ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
Hi everyone! I and my wife went to Tanzania for a honeymoon and of course we decided to do the most important thing - to conquer the top of Africa. Our friends have recommended us RUPIA ADVENTURE company. We discussed our climbing and safari remotely. I think prices are rather high but as a reward we got a better quality compared with competitors. RUPIA ADVENTURE company has a new equipment: tents, sleeping bags, even their safari car is new and very cool! During the ascent the team took care of us. Surely they were earning money but they did their work well. It is not so easy to find such good team. It is a chief’s merit! I have some tips for those who are going to conquer Kilimanjaro, firstly, don’t doubt, it is very cool! Secondly, choose only RUPIA ADVENTURE! We do not have any bad emotions or any remarks. Everything was great!
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US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Elijah was a very knowledgable guide with a great sense of humor!
Very professional and unique, would recommend. Walking tours were exceptional!
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzanian Safari of a Lifetime
After a lifetime of dreaming and a decade of planning, my wife and I finally took our first African safari in July/August 2018. One of the best decisions we made was selecting Soul of Tanzania to handle our week in northern Tanzania.
From our first request for information, the staff was always responsive to our many questions. Because of our time difference, I would send our questions in the evening, and could count on answers waiting in my inbox in the morning. It made planning hassle-free as we finalized our itinerary, customized the way we wanted.
We decided on an eight-day, private guided safari in Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti, with a side trip to Olduvai Gorge and a balloon safari in the Serengeti. Soul provided us with four levels of accommodation to choose from in each area (five in the Serengeti), so to keep within our budget, we chose the most basic level, comprising Planet Lodge in Arusha, Rhino Lodge at the crater, and Ang’ata tented camps in the Serengeti. All were adequate for our needs, and Planet Lodge was outstanding.
But the element that makes or breaks your safari is the quality of your guide. Here’s where we really scored. Soul matched us up with Edward, a twelve-year guide who seemed to understand us immediately. From the first day, when we came upon a lion hunt in Tarangire, Edward had a knack for finding the animals we wanted to see, then having the patience to wait till we could get the perfect shot. He worked with us on a daily basis to come up with the program for the following day. From talking to other guests on safari, it was apparent that others weren’t having the variety and quality of sightings we were enjoying. That was all because of Edward’s superior knowledge and skill, as he found lion and cheetah cubs, not one but two leopards, and even a dik-dik (five minutes after I said I wanted to see one).
Edward was also great at producing our signature, envy-inducing hot lunches, and was a charming dinner companion to boot. Our last memory is of Edward, waving with both arms, as we took off in our small plane back to Arusha.
Kudos also to Ben in the front office for checking in periodically to make sure our safari was meeting our expectations.
We highly recommend Soul of Tanzania!
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari , Trustworthy Operator, Friendly Staff
With Hekima, we did a 4 day safari (Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro) and 2 day trips to Kikuletwa Hotsprings and Kilimanjaro.
Safari experience was really good. Our driver/guide Moses was really experienced and friendly. He knows where to drive and when to start the game drives. In Serengeti, we started the game drive at 6:00 and saw a kind of conflict between a lion and hyaena clan just at the beginning. Many safari cars came half an hour later and missed the whole show.
The food in safari was above my expectations. If protein is important in your diet, you must bring it for yourself. Meat amount was little as expected.
The sleeping bags and tents are taken from a place in Mto wa Mbu. I guess most operators do the same since I saw similar tents in campsites. Tents were a bit smelly at first night. Sleeping bags have different models and conditions. Some of them are not suitable for the night at Ngorongoro especially for the girls (5-10 'C). But wearing layers during the sleep can suffice.
The only problem in our experience with Hekima was in Kilimanjaro Day hike. We started the day nearly 2 hours later than suggested time and we needed to rush a lot for completing the hike before 6pm (after 6 hiking is prohibited). Because of this we could not see Maundi Crater and did not enjoy the hike since we did not give breaks and need to complete the whole hike in 4 hours (nearly double speed). They must be more careful on this kind of arrangements and must consider the traffic and park rules.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Exciting Cultural Adventure in Uganda with Terrain Safaris with Paul as our Guide
Travelers coming to Uganda need to do their homework on the country first. Do not expect all the comforts of the USA while in Uganda. It is a country trying to recover from years of fiscal and emotional abuse from a brutal dictator. Many Ugandans live their lives without the luxury of electricity or running water, not to mention any technology advances. However, the people of Uganda are gracious, nice, caring people. Paul, our guide, from Terrain Safaris did a really good job showing us his beautiful country. The value of our 16 day safari trip was good. We were deeply immersed in Ugandan culture, touring small villages and eating in local restaurants. The tour of Kampala at the end of the tour was nice. The lodging was not as impressive as more visited neighboring countries like Kenya or Tanzania, but after spending days in the country I understood why. Edith's communication with us before and during the tour was very timely. I would suggest she visit more of the lodges in person before booking for clients. The only lodging I had problems with was Trekkers Tarven with no hot water, extremely poor lighting, and safety issues. BUT, the workers at the lodge were very friendly and even baked a delicious birthday cake for two of the travelers in my group. That accommodation was the worst, but with the trekking of the gorillas from there turned out to be the best. I would highly recommend Paul and Terrain Safaris as a great Uganda Safari tour operator. DO NOT EXPECT LUXURY! EXPECT GOOD VALUE FOR THE MONEY. Thank you, Paul!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent experience, I was very well taken care of
An absolutely excellent experience!! Communication and service were outstanding.
