SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Old, smelly, robust and friendly
The company is a small company of about 10 people. The way to communicate and to pay for the safari was made with a start-up company feeling.
The car was extremely smelly and over 15 years old, but robust. Some other safari companies we saw had very clean and fresh cars with snacks etc but we also saw many of them on the side of the street as the cars did not resist the very very bumpy roads. Our car got a flat tire only once.
Our guide knew a lot about animals and was friendly and nice.
Some of the accommodations were really nice and some of them were really horrible.
VN
under20 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip to Nyiragongo Volcano!
I was looking up tours company to Virunga/Nyiragongo National Park and found that Matoke tours is both the most affordable tour company and the most well-known in Uganda. The set-up and payments went smoothly online with no problem and the staff was very responsive and accommodating to our needs. They also helped us arrange visa at no extra cost and saved us the hassle. As a plus, we booked our flight to Kigali early and was able to tour the city and the Genocide memorial for free (we had the driver to ourselves the whole day). Our driver/tour guide in Rwanda was very nice and knowledgeable. The accommodation in Gisenyi (the night before the trek) was very high-end and comfortable (I could've stayed there for a week!). The rest of the tour was handled by Virunga National Park staff which also went very smoothly and safe (it was a big group of about 24 hikers). The view of the biggest volcano lake is breathtaking and unlike anything I've seen before! There was one or two hiccups where we... Read more had to pay for porters and a short transport to the DRC border (which we thought was included). But Matoke tours soon reached out to us, apologized, and reimbursed us. All in all, an unforgettable journey that went fairly smoothly. The price is not that much different than if you planned it yourself but everything is taken care of (trust me the price on Virunga National Park's official website is deceiving). Would definitely recommend, thanks Matoke
OM
I and my friend we decided to visit the Bienvenido Tours and Safaris .we connected Nakuru,Masai Mara
Bienvenido Kenya Safaris is very nice and a better place to stay
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent! Hats off to the arrangements made by Trekkr Africa. Everything was planned and perfectly
The experience was joyful , to say the least. All our expectations were met.Catherine from Trekkr Africa s amazing. She would take calls at any hour and communicated constantly with us to make sure everything went well. The expectations from our group was too demanding and she managed to meet the same very well. Full kudos to her and her team. I would strongly recommend Trekker Africa to any tour group.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent and reliable service
I booked the safari trip one week before departure through Bison Safaris. Maggie was very effective in her communication - provided options and recommendations and quickly responded to my request to modify the plan. The driver was also punctual, friendly, and helpful. I would feel very comfortable with booking another safari trip with Bison in the future.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Unforgettable first visit to Africa that will be hard to beat
I have waited an awful long time to go to Africa and thought and chose my trip very carefully. The Wildside Safari Company was to me the logical operator to travel with, especially after talking to Shirli and having received a copy of their book "Africa’s Ultimate Safaris". The trip they ran to the Great Migration and the crossings in Tanzania was another no brainer and what an introduction to Africa! Wildside sorted out everything bar our flights and even then gave good advice and arranged extra accommodation where we required it. Also we chose to travel a day earlier so we could be with the group early on the first day to travel which gave us time to break ourselves into the safari experience gently with a trip to the fabulous Arusha National park, set between Mounts Meru and Kilimanjaro it is a stunning park and was quite different to all of the others that we visited as it allowed us to experience jungle and all of its fabulous sights, sounds and especially smells. Watching colobus... Read more and sykes monkeys evacuate the trees as a crested eagle swooped through was an amazing kick start to the trip and if you like birds this park is a must. From here the trip started proper, visiting Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. I had always wanted to see the infamous Mara river and it did not disappoint. Watching the crossings is quite an experience. Feeling rain in Africa while you are sat in the porch of your personal tent in the tented camp, while watching wildebeest and zebra stream past on the hill opposite for well over 2 hours! Well over a million wildebeest, especially in the Lamai Wedge (my favourite day of the trip), 1000's of zebra, gazelle & buffalo. 100's of ele's, giraffe & lion. 13 cheetah and 9 leopard. Plus the most amazing view of 3 wild dog and seeing them cross the mighty Mara. Seeing a huge croc take a wildebeest..... Plus the birds..... 300+ species. Flamingos as far as both my eye and my scope could see on Lake Manyara........ No review does the trip justice. I cannot recommend it enough and Wildside who arranged the most fantastic guides, accommodation, food and travel. Will look to try and do it again! :)
US
Wonderful Experience- Expectations Surpassed
I summited with E-Trip Africa this summer, and did the 8 day Lemosho route. Our guides were August, Ignus, and Francis, who all proved to be very knowledgeable and encouraging the entire time. August has summited Kili 356 times! Each day when we arrived at our campsite our tents had already been pitched and a meal was already in process. Our food was served in courses, and was delicious and fresh. Talk about glamping!
