FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
Very good organization. Guides of great quality with great knowledge of the environment. Very attentive to travelers. Perfect.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great overnight trip to Nakuru
We had a great overnight trip from Nairobi to Nakuru thanks to African Sunset Safaris. Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of insights along the way up to Nakuru. The drive itself is quite long but the car is comfortable enough (and we even had a car seat for our two year old!).
Nakuru is a great place to see the flamingoes and also the rhinos - we were very privileged to see both of them from very close - as well as a surprise sighting of a leopard! There’s also lots of other wildlife. Staying in the park also meant that we were very close to the action. :)
Big thanks again to the whole team for making this happen!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great 9 day trip to Uganda with a focus on primates.
My friend and I took a 9 day tour with Africa Tours Adventure to Ziwa, Murchison, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, Mgahinga, and Lake Mburo starting and ending in Entebbe in January 2019 using their budget accommodation option. Nicholas was very responsive over email was great about working our requests into the itinerary. My general starting idea was to do gorilla, chimpanzee, and golden monkey tracking, and he suggested several possible itineraries.
We both really enjoyed the trip. Our guide David was great; without him, we wouldn't have spotted nearly as many animals. The vehicle was also comfortable and had a removable roof for the game drives. We have no major complaints about any of the lodges, and they were generally nicer than we anticipated for being on the budget tour. One thing we liked was staying on the north side of the river in Murchison NP so we didn't need to queue for the early ferry on the morning of our game drive.
As for the tour activities themselves, we enjoyed all of the parks we visited, with the gorillas and chimps being the highlights. We thought it was worth going to Murchison as well as QENP; there seemed to be more animals there, and this detour allowed us to see rhinos (at Ziwa) and giraffes. Our short detour to Mburo was also worth it to see zebra and impala, which we didn't see elsewhere. We did an optional night walk in Kibale NP and enjoyed it, but the company's advice about it being hard to see animals was accurate. I think the only activity we didn't really enjoy was the a community walk that we did in the afternoon after driving to Bwindi from QENP. We enjoyed the Bigodi swamp and community walk near Kibale much more.
Some overall thoughts: Murchison and Queen Elizabeth didn't seem quite as good for traditional safari wildlife viewing as the parks I've been to in Kenya and Tanzania. However, the ability to combine that with the primates and other activities like boat rides was great. My friend who'd never been to Africa before was happy with the wildlife we saw, and we did have some really impressive sightings like a leopard at QENP. My friend commented that he was glad we went to Murchison for the giraffes and Lake Mburo even if only briefly for the zebras. My friend is also a birder and was really impressed with the number of species we saw.
Also, our schedule seemed to build in a lot of time for variable road conditions. It didn't rain except the last day for us, so the roads were generally decent. But I imagine some of the drives could be a lot longer if the roads were muddy.
Overall, Africa Tours Adventure did a great job of making this a fantastic trip.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The teem is just excellent, they are all very cooperative and knowledgeable.
everything just perfect WOW is the word to express
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Affordable
We really enjoyed our safari to Masi Mara, the other people on the tour were nice traveling on you own can be pricey so it was nice to have an option to join with others. The accommodation was lovely I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorilla Trek
I'll begin with the positives... I had a remarkable time with the gorillas, I trekked with the chimpanzees, I saw a number of animals in Queen Elizabeth and Uganda is one beautiful country.
I was the only person on my tour, the car was nice and comfortable, the guide Jesse was enthusiastic, and for what I did and saw the experience was great value.
But.... The communication between Michael and the rest of the Mushra team was severely lacking, the moment I'd paid my tour fees communication stopped which caused a great deal of stress from my end. During the tour it was super unorganised with many fees still owed, which almost made me miss my trek with the chimps.
Overall it is what it is. It's super cheap compared to other agency, it's rough around the edges, but it delivered for me.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Cardboard Box Travel exceeded our expectations
We used Allison at Cardboard Box to book and assist with planning of our self drive trip through Namibia. In the beginning we were just going to book Etosha National Park with the company, but Allison was such a wonderful help and wealth of information that we decided to book everything including extra tours and car hire through Cardboard Box.
Although we are pretty independent travellers, we found for Namibia it really paid off to use a local agency like Cardboard Box, for both experience and local knowledge, and unexpectedly also for assistance on the ground. We have visited Africa many times, but for various reasons, Namibia threw us a few new challenges, and Allisons advice, help and guidance was invaluable. She knew about all the accommodations and places we wanted to visit, and was happy to offer valuable and honest advice where we needed it during planning, even with some sensitive subjects.
