NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything we expected
By accident we met Magda and Adam and came in contact with Flash Safaris. We explained what kind of holliday we had in mind and Flash organised a great trip through 4 national parks (arusha, serengeti, ngorongoro and tarangire) with overnight stays in beautifull lodges including an inland flight from arusha to the north of serengeti. we saw evertything from ther big nine to the crossing of the gnoes. all this thanks to the patience of our guide Adam with whom we felt really comfortable. the last two days we spent very relaxed at the maasai lodge with view on mount kilimanjaro and mount meru. a great holliday.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The most beautiful Trip!
I've always wanted to see Serengeti and all the animals in Tanzania. With Kichaka we had a very good trip. Organisation was perfect, our accommodations were very comfortable and at the same time we could always feel Africa every night and day. The guide was nice, had a lot of knowledge, told us a lot about people, plants and animals. We had a lot of fun with him. Thank you for this amazing trip!
US
Treasure at the End of the Rainbow
We recently completed Southern Tours' 18-day circuit of the "South African Rainbow Route." We enjoyed it immensely and recommend it strongly as an introduction to the richness and variety of this beautiful and complex
Out of Town: The tour takes in a wide range of landscape, wildlife, small communities, and agricultural settings. Big-city sightseeing is not a high priority but can be added at the beginning and end of the rainbow.
Accommodations: The lodgings exceeded our expectations in quality and variety, from furnished rondavels in the national parks to comfortable inns and upmarket hotels. We slept indoors and well every night.
Meals: The pre-paid meals were varied, ample, and consistently excellent. Most lunches were improvised picnics. Pre-paid dinners became rarer during the second half of the tour, and Mrs. W. suggested that the package be tweaked to include more meals and less posh accommodations. (Mr. W. did not second the motion.)
Drinking Water: Tap water is not safe to drink at every stop. All travelers bought large containers of potable water for personal consumption along the way.
Transport: We had a spacious, comfortable, air-conditioned, late-model van. Except for Days 4 and 5, long driving days alternated with shorter ones, so that our time in the van did not become oppressive. Rest stops were 2-2.5 hours apart and blessedly negotiable.
Our Guide: Bonga did the work of two men, guide and driver. As guide, he shared his extensive knowledge of South African geography, geology, flora, fauna, peoples, and history. He has an uncanny eye for discerning animals in a landscape, whether near or far. He speaks English fluently and knows several other South African and European languages as well. Every evening he gave us updates on our plans for the next day and answered our questions fully and patiently. He was responsive to suggestions for minor changes of plan and flexible in dealing with unanticipated developments. He was also highly effective in securing favorable treatment for his clients in crowded situations.
As driver, Bonga's top priority is the safety and comfort of his passengers. He abides by the the laws and unwritten rules of the road, and he considers the needs of other drivers. We never felt unsafe, even when he drove some distance in reverse to stay beyond the reach of an angry elephant coming straight at us on a narrow road.
In other words, Bonga is outstanding in his chosen profession. He is informed and decisive yet always courteous and helpful. We never saw him behave impatiently or rudely or angrily with anyone, be they clients, service providers, or total strangers. He is the model of a true gentleman.
We didn't know quite what to expect at the beginning of the rainbow, but by the end we had discovered a treasure.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great photo safari, animal spottings and experience
As we like to take photos of the nature, we booked a photo safari course with a Swiss photographer. He then booked the safari itself with Bubezi Safaris. It was only us two, the photographer and our guide Andy.
When we arrived on the airport of Johannesburg Andy picked us up and drove us to the private Tshukudu Game Lodge. After arrival we went immediately on a game drive where could see our first animals (elephants, buffalos, lions, ...).
After a morning walk with Chetaahs trough the bush, we drove to Kruger National park and in between stopped at Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, where we were told a lot about injured and old animals, which partly lived in the Centre and partly were reintroduced into the wilderness. Arriving in Kruger at afternoon, we changed into a safari vehicle and immediatley were greeted by a lot of animals.
Each morning we had to stand up quite early to be out of the camp at opening time 6:00 o'clock, but Andy always had prepared hot tea, coffee and some small snacks in the vehicle. We were always out on the drive until closing time of the camp (although he offered us, to stay in the camp during the day to get some rest. But being on safari, we wanted to be out seeing animals and nature).
During our trip, while the photographer explained us when to use which function of the cameras, Andy tried to find (and he not only tried, he did!) all the animals. As soon as he found them, he took care to bring us into the best position for taking photos (e.g. that the sun was shining in the right angle on the animal, that there weren't any branches between us and the animal, ...). Furthermore we always hat enough time to take the best possible photo. We never left a spotting before we were finished!
Beside the Big Five which we were able to see various times, we could see a lot of other interesting and fascinating animals. Andy was always able to tell us a lot about each animal and its habits, and we weren't able to ask him any question, which he couldn't answer.
In the national park we stayed one night in Satara-Camp and then another two in Skukuza-Camp.
