US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
9 day multiple site safari with family
Last December I contacted Jane about a safari for my family in August. I told her we were adventurous and that we liked camping. I explained that I had read about many of the options in Botswana for safari but was not sure what would be the best places to go, mentioning that we wanted to end in Victoria Falls. From the first response Jane was encouraging and helpful. She came up with an agenda that looked like it would meet our needs. Every question I asked was answered and I felt, even before I met her, that I was in very capable hands.
Jane met us at the airport and off we went. This trip was truly an adventure. We started in the Delta and then to Savuti and ended at Chobi. In each location Jane and her amazing staff set up a comfortable camp where each time we returned it felt like home. The meals were simple and delicious. The time around the campfire each evening was relaxing. Jane has so many wonderful and interesting stories. The animals and the birds were amazing but what made this trip so special was Jane's unvoiced commitment to make sure we saw as much as we could and her determination to make each game drive special and interesting. Jane's knowledge of the plants, animals and birds made each sighting even more interesting.The mokoro canoe trip she planned for us was great as was the boat ride down the Chobi river. When we got to the Zimbabwe border Jane was so helpful in guiding us through the procedure and helped us find the driver we had arranged. I cannot say enough about Jane and her staff and the wonderful adventure. I would say it was a trip of a lifetime but we plan to return soon
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent, fantastic, Perfect!!!!!!!!
The perfect safari! I have been on 3 safaris before and this one number 4 was the best. It was the longest 25 days and even that was too short. We had the best guide/driver ever possible named Hans. Definitely anyone going on safari with Ajabu Adventures definitely ask for Hans, no demand Hans he is excellent. Every animal, or bird we wanted to see we say. He is patient, kind, knowledgeable and experienced. I never had such a fantastic guide as Hans, you will not be disappointed. I guarantee him. Ajabu Adventures went beyond my expectations. They gave us 5 star accommodations in the middle of the parks! Food, lodging, guide, adventure all were 10 stars! Be adventurous and take the 25 day safari you will never regret it. A once in a lifetime that you will remember forever. I love Africa, it's people, sight and sound. Each park was unique and different and had different animals. I would definitely take Ajabu Adventures on another safari and of course Hans as the guide!!!
Debby Beard
USA
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tailor Made Safari
After we thoroughly compared several different agencies, we choose CrissCross Safari Travel Agency. We planned our trip a year in advance and were most impressed with the attention CrissCross employees took to tailor make our trip itinerary reflect our wishes and budget. They really listened, made great suggestions, and quickly responded to us.
Our trip to Victoria Falls, Botswana and Namibia was even better than we anticipated. Our main goals of this trip were to observe the wildlife and scenery, have an opportunity to visit various cultural groups, and see the petroglyphs in Namibia. We had a great time doing all of these activities plus we had opportunities to meet many interesting people along the way. Our trip was well paced and our accommodations, both tented camps and hotels were wonderful.
Our guide, Thinus Blaauw, the owner of CrissCross, shared his knowledge, great stories, and fun personality each day of our trip. He is also an excellent and safe driver. We are very happy that we chose CrissCross, and definitely recommend them.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Our Last and Best Safari
Over the years we have been on 13 safaris with Brian and his Ecological Wilderness Adventures team. Age and health issues are keeping us at home, but if we could make another safari it would be with Brian. We have been on numerous other safaris in eastern and southern Africa, however, Tanzania and Brian are by far the best experiences. The guide's knowledge of the area, the animals, the birds and the people is outstanding. The flexible routes, accommodations and areas of emphasis for our interests always made the planning a success. The equipment used on the safaris, the campsites and the meals were always excellent. Go on safari with Ecological Wilderness Adventures for a wonderful experience and a great adventure!
FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful honeymoon in Tanzania
We had a great experience in July 2014 on the 6-day safari CKC organized for us. John was a great help in getting everything organized and was very responsive to our special requests. Our trip went from Arusha, to Lake Manyara, to Serengeti, and finally to Ngorongoro. Our driver/guide, also named John, was really friendly and always seemed to find the animals before any of the other drivers. The hotels CKC had booked for us were all great – very clean and comfortable. We enjoyed the experience immensely. Thank you, John and John.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Horrible!