On summit day, our three guides, as well as two extra porters took our group of five up the mountain. This was a nice notion, as it made you feel comfortable that you were being monitored, and that if anything went haywire, there would be enough people to expertly handle the situation. I noticed that many other companies did not match the number of company employees with the number of hikers. In bigger groups, this resulted in people straggling or being stranded behind the rest of their group.
E-Trip Africa's professionalism was evident throughout every aspect of... Read more the trek. I felt very comfortable and taken care of the entire time. E-Trip is also one of the companies that truly cares about the wellbeing of the porters they employ, and is apart of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Program.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience with Paul Tickner Safaris was Awesome
We advised Paul of the region in southern Tanzania in which we were interested. Paul suggested various
Safari lodges and the time to spend at each lodge. Although, we are in Texas and Paul is in Tanzania with an eight hour time difference Paul was excellent in his timely communications back and forth to all of our questions even the silly ones from the ladies about hair dryers!
The lodges that Paul selected were each different in a way, but all of the choices were excellent and we enjoyed every Safari lodge. We got to know Paul so well through all of the emails that we asked if he could join us for the entire journey which he did for a certain fee. Paul joining really added to our trip. Paul was with us when viewing animals and he is so knowledgeble, he should be a Safari guide! We arrived in Tanzania at about 3:30 am and Paul was at the airport to greet us with transportation to the hotel which he had selected for us. Besides making sure every detail was perfect getting from lodge... Read more to lodge, Paul scheduled our day trips and animal viewing which was superb. The trip was more than my dreams could imagine...luxurious lodging, delicious food, good wine and wonderful animal viewing. And Paul's fun personality really added a sparkle to the trip of a lifetime!!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
South Africa and Tailor Made Safaris are absolutely a marvellous combination for anyone!
Our three generations trip (two adolescents, two medium and two grandparents) to Africa last spring holiday was absolutely the best thing we have done in years. We visited various beautiful wildlifeparks such as Mkhuze Game Reserve, Tembe Elephant Park and Kruger Wildlife Park. Not to forget Milwana Wildlife Santuary in Swaziland.
We had booked a Self Drive Tour package at Tailor Made Safaris (TMS) and we can only say that everything we had previously discussed while planning our personal trip was arranged perfectly. A couple of weeks before we set off to SA we received the very thorough travel book in which our trip was explained from A to Z. It was filled with practical information about SA, beautiful pictures, the GPS coordinates of our accomodations and very useful information about the parks. The GPS navigation System was a blessing in finding our way around and the SA phone and SIM card enabled us to contact TMS if necessary (which was actually never). We loved spending several... Read more days at our chosen locations, really experiencing the parks and enjoying our holiday. We went on loads of guided tours as well and saw not just the big five, but an enormous amount of beautiful animals! Truly amazing! The booked accomodations varied from good to absolutely beautiful and were more than up to our standards. We had a great South Africa experience and we will certainly come back! With Tailor Made Safaris!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Communication was excellent and perfect.
Thanks to Annette for a superb Safari experience and booking us in one of the best lodges.
The interaction prior to the trip was fantastic and prompt. She was friendly and quick with her replies.