US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Organization
Overall, Wildebeest Safaris did their job. An informed consumer should recognize, though, the limited role such “operators” play. The tour guides tend to be independent or third-party contractors who work with a variety of such operators. Similarly, the lodging is owned and run by some other organization. The operators merely serve as middlemen. They coordinate your adventure and thereby certainly add value. The quality of your experience, however, will ultimately be in the hands of the independent guides and lodges
Our guide’s vehicle broke down toward the end of our tour, which somewhat stifled it. The way in which this was handled, I think, was mediocre at best.
All that being said, I’d probably book another tour with Wildebeest. They’re reasonably communicate, I think they try to do a good job, and they paired us with a superbly good guide.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely the expected safari experience
Had an absolutely amazing experience Our guide was very friendly and made everything he could to make our trip unforgettable. We spent 3 days in Maasai Mara visiting one of the villages and the national park. The game drives , both morning and full day, were great. Thanks to them we got to see all of the big five and many other animals (from such a close distance even our beginner camera with basic lens was enough for great pictures). our guide was always ready to answer our questions not only the ones about the wildlife, but also about the country and its people.
We also visited the Lake Nakuru and Naivasha, where we went for an hour boat ride - great relax with breathtaking view and many interesting facts from our guide. Everything was well organized and we had plenty of time to enjoy the whole program. Although not a typical holiday with luxurious accommodation and food the whole 7 day trip was an unforgettable experience with great memories. Definitely recommend visiting Kenya with Kenya walking.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great value for an amazing tour
Great tour driver, amazing locations, great amenities. We did the 5 days camping tour and the food was good, the camping grounds were amazing and the driver knowledgeable and skilled.
The only critic is on the light fabric of the sleeping bags. Make sure you pack warm clothes for the night in Ngorongoro since the sleeping bag will most likely not be enough.
We also had somewhat of a messy ending since the local team in Tanzania were not aware that our drop off at the Killimanjaro airport was included. It took a phone call and a bit of back and forth to get everything rolling.
In summary I really recommend the trip.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very enjoyable safari with a knowledgeable driver/guide
From the very beginning of our enquiries with Wildness Safaris, communications were reasonably timely & clear. We decided on a 5 day safari to Selous Game Reserve, with Days 1 & 5 being travel to & from Dar es Salaam, Nights 1, 2 & 3 in Selous Jimbiza Camp just outside the southern gate & Night 4 in Sable Mountain Lodge just outside the northern gate. Our accepted contract with them included Days 2, 3 & 4 as 3 full days of safari in Selous Game Reserve. We entered the reserve around 10am on Day 2 & then unfortunately rushed through the reserve to the north to exit by 10am on Day 4, as the entry & exit permits last for 24 hours. Consequently, we did not get our full day safari drive on Day 4 as per our itinerary & only 2 days of Reserve entry instead of 3. This was explained to the owner when we arrived back on Day 5, but disappointingly no offer of a refund of Reserve entry fees was made. These are around US$75 per person per day which is not insubstantial. However, we did thoroughly enjoy our 2 full days of safari with our driver/guide Steve & managed to see a lot of wild animals in this time, so didn’t feel we would necessarily have any seen different animals on Day 4 – just more of the same, but in different numbers & different environments. Steve’s knowledge of the wildlife was amazing & he showed lots of patience in answering our numerous questions. Overall, we would recommend Wildness Safaris.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible customised tour with so much to see in Uganda and Rwanda
I had a great experience touring around Uganda and Rwanda on a customised 5-day trip from Entebbe to Kigali. The office was very responsive and flexible with my itinerary. My tour guide/driver David was friendly, informative and fun! I really enjoyed the chimpanzee trekking, Bigodi swamp walk, Kazinge channel cruise and of course especially the magical time with the gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest! The lodges on the tour were all of good standards and I especially liked the Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge for the comfort of the room, view and the service. The food was all very good and plentiful. The roads are very bumpy but David did a great job to drive as comfortably as possible.
It could be even better if they provided more information on what to bring and wear for the activities, estimated the driving times a bit more generously (due to the roads), and informed me of the tipping culture, better description of some activities, and cost of optional activities such as the community walk near Bwindi (so I could ensure to bring enough cash; note: bringing dollars in small denominations or local money is better than euros or pounds)
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A personalized experience with delicious food and comfortable accommodations.
My husband and I's experience with Wild Plant Safari was great! We had a personalized experience as it was just the two of us and our guide. Our guide Gibson really worked to make sure we saw as many animals as possible and we really appreciated his vast knowledge about the animals as well. He was a wizard at spotting the animals through the bush. The food was very good as well and accommodations were comfortable. We enjoyed our jam packed days and would recommend this a safari over a group safari any day.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience was amazing. I received excellent service from the staff.
The communication and service was great. The tour itself was very informational and fun at the same time. I got an opportunity to see quite a number of breathtaking scenaries.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Maasai Mara trip
Hyrax Safaris provided the ultimate safari to Maasai Mara. Initiallty, I was worried about the prices and accomodation. Rose and her team customized an amazing safari to suit our budget. The services at the tented camp exceeded our expectations. The Maasai village was the climax of the safari. The guides and drivers were friendly and helpful throughout the trip.
I loved the safari and the souvenirs. I recommend Hyrax Safaris.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We took a day hike of Mt. Kilimanjaro (only up to Mandaru Hut) and very much enjoyed our guide!
We had a good day trip to hike up part of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We really appreciated being taken to mass and we enjoyed seeing Mt. Kilimanjaro from afar as we drove to the entry gate. Baraka was a very helpful and patient guide. We really liked seeing some of the monkeys in the forest and how Baraka pointed out some of the beautiful flowers. I think it would be helpful to put in this itinerary that it takes 3 hours from Arusha to get to the main gate and I think that there should be a viewing point of the mountain along the way where we could have gotten out to take pictures (since you do not see the peak along the hike that we did). We are glad that we went and enjoyed Easy Travel’s hospitality.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari with lots of wildlife, expected more information about the animals
We had a great safari adventure seeing lots of animals like cheetahs, lions, elefants, giraffes, buffalos and wildebeest. Sadly not the big 5, but that doesn't change our enthusiasm about the safari and the impressive animals! We stayed at Lenchada camp, which is very good. Clean tents with your own bathroom. Staff is friendly and the cook is great! Axis Africa's service is very good with an early morning pick up from our place in Nairobi and a drop-off at lake Naivasha for a little fee. Contact with Axis is great, they reacted very fast each time and informed about our wellbeing during the trip. The only point of criticism was our driver. His driving skills on the rough road were good, but he was not very willing to give some more information or interesting facts about the animals we saw. He was also very kind to help another car stuck in the mud but let us waiting for 45 minutes after a long drive that day, and a tractor to pull out the other car already arrived.