20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
AWESOME SAFARI!
Great team at Jabulani. That was an awesome experience!
RS
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Pleasant, professional, flexible staff making your dreams into reality.
Communication with the manager was excellent. We exchanged like 30 emails, and he replied on every my question within a minutes, and organized whole trip perfectly. Our guide on the road was vary nice and so flexible, we could arrange some things on the way according to the group requests. Safari is amazing experience, and these guys are really trying to make your trip comfortable and beautiful.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent once in a life time experience with Ababa Safaris!
There were some brief issues with email communication which caused some concern to us, but once that was solved, the communications were much smoother! I would suggest perhaps a touch more outreach right before the Safari confirming all details (was provided but when asked) but otherwise, the reservations and permits were very smooth, our driver (Hamza) was really lovely and extremely trustworthy and knowledgeable and the 4 day itinerary as suggested by ABABA was really a great range of different terrain and experience in the beautiful country of Uganda. And the Gorillas!!! A once in a lifetime memory.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money with friendly service!
The driver was very friendly and spoke English perfectly. We stayed at a budget campsite (Lenchada camp) which was booked through Axis Safari and it was very clean and food was tasty. The package included 3 meals a day and accommodation and transportation. We chose to pay for the park entrance ourselves.
The driver knew perfectly how to navigate around the mara and we were following other cars so we got to see most of the big 5. Unfortunately, our driver chose to turn off the radio which connects us to the other cards in the afternoon so we missed to see Rhinos which other cars got to see. So make sure your driver doesn't turn off the radio. He showed us beautiful scenery and we got to see a very nice sunrise. Other than that, the trip was very interesting and pleasant and an experience of a lifetime.
Please make sure your driver doesn't crowd the animals. You will see many cards surrounding the animals and not giving them their space. I think a safari experience is very unique but we shouldn't abuse and make the animals uncomfortable by spending extra time watching them and following them than necessary.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I enjoyed every tour we got
Very perfect and excellent...We got more information from miss consolata ... Definitely we will come again
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful budget experience
We booked the safari one month in advance and we chose the 4 nights tented solutions, the cheapest one.
The organization was very good and all members of the staff very kind, from the moment we landed in Arusha until the end of the trip.
We enjoyed the game drives especially at Serengeti and Ngorongoro National parks. We had a great time with FRANK, our guide, which took us to see the best places and almost all the savana's animals. He is an expert guide and we appreciated a lot the descriptions and explanations he made.
DAVID, the cook, made our trip even better thanks to his delicious meals.
We really recommend both of them.
Thanks a lot to all Foot Slopes' Staff for making our experience unforgettable!
IN
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was good... the tour guide was really good
The place where you took for lunch while going to lake nakuru. The food was not good at all. Rest of the meals were good.. Really well planned and our tour guide ambros was very amazing and showed us each and every animal.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Budget Tour - Similar to More Expensive Tours for Half the Cost
3.5 Stars
We booked a 9-day tour with Budget Baboon Safari. The process was relatively easy. Emails were responded to quickly. A deposit of 20% was needed through a wire transfer or via African PayPal (forgot what they call it). I did a wire transfer after reading about the possible challenges and pitfalls of African PayPal.
PROS:
Good drivers. We had Mike in Kenya, and he went out of his way to ensure that you saw animals, and that you could see animals up close. The vehicle didn't break down (you'll see or hear stories). We were upgraded to a newer campsite, which was nice. It had running water, albiet no hot water, it had WiFi although spotty (what do you expect in the middle of nature). Food was decent. We went in October and saw many animals in a short period of time.
Tanzania, we were contracted out to 7 Wonders, then to 3 Wonders. Frank was our second driver, he was excellent. Not a lot of info, but good driver, took you to see what you wanted. Set up camps. Food was decent. Fun to camp out in the wilderness with the animals. Serengeti is much larger than Masai Mara in Kenya, and therefore, in October, we spent more time driving to find the animals.
CONS
We were picked up from the airport, but ended up waiting for hours for another couple's delayed flight, who didn't even come on our tour anyway. We were only 20 minutes from our hotel, but the driver said it would take hours "due to traffic," to take us to the hotel. Google Maps did not indicate this. Locals confirmed there is not hours of traffic at night. Furthermore, looking on the other side of the road driving into town, at night, showed no traffic at all.
One more con, has to do with us booking Tanzania through this company. So you understand, they do contract out for Tanzania. We were forgotten at our hotel and had to text, email, then call to get a response.
I will say this, they did correct the mistake by: taking us to the museum and paying for entry. They also upgraded our hotel in Tanzania. The owner, Dennis, also came and apologized personally. You can tell he cares about the business and his reputation and customer experience.
There was poor communication from there-on-out. We were originally told we'd be met at Tanzania-Kenya border heading south. We were not. We were told we'd then be met at bus stop in Arusha. No one was there. We had to text again to tour operator in Tanzania, 7 Wonder Tours, to get picked up. We waited about 20-30 minutes, not too bad.
In Tanzania the vehicle broke down twice, once we waited over two hours for them to "fix," it. It was a broken brake cylinder, but instead the replaced the break drums, which were completely shot.
First driver we had, we only had for part about 4 hours, for a short drive, and he demanded a tip of at least $10/person. When we offered him less, he refused, got angry and walked off.
OVERALL: Remember, you are on a budget tour, and you are in a developing country. Things will not always run on time. If you do Kenya/Tanzania, the company will farm you out to another company to get you into a vehicle and on safari. Don't worry, this is normal. Your vehicle may break down, we heard this from others as well. Makes sense, they drive these vehicles daily over rough terrain, part of the experience. Last, we did ask other tourists how much they paid...we were paying less for the same trip! You can't beat cheaper. In the end we saw what we wanted to see.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very serious tour operator, always on time, never bad surprises, exactly as described before buying.
We have been warmly welcome, our expectations have been heard. Then two precise programs have been proposed to us and we just had to choose. The prices are correct.
Then all was great : the safari in mikumi (we saw a lot of animals!), then the hiking in another National Park and the Waterfalls! The owner, the drivers, the guides were very nice and helpful and the organization perfect!
We warmly recommand Hello Tanzania and thank them a lot.
CH
Very well organized and flexible tour
My grandfather (92) and I had a very good experience with faustin on our 6 days safari to selous and mikumi. I can recommend him very much.
Thanks a lot again and all the best to you and your family!