HK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Solid
Everything went well, we were well looked after. All costs and fees were upfront, all queries answered. Pretty good value for what it is and will consider going with them again next time.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by Richard
It was amazing to be out on foot in the jungle, walking for over three hours in search of a gorilla family. Once you find the gorilla family, you know the hard hike through the heat and jungle was worth it.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A crash course in biriding
QENP does have some elephants and cats, but not as many as the bigger parks in East Africa. We were not birders before this trip, but you cannot help to be one here. The diversity is so great, you are sure to find a new bird wherever you look. It is relatively quiet compared to the parks in Tanzania. There are other vehicles, but not as many as you would see in Tanzania.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lower Zambezi National Park by Wichjon
The Lower Zambezi National Park adds the Zambezi River as another element to safaris. One day was spent floating down a side channel of the river in canoes, bringing a new perspective to seeing hippos in the water and crocodiles on the banks. Others fished for the noted tiger fish. Lunch was taken on boats on the river one day and we had our sundowner one the evening on the river.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Contact with the animals and the people of Zambia caused me to leave a piece of my heart there.
Before leaving home, I told my friends that if after going all that way and spending what it took to go on the trip, if all I saw were impala and other grazing animals, I would be really upset. Ten minutes into the South Luangwa National Park near Mfuwe, we encountered our first elephants, then giraffe, then zebra. Thirty minutes into the park we came across our first lion pride sleeping in the bush. We passed by a tree where a leopard had carried its kill to keep away other predators.
By the end of the day, we had seen nearly all of the animals we were to experience over the next two weeks.
We later came across a leopard that came out of the bush and walked around a companion vehicle on its way to a kill it had stashed in the bush. We followed it and watched as it began eating. We came back on our night ride to find the leopard asleep in a tree near where we had encountered it earlier in the day. We took a tea break along the river and observed a bloat of hippos dozing in the middle of the river with red and yellow billed oxpeckers scrambling over them.
We went back to the park in the evening for a night drive and came across about a dozen elephants or more that appeared to be three separate families. There was tension in the air as they stood around on the bank of the river until two adolescents from two families approached each other and started playfully pushing each other. We watched the interaction of these elephants for about an hour. Just about dusk, they slowly made their way down the embankment to the waters edge. We started to drive away and then heard a mighty elephant trumpet and then sound like something had crashed into the water. We went back to find that the matriarch had signaled with her sound and they all began to wade across the river to start a night of foraging outside the park and safety.
We spent two weeks in Zambia in three different safari camps. Everyday was packed with encounters with animals. Temperatures were mild (60-80 F 16-24 C). Sunshine every day. We slept under mosquito netting, but were never aware that there were any. We ate all our meals in the open air, some under cover of the thatched dining halls, some in the open. We did not experience any insects flying around us. Meals were expertly prepared and managed to handle several with dietary issues with ease.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect that has left a memory that I can't shake is how outstanding the people and guides at each of our camps were. The guides were eerily superb in being able to spot wildlife, from the largest animals to the smallest of insects. On one night drive, the guide stopped at a small bush and began pulling away the branches to point out a chameleon he had spotted from the headlight reflecting off the eye of the creature.
Our interaction with our guides and staff at the camps showed they had great pride in their work and wanted us to have the best experience possible. Saying that they were warm and friendly sounds like a cliché. But I found my wife wanting to hug them all in greeting and saying good bye. As we pulled away from our third camp to begin our journey home, I looked over to find tears running down my wife's cheeks. She said that for all the wildlife and experiences that we had, she was going to miss the people we met the most.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Uganda by Richard
The people of Uganda are very friendly and welcoming of visitors to their country. Come here primarily for the gorillas trekking, but keep in mind that you can also have a traditional safari experience in the same trip. The game viewing is not as good, but combined with the gorilla trekking, Uganda becomes a top destination.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Zambia by Wichjon
We were overwhelmed with the wildlife spotting in the South Luangwa National Park. While there were numerous safari operations with multiple vehicles in the park, the park was large enough, there were enough routes for the guides to pick that kept us from encountering them except on rare occasion.
Four star on the scenic beauty question to advise that the parks are not rain forests. They are flat flood plains where the elephants have decimated the forests. For some, this might be undesirable, but the open grassy plains made spotting animals easier. For one who comes from the central United States that is an open prairie with open sight lines to the horizon of ten to fifteen miles or more, this had a feeling of 'home' and was quite welcoming.
All of our camps fit our group size of 15 perfectly without others.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Special Experience!
We did a 4 night 5 day safari through Open Africa Safaris and had a fantastic time. From start to finish John the owner was excellent. Note only that he was helpful and made us feel very welcome , but he is also a true gentleman. In fact, he even changed our flights for us while we were on our safari.
On our safari our guide Anthony was very friendly, knowledgeable, open minded, and very experienced. He has visited in the USA 3 times, and so spoke great English and nothing was too much trouble for him. He did everything he could to make our safari experience special. The meals we had , cooked by Joseph , were also very delicious and we had plenty of food all the time.
Overall we had an excellent Safari experience seeing everything we wanted to see and would have no hesitation in recommending this Open Africa Safaris to anyone.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Service.
Open Africa Safaris is providing a perfectly organized schedule for Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP and Ngongoro Safaris. They are very good in communicating with clients. The drivers are well experienced and flexible, and the served meals are so tasty. The price performance ratio is in the top quartile of all offers. Indeed, Open Africa Safaris provides Perfect service to their clients. I will be more than happy to book my next tour with this company again. I strongly recommend joining Open Africa Safaris for safari tour in Tanzania.
Dave and his team made an incredible Kruger experience even better by their attention to detail!
Dave and Mark got to know my team of 6 men personally and were a great pleasure to partner with. The attention to detail for us was much more than we expected. Fantastic time in Kruger with Kruger Flexi Tours!