US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unforgettable. Great guides and great accommodations.
The guides - William and Jerrod - are to be singled out as amazing. Kili is not an easy hike. It is important to have someone set your pace and make the experience fun. William was awesome. Pole ! Pole! And no one can match the skills of Jerrod (Gerald?) as he with a hawk's eye and the knowledge of wildlife entertained, identified and taught about nature. Absolutely undescribable. especially as I download and view 1500 photos. The places in Zanzibar were out of his world. And Ras Nungwi and the hut I stayed in set the bar for the best hospitality and comfort I can remember. Not to mention the sashimi.
To die for. As well as snorkeling with the dolphins.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First safari was an amazing experience
Our guide Captain was amazing (we could definitely see why he got that nickname). He was so knowledgeable about the animals and the park itself and always seemed to be first on the scene when there was a lion or leopard in sight. We felt very safe knowing he was in charge.
We did have torrential rain on our first day which made a very cold afternoon but on the plus side it brought out all the termites so there were lots of wildlife out feeding.
The camping facilities were great, fully waterproof/good quality tents and the food was delicious.
The tour was run well and professional although the additional boat cruise on the last day was not really necessary for us as we didn't really get to see anything (that of course depends on the day as you never know what you see!).
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A perfect holiday!
This was one of the most perfect holidays we had so far with our family. We've seen so many wildlife, the big five, beautiful birds and the scenery was just lovely. Our guide was very professional but built a quick and great relationship with the whole family. He went out of the way to make us feel comfortable and we always felt save. Highlights - definitely the hot air balloon ride with a fantastic champagne breakfast over the Masai Mara and then Kilimanjaro ! We were very impressed with all the lodges but the favourite was Osero Lodge - tents were beautiful, staff GREAT! Next time we would stay in tents every where! Kenya will definitely see ua again AND we shall choose "Kenya Walking Safaris" again!
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome Experience
The roads to the various safari's could be better, esp the one going to the Masai Mara.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Go 2 Africa was able to match the parks and time with a wonderful safari with Gamewatchers of Kenya.
I was a bit apprehensive about doing a safari alone, but Gamewatchers is a wonderful company who tailored my experience to my interests. The experience was more than expected and everything went smoothly. I am so glad that I went, it was the trip of a lifetime!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Truly amazing and a wonderful experience.
We booked a 5 day safari in Ruaha National Park with Raja tours. From beginning to end they were responsive and helpful. Nico our guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We stayed at Hill Top lodge, which was breathtaking and the hospitality was amazing. I would definitely recommend.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experienced a 5-day Southern-Tanzania safari with Grassroots Safaris in July 2014.
Grassroots Safaris really delivers for the price they sell! I travelled with three friends in the 5-day Southern safari tour.
We started off at Dar early morning with requested stops at ATM and groceries. Lunch was arranged at a eatery close by Morogoro (if I recall right). We were puzzled at this because we had a chef with us. The food at the eatery was great, but I had severe stomach problems later that evening. By the late afternoon we had a stop-over safari in Mikumi with great close-by views on elephants and zebras among others. We spend the night at wonderful Tan Swiss Lodge. The place exceeded our expectations, but we would have wished for better explanation on what was included on the stay by Grassroot Safari staff.
Day 2 we started off towards Ruaha national park. We enjoyed the views and the quick stop at Iringa town where we had another lunch in a restaurant. I cannot remember the name of the place, but the service was not good. I wouldn't recommend Grassroot Safaris to continue taking guests there. However, a small guided tour in Iringa would be amazing add to the safari program!
We arrived to Ruaha National parks' new Camp by the sunset. It was not that excotic as a tent camp, but the cottages with indoor showers and toilets and a common restaurant house once again exceeded our expectations. We had wonderful two nights with bright star skies and beautiful river views there.
Day 3 we started off with a great omelet and pancake breakfast (with Nutella!) and had a whole day game drive in Ruaha with packed lunch in a designated lunch area. We were lucky to see a lot of elephants and zebras, a great big heard of buffaloes, several type of antilopes, giraffes and a male lion. We had great fun photographing and chatting with my travel mates, and we enjoyed the explinations of our driver and guide from Grassroot Safaris. Anyhow, we could have listened more of stories about the place and animals during our safari days.
