Africa
Mbail Mbali camp was an African camp different from all my past experiences in Africa. The setting was tropical and warm. Too bad the beautiful lake is not available due to crocks. It is so inviting. The availability to see the chimps was fantastic and a rare opportunity. The food was delicious and the accommodations were wonderful........one could not want for anything more.
MT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service - would go again!
From the very moment we contacted Wild Root Safaris we could tell that they were extremely serious, trustworthy, friendly and understanding and that they were really good at understanding our needs and requests and helping us with even more things that we could have imagined.
When we arrived in Arusha they were on hand to pick us up and help us. They took us around Arusha to pick up some small items, helped us check in to our hotel and drove us to a lovely place where we could get some lunch after the long bus drive coming to Arusha. And this was before the Safari had even started!
On the morning of the Safari our guide helped us with everything, was very good at showing us local things and explaining many things about the city of Arusha. This was when we were driving and there was still a good way to the Tarangire National Park.
It was very comforting driving with a local (Raymond/Maje) who lived in Arusha and knew everything really well. Both me and my travel companion never really liked staying in the bigger cities in Tanzania but with Wild Root we were never worried about anything.
We went on a 4d/3n safari starting in the Tarangire National Park, then Serengeti for 2 days and finished off in the Ngorogoro crater.
The only negative aspect of our Safari experience was the first hotel (Finaka Lodge) - the food was nice and the staff very friendly but the room was way below what you would expect (if you come with a European mindset). We explained this to our safari guide the next day and they were sad to hear about this.
After the safari they invited us out for dinner and said they were sorry about this and that they had already contacted the hotel to check what had happened.
The next two hotels/lodges (Ikoma Tented Camp/Rhino Lodge) were much nicer and we had no issues whatsoever at those places. Where Finaka Lodge was in a small village you completely lost the feel of being on a Safari. At Ikoma Tented Camp and Rhino Lodge we saw wild animals (giraffe, gazelle, water buffalo and some other type of gazelle) come right in to our camp/walked very close to the houses. We could hear Hyena in the night (which scared my travel companion) but I think this was amazing and exactly the experience you want!
The first day in Tarangire was amazing, we saw monkeys, giraffe, warthog (Pumba's), birds and of course elephants which the park is famous for. Our guide was extremely clever in the way he found the animals which we benefitted from on many occasions. In Tarangire we got within 2-3 meters of around 10 elephants, where some of the elephants were very young. This was a truly amazing experience and I am grateful for being able to observe these majestic animals.
Serengeti was another chapter in its own - from the endless plains to the migrating herds of animals, there was plenty to see and our guide Maje was always quick to look around and spot the animals long before we could see them. We saw a whole range of animals in Serengeti including a Cheetah with four cubs, a Leopard, a leopard baby, plenty of lions, wildebeest, zebra, hyena, warthog and all sorts of Antilope.
When we arrived in the Ngorogoro crated we saw animals right away: Lions, Elephants, water buffalo right next to the car and huge male elephants next to the road. We spotted a Rhino with its baby and even more flamingos than you could possibly count. The crater was an amazing experience and we will definitely go on a safari another time!
After the Safari Wild Root had assisted us in buying tickets for our bus the next day, they helped us check in to our hotel again and the next morning the picked us up and drove us to the bus station. They asked me to let them know once we arrived at our destination, which only proves how much they care and how helpful they are.
All in all I have nothing negative to say about Wild Root Safaris - they catered for our every need and went above and beyond for our every request. It is a relatively small company which only means that they are better at customizing your Safari and making it a truly wonderful experience.
When I am going on my next Safari, there is no question that I will go with Wild Root Safaris.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Family Adventure: highly recommend this very reputable and trustworthy company
My family of four spent 8 days in Rwanda over Christmas last year (2014) as part of a 5 week trip to East Africa. I booked the whole Rwandan section of the trip through Umubano Tours (including our Gorilla Trekking Permits) and can't recommend them highly enough. From my first email contact with Herbert he was professional, friendly, informative and always replied promptly to my emails.
I had a very definite idea of what I wanted to include in the itinerary right down to the accommodation I wanted to use. Whilst Herbert was happy to make suggestions on what was attainable to fit into the trip he was always respectful of my wishes and with his help we had the most amazing adventure. I was a little hesitant about wiring the money for the trip (a 40% deposit initially followed by a final payment prior to departing from home) but Herbert was very quick to send through receipts and copies of the Gorilla permits when they arrived.
Our guide Didier was just wonderful, he was friendly, happy and informative, and nothing was too much trouble for him. He was waiting for us at the airport and we set off straight away for the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. The following day Didier helped secure our position to hike to the Susa group. During our trip Didier made sure that we always had plenty of water and we made impromptu stops for snacks and photos as we travelled, we even stopped to visit a beach side festival in Gisenyi! Our family enjoyed talking with Didier and learning about his country and culture from him. We shared many funny moments and he helped to make our trip a unique experience. It was a pleasure to have Didier as our guide.
Rwanda is a truly beautiful country and the people are very friendly. We have been blessed to travel a little over the last few years and every trip we say ‘oh this is our favourite place’ but Rwanda will always be special to us. My advice would be if you get the chance to visit Rwanda take that chance, you won’t regret it. I would also suggest that Herbert and Didier are the perfect people to help make your trip an enjoyable and unique, once in a lifetime experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect safari – I wouldn’t change a thing!
Our family of 5 (2 parents and 3 sons ages 19, 12 and 10) spent Christmas on safari in Tanzania with Restoration Safaris. The owner and our guide, Mr. Bariki, met us at Kilimanjaro airport and took us on an amazing 10 day trip.
For our itinerary, Mr. Bariki came up with a great balance of animal watching (which was unbelievable), more active events including a safari walk, kayaking and a hike, and some cultural activities including visiting local villages and joining a hunter-gatherer tribe for a hunt. I was worried that some of these might be cheesy – but they all felt completely genuine and we discovered that Tanzanians are truly wonderful people.
The bottom line: I would not change one thing from this trip. Everything was perfectly arranged and Mr. Bariki felt like a member of our family after just a few days. He is incredibly easy-going, friendly and knowledgeable about all the wildlife. He is clearly very experienced and seemed to be held in extremely high regard by the other safari guides.
One final thought: Safaris cost a lot of money. So we were happy that the money we spent will mainly stay in Tanzania - Mr. Bariki is Tanzanian and most of the amazing lodges and campsites we stayed at are also run by local people.