US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The trip exceeded all expectations; it was amazing!
Everything was better than we expected, and we expected a lot. We loved every minute. From the very beginning, our guide and driver, Joseph, was wonderful. His knowledge of the flora, fauna, and history of the park, Selous, was unbelievable. In addition to being extremely knowledgeable, he was funny, confident, and great company. We saw so many more animals than we expected, and with Joseph’s knowledge, we learned so much. The accommodation, food, and service were spectacular. We had no idea how much we would bond with our driver and guide in such a short time. We are so glad we chose a small Tanzanian company. My luggage did not make the trip, but Joseph, with Raja’s help, made that less stressful. I got my bag when we got to Ruaha, with the help of Joseph, Raja, and our guides in Ruaha. They went above and beyond what they had to do.
We had a lovely flight to Ruaha. Our guide and driver met us at the landing strip, and we immediately started on a game drive. Although we missed Joseph, our previous driver and guide so much, we soon became comfortable with our new guide, Jovin, and the driver and tracker, Mkonda. Seeing so many animals living the way they should was emotionally intense. The guides were so incredibly skilled at spotting animals and explaining details about how they lived. We also loved the walking Safari with the armed park rangers.
Every day was an adventure, and when we returned to our lodges, both in Selous and Ruaha, we were welcomed by the wonderful staff, and had wonderful meals and service. The sleeping quarters were beautiful and clean, and we were overwhelmed by the warm service we received.
In addition to the amazing flora and fauna we witnessed, the night skies were amazing.
We flew to Zanzibar for our last 3 days and loved that, too. We went snorkeling, visited Stone Town, and a spice plantation.
Raja really took care of every detail. We were thrilled and would recommend Raja Tours to anyone who wants a trip of a lifetime!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
low budget
First I want to say that our transfer driver, John, was great, as were our cook, David, and our driver, Marvin. This review should not reflect poorly on them in any way, as my complaints are out of their hands. Understanding and respecting that unforeseen circumstances do occur, the condition of our safari truck was ridiculous. The sides never stayed velcroed closed and we would have to stop and fix them continuously, and the bars they were wrapped around were rusty. One hour into our very first game drive the truck broke down. We were then sent separately and alone back to camp, with unknown tourists who stopped alongside us. Apparently the fuse box was broken. One of the other tourists in our group complained about the missed game drive and another company and driver, Oscar, came to our rescue and gave us our game drive. The next morning we needed to push start the truck and found out the starter was now broken. We again drove with another company and Oscar, thankfully! Aside from the inferior vehicle problems, I was so tired of eating porridge and beans that I will never consume them again! Out tour was only 3 days long and yet we ate the same thing over and over again. When I asked if we were having eggs I was informed no, because they hadn't been delivered. Oh great, more porridge! My idea of the "delicious brunch" that is advertised in my itinerary was not simply the bread, yogurt and Corn Flakes cereal, which was what was offered. I wondered if all of the African tours were like this, but after joining our Nomad tour and being given fresh fruit, juices, chicken, spaghetti, and a wide range of deliciously cooked foods I have concluded Wild Cherry Tours is an inferior company and we greatly overpaid for what we received. I am greatly disappointed but at least the wildlife we saw left us with some wonderful memories of Etosha camping.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent Mara!!
We just got back from a wonderful trip to Mara. Our tour guide Anthony of Tazama African Holidays, was just too good. A perfect gentleman, well informed n connected in Nairobi, he truly went out of his to ensure that we had a comfortable drive , wonderful places to stay n great Game Viewing thru his guide n driver Charles, a blue Blooded Mara.
Got more than money's worth. Cheers
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good coverage with very good campsite with good food
Nairobi traffic can be controlled only by making some over bridges.Approach road to Masai mara can be made with a little more effort from government.Jungle roads are ok.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Such a fantastic itinerary
Thanks so much for the wonderful itinerary. We visited Botswana and South Africa. I just loved the Table Bay Hotel and Shinde in the Delta was fantastic. Your expertise was amazing and made our trip memorable.