Even though I had some issues that T-one did not cause, T-one took responsibility for me and swiftly and completely fixed the issue.
I was extremely well taken care of and had an absolutely amazing safari. Accomodation was luxurious. Would 100% recommend and travel with them again.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzanian Nightmare! We're out nearly $12K USD - a year later
We had booked 4 days of Safaris in Tanzania and 5 days at an all-inclusive 5-star resort on Zanzibar back in the spring 2017 for a once in a lifetime trip for my family of 5 to celebrate my wife's 50th birthday. We had prepaid 100% of the cost of this epic adventure up front.
2 days before we were to fly from Kigali, Rwanda to Arusha, Tanzania, we received an email from advising us the It Started In Africa was having serious cash flow issues and lots of unpaid for their unknowing customers. We immediately started making calls to the various hotels, safari camps and airlines only to find out that none had received payments in full with a number not receiving any payments at all.
We were crushed...what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime turned into a total nightmare.
We had followed up with ISIA when we arrived back home in Canada in late August and was told by Baraja that the Police would send us money starting in September. We were later told that we would be receiving a full refund of $11,995.00 USD. We continued to follow up over the next few months and it was nothing but radio silence. Only when we emailed a senior official at the Tanzanian Ministry of Tourism, cc'ing Baraja, did we get a response in November 2017.
The charade continues with only ourselves to blame for being as patient (and naive) as we've been.
I'm glad to read the positive reviews of late and that no one else has seen their trips destroyed. It's hard to stomach though seeing It Started In Africa profit from this while ourselves and many others are out of pockets in the tens of thousands of $$$.
I'm glad to read the positive reviews of late and that no one else has seen their trips destroyed. It's hard to stomach though seeing It Started In Africa profit from this while ourselves and many others are out of pockets in the tens of thousnads of $$$.
US
Trip of a LIFETIME!
We were the "family" of 10 on the trip with Kathy. I felt it was necessary to set the story straight. We were together for the full 17 days of the trip. We booked our trip 3 years in advance and paid in full almost a year in advance for everyone in our party of 10. I found it delightful to work with Chris over the 3 years. He was always available to answer my questions and concerns and explained everything to the fullest extent before we locked our house and went to the airport. We knew exactly where our hotels were--i especially n Stellenbosch Valley outside of Cape Town. This was never kept "secret" and if this bothered Kathy so much she should have raised questions before she left, not 3 months after the trip. By the way, the hotel in Stellenbosch was fabulous. Regarding being left at Victoria and Albert Wharf, we returned to the "pick-up" point an hour before we were told to be back. We never saw Kathy there. The rest of the group appeared on time and some were actually late getting back. We waited another 30 minutes in the van and there was no Kathy. I don't believe she was "abandoned".
Speaking for the rest of our family, we all agreed that this trip was unbelievable from the time we set foot in South Africa. All hotels, excursions, flights, meals and guides were super. It's hard to wipe this grin off our faces, the trip was that fabulous! For this reason, I give Kanyezi 5 stars out of 5; I wish I could give it more.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
DO NOT USE - THIS COMPANY IS DANGEROUS
I used Budget Holiday Safaris and I have to say not only do I not recommend them, I would warn you from using them. I booked an 11 day safari with them in Kenya and Tanzania. They did not tell me that they don’t handle the Tanzania part but partner with a different agency, Sandlands Tours. I only found out while on the tour and when I googled Sandlands, I found there were a number of customer complaints about them. If they had told me upfront I never would have used them.
In Tanzania, Sandlands switched drivers while we were staying in the Serengeti. The original driver took all our paperwork and didn’t pay for our time in the park, and when we tried to leave, the park tried to get us to pay over $2500. Sandlands was refusing to pay. Rather than pay ourselves, we called our embassies, who had to put pressure on Sandlands . We had to stay an additional night without food or lodging, and had to sleep in the car with water buffalos and lions roaming around the car.
When I contacted Budget Holiday Safaris about this issue, their response was just that they would speak to the manager. I emailed them several times after that and they never bothered to respond. It was only when I emailed them that we had contacted the embassies and that I was going to report them as a scam to my credit card company did they bother to message me back, asking me to not do any damage to them. No concern over the situation at all.
The next day, because of the pressure that this was turning into an international incident, Sandlands relented and paid. However, Budget called me and wanted me to continue on the tour with this company. I told them I no longer felt safe and refused. Other people in my tour got calls from their agencies demanding they continue the safari or else they would be breaking their contract and would be held liable. One woman burst into tears from this.
Other problems:
• When we tried to check into our hotel in Arusha, they claimed we hadn’t been booked in and wanted us to pay for our rooms. They claimed we would be reimbursed. When we showed them our forms, they magically found our names in the registration book. This hotel also is the office for Sandlands.
• They would consistently put more people in the cars then the maximum promised for the tour.
• The vehicles lacked most seatbelts. We had several break down while on the road. The final car had broken windows and no seatbelts and felt extremely unsafe.
• We weren’t given meals several times during the trip.
• When concerns or issues were directed to Budget, they were dismissed or ignored. Once they just straight up lied to me.
While Sandlands was the primary agency in Tanzania, they were acting in full cooperation with Budget Holiday Safaris. Neither agency has made any move to apologize for the experience or to make any kind of compensation or restitution. I believe Budget to be fully aware of how Sandlands conducts business in their name, and therefor they must approve or condone their actions. I believe that the actions of these two companies are dangerous and if people continue to use them, someone is going to be seriously injured.