50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic first visit to Uganda with A&A Gorilla Tours
Our visit to Uganda was an experience of a lifetime thanks to the personal service provided by A&A Gorilla Tours. Our driver, Steven, showed us real Uganda and took great care of us. Our adventure exceeded all expectations and left us with many memories and a desire to return to Africa. Thank you!
Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nothing was too much trouble, wonderful experience
The trip exceeded expectations...which were pretty high. Courteous friendly staff, efficient and a pleasure to be with. I have now visited three times and have recommended friends and family to follow in my footsteps...they also loved it.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A trip of a life time and an experience I'll never forget
Our trip in Tanzania with TSA was for two weeks and it was the most incredible vacation I ever had. We climbed Kilimanjaro in the first week and the guides and porters that were with us were very nice and welcoming. The food was very good, especially the soups! We would come to the camp and the porters would be there helping you take of your shoes and rub your feet, while they have been doing all the heavy carrying and work. The guides were very motivating and helpful to get us up the mountain.
In the second week we went on a six day safari. Our driver had a lot of knowledge about the animals and was really good at spotting them. We got to see the big 5 and lot's of other animals. He was also really interested in getting great pictures and drove into different positions so that we could get the best shots of the animals! First we went to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro and we stayed at the coffee farm the first two nights, which is an absolute amazing place and the staff was very friendly and food was good. After the second night we went to Serengeti and the third and fourth night we stayed in Savannah camps in the middle of the Serengeti, which was also very exciting as your in the middle of the wildlife. The staff here were friendly and the food was of very high standard. The tents are walk in tents with en suite bathrooms and actual beds. This was the most comfortable tent I've ever been in.
On the last night we had a lodge booked in Tarangire, again somewhere were you could wake up with wild animals just outside your window! This place was very relaxing with again such nice staff!
I'm very glad we booked our trip through Tanzania Serengeti Adventure as they were very considerate to plan a day of relaxing after out flight before our Kilimanjaro climb, a day of relaxing between Kili and the safari and again an extra day for relaxing and shopping after the safari and before our flight. You might want to do as much as possible when you are on holiday, however we were really happy with these days of relaxing in between. Our luggage also got lost on our flight coming into Tanzania and TSA did there best to keep in contact with the airport to make sure our bags would arrive on time for us to pack before the climb.
Everything of this trip has been absolutely amazing and I would recommend to travel with TSA to anyone, as they have been so great and they have a lot of experience in organizing the trip with/for you! I really hope to do this trip again in the future!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded our expectations in every way
Everyone we dealt with conducted themselves in a professional, courteous and helpful manner. They were very helpful in providing a first quote and then adjusting it until we had fine tuned it exactly to our liking. All of the accommodations were excellent. Anthony was our tour guide in Kenya and he was very good. Paul was our tour guide in Tanzania and he was something special. We could tell that he was one of the most experienced guides in Tanzania because many of the other tour guides were consulting with him and he was treated him with a great deal of respect everywhere we went. Both of our guides had excellent knowledge of how to be at the right place at the right time to have the best experiences. We were able to photograph and take videos of many scenes that would be worthy of a TV documentary (We have put together a 45 min slide show and video presentation and we have had amazing reviews from our family and friends. We have seen the presentation many times and never get tired of reliving these experiences of a life time).
Hallmark gets top marks and we would not hesitate in recommending them for your safari.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The superb Wild Dog Safaris organised everything we asked them to and nothing was too much trouble.
Wild Dog Safaris organised a fantastic safari for us in October 2013. We had our own Guide who was brilliant - his English and knowledge of Namibia and all the animals he found for us was excellent. Nothing was too much trouble for Wild Dog Safaris, from all the numerous arrangements and planning before we arrived, to collecting us at the airport, finding all the animals we wanted to see, taking us whenever and wherever we wanted to go and to ensuring that our accommodation was all absolutely 5 star! We could not fault Wild Dog Safaris and will definitely be returning to Namibia for another safari with them as soon as possible!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Everyone says their guide is the greatest, but unless they're talking about Brian, they're wrong.
What a fantastic 15 day adventure with Brian and Ecological Wilderness Adventures. He recommended and we tweaked our stays in Tarangiri, Serengeti and the Crater. Here, almost a year later, our memories are sharp, vivid and unforgettable. In large measure, due to the friendliness, knowledgeability and humor Brian shared with us. Animals were fantastic, but the variety and beauty of the birds was astounding. And Brian was our constant, attentive educator and friend. If you safari to Tanzania, go with the best. It will dramatically increase both your pleasure and understanding of this amazing Africa.
CA
Andrew was superb!
Andrew is very knowledgable and entertaining and accommodating!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
World air had a fantastic package of safari that realy met my expectation of a Memorable safari.
