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.
QA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
disappointed not to see a pride of lions during one and a half days of game drives in Kruger
Five stars to Cape Town. Durban and Johannesburg are disappointing. I booked our safari on this website. It was definitely a memorable life time experience. I was surprised to see that the CEO of timeline travel came to take us from the airport being our driver guide. He came driving a Toyota Avanza which was not enough to accommodate the five of us with our five bags, car seat and a pram in addition to the driver, so we were squeezed during the five hour drive from Johannesburg Airport to Hazyview and also on the way back from Hazyview to Johannesburg airport. The accommodation was good in Kruger Park Lodge in general. The 3 bedroom chalet was very nice but had only one shower and no air conditioning in the main living room although the weather was hot. Dinner in the lodge was very good. The visit to the panorama route was really beautiful through Graskop, God's Window, Bourk's Potholes and the three rondavels (Blyde River Canyon). The lunch in the Potholes was pathetic and there definitely should be something else other than the one and only ugly busy restaurant. The one and a half days of game drives was a fantastic experience for a first timer. Yet I was disappointed not to properly see the big five. We saw enough Rhinos, Buffalo and Elephants but we only saw one Leopard hanging on a tree from a distance and only one sleeping lioness turning its back on us from a distance.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unique safari in an unique country
Safaris in Ethiopia are different to what to might expect: that is why you will probably end positively surprised. Parks are wilder, less crowded, more genuine. Landscapes in Ethiopia are superb, difficult to fully capture by even the best of cameras. If you add this to an exciting congregation of animals which make you feel they are freer -and happier- than other safaris you've been to, you get an authentic safari. Perhaps not as confortable, or even as safe, as others. But you will never forget this one.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great 3 day safari
Following our climb up Kilimanjaro with another Company, we decided to do a 3 day, 2 night safari with Kili vikings, visiting Tarangire national park, Lake Manyara national park and Ngorogoro crater reservation area. We met Charlie in Moshi the day before the safari to settle payment and sort details. Charlie was very nice and informative, and lead us through our options for the safari since the group we were meant to go with from Moshi had cancelled. In the end we joined a couple going from Arusha, and had to pay an additional $50 to get to the airport after the safari which had previously been included in the price. We also had to pay an extra 5% to pay by card, which hadn't been mentioned in our email correspondence. So we were slightly disappointed by these extra fees, but paid them, tried to forget about them and looked forward to the safari!
On safari we had a great time and saw a huge array of wildlife. We stayed in small huts in the evening near lake Manyara at a site called panorama camp, which had excellent views. We left our bags there during the days. The hot food provided in evenings and for breakfast was good. The packed lunches could have been slightly better, but in such great surroundings it was difficult to be unhappy. Our driver was very well informed and didn't struggle with any of our questions. His English was also very good. Our only criticism was that we often had to ask questions to get information from him, rather than him offering it voluntarily. The safari car was in decent shape with new seats and water was provided throughout the trip. Each day we did a full day safari, with our driver being very good at spotting animals, as well as listening to the radio to track down the more rare sights. Highlights included cheetahs, Lions (metres away from our vehicles), Elephants and Rhinos.
After the safari we were dropped at the airport in good time to catch our flight home. Overall we had a great time, and were very close to giving a 5 star score, but felt like the experience did have room for improvement, if only slightly.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Tour, great safari guide, awful hotel in Arusha
We booked a 3 day Safari with Northern Circuit in November 2014.
The Safari and all the Transfers were well organized. We had the best guide ever (Denis). He spotted all animals and knew a lot to tell about the National Parks, animal behavior and also Tanzanian culture. Also the Manager from Northern Circuit (Michael) is great.
Unfortunately they had booked for us an overpriced, but low quality hotel in Arusha. It is called cloudsview hotel (http://cloudsviewhotel.com/). It is located far from the center at a noisy street. Although everything was clean and the staff friendly, the service quality is bad, the breakfast not worth the $90 per night ad the WiFi does not work (because of internal network login issues). In the end they also wanted to charge items, which they said we had consumed, but which were actually part of the breakfast. Dreadful place!
We definitely recommend Northern Circuit, but ask for a different hotel!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
unbelievable
the wildlife was beyond belief; was very scenic. Accommodations with respect to the tent could be a little better; also, the food at the site could be improved. Also, luckily our drive, Aron, was not only a very friendly but answered all our questions and went beyond the call of duty to accommodate everybody in the van. We were so blessed to have him around. We have referred his to all our friends visiting Kenya Safari in the next couple of years.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Affordable!
We are very unfortunate on our way to Masai Mara because our car had a problem and we were waiting for 2hrs to get it fixed. But despite of the misfortune, we had a good game drive. Masai Mara is so magical! We have seen Lions and Cheetahs, amazing! The camp we stayed which is the Enchoro Wildlife Camp was fantastic, they have a nice food too! Just one downside of the tour is the guide is not so informative.