At our last day and on the trip back to Johannesburg, we stopped at an elephant camp outside of Kruger. Some time before our trip we had said, that we would like to ride on elephants. So Andy had organized everything and we were able to touch, feed and finally ride on two big elephants. After that, he brought us to our hotel where we stayed some more days.
From our arrival up the last day, everything was organized and prepared perfectly, incl. special requests. Andy always took great care to fulfill our photographers needs, concerning position, time and everything and everything else we wanted (like seeing a baby giraffe). Every evening at dinner and while we were in the car, Andy told us a lot of interesting stories about the park, the animals and his experiences.
All in all: We'll come back and we recommend everybody who wants to go on a safari (especially having special requests) to book with Bubezi Safaris!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
High lights Safari 6 nights
Being a professional sailor, captain of a large sailing yacht, on a round the world trip, I always plan a break on our stops to meet my grown-up children ( 18 and 21) to make some quality memories, so, when in Zanzibar, we always dreamed to do a real Safari, camp in style and see the big 5, being a one time chance, it had to be good in the limited time possible for all schedules to match. Very happy to have found Tanzania Expeditions and Justin on the internet, the pre-sale process, the customization, the personal attention, the reactive communication, the flexibility of payments was on very high and pleasant standards; very comforting. When finally the day arrived we all met up in Arusha, all as plannend and scheduled, followed by Serengetti, Mara River and Ngo Ngo Crater, 6 nights, the advised accommodations, especially Mara under Canvas were all better then expected, our guide was flexible with our daily wishes and we saw and filmed everything we wanted to see; Africa is magic, thnx to Justin, we will be back ( only part we don't like is the king no game drive between Serengetti and Crater, next time we fly that)
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Top notch service
I and my husband have used this company and all I can say they are the best . we loved your services .
we will surely return and use your company again
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful way to end out trip!
We went on the Rhino walk. Chinga was our guide. He was perfect for us! He was a true nature nerd:) He showed us all the little things you would miss on a bus or boat. Bugs, birds, plants, foot prints and poop. Of course we saw the Rhinos too! The armed guard with us was also very knowledgeable and the driver who picked us up and dropped us off was great as well. We saw so many animals in Zambia and Botswana. We were very lucky, but we had not seen any Zebra. I had hoped we would see them on the walk. We did not. I was so disappointed. Then we saw them on the drive out of the park! The driver pulled over for us to watch them and take photos. It was magical. We flew out that afternoon and had plenty of time.
US
A beautiful, very personal safari!
James is a wonderful guide and an amazing friend! During our 4-day safari, James made sure we spent each day to the fullest. James took us on a safari of Ngorongoro and Serengeti, brought us to a local Maasai village, informed us on everything from the history of the places we visited to the species of the wildlife we encountered, and even gave us shopping and bargaining advice. Thanks to James and our Stomach Doctor, we never had a dull moment or an empty stomach. Even though we only knew James for four days, we had become very close at the end of our safari, and I am glad to call James my friend.
My personal highlights of the tour were the breathtaking, panoramic views from high up of the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The Complete Wilderness", far away from the madding crowd.
This was my seventh visit to Meru since 2010. It is probably the most scenic park in Kenya; criss-crossed by 13 permanent rivers fed from the Nyambene Hills which form a beautiful backdrop to the west of the park giving occasional glimpses of Mount Kenya.
One of the highlights of my visits is to be out and about to watch the sunrise silhouetting the Duom palms that are everywhere. My last visit in June was just after the rains and the vegetation was lush and green providing ample food for the browsing and grazing wildlife. During times of plenty the wildlife will sometimes gather in huge numbers and I was lucky enough to see herds of 80+ elephants and san incredible herd of 400-500 buffalo. Predators were difficult to find due to the lush vegetation which gives them plenty of cover but with a good guide which I had and a little patience they can be found. There are also plenty of unusual species not seen in the Mara such as Reticulated Giraffe, Besia Oryx, Gerenuk and Grevy"s Zebra. Meru is also one of the best birding destinations in Kenya and when the mammals prove illusive, the birds are always there.
For me the highlight of Meru is its feeling of remoteness and isolation (although only 45 mins. flying time from Nairobi. I could go out for the whole day with my wonderful guide and we would be lucky to see another vehicle; we never had to share a sighting with anyone else. I felt at times I had the whole park to myself.
If there are any drawbacks it is that the wildlife can be illusive and at times it can get very hot being directly on the Equator and at a fairly low altitude compared to the majority of other parks but it is my favourite park in Kenya.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding Experience
Etosha National Park is quite a unique place - we got to see a lot of animals in their natural habitat. One morning when we left very early (6ish) from one of the camps we even saw a leopard perched on a tree, enjoying the scenic view (or maybe eyeing a kudu ...). We can really recommend staying several days in the camps, as there are water holes at each camp and animals do really show up at those. We even saw two rhinos at a waterhole at night (around 9pm) so patience really pays off.