IE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very flexible for changing arrangments.
As I got off Kilimanjaro climb earlier than planned due to illness, my thanks to Almighty Kilimanjaro for bringing my 2 day Safari forward a day and reshuffling arrangements. Thanks to strong cocktail of prescription drugs i was on after being discharged from hospital I found the energy to continue with my booked Safari. I had a great time going to Tarangire National Park on day one and Ngorongoro Conservation Area on day 2. The Safari drivers were all great but a special mention to Frank a Safari driver as he was brilliant on the last day of Safari. He drove like crazy so I could make a flight to Zanzibar. Also Nico my Safari driver in Ngorogoro Crater, was great in organising for Frank to bring me to Arusha. Also my thanks to Abdul of Almighty Kilimanjaro was great in picking me up in Arusha and getting me to Kilimanjaro airport. Lesson learned do not have a flight on the evening of a Safari. it puts too much pressure on everyone, me included. Air Tanzania brought my flight forward by an hour at very last minute notice. The effort by everyone to get me on that flight was outstanding. Both Safaris are well worth it but the Crater is something special. it was like a movie scene. it is a special place dropping through the early morning mist to the crater floor, emerging into a paradise of natural beauty. Be sure to get contact details for Rasheed in Almighty Kilimanjaro as it saves the Safari drivers a lot of hassle trying to figure logistics out, especially if you are on tight timelines like i was. I got lots of pictures and videos which I treasure but they fail miserably to capture the beauty of the place and the wild animals.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best part of the tour operator was its guide Jimmy
- Jimmy our tour guide was excellent, patient and kind. Made the trip worthwhile. Always made every effort for us to get the most of the trip and seeing the animals up close in every given opportunity. Patiently attended to every request. Also, excellent driver. We saw other vans running up to issues and we did not had one. Jimmy always helped every one who needed.
- The tour operator was overall ok, but some things could have been better.
- Responses to emails was quick but sometimes did not answer to everything
- We were told that we could either pay by cash, or by a link provided that had a 3.5% bank commission fee or bank transfer with a 20 USD bank commission fee. We chose the latter, but when in Nairobi, at the office to proceed to the payment, the guy kept trying to negotiate a "bank fee" ranging from 3-5% over the price of the safari. We denied and managed to just pay the safari price, proving that there was indeed no bank commission fee.
- Accomodation was good, some more basic then others but overall good. Specially enjoyed Amboseli Manjaro Tented - lots of contact with nature.
Overall, great trip! If you are thinking about this operator highly recommend Jimmy as the guide
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It has a natural beauty, the local people are friendly, the wildlife good but the roads terrible.
We used Serious fun tours for our 4 days in Zim. we wanted to do Victoria falls and a game drive. We got so much more.
What a pleasant experience! They communicated well from the start. They offered the biggest variation of things to do (boat cruise, helicopter ride, safari drive etc, for our age. (62 and 67).
They looked after us so well, were on time, showed us such interesting things, were kind and funny.
We saw everything from hippos and elephants to amazing rainbows and wild orchid's.
The Hwange Game reserve is beautiful. the road to get there is terrible and my suggestion would be to fly there, not drive.
The Boma night was nothing like you will ever experience again. Extraordinary food, fun and music.
it was the perfect start to our four week holiday .
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Jimmy is an excellent guide however Jocky tours themselves were sometimes tricky to work with.
I'll first start by saying that our guide, Jimmy was absolutely excellent throughout the whole trip and went above and beyond to make everything memorable for us!
Initially upon booking, email responses were fast but a bit short. Sometimes I'd send an email with a few important questions and only receive answers for one. We were told we could either pay the $2600 dollar fee by cash in USD (not really comfortable carrying that much cash with me), pay by card and incur a 3.5% fee for "processing", or make a bank transfer and pay an extra $20 to cover bank charges. I chose the latter. Upon arriving in the office, we were told that wasn't an option and repeatedly had a card terminal thrust at us. He said the 3.5% covered bank charges but he could make it 3%, then 2%... (Dodgy). Finally he dropped the fee and we paid the $2600 by card with no fee - I'm still not certain whether this fee is genuine.
We were asked to take 3 guests with us on the 6hr drive to Masai mara. We agreed but feel like many others would prefer not to - having paid a lot more for a private tour - it is difficult to say no when put on the spot like that.
The tour itself was great - Masai mara was excellent and saw so many animals close up thanks to our guide Jimmy. He was one of the highlights of our trip - kind, knowledgeable and skilled at driving off-road. Where many others got stuck, Jimmy didn't. Lenchada tented camp was great - basic but that is what we bought. Hot showers and nice beds. Good food with vegetarian options.
