TH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
when I recalled the tour, I recognized this is a dangerous country.
the capital Nairobi is a city full of gang of robbers. be careful! better skip the capital or other big city.
PT
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A real adventure!
It was a good adventure! The wildlife, the parks were amazing! The only thing we did not enjoy was our guide. Not very nice, not available to show us around the park, we were always the last to leave the the camp and the first to return. The last day we waited 2hours for him to get inside the park, he was sitting aroud and talking to some other drivers. Our cook was great, and al the meals were perfect!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience watching the gorillas in their natural habitat
The accommodation, the food and the guides were pretty good! We had a great time!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Time Traveling to Ruaha and Mikumi!
We had a great time on our 4 day 3 night safari from Dar to Ruaha then Mikumi before going back to Dar. Our driver, Samuel, was an excellent guide and was always looking out for us. The company offered us a package that was not so much on the 'luxury' side of safari experiences (though not on the shabby side either!) but that was good for us because it was much(!) more affordable than the other very expensive packages I was offered, a bit of an adventure, and still incredibly enjoyable. I'd recommend this company to other potential safari go-ers...and if we go back to TZ we will use them again.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Over all amazing experience
We went on a 4D/3N safari trip to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Both Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro were great experiences with lots of animals and beautiful nature! Serengeti on the other hand was a bit disappointing in our opinion. Not many animals and the roads were not good. Beautiful nature though.
We chose tented camps which was a different but great experience as well. Close to animals.
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good sightseeing, bad food
The safari itself was pretty good. We got to see almost all the animals, and camping was very nice. We were given all necessary equipment.
The food on the other hand, was not what we expected. People in our group had various diets/allergies, and these needs were not met. The chef had heard nothing about our requirements although all of us had informed staff about this when we booked the safari. Since he didn't know about allergies and diets, he had not bought the groceries suitable for our diets. It was also difficult to communicate properly with the chef because of the language barrier. He did find a way to cook food that everyone could eat, but it wasn't optimal.
RS
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience, the devil lies in the details
We took a three days safari in Tsavo East and Amboseli National parks, starting from Diani Beach. Seeing the wildlife in their natural habitat is really great experience which could have been even better if we took care of some details.
During these three days, we spent approx. 24 hours in the van, either traveling from one place to the other or within the national parks. It is very important to rent a good car, with good suspension and air conditioning. The air conditioning is not going to help much in the national parks, since the roof is open for watching the wildlife, but it is essential on the way back from Amboseli to Diani Beach (11hours in the car). Make sure the car is in good shape since we had two car problems which required us to leave the vehicle (in the national park) and stay on the road in the middle of the day. The people were very friendly and helpful. Our guide/driver was doing his best to fix the problem, even colleagues from other agencies stopped and helped. But we could have been much better without that experience.
Altogether, it was challenging and unforgettable. :-)
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Great Migration - A timeless safari experience with a full complement of African wilderness
My trip to Masai Mara with ‘ It Started In Africa’ was everything I expected of an Africa wilderness & much more. Never ending planes, rocky roads, the most stunning sun rise, flowing river filled with hippo & crocs & a land where animals & humans live in harmony with each other.
Masai Mara was a destination which was amongst the top ten destinations on my Bucket List. So there I went planning a trip & trying to get quotations for many local travel companies in Kenya. That’s when we came across ‘It Started In Africa’ who offered us the best packages & deals.
Particia from ‘ It Started In Africa’ was our only point of contact while I was planning the trip and she did a fabulous & commendable job. We were a group of 4 people & our plan was to visit Lake Nakuru & Masai Mara for 7 days trip & she planned our itinerary offering us amazing & comfortable stay in the lap of the nature & all in our budget.
Our guide, driver & a person with fabulous experience & knowledge Alex from the company was our companion from day 1 to day 7 and thanks to him that we witness all the drama of the Mara jungle – migratory heard of Zebras marching across the river while the hungry crocs were awaiting for their meal, a cheetah making a mad dash through the grassland attacking wildebeest or croc dramatically rising from the waters in the Mara river…. We also witnessed the Big 5 and amazing species of birds.
I could go on and on and on about our trip to the Masai Mara, and by writing this comment I just wanted to thank ‘It Started In Africa’ team, Patricia & Alex for an unforgettable experience. Keep up the fabulous work & marvellous client services. I would highly recommend ‘It Started In Africa’ for any safari trips to Africa.
Cheers.
Vidhi
Trip Date: 25th - 31st August
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mathew
I climbed Kili with another company and Mathew from Wild Root Safaris was my guide. He was proffesional and responsible and I would recommend him.
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
6 day tour of Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha
Considering we booked a ‘budget safari’ and were a little sceptical about how it would be; it was absolutely fantastic! The communication beforehand with Robert (the email correspondent) was great, he gave fast and thorough replies. Our guide for the 6 days was Aruni and he was amazing; so good that we were able to see all of the big 5 in two days! He was a great guy, very experienced, with a great sense of humour and his knowledge of all the animals was incredible .
The accommodation was basic but clean and fully fitted with mosquito nets; the staff in all places we stayed were very friendly and helpful.
The food, although nice, was often the same and after a while got a little boring, lots of rice, beef and spinach.
My recommendation would be to bring lots of snacks, as some days we would have breakfast at 6:00 and then lunch was not until 14:00.
Another great thing about the safari was that as we booked in advance and are a family of 5, we were able to get a private tour for no extra cost! This was really great especially as talking to other travellers through different companies, they said that often the logistics with van sharing was complicated and meant time was wasted helping people to swap vans.
Thought it was worth a mention, currently you cannot enter the gorge at Hell’s Gate, Lake Navaisha. However we thought the boat trip on the lake was amazing and a fantastic way to spend Christmas Day morning.