35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fabulous Family Safari with Herry from Easy Travel
Me and my son just successfully climbed Kilimanjaro and joined the rest of the family for our 4 day family safari with our superb guide Herry. His friendly nature made us feel welcome initially. Once we arrived in the national parks his knowledge of the game trails and his driving skills let us to close encounters with lions, giraffes, hippos, elephants and cheetah. We even got our eyes on a leopard and a fox. Herry always found a way to place the jeep so that we got the perfect view of the animals.what an excellent experience with that extra touch of our guide Herry! Asante Sana!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari in Serengeti,Ngorongoro and lake Manyara
With my wife we took a 4 days safari tour with Suricata safari which include
Manyara lac, Serengeti park ,Ngorongoro crater.
Our guide was Max he was fantastic thanks again, many thanks also to the cook Samson who prepared our meals every day from breakfast to diner.
Thanks also to Mr T and Daniel who did the briefing for the beginning of the safari for the first day and final day at ou return.
I recommend this tour.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything You Need to Know!
Serengeti Green Tanzania is fantastic. Booking a Safari can be stressful and Davies made the experience as smooth as possible. Before we began researching places to go and companies to work with, we had no idea just how many options there are to choose from. It was overwhelming. This review includes all the things that we wish we knew beforehand. We hope you find it helpful!
1. Picking a Company - We first chose our destination (Tanzania) based on the national parks we wanted to visit then decided how long we wanted to go for. Safaribookings.com is great because you can filter the options based on what you want. Still, there are hundreds to choose from. We picked 3 that most aligned with what we wanted and sent emails. Serengeti Green was the first to respond, provided the most information, and was consistently available to answer all questions. I don’t believe we waited more than 1-2 days for a response. This was one of the main reasons we chose them. Reliable communication was important to us when making such a big trip/purchase. Even throughout the trip, Davies was constantly available via Whatsapp and checked in on us to ensure we were having a great experience.
2. Payment - Serengeti Green provided options for payment including via credit card through an online site or an international wire transfer through a bank. You could pay a deposit of 30% beforehand and the remainder in person upon arrival, or 100% beforehand. We opted to pay the deposit via wire transfer as the website for credit card payment did not have good reviews re: security and sending such a large sum of money to a foreign country was nerve wracking to us. We paid the rest in cash upon arrival. A Wire transfer can take a few days to be received and Davies let us know as soon as he got it (it took approx. 2 days). After we sent our deposit, we made a change to our trip and had to send a little bit more money. When doing this, our bank/we made an error and put the address of Serengeti Green on the transfer rather than the address of the bank. I did not catch this mistake until a few days had passed and Davies had not received the money. I went to my bank and unfortunately, there was nothing they could do to resolve it. Once a wire transfer is sent, the money is gone. However, everything turned out OK! Because the account number and all other information was correct, it eventually made its way to the right account but this took approx. 3 weeks and caused me lots of stress. So, this is a reminder to review the wire transfer information very closely before sending it!
3. When Things Go Wrong - It was apparent that Serengeti Green put in a lot of effort to ensure our trip went off without a hitch, and for the most part it did. One thing did occur, out of their control, when our flight to Zanzibar got cancelled. Although we were bummed to miss a day on the beach, the Arusha Airport Terminal is outside, it was a beautiful day, and there was cold beer. We made the most of it! Davies expressed such concern for the upset in our plans, ensured we had food to eat during our wait for the next flight, and was genuinely concerned about the impact this had on our trip. This was completely out of his control but he wanted to do whatever he could to ensure we had a good time, and that was greatly appreciated. I can only imagine that if we had any true challenges during our trip that it would have been dealt with in such a professional manner.
4. Customization - What you see as trip options online can be adjusted! We picked the trip that aligned best with our plans, but changed the start date and added some extra activities! Don’t be afraid to ask to make adjustments to make the trip what you want! They were extremely flexible and accommodating.
5. Guide - Our guide was Goodluck. He was fantastic. He communicated everything that was necessary, had a wealth of knowledge about the parks and animals, and also let us relax. When you spend a lot of time in a car with a person you don’t know, sometimes you feel the need to constantly talk and socialize (or maybe that’s just a Canadian thing?) and that can be tiring. Goodluck was very social but also encouraged us to relax on long trips, take naps if needed, or just enjoy comfortable silence. We were lucky enough to see the Big 5 which is part luck and part guide experience in my opinion! 10/10 guide.