Day 4 We started with a morning game drive where we could marvel the sunrise from a viewpoint, several elephants and birds among others. We had a quick look on a leopard, too, before it disapered to the bush! After the breakfast we headed off towards Udzungwa national park where we arrived after a two hour sightseeing (on our own) stop at Iringa and a lunch stop at a road side... we thought these could have been better arranged. Anyhow, it was fun to observe the goats as we ate our box lunch.
After a day on the road that seemed to last forever we finally arrived to our camp in Udzungwa. It was really a loooong day on the road and we already started to think it would have been better to pay extra for flying back to Dar from Ruaha, but Udzungwa Forest tended camp Hondo Hondo really was amazing! We were flubbergasted by the luxury tents and private dinner table set in the garden. It was magical!
Day 5 - Great private breakfast set in the garden before setting off to the mountain trail for a few hours. We had amazing guide, Maria, she really was so helpfull and darling we could have stayed another day or two hiking those mountains! The waterfall and the views to the sugarcane plantations after reaching the top were great! Our enthusiasm on the hike lead to late start off towards Dar. This together with a terrible traffic jam at Dar outskirts made us reach our hotel at midnight instead of 8pm as planned!! We were dead tired, but happy to reach our destination.
Grassroot Safaris is a great option for anyone looking for a budget safari. They are really flexible to find the best solution to your wishes and price range. We really enjoyed our 5 days on safari!
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Gorilla trekking and safari in Uganda
We spent 13 days in Uganda and 3 days in Rwanda doing safari, chimpanzee trekking, gorilla trekking, bird watching and cultural tours and visits, all with the travel agency Home To Africa.
We have previously visited Tanzania for a safari trip. Although the safari parks of Uganda are not of the same vast size as those in Tanzania, the low number of tourists in Uganda made our visit feel like a VIP tour. We spotted many animals, including all of the big five. The Ziwa rhino sanctuary is currently working on reintroducing white rhino to the national parks of Uganda. Here we got to get up-close on foot with a number of rhinos.
Our driver and guide Sam was extremely knowledgeable about the parks we visited and the animals living there. He also told us a lot about the history of Uganda and the culture of people living in different parts of the country. We had a great time together, and we really felt that he did his very best to give us an unforgettable holiday.
The highlight of the trip was the gorilla trekking in Bwindi NP. It was an amazing experience visiting a gorilla family in their natural habitat. We got to spend one hour watching them eat and interact with each other, before we had to head back to the civilization.
Uganda is also a great travel destination for birding. We photographed a number of exotic birds during our visit.
We were positively surprised by the quality of the food, which was excellent at all hotels we stayed at. We enjoyed a mix of local dishes and traditional tourist dishes. The hotels that Home To Africa recomended were all amazing boutique inspirerande lodges.
Overall, we are very happy with our trip and we recommend Uganda as an excellent travel destination off the beaten track. Home To Africa made it possible for us to see different aspects of this beautiful country!
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wat we wanted : professional and customer oriented
We were a group of 6 in the jeep : two parents (in lodges) and our son, together with 3 friends of him (in tents). We experienced Sunny Safaris as a 100% professional and customer oriented agency : in spite of the two different formula's in one jeep, everything went smoothly and as planned (prepayment, paper work, logistics, payments on site etc). Also the agency contacted us during the safari to know how things were going (highly appreciated) : we confirmed that our driver (Peter) and cook (Charly) were arranging a fantastic safari in Lake Manyara,Seregenti,Ngorongoro and Tarangire. Suggestion : replace the Tarangire (last) day by an extra day in Serengeti. When going back we will chose Sunny Safaris again.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing 4 day safari
Loved Kruger National Park, we did a private tour with Wild Planet Safaris - definitely the way to do it in peak period December when the park is hot and where there are loads of locals on holidays. We had lots of flexibility regarding when we would start our game drives (hello 4am) to beat the rush to see animals. Our guides Ryan and Ben were fantastic and so knowledgeable, always managing to spot animals from a distance. We managed to spot all big 5, with the two leopards making appearances on our very last game drive. We stayed at the Berg en dal and skakuza rest camps which were very comfortable and well equipped. The food every day was varied and tasty.