TH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari experience in Kenya and Tanzania
We had good game viewing althought there were tse-tse flies around. You should not wear dark colors especially dark blue and black as they say it attracts the flies.
We saw the river crossing, Gnus in their thousands. We saw a large heard of gnus numbering in their thousands. It was a stunning safari drive surrounded by Zebras and lions on the endless plains. It is true that the Grumeti Crocodiles are the largest in Africa if not the World.
On a side note, the camp had WI-FI which was welcome and a Large TV which was only used for World cup matches given the different nationalities of the people at the camp along with flowing alcohol, it was a potent combination of some raucous games at night.
All in all we had a wonderful Safari and we are hoping to travel to South Africa with World Escapes hopefully in two years.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent for the most part.
Generally, a really positive and fulfilling experience. Our driver was incredibly informative and knowledgable, and managed to get us sightings of all members of four of the 'big five' in the Masai Mara plus the fifth at Lake Nakuru, as well as so much more. Some of the stuff we saw went beyond my wildest expectations. The accommodation and food was also great (excellent vegetarian options all the way - thank you so much!). Only downside was that our driver was perhaps *too* good at his job - he was the only one during the journeys to and from the destinations, as well as during the safaris themselves, who *didn't* seem to get stuck in the mud. He expertly navigated his way through all sorts of predicaments, but as a result he'd often be called in to assist others, which ended up cutting in to our safari drives. We spent about half an hour of our first evening's hour-long drive assisting others. On our return to Nairobi, we were left at a roadside restaurant for another hour while he had to go on another rescue mission - meaning that we didn't get back to the city until close to 7pm (when our eta was around 3pm). We also sacrificed our morning safari on our third day at the Masai Mara on the understanding that we'd have a longer full-day drive on our second day, but we ended up being the last to leave and the first to return to camp (and we'd ended up conducting another lengthy rescue mission that day as well). Like I say, this wasn't hugely problematic, as when we *were* driving he managed to seek out and find the most amazing experiences for us, and he was incredibly intelligent and insightful to talk to. But he was perhaps too nice for his own good, and would've preferred more time with the animals and a more punctual return to Nairobi. Were it not for those minor gripes, this would definitely have been a 5* experience. I'd nevertheless happily recommend Axis (and our driver) to anybody, and would sign up for another tour with them without hesitation.
FI
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This I will remember for the rest of my life
We had a lovely experience in Kenya with this company. They had chosen the parks to visit very wisely and our driver Francis was a fantastic guy and provided us with a lot of nice info and facts and knew his way around. We were slightly confused when arriving to Nairobi and our contact was nowhere to be seen, but they arrived soon enough. Also one of our lodges was a bit less than perfect (the rest were simply perfect!), but that was due to us booking the safari so late and the better lodges already booked full.
This company gave us a way better deal (private tour, cheap) than the other offers we got and I cannot recommend them more! If I would go again, this would be the company I choose.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent pre-trip planning and support; room for improvement during trip - solved at the end
I planned two safari trips with Wayfairer this year. The first, in Kenya in March, went without a hitch. Planning was courteous and responsive and local partners were spot on for what we were looking for. Memorable staff, beautiful lodge, and astounding animal sightings. Logistics went smoothly.
Trip two comes along in June for a longer, two week adventure spanning Rwanda, Uganda an Tanzania. Things in Rwanda and Uganda did not go well. Local partner was unprofessional. Sent a guide that did not speak English, had next to zero professionalism or knowledge and did not know the way to hotel. This would have all been OK had we received a prompt response and solution from Wayfairer. Our emails went unanswered and private messages followed the same route. Eventually, I reached out to the local tour operator hired out by Wayfairer and it happened to be the case that Wayfairer had not even communicated the situation to the local travel partner. They were appalled and immediately sent another driver. This was a world away: professional, courteous, knowledgeable. As we tried to figure out what had happened, this is what we were able to discern: Wayfairer subcontracts to a reputable local partner for Uganda and Rwanda; lets call them "A". Said local partner then subcontracted the hotel for our driver/guide. The hotel then went on a third round of subcontracting and hired a small, new, non-reputable Rwandan agency to deliver the service. Agency "A" did not know the hotel had further subcontracted. Needless to say, neither did Wayfairer.
