NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Mildred Theunisz
It is a natural wonder, but we found that the wildlife was less overwhelming than in Serengeti and Tarangire. We spotted a rhino far away. But hey, we can tick the box of the Big 5. Certainly a wonder that you want to visit. But one day is enough.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The dream land should visit at least once in lifetime
Everything is perfect. to visit Africa is the dream of mine,
GR
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Magnificent Nature and wildlife
The parks the animals the camps are amazing! We were so lucky and the weather was amazing! The most important point for Tanzania is the nature and the wild animals! But the most downsize thing are the street and beach hawkers all over areas where tourists are! They do not let people enjoy their vacation as they permanently asking for money and want to give them their services which are non existent. I was in Namibia and this was lasting hawkers there were 90% less there!
GH
A once in a lifetime experience that makes me wish I'm back on the caldera floor everyday.
It was an excellent safari drive on the caldera floor, and to our surprise, we bumped into a zebra with a hump like a camel. The Mirror (online) UK and Solent News carried this story. The floor of the crater is littered with zebras running and playing, hyenas, lioness and several other species. We even spotted a black rhino!
Overall, it was an amazing experience that I recommend to every wildlife enthusiast.
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
fantastic
They were no communication barriers everything was on track as schedule it is six o’clock. Breakfast at six thirty and you will go on your walk at six forty-five.” The man places a tray with coffee, warm milk and breakfast cookies on the table etc. The services were up to expectation just as we expected to notch.
Review about Mapungubwe National Park by Henk Pretorius
Beautiful, but warm... I like the Baobab trees
AR
It's amazing
We want to de Lions Park and Leseedi Cultural Village. I don't recommend, but only because they are not natural, both are made for tourist. I prefer nature.
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Five stars on most aspects
We chose Encompass to plan our African holiday because it was so highly recommended to us by a couple we met on another trip. We mentioned this on our first contact with Encompass. Unfortunately, they assumed that we wanted the same type of trip as our friends, when in fact we didn't even discuss the trip with the couple at all. The outcome was that we had a month in Africa that was about 2/3 of what we wanted, and 1/3 what we didn't.
We saw some amazing things, stayed at some great places, and had wonderful guides. Most everything went like clockwork. That all deserves 5 stars for the Encompass team, including their attention to my husband's health issues the night before we were to depart for Africa.
So why not 5 stars? We arrived home exhausted, having completed around 25 game drives (and having sat out about 8). We spent 16 nights in total at 5 camps, travelling mostly by safari vehicle between them . We were envious of those who were moving on to other activities and countries for non-safari adventures. Of the 30 nights in Africa, 16 were in camps, 6 were in transit, and one was a day of rest.
When we arrived home, we would have given Encompass 3 stars on this review, but instead we contacted them with our feedback. We have added one star because of the team's sincere response to and disappointment with what we expressed to them. They immediately gathered all the information we gave them along with that from the entire planning process, discussed it, and decided there were some mistakes made. We believe that they learned something from this experience, and that means a lot to us. Although everyone else gave them 5 stars, perhaps now some other couple in the future will not have the problems we experienced and they'll never get below a 5 again.
With over a month having passed since our return, we now look on our African experience in a positive light, enjoying and sharing our photos, talking about the great experiences we did have, and being very pleased with the response from the Encompass team.
We have no hesitation in recommending them to others, with the recommendation that you research Africa yourselves, read review of the places they suggest you stay, have a good understanding of what 3 days in a camp means and how many of these days you are prepared to sign up for, and finding out about all the other activities and adventures there are in Africa.
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing!
We shared our visit to Masai Mara with some friends, who had never done Safari before. We enjoyed their enthousiasm :-). In the park you find no traces of any human waste, the wildlife was abundant. The one thing we missed, were the big groups of wildebeest, but this time of the year, most of them are in the Serengeti.
In 4 days, we have seen Lions, cheeta, zebras, wildebeest, hartebeest, maraboe, mangoest, impala, topi, hyena, buffalo, gazelle, vultures, crocodile, hippo, eagles ....
We hope to visit the park again.
BA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing wildlife, stunning sunsets.
Our tour operator was Axis travel, and they were amazing and beyond helpful. Cynthia provided so much support for us, even beyond the actual safari trip - including organizing transport to and from the airport, answering all the questions, etc. Our guide Kelvin, was so cool. He was kind, he knowledgeable, and he kept us very safe. Many times we saw some irresponsible driving, but Kelvin always kept his cool and took such a good care of us. Really, he made our trip superb.
One thing about Africa is that everybody asks for tips (at Axis even this was awesome and Kelvin was awesome). But people ask for tips that you don't even know what you are tipping... like we served you breakfast, tip us, we picked p the dishes tip us, we are going to the restaurant bathroom tip us etc. It is very extreme and strange for us coming from Europe. You can tell that Africa is a third world country and that there is such a corruption and poverty as people talk about it. Yet the prices are high and it makes you wonder how people manage to survive.
The country itself is so stunningly beautiful. Wildlife, coastline, everything.