35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Pilanesberg Game Reserve by Sumarie Slabber
The hide is fantastic for birding!
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Decent Safari experience with the guide asking about tip everytime
The experience of Safari was really valuable, except our guide keep talking us about tipping him whenever he has some free time, which made us very upset.
Tip your driver and guide is not a mandatory thing. I want to tip someone only if I am satisfied with the service. But our guide was quite demanding, keep asking about it. Now all I remember from the Safari is ripping off from the tour guide lol
The time we spent at Safari was only 3-4 hours, and we could see wild animals like giraffs and elephant etc.
We are not lucky enough to come across liones or leopards.
It was a precious experience, but I can not recoomend you taking a SUV for more than 7 hours from dar es salaam to Mikumi.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Addo Elephant National Park by Grey World Nomads
The park is not huge and can easily be done with in two days. Plenty of wildlife, especially elephant and also the bird life is great. Addo for me doesn't quite have the real "bush" feeling about it. It isn't the bushveld, but has its own unique feel. If or when it can be linked to the two other sections of the Greater Addo, namely the coastal section and the mountains stretching into the Baviaanskloof, then we are talking of a great park.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Vinay
At lake Nakuru the population of Flamingoes depends on the water level. As of Oct 2015 the water level was high and so the population was quite low. We could not see a "pink sea" but we did spot the Greater and Lesser Flamingo along with Pelicans, stilts and cormorants. The highlight was spotting the White Rhino which we did not manage to see anywhere else!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lion Sands Game Reserve by Daniel P Barker
It was good but no way as good as Kruger
Simple easy camping friendly game site
Moremi game drive is situated at a comfortable distance from maun meaning that the accommodation at maun works well. The reserve has a wonderful campsite and guides are trained professionals. Guided facilities are recommended as they can spot better game sightings. However a good 4x4 vehicle makes this place a good destination for a self drive safari if you are camping. The trails are well defined and the park monitored by the rangers. Spotting of lepords and running giraffes are my favs. Elephants are plenty in Botswana and wonderful place to visit and will not blow a whole into your travel budget.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Mike Briley
We were not there at the best season - lake very dried up. In addition it was the last we visited so we were already blasé seeing elephants again. A good number of different monkeys.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We canceled and never got our refund
** UPDATE JULY 2015
I have changed my rating for EASTCO company because they have refunded our money after 6 month. According to the EASTCO agent it was because of some financial problems that happened with the ebola fright.
I am not sure if its a sufficient excuse but at the end of the day they have refunded our money so i am satisfied.
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
I would like to share the reason why my wife and I rate EASTCO poorly. My Wife and I planed a safari tour for February which is something that we dreamed of doing for some time. We choose booking the safari with EASTCO because we read that they are a small family company and believed that they cared about there customers. We where in contact with Simon that seemed friendly in the mails. In the middle of December we found out that we couldn't take the vacation and asked Simon to cancel the Safari. He was very understanding and told us that we will get the refund according to the contract. After a week he replied to our refund request with that he will refund us after new year. And again after new year we did not get the refund and each time we asked him he came up with a different excuse (he was in the bushes, the internet crashed .. and more). Today i came to an understanding that we probably will never get refunded. I am sharing this experience so people will know that we do not recommend EASTCO and I personally do not trust them to take care of my family and me on a safari. And if you do choose to go with them to a safari then do not pay in advance.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Small but plenty - but no big cats
We visited as a day trip between Moshi and Arusha while on a business trip, and for this purpose - to get a short glimpse into the Wildlife - this park is perfect. It takes less than an hour to drive there, and you do not necessarily need a 4WD. Entrance fees are lower than in Serengeti and there is plenty of accommodation within half an hours drive.
It is also refreshingly uncroweded. We were there quite lat,e but there were one, maybe two other vehicles, and other than by Momella Lake, we were on our own. Roads tend to be dirt, and ther eis a lot of grass and bush on the side, which makes animal spotting a little harder. After a while (when you come from the main entrance off the main Moshi Highway) the scenery will change alot - first you'll be rewarded with magnificient views of Mount Meru, then you get pictures like in an Africa storybook - complete with giraffes and zebras.
This may not be the park where you get close to a lot of animals, but it feels like you can view them in their natural habitat withour driving right through it, and this makes it somehow more authentic.
Last not least it has Momella Lakes, breeding place of thousands of flamingoes - this is quite unique in Tanzania, maybe even Africa, and although you can take the long drive to Lake Natron, there is nothing that makes the experience superior there.
We saw flamingos, giraffes zebras, buffalo, gazelles, monkeys and lots of unnamed birds aplenty. Sometimes you may spot an elephant, but there are definitely no big cats here.
In summary, this is a small but fine NAtional Park with good infrastructure, easily visited as a daytrip.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
great hikes and people on the mainland, unpleasant in touristy areas
people on the mainland were absolutely lovely and very friendly, in Zanzibar the experience was the opposite - very insolent and everyone treats you like a bag of money. terrible flight coordination - your boarding pass, airport schedule and actual departure time are completely unrelated, resulting in unexpected change of plans as you go