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania -a country full of adventures
We choosed Tanzania as the country for our safari and exciting beach experience, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
Among the many safari tour operators, we choosed Shemeji and that was a very good. Everything from response time and information to our guide Edward and chef Isak made the experience good. We visited Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro and enjoyed the different landscapes, all the animals and more.
After safari, Zanzibar (Nungwi) was the place and we really enjoyed it!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
The wildlife was absolutely fantastic, the diversity & numbers of animals & birds was astounding! Still trying to assimilate it all! We saw hundreds of elephants, zebras, Wildebeest, so many giraffes, birds etc. our guide Peter was so knowlegable, helpful, in every way! I just can't say enough! The accommodations were great, as was the food & all the staff in the resorts where very welcoming & personable, especially in Kibo.
It was very special for me, because I was traveling with my 2 grandchildren, ages 11 & 12 & all the places & activities where so well organized, all was smooth sailing! We will remember this trip forever! We loved going to the Masai village & interacting with the Masai, & watching them make fire & dancing with them.
The weather was great. Some of the highlights include seeing 10 lions @ once, just outside of our last compound, there were 3 males (with manes), & 4 females with 3 cubs. They were lying around, & the Cubs were covorting around the females, who were licking the Cubs. We watched them for quite a while, & they were right @ the side of the road. We also enjoyed the elephant orphanage, & adopted a baby. The giraffe sanctuary was really awesome too, to feed these gentle, beautiful creatures & view them so close was very cool! We had a great time inWatamu &"our accomation,right on the ocean was marvelous. We did some great stuff there too, took a tour of a snake farm & held big snakes (not my favorite, but the children loved it). We went on a tour of Mombasa, the spice market & Fort Jesus was well worth seeing. Also the ruins @ Gedes were spectacular, & there we had monkeys jump on our shoulders & fed them bananas!
BY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari with Jocky
Jocky were quite helpful. They even helped with some questions not directly connected with our safari.
SG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Spectacular Wildlife and Birds
We spent 2 days in Tarangire, 4 days in Serengeti and a day in Ngorongoro Crater. We went with Soul of Tanzania as they had been the most responsive and patient with our queries. Our guide Huruma was fantastic with amazing eyesight. He spotted a lot of wildlife for us including birds. Counted over 50 new birds on this trip. We also managed to witness the Wilderbeests crossing. Being an avid birder, this was a great plus. Soul of Tanzania were very efficient in solving our problems. We were however, disappointed with Nimali Camp at Tarangire as they put us in tent 9 which did not have enough power for a hair dryer. We were supposed to go for a night drive but we cancelled it as the lodge manager asked us to use a hair dryer in his office! Imagine showering in your tent late after a game drive and having to get changed and walk to the office to get your hair done! The power at Nimali also tripped when we plugged in our devices to charge. Tents 1-8 had enough power for a hair dryer. The lodge manager should have put us in one of the other tents as none of the other guests was going for a night drive. Really no common sense! Our other lodges, Chaka Kiowa and Chaka Camp were good with Kiowa having slightly better service. Ngorongoro Garmhouse was fabulous with a good spread of food at meals. The only negative feedback is that they didn’t provide tissue paper. Sanctuary Ngorongoro tent is one of the 5 inside the Ngorongoro Crater and they were just fabulous. They even had hot water put into the tank in the morning so that we didn’t have to wash our faces in freezing water. African Tulip where we stayed for the front and back end of our tour was good.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The most amazing and eye opening experience.
We did a 4 night treehouse safari with VIVA Safaris and the experience was absolutely incredible. They took such good care of us from the delicious homemade food to making the most of all of our planned safari trips. The accommodations within our safari package were in the middle of the bush so it really made you feel as if you were in the safari mode. The guides are awesome and super knowledgeable and are really passionate about making the most out of your bush walk or game drive.