We completely understand that hiring local partners is normal and part of the way travel works nowadays. What is problematic is that in this case communication channels were not established, we got no response from Wayfairer which were the only ones with which we had communicated, and there was no accountability for what took place while we were there.
Once we left Rwanda and got plugged into their Tanzania partner, the trip was everything it should have been from day 1: engaging, professional, surrounded by experts during the game drives and caring staff at lodges.
Wayfairer did eventually react, apologize and issue a refund for the transportation costs of the Uganda leg of the trip.
All in all, I think it is a well put together agency with its values in the right place. It just needs to smooth out and address the growing pains of receiving more bookings and keeping track of their clients all the time, regardless of who they have subcontracted out to.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Full Day Open Vehicle Safari
All three our guides were excellent and our group saw loads of animals and got great information and facts from our guides !!
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful
It was an excellent experience with good tour and they was very helpful in our needs specially when my baby needed a doctor,
The only one negative thing is our first hotel was not as we expected but the explan why and apologize for it ..
They are really good and helpful,
Thanks for Nancy and Bony the driver..
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience with a great guide but too high expectations due to safari description
4 day safari Massai Mara & Lake Nakuru
Sekenani Camp
Flamingo Hill Camp
Safari Van
+ Amazing guide (Eustace) super friendly, super knowledgable, super driver, great personality
+ Everything went according to plan, very reliable
+ Great selection of lodges
+ Clean and tidy vehicle (especially in comparison to some others we saw)
- With the safari description guaranteeing the encounter with all of the big five, our expectations were extremely high and we did end up quite disappointed after not having seen all promised animals. We would recommend some changes to the safari description!
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awsome and unforgettable experiences
Highly recommended!!!!
It was great getting engaged with tomadachi tours especially joseph.. we went to tarangire, ngorongoro and zanzibar.
We were 4 adults and one kid (3 years)
Experience was very good sfarting with safari, our guide was excellent and was very good in tracing animal in safari even at some place he took us off tge normal way to show some close view of elephants. It was really close. But our guide was also our driver and he was driving on highway also like safari speed. On highways even bikes were overtaking us. Not a issue since its with speed limit of 50 kmph.
Our hotel in arusha was not that great however since we werr the only one in entire hotel so we were given VIP treatment. My recommendation is to take hotel in arusha city center.
Or else of you want to do tarangire and ngorongoro then keep ur full stay at farm of dreams, this is an excellent hide out never experienced in my life.. farm of dreams is outstanding.
After safari , we went to zanzibaar. And come Yusuf who is partner of tomadach also. Overwhelmed with his hospitality.. he personally visited with us at all places. At one point we were stucked in some place and he immediately sent us the car to rescue us.
Joseph and yusuf are the best combination for your tanzanian adventures.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wilderness Adventurers provides an inconsistent experience
The guide was outstanding. Namibia is beautiful and fascinating. I had three trip objectives and all were met. HOWEVER, Damaraland Adventurer Camp is in major need of refurbishment. One sample: the radio was not functioning. Absent WiFi and cell service, this is a potential safety problem. Another example:the electrical wiring kept failing. I could go on and on. Other accommodations were fine. Tents could benefit from heaters. Long drives, although clearly described, did cut into time available at destinations.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome guide and driver!
Our Safari tour took us to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater, lake Manyara, lake Natron. We added a morning and took a four hour hike at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our driver and guide, Good Luck, was our good luck! He is very knowledgeable. We saw so many animals, elephants, giraffes, Buffaloes, rhino mom and baby, many lions, zebras, leopard and cheetah, hippos, many more, big and small. It was an incredible experience that we will not forget.
The communication could have been better. We booked the tour and settled on the itinerary, cost, route and accommodations. The night we arrived, the order had changed, as well as the accommodations. We preferred the original order because we added one night on the end because it was our favorite place. The tour operator upgraded one night which was good. However, at two other places, we were not told of the change until we drove up and did not recognize the place from the websites that we had previewed. We very dismayed that one of these was the last place that we especially wanted to visit. The last place was nice but our tent was broken into while we were sleeping and our iPhone and camera were stolen. The accommodation owner was very helpful.
All in all, we saw everything we wanted and hoped to see, including a Bush dinner and night drive. Serengeti was the best. Awesome experience!