FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
African safari as it should be
We visited Zambia for our Honeymoon in this October.
I decided to travel back here after an incredible first visit 5 years ago. We visited Kafue, both Luangwa Parks and of course livingstone and the falls: What a wonderful and rewarding experience !!
- wildlife viewing was superb : we just missed cheetah and rhino but saw 7 leaopards during our trips, lion, loads of hippos, Elephants, koudous impalas, pukus , zebras and buffaloes and encountered less common species such as sable antelope, hartebeest, a pack of 20 wild dogs (in south luangwa), bushpigs. Except near the Mfue gate we had the animals for ourselves!
Whats really liked in parks such as Kafue is that we had to really search game : find some clues (footprints), track them down and in the end...we were rewarded
- Safaris and guidings were excellent: our guide in North Luangwa was able to find lion footprints, we followed these footprints and we able to discover a lone male Lion that roares and jumped from a busm just 20m ahead of us! Moreover guides are friendly, very accessible and give great explanations. We mixed, game drives, night drives canoe and walking safaris.
- Accomodation was exclusive, rustic (made from natural materials) : we were 100% part of the wilderness
- Food was 100% hand cooked and really delicious
All in all what is so special with Zambia is that you do not feel the commercial aspect of the safari industry : you have excellent and dedicated guides for yourself (no tourist buses here), you feel the bush vibe (no tared roads, no fences), tourists densities are low (in Kafue we were alone in our camp) and some of the industry benefits are dedicated to local communities which is great
We absolutely recommend this marvellous country !!
From start to finish they made our trip an experience of a lifetime!
Friendly and helpful staff, enthusiastic and informative. They went the extra mile to make sure our hike up Mount Meeru was a success, and nothing was too much effort for them. Also good value for money compared to other operators. We rate he team 10/10 on all levels and highly recommend them for all your Tanzanian tour and safari requirements.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best trip ever!!!!
What an amazing trip! We first met our guide, Anicet Philip, at the Dallas Travel and Adventure show. We knew exactly who would be taking us on our safari. Communication with him was excellent from the beginning which made the booking process smooth sailing. Once we got there everything was just as Anicet had described. He was such a wonderful guide...full of knowledge! We traveled with 3 small children ages 5, 8, and 10, and Anicet was fantastic with them. He explained everything to the kids and even taught us all some Swahili. He was extremely accommodating of our desires. He was so great at putting us right on top of all the animals. We saw them all! He even surprised us one day with a lunch in the bush with a private chef and everything. We had no idea that was going to happen! I cannot praise Anicet enough. Not only is he a wonderful guide, but he's become a friend to us. Everything was perfect on our trip, and if we ever went back we would definitely use him again.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Smart, friendly and hard-working!
Our 4 day, 3 night safari through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater was fantastic. We combined some camping in the Serengeti with a stay in a terrific lodge in the Crater. Our driver/guide and our cook both did wonderful jobs. Warrior Expeditions owner -- Pasa -- also checked in on us and arranged for transportation to and from the Kilimanjaro airport. Highly recommended and good value for $ spent!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
David, you make the difference
Thank again David for the arrangements you prepared for me. Ten days on safari, 3 in Tanzania and 7 in Kenya. I had great time, all was according to the agreements and I had the opportunity to enjoy game safaris, wonderful landscapes and nice people. David helped me beyond the safari, since the first moment I contacted with him he helped me for the preparation of my trip (I have been around alone in East Africa for 40 days), like in the reservation of bus trips and domestic flights. He also hosted me at their office in Nairobi any time I needed. Thank you again brother!!!!!
