FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience
My experience with Absolute holiday safari was excellent! I joined for 6 day safari (Masai Mara/Lake Nakuru/Amboseli) Everything was organised in best possible way and we saw more than I could have ever imagined. Even leopard chilling on a tree with his prey. :) David, John and our lovely driver Patrick are the best!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
One-week photo safari/workshop in Mfuwe/South Luangwa
I spent a week in the Mfuwe area of South Luangwa under the wings of lodge owner/bushguide and wildlife photographer Peter Geraerdts of Track and Trail River Camp.
The Camp is located on the other bank of the Luangwa, just outside the Park's Mfuwe gate.
We stuck to a 'first in, last out' policy: arriving at the gate for our morning drives just before six, and trying to leave the Park at 8pm sharp. Regime was strict: morning drive until 10:00-10:30, early lunch, and afternoon/evening drive from 15:30 or 16:00 through 20:00, followed by dinner around 20:30.
I've been around SA, Namibia, Kenya and Uganda, but Zambia was a first-time visit. A few (online) friends had recommmended South Luangwa, time to find out for myself!
It's a long trip (Amsterdam-Nairobi, Nairobi-Lusaka, couple of hours off to a hotel then Lusaka-Mfuwe), but worth it. Door-to-door is probably just under a full day, but the lack of time difference cuts out jetlag at least...
Transfer from Mfuwe to the Lodge was a painless <40m exercise, over remarkably good (tarred) roads. The Lodge/Camp is situated right on the bank of the Luangwa, with pool/gym/massage/spa facilities, as well as a bar, restaurant and small library.
I was assigned a spacious thatched chalet with a comfy double bed, large bathroom and safety features for both my valuables/documents (small safe) and my photo gear (a padlocked strongbox). Food was good to excellent, with 3-course lunches and dinners every day. Good pastry as well, with always a slice of something waiting for me at tea time. The Camp feature daily laundry service, and had reasonable wifi coverage in the bar/restaurant area.
My goal for this trip was twofold: a week-long safari in a park and country yet unknown to me, as well as improving my wildlife photography skills. Peter proved to be the ideal host: his fauna and flora knowledge is remarkable and perhaps even better than some of the native guides I worked with, and he's a skilled and patient photography teacher.
Our safari vehicle was not your regular open 4X4: it was heavily modified for the (pro) wildlife photographer... The rear section of the car features heavy steel swivel arms with beanbags and ballhead mounting space on the sides, supplemented with more beanbags in front and at the back. This effectively gave me a 360-degree line of sight with steady support for even the longest piece of glass...
Both of my goals were met: my skills have tangibly improved, with a couple of impressing shots as evidence, and I got to sample most of South Luangwa's flora and fauna.
More on the latter: the floral diversity was impressive, ranging from monumental Baobabs to wild jasmin, from nile cabbage to the intriguing ansellia. A remarkable amount of sausage trees in the area, bearing some of the largest fruits I've seen...
The fauna is probably why most people come and visit, and I was not disappointed... Both of the big cats (with 4 leopard sightings in just two drives!), a large group of wild dogs, heaps of elephant, a small herd of buffalo, and much, much more. My timing was just right to come across fighting grazers: we saw some impressive male impala and zebra battles!
Crocs, water monitors and hippos are abundant thanks to the river, with the latter two incidentally paying a visit to the lodge. The smaller mammals were well-represented: we saw 5 species of mongoose, 'caught' both civet and genet up close, young porcupine, spotted honey badgers twice(!), and ran into the accidental shrew or shrub hare during our night drives.
I'm not a 'hardcore' birder, so haven't recorded every sighting, but we must have easily seen 100-120 different species. Ranging from raptors (bateleur, tawny, snake eagle, martial eagle, lizard buzzard, goshawk, ...) to storks (open-billed, woolly-necked, yellow-billed, marabou) to herons (my first decent shot of a squacco) to the more colourful birds like rollers, sunbirds and - especially near the river banks - bee-eaters.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our trip was excellent - well-managed, excellent guides, great drives and very good accommodation.
The whole safari holiday was very well done. The booking agent (Michelle) gave great advice and guidance. The travel arrangements went like clockwork, and the tented accomodation was really comfortable, with great food and a really friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The safari drives and walks were superb, with very knowledgable guides who were really enthusiastic and keen for us to see and learn as much as possible. Unreservedly recommended.
Absolutely incredible trip. Stunning landscape, majestic animals, lovely people and vibe.
Kenya is a beautiful country with so much variety. We did a safari to Masai Mara, Lake Nukuru and Amboseli. Each park offered different landscapes and experiences and different animals to spot.
We also visited Diani beach which was true paradise and I can't fault. Stunning white sandy beach on a beautiful turquoise sea. Think Zanzibar but without the pricetag.
October was a great time to visit, we had amazing weather. Dry and really comfortable for the safari and beautiful and warm at the beach. The Masai mara was quite green and we saw a lot of baby animals which was lovely. We also amazingly saw the migration which I thought we were too late to see.