6. Maasai Village - When travelling into Serengeti National Park your guide may give you the option to visit a Maasai tribe for a tour. This includes observation/joining in on a traditional dance, wearing their traditional clothing/necklaces, and touring inside the village. There is a cost of $50 (for 2 people) associated. We were not aware of the cost initially and did opt to do this, however, when we got there and were told the price and saw more of what the tour was, we actually passed. It totally depends on what your interests and perspective is, but this type of tour just wasn’t for us!
7. Midrange Value, Facilities, & Food - We opted for midrange as it fit best in our budget. I was quite impressed with all the accommodations and had expected to be ‘roughing it’ a bit more. I would equate the hotels to your typical Holiday Inn or other hotel chain in Canada, and the tented camp was more like ‘glamping’ with a shower and running water included in the tent. All accommodations had free Wi-Fi, including the tented camp in the middle of the Serengeti. Some of the lunch spots throughout the parks also had free wifi. There were bathrooms with running water throughout the national parks and we were able to make frequent stops as needed. There were also cold water bottles available at all times. The breakfast and dinner options at the hotels were great. The boxed lunches were pretty standard day to day and included sandwiches, eggs, fruit, juice, bread, etc. There was lots of variety and options for Western-type foods for breakfast and dinner. My husband tends to be a picky eater and was well fed throughout. If you are worried, bring some protein bars or snacks with you! From what I could tell, upgrading to luxury would likely give you fancier accommodations and maybe more Western food options. Regardless, we are all in the same Toyota Landcruisers to commute, on the same bumpy roads - unless you upgrade enough to travel via plane between Parks. There are landing strips in some of them.
8. Money - We are Canadian and brought USD. We wish we had brought a lot more dollar bills rather than $5, $10, and $20s. Everywhere accepted USD and a lot of places also accepted credit cards so we used a mix of both.
9. Adding a Balloon Safari - 10/10 recommend this. I added this as a gift for my husband's birthday, and although it is expensive ($500 USD pp), it was incredibly worth it and I would do it again. It is an early start to your day depending on where you are traveling from. We were up at 330am for an hour drive to the launch site. There are bathrooms there and they served coffee while explaining how the balloons work. We spent 1 hour 15 minutes in flight, landed with a champagne toast, then drove 45 minutes for a full english breakfast in the bush. We did a private safari so this was a nice change as we met new people and got to socialize a bit. We were finished by approx. 11am and spent the rest of the day on a game drive.
10. Parks - We spent 1 day in Tarangire National Park, 2 days in Serengeti National Park, 1 day at the Ngorogoro Crater, and 1 day at Lake Manyara. If you have less time I would highly recommend making sure you at least go to Serengeti and the Crater. Those were our favourite but all were amazing. It was very cool to see the changes in scenery and vegetation between all the parks, and the drive out of the crater was one of my favourite views - it was incredibly beautiful. All that being said, it is important to be prepared for long car rides. In Canada, this is the norm for a lot of people and did not bother us. However, we do have family in the UK who find a 30 minute drive to be a long trip so I feel it is important to say that you may have a 4 hour trip by car on roads that are very bumpy. For example - it took us 1.5 hours to drive from our tented camp to the exit of Serengeti National Park - and then another 2 hours to get to the next park. Be prepared for this! The scenery between parks can be beautiful and it was also interesting to drive through different villages and cities and see what life in Tanzania looks like!
11. Vaccinations - We went to a travel vaccine clinic beforehand and got all the recommended vaccinations and preventative measures including Malaria pills. We also took everything that we could to prevent traveller’s diarrhea and had no issues with stomach upset on the trip. What you do re: vaccinations is obviously up to you, with the exception of the Yellow Fever Vaccine. Depending on what country you are entering from, Tanzania may require you to show proof of this vaccine. Kenya is one of the countries that it is required and we had a long layover in Kenya (9 hours) but did not leave the airport. Technically, you only need it if you spent >12 hours in Kenya (or something along those lines) and our Nurse Practitioner offered to write a letter we could provide to Tanzania Customs stating why we don’t have it. However, we were concerned that if our flight got delayed and we spent 12+ hours in Kenya, even if we didn’t leave the airport, that we would be denied entry to Tanzania without the vaccination. If this occurred, even if we got the vaccination that day in Tanzania, you have to have it for 10 days prior to being allowed entry. Our trip was only 10 days and rather than risk missing out on everything - we got the vaccine. It was expensive in Canada $300+ dollars, but may be covered by additional benefits/insurance by your employer (part of mine was). When we landed in Tanzania at Kilimanjaro International Airport we were asked to show proof of vaccination so I am glad we had it.