SI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Kenya Safari
My girfriend and I went on a Kenya Safari with Wild Race Africa Safari in September 2014 and just get back from holiday. We started to organise a Kenya Safari more than one month before leaving home. We communicated with Mr. Simon Milambo over e-mail, and I must say that each time he responded rapidly and answered all the questions. We choose 6-day Safari in Masai-Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli. Mr. Simon explained the whole program in detail inclouding places where we will sleep and eat. He was opened to our suggestions, because we wanted a mix between buget and mid-range accomodations. We negotiated for a price and than paid 30% via PayPal. When we arrived in Nairobi a driver was waiting for us, like promised and took us to the hotel. The next day we met Mr. Simon and started a long drive to Masai-Mara and even went on a short game drive there. Masai-Mara was great and thanks to a great guide/driver Mr. Fred we saw many animals, even the rare leopard. We were in the van with 5 other persons, witch was a bit crowded, but we managed. Try to organise your Safari with less, like 6 person maximum if you can. I would say 4 people per car is optimum. Mr. Fred spoke very good English and explaind many things about wildlive in general. He answered all of our questions, stoped the car everytime we asked and was flexible for our suggestions on the way. I would recommend Mr. Fred to anyone going to Safari in Kenya. We stayed in Wildbeast Camp and it was OK for two nights, staying longer could be a problem, since it is more basic accomodation, but nice people there. There were less people in the van in Lake Nakuru and Amboseli so it was better. I would recommend accomondation in Kibo Safari in Amboseli were it was very nice. Lake Nakuro accomnondatoin was nice too. If you are planing the same Safari think twice before going to Amboseli. Do not get me wrong Amboseli was very nice, with Kili view, we saw 5 cheetah family there and lots of other animals and the eviroment is very nice and different than in Masai-Mara or Lake Nakuru, more dry - desert like almost, but we spent almost a full day driving there from Lane Nakuru and than half a day driving back to Nairobi. And in Amboseli we didn't see any animals we haven't already saw in Masai-Mara or Lake Nakuru. So top priority must be Masai-Mara, than Lake Nakuru for flamingos and rihnos and than Amboseli for a diferent eviroment and view of Kili. To end our adventure in Kenya we got a free 4 hour guided tour in Nairobi before we got on the plane. I would recommend Mr. Simon and Wild Race Africa Safari as your organizer for Safari in Kenya. I hope you will enjoy as we did!
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Uganda and Matoke are in our hearts, with special thanks to Bella (our guide) and Alex (our driver)
We just got back from the 15 days roundtrip to Uganda with MATOKE (spotted at the travel exhibition centre in Antwerp). At booking, we were disappointed to hear this "short" trip has a native guide (not Dutch speaking). However, what an advantage it turned out to be, that we had a local guide (Bella) and driver (Alex), black and speaking the native language!!! including their enthusiasm, expertise and experience, never a dull moment. We were in an exceptionally small group (only 6, probably due to the rain season (allthough we mainly had rain at night and while we were on the road in the bus)) and she took us to places where would never have been able to / allowed to / dare to come with a Dutch (read: white "mzungu") guide: As per our suggestions for loose moments on the road, we have visited an open market, a small public school, a gospel church on a Sunday morning, the busy market in Kampala.
The (instructions for the) preparation, organisation, programm itself, timing, guidance, professional local guides and rangers, accomodation and follow-up were perfect! All hightlights visited, all wildlife spotted (the gorilla's even within the hour), all distances do-able, all meals in the hotels and the lunches on the road very nice, "lekker", and safe.
A few memorables:
Murchison Falls N.P.: We could get out of the bus to stretch our legs for a moment: Alex peels pineapple and hands us the juicy segments while we were watching hippo's and while a single male elephant just walked by! Adrenaline!
Bwindi impenetrable forest: Taking pictures of a big gorilla at 8m in front of us, hearing something from behind, happening to be a younger gorilla passing by at nearly 2m! Adrenaline!
Taking a shower at Bush Lodge, outside the wooden tent/lodge, in the rain, after the personnel brought 4 cans of hot water! Hilarious! Hearing the day after that the hippo's sometimes come for a walk near the lodges at night ... scary ... was that what I heard last night?
Traveller's warning: only small minus: really do check if the swimming pool is clean before taking a swim (KONTIKI). Buy an ointment for insect bites locally, because the Belgian version does not help. If you have shoe/leg protections ("getten"), use them, so no safari ants can get through your socks.
Thank you MATOKE and Bella for learning us so much about Uganda, its people, habits, nature, ...what a personal and correct service! You wish yourself such a guide on every trip!