Nakura accommodation was great. Good food and pool. Next morning was Nakura lake game drive which was a highlight - black rhinos and lions and much more. Naivasha lake was also cool with a boat ride to see hippos and other animals on the shore.
Hells gate national park was excellent where we rented bikes and cycled among zebras and gazelles to the canyon. Factor in an extra $20 per person for bike rental and a guide for this.
The long drive to amboseli was next but unfortunately Jocky tours had neglected to book our guide a room leading to him having to find accommodation some distance away from us. This meant the next days pre-morning game drive was delayed till nearly 10am and by then Kilimanjaro was covered in cloud. A bit annoying but I must stress this was not the fault of our guide.
Overall a great trip and amazing memories made, could have been a bit better on the organisation side by Jocky.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Suricata in itself is a Tanzania travelog
A Photographer's Dream
This was my first safari in Africa and Suricata made it an amazing experience.
From the bookings handled by Tizia, to the guide Max and chef Tito, everything was top notch .
Our guide Max was friendly, well versed, and helped us take in some amazing views of the Tarangire national park, the Serengeti
the Ngorongoro Crater, and the lake Manyara National Park.
What made the trip even more enjoyable was interacting with Max
about his love for the environment and how passionate he is about nature.
Chef Tito made us look forward to everydays' meals on the safari and in the camps.
On the last day to Lake Manyara we were transferred to another company vehicle ( Travel Africa) which was slightly more comfortable than Suricata's.
It was a newer vehicle and had a portable refrigerator with beer, soda and water.
Suricata needs some improvement on this front.
Overall a great experience.
EE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Drivers and representative done well, communication between operator and accommodation was 50/50
Our trip started from Dar es Salaam to Nyerere national park.
Normally rain season starts end of February, not first week of February. Due to earlier heavy rains the road condition was bad.
You can say we started with a off road trip. It did ask a lot of our drivers and cars, thanks to their skills we got trough. Blocked roads, broken bridges, they passed it all. Even in the park the roads were partly flooded.
The knowledge of the team (drivers and representative of the operator) was huge, we are thankful for sharing this with us!
Due to the high water level it was hard to find the wild animals, but they succeed quite well.
Concerning the accommodation, our group booked all rooms with air condition. Seems only one room was reserved for us with air condition the other four were only with ventilator. Some communication issues between operator and accommodation owner.
Over all we had a great experience, our trip and safari!
PL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We are satisfied with the service
We were on safari with a group of 8 people.
Safari guides Saidi and William - they are true professionals, we highly recommend them.
Activity Foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro - there was in description: swimming near Materuni Waterfalls - there was no chance to swim at waterfall so do not take towells and swimsuits.
To sum up, everything was good, but it could have been a bit better.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Decent company and good safari (for budget)
We did the 4 day budget safari to Maasai Mara, and Nakuru and had David as our guide. It was our first safari and an amazing experience. David was a great driver / guide who was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. The only thing I would say that could be improved is communication- what the plan is for the day, when we will be eating etc.
The parks had an abundance of wildlife (saw all the big 5 apart from a leopard). The vehicle was in good condition (Land Cruiser) and the accommodation was really comfortable- we were expecting a lot worse considering we opted for the budget option. One thing to remember is the driving required to get to the places as we had a 4 day safari but in reality only did 1 full day and 2 half days of animal viewing.
Something to note is the vehicles essentially fill up with people from many different companies so if you’re booking a group tour, I would recommend just trying to get the best deal. We had done the research and chose this company due to good reviews however in our car of 7 people, there were people from 3 different companies. This was a bit disappointing. Also the communication with the owner wasn't great (we only got sent the pre safari info the night before (after having to ask for it to be sent) which didn't leave time to get any items we were missing.
Our guide David was nice and friendly. Once area for improvement would be communicating the plans a bit more (we would often drive for a few hours in the morning before being told what we were doing / when we would stop that day).
Also, I would recommend going in dry season as it is a lot easier to see animals (we struggled at times as it had rained a lot).
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great time on the safari, wish office was communicative.
Had a great time on the 5 day budget safari to the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Navaisha, and Hell's Gate. Raheem, our driver, was a great guide that tried hard to find animals and get us close.
I wish the office was a little more communicative after booking the safari through the phone, received little to no information or communication until the morning of and that was only what time the driver was supposed to should up.
LU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First safari of my life and it was beyond expectations!
Safari is really an amazing experience!
Steve is a nice and positive guy, passionate about his work. We had the opportunity to see 4/5 big five on the 1st day!! (we missed only the rhino which is really rare in Masai Mara)
We had some problems with the jeep (for example, we got stuck in the mud), losing some time but Steve and Axis managed to make us happy in every possible way!
I would definitely suggest it!