12. Zanzibar - The island is beautiful! We spent one night in Stone Town and 3 nights in Nungwi and both were amazing. We were not aware that the majority of the island is Muslim which means that any Muslim owned business does not serve alcohol. We do drink and on a beach vacation do enjoy having a few, but this was not a big deal. There are lots of places a short walk down the beach that do serve alcohol and lots of hotels that serve alcohol that you can visit - we just happened to be at two that did not and didn’t even think to ask Davies when booking. If this is important to you, let Davies know and I am sure accommodations can be adjusted. I suspect that these hotels are more $ as they are typically Western owned (e.g., next door to our hotel was a DoubleTree by Hilton).
13. Prices - We have travelled quite a bit globally and were expecting that food, excursions, etc. would be cheaper than in North America. This was not the case. Maybe it's a post-COVID change, maybe it’s because tourism is their main industry, who knows - but be prepared to spend near normal prices for good. Example - $4-5 per beer, $10 per cocktail, $25 for bottles of wine, and average prices for any memorabilia/trinkets. Some places you can barter, others you cannot, sometimes bartering is not very successful.
14. Road-Side Stands - Our guide had us stop at a few roadside vendors which offered art, trinkets, etc. We weren’t really interested in making multiple stops but after a few he informed us that when tour companies stop, the shops keep track of their name, and at the end of the year will donate things like binoculars, animal guides, etc.. Once we knew this, we were happy to stop!
Overall, it was a trip of a lifetime and Serengeti Green helped make it perfect! We couldn’t recommend them enough!
HU
Excellent service and all around amazing experience!
I had a great time with my guide Mr. Anderson, he paid attention to my needs, gave me interesting information about the country and culture, we bought a lot of delicious fruits on the way and had interesting conversations. Peter was always available and fast to respond to my enquiries, communication was easy and straight forward. Due to health issues I could only do half of the tour, but once I recovered I was able to finish the other half as well, during this process Peter was very understanding and helpful. The lodges booked for the tour were excellent with great service. The conditions were much better than I had experienced in other East African countries, and the experience with the gorillas, chimpanzees and rhinos makes Uganda my favourite place for safaris. I can definitely recommend this tour company and especially going on a safari with Mr. Anderson!
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We had the greatest experience
We are just back after four days of safari and we are really happy. We saw a lot of animals and got memories for life. We are really happy with our great and very kind guide and driver Patience who did everything so we would feel comfortable and happy. We could not have had a better guide than him. He drove very good and safe and told us a lot about the animals. The safari lodges were very good and we had really good food all these days. We had warm food for lunch and not just a lunch package. One of us is allergic to gluten and the company really took this seriously and delivered good food that felt safe to eat. The owner of the company always replied very quick on What’s App both before and during the safari and really cared about that we would have the best experience. I would really recommend this company to anyone wishing to go on safari in Tanzania.
Asante sana!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I always felt protected.
Amshar was a pleasure to deal with from the beginning. Edward swiftly added further days to my Tanzanian safari, along with a visit to a waterfall and the Maasai tribe. The two guides were enjoyable, informed, and kind. I've told everyone back in New York State about them. The cuisine is delicious, the hotels are gorgeous, and I always felt protected.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Well organised and professional guided tour, with also some local community focus.
We had a great 3-day safari tour organised by Nkollo. Our guide David was very knowledgeable about the animals and nature, with lots of interesting stories. We have seen many mamals and birds, up to more than 70 different species.
All was perfectly organised and planned in time.
Also the stay in the Selous Safari Lodge was excellent.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely Brilliant Service and Safari
We picked Goldfinch adventures from a list of safari operators who gave us quotes for our first safari. Deo from the beginning was patient and accommodating to our requests. Nothing was too much trouble and he was absolutely patient till we could finalise our plans and make the bookings.
Once we were in Tanzania he was at hand to help and coordinate with all the travel related elements as we went from Zanzibar to Serengeti. Deo had arranged all internal transport and flights making this element for us fairly stress free.
In Serengeti on landing at Seronera airstrip we were picked up by our Driver/guide Mr. Ludovick who was nothing short of excellent for all 5 days of our trip and made the safari a thorughly enjoyable experience.
I would highly recommend Deo and Team. A great 5 star service.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This operator takes punctuality seriously. He came on time for all our events
Our tour guide was very conversant with the roads, lodges and very knowledgeable about tracking where the animals were. We saw four of the big five. The driver was very friendly and always ready to help us.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thoughtful, attentive, and talkative guides lead first-time visitors to East Africa with their rich
The guide can speak very good English and is willing to explain the habits and stories of animals, which makes the Safari process not only surprising but also very interesting; They will review today's interesting events with you at dinner every day and provide you with detailed plans for the next day, making every trip very fulfilling and well planned.