DO NOT BOOK WITH VALENTINE!!!! He took our money and abandoned us half way through our trip. We had to pay for our own meals/ hotel/ safari and transport after having paid him the whole amount before we even got there. I've asked him for the vouchers before we left USA and he said he has everything and not to worry since he will be with us the whole time. WRONG! It was an 18 day trip and he was with us for only 7 days. We drove with him in the nastiest SUV I've ever been for 4 days and the other 3 days on different cabs. He didn't deliver all the tours he promised and made us pay some of the meals saying he'll pay us back once the bank opens again. I'd say he's not to be trusted. I find him a deceitful and a horrible person. We haven't heard from him since we left Africa on June 23 2014.
MT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari in Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro
We had booked our 6 day safari with Bramwel safaris about a year in advance and they took care of everything for us. William was always there to help us plan out our safari because our dates were not flexible, reaching Bramwle by email or telephone is very simple and the staff are really helpful.
Our port of arrival and departure was Nairobi airport in Kenya and Bramwel were so kind to arrange for our transportation to Arusha and our safari guide Gideon and William were at the bus stop in Arusha at 8 in the evening waiting for us to take us to our hotel for the night and we were in for a big surprise as we were alone on our safari and this was a bonus for our honeymoon.
We visited Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro and all the Sopa Lodges booked by Bramwel were exclusive and gorgeous hotels, with wifi services also.
Gideon, our tour guide was very keen on our experience within the Serengeti and was well informed about the animals and very enthusiastic to show us the beauty of the plains of Africa.
After 6 days of an unforgettable experience, I must say that Bramwel left us with a very good taste of Tanzania and with an appetite for coming back to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro for another nourishing adventure.
I recommend Bramwel to anyone wanting to visit Tanzania.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thanks for marvellous Experiences in a real pearl of Africa!
We went as a couple with our driver Mugabi as an individual tour. The communication and tipps from Matoke while planning the holiday was great. Most of our wishes could be made by them. It was our first tripp to Africa and we were a bit afraid to book with an african Travel Agency. But it all was so well organized and our guide managed all for us perfectly. So we can enjoy a spectacular holiday with so many fantastic and impressing moments. We saw all kind of wild animals so close to us. A real safari feeling!!! The accomodations had been placed inbetween with great jungle noises in the night, spectacular views and very nice stuff. Our highlight was the stay at Queen Elizabeth safari Lodge and Mihingo Lodge with outstanding nature experiences by car, boat, feet or only sitting and watching. Also the meeting with the gorillas at Bwindi NP we will never forget! Thank you Matoke Tours and Mugabi for this great holiday!!!!!!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic experience!
Mamasavana is a very good travel agency to do a safari in Kenya and Tanzania. Their guides are very professional and also kind persons. Our accomodations in the tour were excellent and we saw a lot of animals, hunting scene, cubs of lion and cheetah. Great experience and great organizacion
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Helpful, Flexible, Honest Tour Operator. Great Safari!
I just returned from a 14 day budget/camping Safari through Kenya and Tanzania. It was most amazing. We used Terminal Tours Kenya, and I would highly recommend them. Our itinerary included Nairobi=> Masai Mara=> Nakuru NP=> Amboseli NP=> Arusha=>Manyara NP=> Serengeti NP=> Ngorongoro Crater=> Tarangire=> Arusha=> Nairobi.
In short, I recommend Debbie and Nelson of Terminal Tours, and would definitely book with them again. If you want a more detailed description of the safari, why I liked it, and the minor issues, I had, read below.