We visited a Masai village on our tour which was fascinating. I believe there are many other tribes and cultures to explore.
The people are absolutely delightful, so friendly and helpful. When you break down on the road for example (I don't think this is uncommon) Hakuna Matata, no worries, strangers will stop and help one another and everything gets sorted.
We never felt unsafe but were mostly in tourist areas. However, as with anywhere, as long as you have your wits about you and are sensible with your belongings it's probably fine.
We visited a children's home one morning which was a great experience to see culture and life outside the tourist spots and support the community. We took notebooks and pens which they love for school and some games and bubbles. A lot of these homes rely on donations so I felt it was very important to visit. Recommend to research and check with your hotels for good ones that don't exploit donations.
Overall I absolutely LOVED Kenya and whilst we said it was a once in a lifetime trip... I will 100% be going back sometime.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Utter remoteness in this vast park yet still close encounters ensued.
I travelled with my family to stay at the Busanga Plains camp, a fly camp of Mukambi. The six hour drive from the lodge to Busanga was a true African experience. Although we had little time to stop and digest the animals (we were on a schedule) and were subjected to the traditional African massage, we saw a vast array of mammals and birds and the drive's length just cemented how remote our camp was.
The bush camp was incredible, from the restaurant terrace several hundred red lechwe could be seen grazing and perhaps a dozen fish eagles screeching, truly a wonder. The tents provided everything we needed, obviously being a temporary camp it was nothing on the main lodge but it was fulfilled our needs perfectly. The food also was fantastic. Waking up first thing in the morning and sitting in the restaurant watching the lechwe in the low mist is a truly magical experience that I would recommend to any animal lover.
The drives were top notch; the Busanga lions are the most beautiful I have seen, with fantastic dark manes. We were lucky to get close to a fresh buffalo kill and watch them interact. We encountered great herds of Roan, wildebeest, zebra and a few bachelor elephants amongst others. For the purists, we did not encounter another vehicle on our trip, a true indication of our remoteness and allowed all these sightings to be personal. Our guide was excellent, very knowledgable and worked tirelessly to track down the species my siblings wanted for their tick-lists.
A great destination.
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a fantastic journey through a very pretty and friendly part of Africa - I loved it!
It couldn't have been better! We were surprised every day about how helpful and friendly and trustworthy people welcomed us everywhere. We got help immediately - what ever question or concern we just had. We experienced the wild animals just were they lived, without disturbing them. We got all the information about the animals and the country we wished for. We had comfortable beers in the evening, great food, good coffee and cake... it was just wonderful. We were never stressed with program, we always did what we liked - as long as we liked it - it was just terrific!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Zebra and giraffe paradise
I had so much fun and really enjoyed all the animals and birds that Kenya had to offer. Had an amazing tour guide and it was just such a wonderful experience. I would say to go there at least once if you are able to.
BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
They deliver great services
I bought Roy Safaris through an agent from Brasil for a 10-days safaris from Arusha to Ngorongoro Area and Serengeti, encompassing Tarangire, Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro Crater, Ndutu (South Serengeti) and Seronera area (Center of Serengeti).
One of things that caught my attention was a small meeting arranged by them - in the morning of the first day - with me, and the guide and the directors of Roy Safaris to make them know what my interests and my experience with safaris and which animals I'd like to see so that the guide could try to attend my interest.
The guide was quite patient and helpful, well informed about the wildlife and Tanzania's history. He also spoke, besides english, French and Spanish. He had an great skill for languages and a few days after our departure from arusha he started speak some expression in Portuguese... that was very kind!
During the 10 days Tesha, our guide, struggled to show us what we'd like to see: big cats hunting, the big five, crocodiles and wild dogs. He was specially skilled to manage our anxiety so that we could stay up 2 or three hours to see a hunting or follow a wildebeest for three hours to see it giving birth.
At the end of tour all of us were thankfull to him for his skill and interest to deliver the best safari we did.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
very reliable trip organization with highly competent guide
In organizing our tour the communication with Gatatu was very effektiv. Richard responded very fast and flexible to my special questions. He tried to keep in contact with me and thus I was never unsure, wether e erythind will work well.
And so it did. Our guide was well in time in Mutukula zo pick us up at the Tanzanian boarder. Kenneth, the guide again proved to be very competent in explaining us the coutry, it's nature and animals. This was the second trip i made with Kenneth + Gatatu and again all our experiences were positiv! I can also recommend the Fort Murchison Hotel , which Gatatu had selected for us: clean, good service, well tasting food and a beautifull site!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania - Kilimanjaro & Safari Magic make it Trip of a Lifetime
I travelled to Tanzania to fulfill a wish to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and then see the African wildlife that I had dreamed about since childhood. I can only say that the trip exceeded my wildest expectations. The people, wilderness and incredible wildlife made it a trip that will be hard to top. It was amazing! To sit at a breakfast table and watch lionesses stalking a herd of wildebeest just hundreds of metres away was one of the many amazing experiences. We saw all of the big 5 and more. Lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, cheetah, warthogs, zebras- you name it, we saw it.
