SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 11-day safari in both Kenya in Tanzania
This summer me and two friends went down from Sweden to explore beautiful East Africa. As we had in total around 20 days and we wanted to spend a couple of days in Zanzibar, we decided to go for a long 11-day safari to get the most out of Kenya and Tanzania. As a summary, the trip was fantastic, great guide & driver, very safe travels, nice accommodation and good food, couldn't have expected anything more!
We found Ancient Wild Safari through safaribookings.com actually and picked it based on the high number of good reviews and a fair price. The first contact was with Mike who was very helpful from the beginning. He also assisted us with planning a little customized trip because we wanted to have one day less in total and stay in Arusha at the end of our safari so that we were able to make it down to Zanzibar from there.
Paying the deposit was smooth and we got a receipt, so throughout the whole process before we started the trip, we always had all information we needed. Mike even answered a lot of other questions that we had about visa, vaccinations and travel in general.
Once arriving at the airport in Nairobi we got picked up by Paul, one of their drivers, who had waited for us several hours in the middle of the night because my luggage had gone missing. But it was clear that the luggage wasnt gonna come that night so we decided to go back the next day to get it at the airport. While in Nairobi we went to the office of Ancient Wild Safari and met Mike and another of his employees. Everybody was really friendly and we got a lot of tips for Nairobi as well. At night, Paul drove me to the airport again so that I could pick up my missing luggage.
The next morning, the actual safari started and we got picked up by our guide and driver, Joseph. A super cool guy who was fun to hang out with from the first minute. We picked up some other passengers and left for the Masai Mara. In total we had 5 days safari in Kenya and 5 in Tanzania. We saw a lot of beautiful places and animals and Joseph was a guide with 12 years experience so he really contributed a lot with all of his knowledge, not only about the local wildlife and nature, but also about the country and culture in general.
Joseph was our guide for Kenya and after five days we went back to Nairobi to take the bus to Arusha where we met our guide for Tanzania. Just like in Kenya, everything was really great and we saw a lot of cool stuff, had great national park experiences and in Tanzania we even had our own chef with us.
Well, I can't write much more, it was just a great experience and please contact me if you want to know any more information or tips, happy to help out!
I can highly recommend Ancient Wild Safaris, we got so much help from them, it was superb service.
Thanks!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip with Josef and the gang!
We booked 11 days budget safari and the whole experience was just amazing. Great accommodation, great food and experienced guide. Highly recommended.
Everything has to be paid in cash at departure but there is a Barclays bank with security right in front of the office . Mike and Kennedy, who manage the company from Nairobi, walked us there to help us sort everything out. They are honest and caring people, who helped us way more than they were supposed to (for example, they organised dinner for us outside of the tour and gave us tips before and after our trip). If you want to ask more specific questions feel free to contact me at emgei90[at]yahoo[dot]it !
IN
Kruger Park Travel is helpful and eager to please
The service was excellent but inter office communications were poor and therefore there was confusion and errors in the bookings . However, Kylie was more than willing to help make up for these errors. The safaris were excellent in terms of the lodge, the facilities and the food. However, the draught at Kruger was a huge shock and the websites of the park should be more informative regarding this
DE
Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Serengeti
Our safari was a great experience starting at Lake Manyara and an amazing surprise after dinner at Olea Africana! Who expected singing staff, acrobatic dancers and a honeymoon cake:-D Then we headed to Ngorongoro crater with our always friendly, patient, funny and well educated driver and guide Allan! The crater itself is a unique encapsulated habitat for many many animals where we also saw our first lions. The track to Serengeti National Park is pretty rough but worth every penny! We were situated in Mbugani tented camp where we enjoyed elephants at breakfast and moaning lions at night - totally fascinating. The spot was marvellous and the food delicious. Allan truly offered us a lot of opportunities and we've just been lucky to see nearly any animal possible apart from rhino but hakuna matata;-) The last stay at Acacia Farm Lodge was also spot on, very friendly staff and another special surprises for us! So finally we would definitely recommend Mama Savanna for getting a great safari with personal touch!
IN
20-35 years of age
Be wary of them, we felt cheated.
My husband and I booked with Simon Malimbo of Wild Race Africa Tours after finding him on Safari Bookings website. We were told that tour operators are generally trustworthy. So we booked with him for a 5 day tour to Nakuru (1 night) and Masai Mara (3 nights) which was an all inclusive trip - all meals, transportation, pop-up van and 6 safaris all paid. The safaris we were promised were - evening safari in Nakuru, next morning safari in Nakuru, evening safari in MM, two full day safaris in MM and then a morning safari in MM before we leave. We paid him 30% advance and the rest amount immediately upon arrival. Simon handed us to Obama who was to be our tour guide. Obama was accompanied by a girl who, we were told, was an 'intern' and wanted to be a tour guide, so we happily welcomed her.
Our first shock came immediately after we set off for Nakuru. Obama told us that there would be no evening safari, and if we would do an evening safari, there would be no safari the next morning. I spoke to Simon to ask him why, he had a response that - the entry ticket at Nakuru was not valid for 24 hours like Masai Mara and hence we had to choose. He apologised and and said it was a mistake on his part that he had included both safaris in our confirmation email and swept it off under the carpet. Though we were upset, we let it go thinking it was a genuine mistake.
Obama was extremely informative and intelligent and gave great insights into the animal life. The girl intern wasn't the least interested in anything remotely related to wildlife but we thought she may be shy and so simply ignored her.
We then set off for Masai Mara. We had made it clear that we wanted all the safaris we paid for - 4 to be precise. Obama promised us that we would have an evening safari that day. We reached at 4.30pm and as promised, he got out and bought three tickets at the gate (the girl intern was tired and got off to go to the hotel) and we set off for the Safari. Obama told us that the park is open till 6.30 and we will have to leave it by then. So we exited the park at 6.30.
