Great budget Masai Mara trip
Great communication and service, both from the person who set up the trip and the guide/driver. Stayed in a tented camp which was of a good standard - the food was fine, given that this was a budget safari (good idea to take some snacks!). Driver/guide was knowledgeable and worked hard to make the trip enjoyable.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The decision to take a 1-day tour of Arusha National Park was the best ever!
Migada responded to my emails and phone calls quite promptly. And the fact that I was able to meet and haggle with the owner himself was a plus. I was also impressed that they gave us (we were a group of 40 people ) many options regarding the Arusha tour. The guide was very friendly and knew his way about the park.
JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic service, Great knowledge, Perfect equipment
The team at Private Kruger Safaris provided a great service for my very very last minute trip.
I had a late change to my business trip agenda so I had a spare weekend in Africa, after a few quick emails with the team they were able to organise my Photographic safari in the Kruger national park.
They went beyond my expectations by having a very nice vehicle, equipment to make my photography that much better and endless amounts of water (Which was critical in the very hot water).
The team were excellent spotters both individually and via their network of friends in the area.
I would book with them again in a heartbeat.
Thanks
NG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our five day safari was simply an exhilirating worthwile trip that we intend to repeat in no distant
Mrs Mwajabu and her driver received us at JNIA in the middle of the night (Sunday 01:00hrs) like long lost family members. By 04:00hrs we hit the road to Mikumi where the ever busy Mwajabu stayed with us till Tuesday when she along with her driver took us back to Dar, boarded us on a light plane to Zanzibar and kept in touch daily for the two days we stayed on the Island. Even though our paid tour ended on Thursday, we were booked into Slipway by Mwajabu and given a no expense tour of Dar. The drivers, especially Fredy and Horizon are just wonderful. Another Hello Tanzania tour is a plan for us in the no distant future, early next year by God's grace.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This guy's know there stuff. They there job with passion.
I was referred to Orange Adventures by a friend but I have no regrets. The service was excellent and good value for my money.
An unforgetable experience with total professionals
I would like to thank you for organising our trip to Mt Kenya/Lake Nakuru and the Masai Mara,
places I wanted to revisit and especially for our driver/guide Francis who was exceptional. His local knowledge, safe driving practices and happy disposition made our trip really memorable and nothing was too much trouble.
We were happy to adjust timings as Francis was well aware of the road conditions, driving on those roads
all the time. They were somewhat better than 25years ago when I first came there but were still bad in parts.
I do think it would be a good idea to discuss road conditions with the driver/guides as they are on the roads
all the time and they can suggest alternative routes. Of course if a client demands a certain route that is different.
The accommodation and service at both the Mt Kenya Safari club and Mara Serena (which had been vastly improved since I had been there previously) were excellent. I would also suggest Amboseli or Lake Bogoria at present rather than Lake Nakuru to see large numbers of flamingoes as the water levels were very high and even the main gate was flooded.
We will be back and will definately use 'It started in Africa'
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the most memorable trips we have taken.
My wife and I had been planning a trip to South Africa for several months but scheduling the trips and tours and finding the right accomodation was taking too much time. While surfing the web I came across Safari Bookings and saw that Pembury Tours offered customized tour itineraries for South Africa. Once I submitted a request for help in arranging our trip, Heidi from Pembury Tours contacted me within 24 hours. I gave her the dates that we had in mind and the places we wanted to visit. She took care of all the details. We could set aside only 7 days for the trip but she was able to come up with the perfect itinerary. We spent 3 days on Safari and stayed at the Narina Lodge which was excellent. We loved the lodge and the attentive service there was excellent. They made the game drives extremely pleasant and comfortable. And we saw the Big Five.
From Kruger National Park we went to Capetown. We loved Capetown. We stayed at the Table Bay Hotel on the Victoria and Albert Waterfront. The waterfront area was great for shopping and dining and simply loitering around enjoying the nightlife. But the hotel was disappointing. Taking a shower was challenging. The water was either too cold or scalding hot. Though most of the staff was attentive, the staff at the main desk were not helpful and rather condescending. They were more worried about the minibar in the room being under lock and key than making our stay more enjoyable. Our room had been paid in full by Pembury Tours in advance but the hotel charged us again, though they did ultimately refund the charge after Heidi called to complain.
In Johannesburg we stayed at a very nice boutique hotel in an upscale area of town before catching our return flight to New York.
While in South Africa we did not have to worry about transportation or booking any tours because Heidi had arranged for private tours in and around Capetown and Johannesburg. She took care of all internal flights and hotel bookings well ahead of our arrival even though we gave her only 2-3 weeks notice. There was always someone waiting to pick us up at the airport to take us to our hotel or to drop us off at the airport in tine for our flights. and Heidi was always available on the phone. The guides who took us sight seeing were very knowledgeable and helpful, especially Graham who was extremely gracious, accompanying us in and around Capetown for 3 days.
All in all this was one of our best vacations and we will have pleasant memories for years to come.
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional, unspoilt surroundings, superb staff - unforgettable
Everything was well done; the tented accommodation inviting and comfortable - hot water bottles a wonderful touch - bucket shower and African sounds to fall asleep to. All the staff were amazing - always smiling and happy to help in every way. Kennedy, Partner, Junior, Might KB and BB -all of them extraordinary. The guide, Singa was outstanding and did everything he could to ensure we loved our time there. The food was outstanding, simple but absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. Every minute was to be treasured from sitting around the fire in the evening - the tales of Africa and of course the songs ....beautiful Botswana and beautiful Khwai Camp still ring happily in my head.
Personally I wouldn't change a thing and much preferred the existing tented accommodation rather than the so called 'up market one' with sliding doors.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime (Cape Town, Kruger Area, Victoria Falls)
Megan and Discover Africa did an amazing job helping us plan our trip. During the trip we kept thinking man are we glad that we didn't have to think about planning that. We booked over 16 months prior to our trip and were planning 3 months prior to that. Any and all questions were answered in a timely manner, any accommodations that we asked for were planned, shuttles were on time. Basically everything that one would ask for from a safari operator we received. Also we had a snafu with luggage and flight delay getting out of the US that we called on the day of and they took care of everything on the backend to a new hotel we needed, to letting our hotel know we wouldn't be there, to telling our rental car company that we wouldn't be there. We are already talking about returning to South Africa in the future, and we will be calling Discover Africa again to help us book!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!!
We booked our honeymoon with Rose, and had the most amazing trip EVER! She did a great job incorporating everything we wanted, and everything went off without a hitch.
We did some research into safari travel companies, and spoke to the major tour companies and few smaller ones, and ultimately went with the Luxury Safari Company because of Rose's personal reviews and how quickly she responded to emails and answered our questions. I'm so glad we went with her, and felt like we really got the personal attention we needed.
We basically ended up doing three trips - the beach, safari and wine country. We ended up going to an island off of Mozambique for 5 days that we got to by helicopter, spent 5 days at Londolozi in Sabi Sands, and then 2 nights in Franschhoek. Everything was customized to our preferences and requests and each part of the honeymoon was perfect! Almost all of it was paid for upfront which made it easier, and we knew what we were getting. She arranged transportation for each part of the trip and booked our local flights which was also very helpful.
We would absolutely recommend using Rose, she was incredibly knowledgeable, was always reachable, and answered the million questions we had. I wish we could do it again!!