3 day Masai Mara
We had such a good time on this trip. Even though we paid the lowest price for a safari we could find (and were therefore not expecting the best), we couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Everything was included, except for drinks, but since we don't drink much, this didn't bother us. But there is always free coffee, tee and hot cacao.
Our driver/guide was super cool, making sure we would see everything and up close. Since we came during the low season there were very few tourists there, but we got lucky with the weather, which means we had the occasional lion or so to ourselves.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worth a visit and a return, but expensive.
We did two things in Botswana, a self-organized tour to the Tsodillo Hills and the Moremi Game Reserve with a rented 4x4 car and a tour with Kalahari Tours (3d/2n) to the Chobe NP. Both experiences were remarkable.
As Botswana is a wild but safe country, you can organize a tour yourself with care and good preparation. However, even in the low season, many campsites and rental cars were no longer available due to advance reservations. It seems common to do a reservation without turning it into a booking later. In fact, we hardly saw any other self-drivers. If you don't want to book early due to the unpredictable weather situation in the low season, it can be become difficult to get a space and/or a car.
We welcome the policy of reducing the amount of tourists traveling to Botswana by limiting space and rising prices , but it should be possible to explore the countries beauty on ones own.
We hope to come again and visit other parts of this fantastic country.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mega guide, mega safari, mega adventure!
We (3 people from Europe) booked a 3-day safari in April 2015 through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire. I can say for sure that we are quite sensible and critical, but this trip was a pure sensation in mostly all points. We booked the budget package with sleeping in (stable) tents nearby Lake Manyara. Although we came in the "low season", we experienced three great days we will never forget.
One of the most important reasons for our enthusiasm was Mubarak, our guide and one of the directors of the company. I don't even know where to start the list of his benefits: He was very professional and friendly, was always in a good mood and never got bored by our many questions about animals, nature and general Tanzanian/African things. Since he is a experienced guide with a lot of knowledge, mostly all of our questions were answered and if there was something even he was unsure of, he promised to look it up in the evening because he also was interested in learning new stuff. Because we had rain seasons, we had several critical situations with muddy roads, but he handled the (huge!) car very professionally and was able to show us interesting spots even when other popular viewpoints were blocked. Every morning, the car was cleaned again from mud and trash. And - which is some kind of rare in Tanzania - he spoke English fluently which made it easy to follow his detailed explanations and answers.
Not only Mubarak was one of the reasons we totally recommend this company but also Mohammed, the company's CEO. Even although we only booked a few days before the safari, he made us a very good offer and provided us with all transparency we needed: prices, accomondation, pick-up from our apartment in Moshi, free water bottles, lunch boxes, a meeting before the safari and so on. In the end, we had to care about almost nothing and were able to enjoy the 3 days without any hassle or complications.
Criticism? Well, we booked the walking safari in Tarangire on the last day (2-3 hours walking in the plain nature). Unfortunately Mubarak wasn't allowed by the park management to come with us so we had another guide and armed ranger. He wasn't the best guide, his English was hard to understand and he wasn't well equipped (no binoculars) and able to answer several of our (I think quite basic) questions. The nature of Tarangire and the atmosphere of walking around freely was absolutely worth it, but maybe MegaAdventures finds a way to improve that. Having Mubarak with us during the walk would have been much more better! But even after long thinking about negative points, this is the only one we honestly can think of.
Oh, and about the animals: I think except a Leopard we've seen the most "important" ones. But if herde of 20 elephants crosses your way 2 meters in front of you with no other tourist cars around you, you don't think any longer about Big Fives or such trivial categories. You're just happy to have a professional guide able to lead you to these locations. We'll definitely looking forward to book Mega Adventures for other trips during our long stay in Tanzania.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our first safari
My wife and I had a wonderful time on our first safari. All the staff that we met were more than helpful . We had a chance to see and learn about a lot of interesting things. We will certainly pass our experience on to our friends and family so maybe they can enjoy a trip like we did.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Welcoming, magnificent, breathtaking
That was a really, really great trip, i enjoyed the 4 days safari with our guide, Omary, one of the best guides for sure !
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Greatest experience ever
Every thing during our stay was fantastic. From the accommodation (tlopi tented camp) to the warm welcome from every employee we met, not forgetting the wild life and great sceneries.
Thanks to our guide Tinyiko, we almost saw all the big fives. We had the chance, the first evening and next morning at the camp, to see a group of more than 20 elephants of all ages, come and stay two hours by the pound side, drinking, bathing, playing. It has been the most beautiful show we ever saw.
The evening dinners cooked on the braai was perfect, with the wild as soundtrack for this three nights / four days stay.
We would highly recommend this national park to anyone dreaming of wildness, peace and beauty.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience during rain season
I had an amazing time during my safari. I read april is not a good time to go, but I would definitely recommend going around this time! Everything was very green and beautiful, this makes it slightly harder to spot animals, but I have seen a lot (complete big 5!). And during this time there are not as much tourists, we watched many animals which were very close with only three other cars (our guide told us this can be around 100 during high season). Amazing experience!!
HOWEVER be aware that during low season it is hard to get full groups, meaning that the organisation can be a bit chaotic. I was with a group of 7 in total, some went on safari for 2 nights, 3 nights and 4 nights and one person booked a more high end trip and had different accomodation. This also confused our guide quite a bit, he was not always aware of our schedule. Organisation and communication about change in plans could be improved. The order of parks was different and I also stayed in different accomodation (I only camped one night instead of 4 which was nice), this is no problem but it would be nice to receive an updated schedule in advance.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Waterberg Biosphere Reserve by Sumarie Slabber
Welgevonden Game Reserve is highly recommended!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
exceptionally, beautiful
Beautiful experience with a driver and a guide exceptional. They are very experienced and are able to realize your every wish. All is possible!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bucket list visit
My Safari was 10 days through 4 National Parks. Samburu, Maasai Mara, Hells Gate and Amboseli.
All of the parks offered plenty of wildlife and I am happy to say we ticked all the boxes.
My driver was wonderful and managed to keep us out of trouble, there were huge rains in Kenya in April/May so some roads were either very tricky or closed.
We stayed in lodges and all of them were very good, wonderfully friendly staff and more than happy to help you out with anything. Apart from the lovely staff and my accommodation, I cannot praise highly enough the restaurants and kitchens. Every meal was fantastic and it is a wonder how they put together such lovely meals. I am a vegetarian and I never felt left out. Lots of vegetable dishes, salads, rice and curry style dishes.
A definite choice for those wanting to focus their holiday on animals, country and people.