LK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
unbelievable, I had a great fun with my team. I'll come next time with my family.
Great experience, never had befor.Mr david you and Mr Animal your support is highly appreciated. Good luck.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very professional and dedicated, 21st Century leadership.
Communication was excellent. And very knowledgable.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bona fide organisation with good knowledge of what foreign tourists expect (quotation, safari, etc)
This company clearly has experience in dealing with foreign tourists asking all kinds of questions and requesting a detailed programme with segmented prices.
Good communication and also once in Kenya they are easily reachable (they actually return your call, not all companies do!) and they tend to any additional enquiry you might have.
We booked a car and safari driver for 4 days/ 3 nights (stayed in Tawi Lodge and Acacia Camps which we booked ourselves), the driver Mr Joseph proved a safe and careful driver who has good knowledge of his country and the animals in general, he's good company without being the pushy kind.
The car, a typical safari minivan, was in good condition and was cleaned every evening.
Ancient Wild Safaris profiles itself as a budget operator but I find they're perfectly able to handle more upmarket tours as well, just clearly inform them what your standards are and what you expect from the trip.
My next safari will be booked again via Ancient Wild Safaris and yes I recommend them to friends and family.
Thank you Michael for making our 1st trip to Kenya a memorable one!
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience with amazing people
I never usually write reviews as often you think they are created by the people from the company. So I always think it's best to go with your gut instinct! But, this is a company that deserves a review.
Myself and my girlfriend went on a 3 day Safari to Mikumi national park. We had the experience of a lifetime.
We were met at the airport by a representative of the company and taken to a house where we could rest for a few hours after a long flight.
In the morning we were met by Keneth our guide and started our tour.
Keneth was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, affable and very proud of his job and country.
A long the way he not only introduced us to the animals but also his country and it's people.
It was a fascinating experience to learn about Tanzania, Africa and the animals from a local.
Mikumi National park was a wonder and we managed to see all the animals we dreamed of. Even if we hadn't it wouldn't have mattered as it was fantastic just to be in their environment.
Grassroots safaris were amazing from start to finish! Micky handled all of our requests and questions and managed to organise everything in the short time frame I gave him. The food accommodation and hospitality were far above anything we expected in the price
They went above and beyond the call of duty and even looked after us when I contacted them from Zanzibar when Dani broke her leg.
It was always a dream of mine to go on safari and this was a great start and I will be back for more.
I cannot recommend Micky, Keneth and Grass Roots highly enough.
Thanks for making a dream of mine come true.
We look forward to coming back for more.
Many many thanks!!
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
agence to be absolutely run away from
Your experience(experiment) confirms in 2015. The man did not change.
a very unpleasant experience with Meru treks and Safari. Violent person in charge on the customers who are not satisfied.
Insufficient food, guide - driver novice. Cook hooligan and liar to get out of trouble. Never at the hour. End-of-life vehicle
We asked ourselves the question to know if he did not get back the rests of the other agencies to feed his customers. To verify.
Agency to be absolutely run away from.
You know now
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgetable Tour
We enjoyed a 7 days safari in Rubondo Island , Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
All of the lodges and camps were special and amazing.
The knowledge of our guide Sule was excellent, therefore we learned
a lot about animals, culture and history from him. Although he had the
eyes of an eagle, so we saw many animals, which we did not
expect.
Thank you Sule and thank you Brian for the outstanding organisation
of the excellent safari!
I will highly recommend Friends of Africa Family Safaris to our friends and to everybody else.
Thank you Brian Matechi for organizing our trip !
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Wild Wind Safaris
We had a wonderful experience on our Etosha three day Safari. The weather cooperated, the animals were plentiful, way more than I ever anticipated, based on the reviews that I had read for this time of year, March 2015.
The pickup and return were very smooth to and from the airport and well paced. Everything is included except the purchase of water and alcoholic beverages at meal time. Even the lunches en route and on the return to your pickup point, in our case, the airport, were included as it is almost a 5 hours drive to the reserve from the airport.
The accommodation was superb and well worth spending the extra. We selected the premier waterhole bungalow (Okaukuejo rest camp), stunning accommodation and location. It was hard to decide between eating dinner and breakfast or just watching the animals as they came down to the waterhole at night and in the morning. On our last night it was fascinating to watch the rhinos come at their "slotted" time. We counted 9 that night. We had to force ourselves to go to bed. And the giraffes, 17 at the waterhole the morning of departure.
We saw a pride of 13 lions just off the road side and several elephants, a couple gigantic ones, one in particular, minutes after starting our safari upon arrival. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the springboks boing along and all of the babies at this time of year. Even saw the elusive honey badger. I kept count of our sightings, 37 different animals, very impressive.
Our guide was very accommodating. He backtracked en route, ensuring us views of our sightings, which we spotted along the way. He shared his knowledge of the animals with us and actively sought them out for us.