Nelson and Debbie of Terminal Tours were very professional, sweet, and kind. They were extremely prompt with email responses and when I lost email connection for 2 days, they contacted me with updates on my planned trip. I initially emailed them and about 15 other recommended budget safari companies. Only a few of the companies were willing to include Tanzania. I ended up choosing terminal tours based on several good recommendations, a low price compared to others, and the fact that they were able to arrange the itinerary that I wanted, even though I would not be on a private tour, but would be going with groups. They had originally emailed back a suggested itinerary. I wanted a couple changes (i.e. an extra day in Mara as opposed to visiting Naivasha), and they were able to accommodate this by putting me with another company for the extra day at the Mara and then meeting back up with my group after they had visited Naivasha). Additionally, as I am a student, holder of a research permit for Kenya, and in the middle of applying for my alien registration, they were the only group that was willing to go through the hassle of dealing with KWS and the NP service in order to get me the reduced rate. But they made it very clear that the NP service is finicky, and it is impossible to predict whether they will accept the research permit and student card. Thus, they quoted me both prices in my itinerary.
As I am student and researcher working in Nanyuki, Kenya. They realized that doing such a trip was a huge stretch on my budget, so they hosted me for free at their apartment in Nairobi free of charge and Debbie made us wonderful meals and kept the Chai coming. When we arrived via Matatu transport into Nairobi, they picked us up with a group of employees to carry our bags and ferry us off to their apartment to relax until the next day. In the morning, the driver, Sammy, picked us up and drove us to the city centre so that we could pay and then start the safari. As we had to do some minor errands in the city (pick up a few supplies and draw money from ATMS), they sent employees with us to ensure we were safe and comfortable as Nairobi can be a bit intimidating for some people.
Our driver, Sammy, was great. You could tell he was very much on a purpose to show us everything, and we saw everything, including the Big 5 and cheetahs. During our game-drives, he worked hard on his cell-phone calling other drivers to see where people had seen the wildlife that we wanted to see, and his work paid off b/c we saw it all. I don’t know if the whole fleet for Terminal Tours is like this, but his van was great. Instead of running on diesel, it ran on super unleaded, which meant that the car was quiet, which always makes your time in nature better, and unlike a diesel, it didn’t shake, which makes things much better for shooting non-blurry pictures (most diesel drivers do understand to turn off the car for long-distance shooting, however). I felt very safe under Sammy’s driving. Also, Kenya has a 80kph limit for passenger vehicles. At 80kph a governor comes on, however, somewhere about 70kph, a really annoying beep comes on to warn the driver that they are approaching the 80kph. On our 4 hour drive between Nairobi and Nanyuki, this beep can drive you nuts b/c the driver keeps it in the beeping range the whole time in order to make the best time. Luckily, Sammy had a mechanic greatly reduce the noise of the beeper, so that only he could hear it in the front seat. On long drives between parks, this definitely helps you keep your sanity in the van.
On our way to the Mara, we stopped at Narok in order to get signatures for our student research permits. Unfortunately, the government offices were hosting some party, so it took forever to get the signatures. We wasted nearly 2 hours there. But Sammy was persistent and we got the paperwork. Then on the rough road between Narok and the Mara, Sammy made up the time by some good and fast driving, so that we were able to make it to the Mara in time for an evening game drive (we heard stories of drivers purposely going slow in order to not make it in time for the game drives, presumably so they could keep the money that would have instead gone to the entrance fees?)
Sometime during the drive the vehicle got a gas leak. We noticed the leak after lunch at the Mara River when we were at the farthest distance from our camp. This is easy to believe as Kenyan roads, especially off the main roads are super rough (My advisor at our research centre has 2 Toyotas and 1 land rover who are often in the shop). The leak was a pretty good one, and it would not have been a surprise to me if Sammy had said, safari for the day is over, we just need to make it back to the gate, so we don’t run out of gas before we get there. But this was not the case. Instead, as we headed towards a luxury lodge in the middle of the Mara which had a supply of fuel, he kept on his phone trying to see if anyone had spotted a leopard. Someone had indeed, so we made a real quick stop at the fancy lodge, where he made an impressive repair of the leak using soap and filled the van up before proceeding to see the leopard. He then spent a good portion of the night, is my guess, working on the van, so we could make it to Nakuru next.