And thank you to our 4 co-travellers for the nice company!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Encounter Africa Safaris made our dream come true even better than we possible imagined!!
Encounter Africa Safari are an absolute amazing, professional, friendly organisation!! My daughter and my self went through this company last November 2013, to do the Gorilla trek, 2 nights 3 days, it was the BEST time of our lives!! They went far beyond expectations made it the most memorable experience. I am SO glad I chose this company. I have raved about them ever since and would HIGHLY recommend them. I just want to say a big hello and thank you to Encounter. I would use them again with NO hesitation. Thank you for creating such wonderful memories and keeping us totally enthralled.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Safari
I had the moste amazing safari with Ryan from Pilanesberg Safaris & Tours. From the 24th of september I did a three day camping safari with Ryan at Pilanesberg. As there where no other guests he offered me a private safari for the same price. This was a very good offer, as he took care of everything and was the perfect guide!
The three days where just amazing. Ryan picked me up at my previous stay. He brought all the equipment for camping (two tents, matrasses, sleeping bags, table, chairs etc.) and he brought all the food. The camping at Manyane was nice. At night we made a braai and Ryan cooked eveything. Besides the really good steak and on the other day lamb chops he made potates, butternut pumpkin and spinach. The dinner was always delicious and I felt very at home!
The safaris have been really interesting and successful. Ryan is the perfect guide: he does not only know eveything about the mammals and knows where to find them, he also told me a lot about the geographics, the plants and the birds in Pilanesberg. He has a long experience at Pilanesberg. We were very successful finding the big five. Exept the leopard, which is always the hardest to spot, we saw everything: a lot of elefants, black and white rhinos, buffalos, lions (right next to the street), hippos, giraffs, zebras and I think all kind of antilops, springbocks and wildebeests that you can find in Pilanesberg. My expectations were more than fulfilled and I am really thankful for this amazing exerience! When I come back to South Africa the next time I will come back to Pilanesberg and book another safari with Ryan!
An amazing, undescribable and exceptionally well-organised safari in North Tanzania !
We made a 11-days group safari to Northern Tanzania followed by one week in Zanzibar, with Matoke Tours from 11 till 30th of September 2014.
To resume this experience in a few words ?
An amazing, undescribable , wonderful and exceptionally well-organised trip !
Everything was perfectly arranged: a very good driver/guide Elias, comfortable and “good-memories-creating” special accommodations, unique game drives, very tasteful food and a very good 4x4 jeep.
We were very lucky during the game drives, with special thanks to our professional driver/guide Elias. We witnessed the following special situations during the safari:
· A couple of dating lions (oh yes) !
· A real catch: 4 female lions prepaired and attacked a group of buffels: they catched the little one…
· 2 fighting giraffes 5 meters away from our vehicle
· A female lion, carrying her 3 weeks old baby in her mouth, only 2 meters from our vehicle.
· 5 leopards, one crossing the “road” only 3 meters before our jeep
· A Serval Cat
· A group of elephants, enjoying themselves in a very small mudd pool a few meters away from the 4x4.
· A Rhino (although being very very far away)
· A thunderstorm on the Serengetti, early in the evening. This was an amazing show of colors from sun, rain, dust, ….
We travelled together with 2 other Belgian couples and this was a very nice experience.
We can strongly recomment Matoke Tours for travelling to Tanzania. From the beginning of our contacts and demands for information, till the end of the booking process, as well as just before departure, they were extremely well organised and replied within 24 hours (mostly within 4 hours) on all of your eventual questions. They provided honest, realistic and to the point information. If you have special requests, they take them into consideration wherever possible.
It is also good to know that in Tanzania, Matoke Tours works together with Easy Travel. Just take a look at the rating of Easy Travel on Tripadvisor: they are number 2 in safari’s in Tanzania ! In case of problems onsite, you can also trust on them.
Something very professional too was the debriefing at the end of the safari at the Easy Travel office in Arusha.
If you have plans to go on safari, don’t hesitate and get in contact with Matoke Tours !
You won’t be disappointed ….