US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrific experience!
Best trip of my life. Can't wait to get back! Was such a wonderful experience.
TR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
AFRICAN TRAVEL TOUR-HAPPINESS AND SATISFACTION
HEY ABRAHAM AKYOO..SALAMA SALAMA RAFIKI..YOU ARE THE BEST FRIEND IN TZ.
EVERYONE WAS VERY SATISFIED WITH THIS TRIP.BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE YOUR BEST.QUALITY OF THE PEOPLE-NICE HOTEL RESERVATION-COMFORTABLE CARS..WHAT CAN I SAY MORE
GO TO TANZANIA AND MEET WİTH THIS GUY
THANKS ONCE AGAIN BRO.
KORKUT ZAGLI
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Feel lucky to have gotten a refund..
At the end of April, 2018 I booked, what I hoped would be, my trip of a lifetime. In May I had a serious medical event and on the advice of my doctor, in June, I cancelled the trip. Mr. OT advised the refund would take 3-4 months to process. After many frustrating emails, excuses and problems, I finally did receive my refund this month, December, 2018. Six months, almost to the day of booking.
I did read about Mr. OT’s accident in September and am happy to hear he is doing well. That unfortunately made the refund process even more doubtful and I feel grateful that after a stressful 6 months I did receive a refund.
Perhaps in a year or so I may be able to book another safari. It will certainly be with a different tour operator.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable!
The safari operator went above and beyond my expectations. It was the most amazing experience ever. The guide was extremely knowledgeable, and made sure we had an unforgettable adventure. I had no complaints about anything!
Even when unexpected illness made us late for our big boat, and we ended up on the smallest boat (to no fault of the safari operator) it turned out to be the best thing ever! We got so close to the animals in the water, which never would have happened on the big boat.
I loved every moment of the safari!
Greatest time ever, made even better by the safari company and the amazing guide.
US
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very nice operator, great communicator, and funny!
Very well planned out, and enjoyable. Great tours, and quite a lot of fun.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ambrose is the BEST!!! We had such and incredible and indescribable experience.
Ambrose really made our experience one to remember. He went above and and beyond for our group and did everything possible to make sure we had an amazing time! We miss him!!!
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Right from first contact we enjoyed an as professional as pleasant treatment with a personal touch.
As an experienced world traveller for business as well as for leisure I‘d quite high expectations from the start. The Five Stars Tours & Safaris professional operators fulfilled all their promises regarding organisation, realisation, safety and personal care to the expected prime standards. The charge for their services and all the booked travel items was absolutely justified. Their almost friendship-like way of dealing with their clients came as a welcomed bonus.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Matoke Tours - Great parnet for visiting Africa!
First off some facts:
-We were 6 people between 27 and ~50years old from Germany
-Uganda 8 days from mid September 2018
-Tanzania/Zanzibar 5 day at the end of September 2018
It took me a while to find the time to write a review and I'm usually not the guy who likes writing reviews, but me and my co-travelers belief that Matoke Tours and everybody who was involved with our journey deserve some feedback. So here it is:
We started our trip at Entebbe airport and our plane landed quite late (around 10 p.m.). We got out of the airport and at first the heat and humidity hit us quite hard. It was dark, somehow smelly and we didn't really know what to expect. We spent our first night in some small guesthouse near the airport. The housing was somehow strange, there were a lot of mosquitos (which we tried to avoid because we heard all kind of stories about the diseases they might transfer...more of that later), and there were dogs barking all night. But we felt save because the guesthouse was well guarded. At first we thought, that it was not a good idea to travel to Uganda but that first night was literally the only not so good thing about our Journey.
The next days basically went like this: Kibale National Forest (Crater Safari Lodge - excellent!) - Community- and Swamp-Tour -Chimpanzee-Tracking + tropical rain in the forest and being attacked by African bees - Queen Elizabeth NP (Ihamba Lake Resort - Excellent!) - evening + morning Game Drive (same as Safari but Safari seems to be the Kenia-word for Game drive...) - Boat-Safari on the Kazinga channel - Gorilla tracking in the Bwindi National Forest (Mutanda Lake Resort - Excellent!) - Travel to Lake Mburo + Safari-walk in the queen Elizabeth NP (housing at Eagles Nest - great view, cute dog, nice bar, tent - Okay for one night) - flight from Entebbe to Zanzibar with a stay at the Blue Oyster for three days (super nice people, great lodging, nice bar + great cocktails, nice and clean beach, good food and they even send us a Christmas card - would definitely go there again and recommend to everybody!) - Stone Town (Swahili House - great!).
We saw a lot. Crazy African cities, beautiful nature, great rain forests, beautiful lakes, the Indian ocean, lions, elephants, hippos, Crocodiles, Eagles, snakes, giraffes, buffalos and many many more... Every place was full of really nice people, who always wore a smile on their face. And what was very strange: almost no insects and no mosquitos. Sure I got bitten twice but in the end I had more bee-stings that mosquito bites (and that only because we had to pay for the honey that the chimpanzees stole...). Recommendations for travelers: don't buy expensive mosquito-proof clothing- just buy one or two bottles more of DEET 50%.
And one thing or rather one person I did not mention at all: Our guide Big Sam. We were extremely lucky that he was guiding our tour. He is very experienced, he knows the nature, he knows the animals, he knows the authorities and he knew an answer to all our questions. And we had a lot of questions... And most importantly: He is a nice guy. He was joking around a lot and was able to laugh about himself. We had a great time and we think and talk about our journey a lot. We miss Uganda, we miss the people from the Blue Oyster and we miss Sam. We will be back and we will travel with Matoke again!
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely no disappointment!
We booked a 6-day private safari. From the get-go, Martin (the owner of the company) was easy to communicate with and responded promptly. We stated our demands, and he was able to deliver the service he promised plus much more. We had different drivers/guides for Tanzania and Kenya respectively, and they were both not only friendly, communicatable, imformative, resourceful, and most importantly of all, expert at what they do. Of course we were lucky enough to come across all “Big Fives,” but there were so much more that we couldn’t have seen had it not been for them both. We went for the most budget-friendly options of accommodation, but the cleanliness, service, and hospitality provided were all more than the money’s worth. All in all a very mind-blowing experience and I would definitely recommend this company to anyone planning a trip to this part of the world.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Life changing experience
Hi Ruth, Life changing…. We are still dreaming about it. We had such an incredible time, and already trying to figure out when we can go back. Thanks Christian S.