As we wanted an extra day in the Mara, Sammy and the 2 others in our group continued onto Naivasha while we stayed in the Mara and were arranged to go with another group driven by George. I don’t know if George worked for Terminal Tours or they were just a friend company of Terminal Tours. Our experience with George was also quite good. He was very jovial and a wealth of knowledge. He loved to tell long stories and natural histories of the species we were looking at. My only disappointment with this leg of the trip was that after we left the Mara river to head back, we seemed to go quite quickly with the purpose of just getting back as opposed to game driving as much. We did some game driving, but it didn’t seem like as much as the evening before. We also took a different route out of the reserve that didn’t go through the main gate and was over some small hilly pass. It was a change of scenery, but not a good place for viewing wildlife. But perhaps b/c the group we were with had been there the day before as well, George wanted to show a different part of the park. And maybe if we hadn’t seen the cats already, he would have continued to try to find them.
The rest of our trip in Kenya was very nice. My only slight complaint was that at Nakuru we stayed in a hotel instead of camping (and this was made clear on our itinerary, so it wasn’t a surprise, but for me personally I like the idea of camping on safari). But many would find this better as it had wifi and more “luxury” than camping.
As Amboseli is quite out of the way and the risk of running out of petrol would be bad, Debbie and Nelson had our group switch to a different driver (Ambrose) and van so that Sammy could get his van properly fixed in Nairobi.
We had an issue at the border crossing b/c one of the group members had mistakenly been given only a 1 month visa instead of the 3 month visa that she had asked for. This mean she was actually illegal in Kenya b/c she had already been in the country for 2 months. The immigration official gave her a hard time and said she could be thrown in jail. But Ambrose smoothed things out and helped her and me through immigration with no problems. He then transferred us to the shuttle taking us to Arusha.
As Kenyan tour operators are not allowed in Tanzania, we had been set up with a friend of Nelson’s in Arusha (Abraham). Everything was all set-up and all we needed to do was relax until the next day. The one surprise was that the tour operator in Tanzania had changed our itinerary. He had removed Tarangire NP and instead added an extra day in the Serengeti. At first I was a little miffed by this, but he assured me this was b/c at the moment they had been having better reviews in the Serengeti. After the fact, this was quite true. The Serengeti was truly amazing, and I am glad we had the extra day there. However, I did want to also see Tarangire b/c who knows if I’ll ever be back to Tanzania, and Abraham was able to easily add another day to our safari at a price that was significantly cheaper than the couple of tour operators we had enquired with in Arusha.
To me, I would have cut out Manyara instead of Tarangire b/c I am not too into bird-life. So in my opinion, if you are visiting Tanzania and aren’t too interested in bird-life, I’d skip Manyara (though it was our favorite campsite) and add an extra day at one of the other parks. However, there are thousands of flamingos, which Nakuru in Kenya appears not to have anymore as the lake level has increased dramatically, and I think it might be too deep now for flamingos liking. We only saw a couple of flamingos in Nakuru.
Our driver in Tanzania, Ziggy, was awesome, and he did a great job of trying so hard to find the animals that we requested to see. I really enjoyed my time in Tanzania with this company as well
Upon our return to Nairobi, Debbie picked us up where the Arusha-Nairobi shuttle dropped us off and had one of her colleagues escort us to her apartment where we stayed another night and had another great meal. She also let us use her computer to write some emails to arrange our pickup the next day in Nanyuki. The next morning, they escorted us and helped carry our bags back to the matatu stand to Nanyuki.
Overall, it was an amazing tour, and I have basically no complaints. I didn’t feel like the company cut any corners in order to make the budget. I felt like I got what I wanted, and we had great luck in seeing the wildlife. I will definitely be recommending Terminal Tours, including to the people working with me at the research centre in Nanyuki. I feel like Debbie and Nelson were extremely professional and definitely went out of their way to make our experience great. I also had the feeling that they were very honest and trustworthy and care about their clients.