Next morning we four (intern included) left for a full day safari. Obama waved the tickets from the day before (they didn't stop us to check) and they let us in. Obama told us we would leave the park at 5 as we would be tired. My husband smelt a rat because Simon had told us that Masai Mara tickets are valid for 24 hours. But he didn't say anything. The sightings on this day were amazing and the place was teeming with wildlife. There were also a huge number of cars everytime we spotted an animal. When we stopped for lunch, the girl intern lay on the carpet with her pant button and zip open. My husband and I found this behaviour weird but we didn't say anything. We left the park at 5 instead of 6.30 at the stauch insistence of Obama.
In the evening at our lodge,when Obama was not there, we questioned the girl intern about herr study course for becoming a tour guide, she told us that she was a hairdresser and had done courses in hairdressing. We again found this strange but didn't say anything.
Next morning Obama deliberately delayed our departure for another full day of safari. We eventually left around 8.30am. Today too the intern was tired and didn't accompany us. This time he told us that he was taking us in through a 'side gate' and this was 'rhino country' and the chances of spotting a Rhino are high here. We did not pass through any gate but after an hour he showed us a gate behind us and said that now we are inside the park. He did not show or purchase the tickets anywhere that day. All day we roamed about but this day the sightings were few and far in between and we didn't encounter any cars except very few. Obama said it was a dry day. He let us stay till 6.30. While we were leaving from the park, our car got stuck in sand but Obama refused to radio for help. While he was trying to get the car out, my husband checked the park entry tickets which Obama had kept in the front of the car. My husband found tickets of only the first day but none for the rest of the days.
When we reached the lodge, my husband decided to confront Obama about his intentions. Obama denied everything and became very emotional and called up Simon and spoke in Swahili (we don't know what). He kept telling us that he will show us the tickets of all the days but deliberately avoided to show us. Obama claimed that he had bought the tickets of all the 3 nights together and hence we didn't stop of tickets on the previous two days. He said this was normal practice. He then avoided it by saying that Simon will give all the tickets to us. We never got them. He pretended to be so upset that he said he was leaving us and arranging another car for us. This unprofessional attitude angered us and we told him off for wanting to leave the two of us alone in a jungle with no connectivity and wanting to run away. My husband was worried about me and then apologised and coaxed him to stay back. Maybe that prompted him not to abandon us in the middle of nowhere.
Next morning on our last safari Obama went through the gate. Before entering, he made a phone call in Swahili. While entering a female guard came out and checked our tickets and let us in. On our way out, before exiting, he again made a call and spoke in Swahili. At the gate, the same female guard came out and let us out. Then Obama told us that he had to collect the 'exit receipt'. And then he got out of the car and I saw him slip some money to the same female guard at the gate.
We are sure that Simon and Obama saved the money from the entry tickets - they paid only for one 24 hour safari.
All in all the wildlife was exciting and Obama was very knowledgeable. But Simon and Obama spoiled our trip by these underhand and shady dealings at Masai Mara and also denying us a safari at Nakuru. And we are pretty sure that the girl, whoever she was, was definitely not an intern for becoming a tour operator.
Please don't book with Wild Race Africa or Simon. Obama is genuinely knowledgeable but he was definitely involved in this business. We had great safari game drives and an amazing time in Kenya, the trip was so memorable and we saw the Big Five. But we felt genuinely cheated. So please don't book with them!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
unforgettable safari expiriance
Reliable company great safari experience which consist our expactation.good organisation.vehicles in good condition. Our 5 days visiting the serengeti and ngorongoro crater by landrover our guide machano was really excellent. I would recommend this company
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
best experience
me and my family had the best experience and what made it mor special was the time and effort he made to make sure we saw all the animals.fantastic company fantastc driver
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip and unforgettable memories !
We had an amazing time going on this safari with Africa Starpal ! Everything was well planned accordingly to what we wanted to see and do.
THe driver was friendly and knew all there is to know about the area, the history, the animals.
All in all it was a very agreable trip in amazing surroundings !
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience
We came to Tai Travellers through a friend who climbed with them the Kilimanjaro. While this operator may not be among the most famous yet, we had a wonderful experience with them. The communication in English beforehand was no problem. As we looked for a less expensive option we were free to add and take off days and really created a very personalized experience. We stayed two days in Serengeti and one in Ngorongoro and had the full package. We saw the big five, giraffee, zebras, hippos, prairie fox and various other animals (of course this is more part of luck than about the quality of the operator). Especially nice was that our guides were very relaxed. When we asked for a shared BBQ with another group we met in Serengeti they opted in quickly and bought half a goat in a nearby village - you can imagine the evening was memorable. While they did everything for us to enjoy the safari, they also sticked to the rules of the parks so that we really had the feaeing that we actually contributed with our tourism rather than unnerving the beasts. Thus, service and especially the food was really excellent! We were picked up from the airport and brought back, learned a lot about animals, Tanzania and other things from our guides/cook Iddi and Suri who were amazing people. At the end, most of the company came to take us to the airport and say good-bye. All in all a wonderful experience which we wouldn't have made without the Tai Traveler crew. So if you look for an economic provider for personalized wild life safaris in Tanzania, make sure to consider Tai Travellers (While the name may sound strange in European/American ears, Tai in Swahili translates to eagle).
So in short: It was amazing and it completly lived up to our expectations. The camp sites were wonderful, the food was very good, communication was perfect. 5 stars - totally recommended operator!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic Trip
A great trip - guide was wonderful and everything went smoothly. Managed to see so many animals thanks to some great guiding.