I believe that world air has the best arrangement in terms of Quality, my 6day safari with them was superb,
My driver guide made sure that we were informed in every place we visited not to mention his capacity knowledge of the entire Eco-system from Birds, wildlife to communities. talking of our expectation ovarall indeed it was a fantastic life time Safari with world Air Tours.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect !
We loved too much our trip.
Freddy was really fantastic to find with us every kind of animal.
We have seen: Manyara, Eyasi, Ngorongoro & Serengeti.
thanks a lot for your kindness
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Walk with the elephants in the company of Zimbabwe's most experienced guide
Mana Pools is my idea of heaven. Goliath camp is a collection of seven guest tents, bar, open-air dining room and braai/seating area overlooking the fast-flowing Zambezi. Simply furnished, each tent boasts a flush loo and wood-burning shower. A far cry from my earliest memories of camping with my Dad in Tanganyika, where the showers were from buckets and the loo a hole in the ground, or better still, the open air. In those days, my dad would build a little fire in the park, and do a great fry up…such memories fuel my great love of the bush and Mana, a world heritage site where you can walk, seems to approximate my recollection of a carefree childhood more than anywhere else
This is the fourth time we have stayed in Goliath camp, with living legend tracker and guide Stretch Fereirra, a huge man with a laugh like a hippo and a mane like a lion, who is best known as an elephant whisperer. The Stretch ‘experience’ consists of ‘moments’, as he calls them up, closer to elephants and lions, not without some risk and excitement. One such shared moment, when we were charged out of nowhere by One Tusk, Stretch says is up there with one of scariest he’s had…
The typical day starts with drums at 4.45, tea and porridge by the fire, then a scramble into the landrovers to see what tracks are fresh. Stretch and Reuben, the other guide, noses glued to the roadside, will say things like ‘fresh leopard/lion/wild dog here, only an hour ago,’ and we will disembark, don water bottles and set off for our early morning walk through the bush.
On the second morning we were lucky to find the local pride, the Spice Girls and their two litters of young cubs, plus their five adolescent males; the Back Street Boys were absent on a mission. You never approach a lion in a straight line, so we zig-zag from anthill to anthill until we get close enough to be able to sit and watch them quietly. The next day they kindly stopped by the road for us! ‘Cheap lions’, that’s called.
Coffee and cake under a tree at about 9 am, beside the river, by a pan or in a shady spot. On the second day we had been tracking the wild dogs in the Wilderness area, and as we sit down a tray of bacon and avocado sandwiches arrive as if from a local take away! On another, as we sat at Vundu point, a man appeared from nowhere, toting an MK47. ‘Do not be scared’, he said, ‘I am human.’ He was a ranger, part of the anti-poaching squad whose job it is to patrol the park and ‘shoot to kill’. He spoke excellent English and we learned a lot about the career path in National Parks!
After brunch we might go for a swim in the Zambezi with a glass of wine; the Zambezi mud is an excellent exfoliator, and if you stay in the shallows the risk from crocs and hippos is minimal. Elephants and hippos splash in the distance, the carmine bee-eaters and fish eagles swoop and call to each other, the pied kingfisher hovers and dives.
In the late afternoons we set out again, often on foot: searching for buffalo; the elusive Boswell, the old bull who stands on his hind legs to reach the acacias, but who on this trip remained elusive; lions and elephant ‘moments’.
Canoeing and fishing are other afternoon activities. Rick and Diego caught two huge Vundu (catfish), the largest weighing up to 40kgs. They were returned, of course, being protected.
Each time I visit Mana I visit the spot, an island mid stream, where we sent [our daughter] Louise’s ashes on a final journey to the Indian Ocean. This time Siraaj, one of the camp guides, had prepared a beautiful driftwood boat, loaded with flame-red combritum and fragrant white caparis blooms. As a small croc slithered into the water, I waded in to launch our boat, which bobbed merrily downstream, catching the fast current. As we paddled on, we could see it in the vermillion sunset, like an ancient Viking coracle going to its Valhalla.
Sundowners await us on return to camp, or by the river bank. One evening we went and sat by Mochumi pan, sipping chilled white wine while elephants and baboons frolicked in the murky water. Sometimes the cows and calves – the most dangerous of elephants as the mums are extremely aggressive – are a bit close for comfort .
Dinner is a delicious braai with Stretch doing the honours, or a civilized sit down affair round the huge wild mango table. Flo, co–owner of the camp, and now a good friend, has trained the two camp chefs, Richard and Nicholas, and the food is delicious. Sarah, a delightful Zimbabwean girl, is our hostess and looks after us beautifully
This visit we had taken over the whole camp and filled it with friends, many of who were celebrating birthdays. Quite an undertaking planning a trip for 14 people, chartering planes from the hugely efficient Executive Air, booking hotels, pick-ups, restaurants, briefing the team on essentials…and trying to enjoy the holiday as well!
But enjoy it I certainly did, and can't recommend the Stretch experience highly enough.