During the trip when we had some car problems Allison along with others in the office helped us out enormously. A car breakdown in the middle of nowhere, with no phone service, was a stressful enough, but the CB team organised assistance with everything via the local Avis office, and a repair, then eventual vehicle replacement, which were all arranged by the next day.
I cannot stress highly enough how impressed we were with the service of Allison and the staff at Cardboard Box Travel, and would recommend them without hesitation.
Vicki and Rob
Gold Coast
Australia
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Serengeti National Park by Anh van Le
Not a lot of wildlife this time of the year...can't imagine what it will look like in the dry season with more than 2 millions wildebeasts and 800K zebras
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful opportunity to engage with the lemurs.
The Palmarium Reserve is a private reserve on the Pangalanes Canal, and it's like a little bit of paradise.
On what feels like a tropical island, we had private bungalows with a water view through the trees and daily visits from the lemurs. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna, and were a very friendly and welcoming team. The facilities were all very clean and tidy, well suited to the environment, with good services. The range of food options at meal times were limited in choice, but made up for that in quality. Absolutely delicious!
You were free to explore the grounds at your leisure, there were lemurs, chameleons, birds and beautiful flora to be seen. The lemurs were quite accustomed to people, but not excessively so. This meant that they were comfortable to come close by and were happy for you to watch them. Sometimes they would even sit on your shoulder and accept a pat. It was an absolutely amazing experience to be so close to the lemurs without being on a time limit and in such a relaxed environment.
Visiting the Palmarium Reserve was a highlight from my Madagascan adventure and I would recommend it in a heart beat!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Smooth and Stress-free adventure..Love it!
We selected e-trip Africa after reading all the excellent reviews and the different tour options they offered. I can't say enough about the owners Aurelie and Ben. From the day we contacted them to the day we left, everything went without a hitch. Our endless stream of questions were answered with detailed knowledge and numerous changes, requests were handled smoothly.
We arrived in Arusha and stayed at the Researcher Rest before and after embarking on an 8 days Safari. It is a very welcoming and comfortable home where we were offered wonderful home cooked meals. We finally met Aurelie and Ben who are westerners who have spent years in Africa, fully understand the land, the people and culture, and the game areas and animals as well as the expectations of their customers. They were fully equipped to provide knowledgeable, personalized advice as you plan and customize your dream safari. You will not be disappointed.
The next day we met Alladin, our driver and expert guide. His easy going, humble demeanor immediately reassured us that we were in good hands. The Safari trip was perfect and amazing! Everything exceeded our expectations. Words and photos can't do justice to what you will see and experience during the daily game drives because Aurelie and Alladin know exactly where to take you during this time of the year and what is best for their customers. The safari jeep was comfortable, equipped with electrical for charging and mini fridge for water. Alladin was clearly experienced, and knew where to find the animals. We saw all the big fives, and spotted many more large and small animals. He knows 99% of all the bird species we spotted. He will do his best to position the jeep such that you will have the best photoshoot in the perfect lighting situation. The accommodations (Tarangire Safari, Karatu Simba and Rhino lodges and Flycatcher Lagarja and Nieleze tented camps-really glamping) Aurelie selected were all terrific. You are so close to the wildlife and can even hear lions roar at night behind our tents. Hot showers every day and all the meals were provided and were delicious!!!
Our next stop was Zanzibar. Aurelie arranged for a walking tour of Stonetown to learn about its rich history (building made from local coral stone, intricately carved doors to show wealth, the slave trade eventually replaced by a spice trade). Again the accommodations selected were superb. Dhow Palace Hotel was owned by a wealthy merchant’s family for 3 centuries and a British naval officer lived there before it was turned into a gorgeous hotel. Our room overlooked an inner courtyard with a pool. You will feel transported to a magical place with its exotic furniture and mosquito nets. The Z hotel in Nungwi beach has the best beach for swimming, a fantastic pool and rooftop bar to watch the sunset.
There isn't enough I can say about this Safari Operator/Tour Company. I can assure you, you will be happy you used their services and did I say that the pricing structure was also very reasonable.
We had a completely enjoyable stress free one of a lifetime holiday and will definitely use e-trip Africa again for our next adventure.