The food was excellent at the camp. The lunch at one of the camps though on our full day safari was very limited, but, on our return to the airport, the restaurant offerings and quality and quantity of food was fantastic.
Can't fault Martha's and Philip’s hospitality, advice and efficiency prior to our arrival. Offering payment via a credit card would certainly make it easier for travellers and insurance purposes if need be. They accommodated our 3 day safari during the week which from what I read is usually only offered on the weekend. This was an incredible bonus as we ended up having our own personal guide for our stay. I can't imagine though being in a vehicle with 4-6 other people (even saw a couple buses, egads!) and trying to take pictures along the way especially since you are not allowed to exit the vehicle at any point during the game drives. At first I was anticipating an open-jeep, but in retrospect we had an SUV/van, which I feel was better as we were so up close and personal with the animals as it was. It was common place to have an elephant walk 30 feet in front of you or come out unexpectedly from the brush or have lions within 20 feet of your car, so just as well, we were enclosed, as they are “wild”. During the high season, when the area is extremely dry and if it was windy, I would think that you would be covered in dust, in particular when passing or being passed by other vehicles. The best thing about going at this time of year was that oftentimes we were the only car on the road which allowed us to back up or turn around quickly to see the animals. I would think during high season, there would be considerable jockeying around to gain the best viewpoint at the waterholes where the vehicles and animals would congregate.
Overall it was an extremely exciting time for us, a once in a lifetime experience and almost surreal to see National Geographic come to life before your very eyes. Maybe we were just lucky to see what we did, at this time of year, but in the end, Wild Wind made this happen for us and within our budget.
Paradisiacal experience at lake Manyara
In april 2014 I went on a game view at Lake Manyara. The day before we went to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Although Ngorongoro was very beautiful, I even liked Lake Manyara more! Lake Manyara is a smaller but very nice park, where animals suddenly show up from between the trees. That was very awesome. A lot of variety in animals and beautiful birds, wide vast land as a viewpoint (with giraffes, flamingos, impalas, zebras, hippos...), a very quiet safari because of low season (which was very nice to be almost alone), flock of elephants at 1 meter from the jeep,...
The accomodation and food at the Jumbo campsite at Mto Wa Mbu, were unbelievable. It had a pool, very nicely warm tents. There we had our first warm shower in two months!! The organisation and guidance were very very good. They listened to our 'demands' to make sure we had the best safari ever for as less money as possible.
This organisation and safaris are very much recommended! I had the time of my life.
More than expected!
We enjoyed our Safari with It Started in Africa. Planning from Canada a couple of months in advance the team took care of flights getting us from South Africa to Kilmanjaro and onward to our final destination. Being met at the airport and taken to our hotel was the opening level of service and care we enjoyed throughout. The expert driver always made us feel safe and took time to show us parts of the city and viewpoints that were a joy to experience. Our patient guide was very observant and as a team with the driver ensured we were given ample opportunity to take pictures and observe the vast amount of wildlife. Our guide was very knowledgeable of the customs, plants and animals of the region, making it a great time of learning. Lake Manyara and Ngorangoro crater were absolutely beautiful. The accommodations and food were exceptional and we felt like it was first class all the way.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experiences in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
Have rated our experience as excellent as we were blown away by the experience of the Serengeti and Ngonrongoro Crater. Prior to arriving in Tanzania we experienced excellent communication with Abidan who was there to pick us up at Kilimanjaro airport and at the end of our safari Jesse, our driver, took us to the border for our connecting drive to Kenya.
We did have a change of itinerary which we weren't expecting but was a logical step as we wanted particularly to see the migration in the Ndutu area and because we had a long drive to the border for our connecting drive to Kenya at the end of our stay. All in all we were satisfied with this. We loved the camp we stayed in in the Serengeti - Heritage camp - which is small and run by a really cheerful crew and gives a very authentic experience. Serengeti was something I shall never forget - seeing the enormity of the mass of migrating wildebeest and zebra etc. The pride of lions - about a dozen with cubs on our first early morning game drive, lying on the rocky outcrop was just awsome as was watching the sun come up - great pics. We watched elephant antics - and waited while the leopard in the tree (with his kill) had to stay up there due to the six or seven lions lying around the bottom. For me the Serengeti stay was the highlight but the Ngorongo crater was also amazing - we watched a zebra give birth and baby take its first steps. We did go to Lake Manyara park as our first day of safari - it is very beautiful but what came after sort of overshadowed it. Our last night at the Simba Ngorongoro Forest Lodge was a lovely ending - with all the luxuries etc and a beautiful dinner.
Jesse is a very good driver and we felt very safe with him. He is clearly passionate about his country - I don't blame him as it is stunning. Although he didn't have radio communication in the vehicle we used he seemed to know where to find everything as we certainly saw some awsome things!