US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari, Superior Staff and Coordinators
We did a long safari (5 days Kenya, 8 days Tanzania, 5 days Zanzibar). We were met at the Nairobi airport and loved our Kenya guide. He really worked hard getting to locations broadcast on the radio with rarer animal sightings. The whole family loved Ken the driver. We knew about Masai Mara and Amboseli but Crescent Island and the walking safari amongst the animals was an unexpected highlight. We transferred to Tanzania midway through the safari which is an awkward border crossing. Our Tanzania driver was very knowledgeable. We had wonderful upscale resorts throughout our stay. It was a mix of luxury tent and gorgeous hotels. My wife developed pneumonia in Kenya that didn't improve with oral antibiotics. Our coordinator Natasha in Tanzania was superb with rearranging our trip so that my wife could get IV antibiotics and we could see game parks closer to Arusha. We still had awesome hotels and I was so impressed with how helpful and caring she was.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Overall--A Few Issues
Positive: Noah works with you to customize and he does it all at a very, very good price. I asked for Luxury hotels/lodges and all were wonderful, including a few we requested specially. Our driver was smart and well-informed and affable. We saw all the same stuff everyone else saw, possibly even a little more as Mike was pretty in the know and has been doing this 10 years.
The initial (and all) Communication with Noah was great--he is very responsive and willing to take a lot of time. The downside was that maybe I didn't ask all the right questions or get across to him that I wanted to spend the least amount of time in the car. As such, our route involved a bit of backtracking and as one is in those cars on bad roads enough as it is, the backtracking sucks. In the future I would fly to Serengeti and go one way to Arusha (or vice versa) if you have the money, hitting all the parks on the way. Also, spend 2 nights at each hotel if you can afford it. Hotels are nice with good food and it makes the trip less rushed and more relaxing--just my preference.
A few Downsides: The vehicle is old and sort of a POS. When it rained, our stuff got soaked--even in the suitcases. And when it rained or was cold, since neither the air or blower or wipers worked, it was sort of a disaster. As it is an old model, the windows are shorter so it is tougher to see out comfortably. I think it may be time for a vehicle upgrade and I would pay more for a company with a better vehicle and one cleaned a little more often.
Driver/guide Downside: Again, Mike was overall very good, however he talked loudly a lot on his cell phone both during game drives and even in our hotels. Was really, really annoying. I think in the future I would also request a non-smoking guide, but I really liked Mike and probably would go with him again anyway.
Other Downside: They were not waiting to pick us up when we arrived at the airport to start the safari. No big deal, but when I called I felt the reason they gave--too much traffic in Arusha (??)--was not credible. They were 45 mins late and everybody else seemed there on time. Not very apologetic about it either. I think they forgot we were coming on that flight.
But overall, a good experience at a good price and I would recommend Wildebeest (with a few modifications (car and routing) next time).
You spend a whole lot of time in the car on rough roads in these safaris, so I was hoping to minimize that. We ended up doing a lot of backtracking and as I had no idea of the area, I think they could have helped me avoid that. (Tip: Fly to Serengett if you have the $ and then backtrack to Arusha (or vice versa) and fly out from there. The round trip is too much driving.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We had a fabulous time but communication with the company was a little limited
The safari itself was everything we expected. Our tour guide Kim was awesome and very knowledgeable. The accommodations and food were good also. The tent camps are cool and they have electricity and bathroom and shower in them. I never received a packet from odyssey and some things aren't very clear. You definitely need to bring your yellow fever vaccination card...Kenya and Tanzania will need to see it but that wasn't on the list of things to bring. Also get your Kenya and Tanzania visas online prior to going so you don't have to carry that cash and wait in longer lines. If you do those things prior to going, things should go smoothly and you will have an amazing time :)
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thank youfor the once in a lifetime experience visiting the gorillas and the excellent tour guiding
Arranging a tour through the internet is always a bit risky so I was more than pleasantly surprised by the excellent and dependable service with Rwanda Eco Company and Safaria. We were picked up from our hotel, and escorted on our organized and very exciting trip that had been personally set up to meet our needs and interests. Thankyou for an amazing experience!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari in Zimbabwe and Botswana!
Where to begin?! Our adventure with AfricaZim was an absolute whirlwind, and of the best kind. Everything from the booking process to the safari itself was efficient, organized, and customized to every one of our points of interest and budget.
My husband and I booked an 8-day, 7-night tour (27 March to 3 April, 2016) with two nights in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, two nights in Kasane/Chobe, one night at Elephants Sands, and two nights in Maun, all in Botswana. Breakfast and dinner were included every day, and lunch was included on the two travel days. Not only were they kind and professional through all communications, but were extremely accommodating to changing the number of guests in our party from two to three when we decided invite our daughter who has been studying in Cape Town, a decision we made less than a month before the start of the trip. We had fully expected her to have to sleep on a pull-away bed during the week since it was such a last-minute change, but Sheila, the booking agent we worked with throughout most of the process, worked her magic and found our daughter a separate hotel room at each of our accommodations. Thank you, Sheila!
Our guide was Blessing, a wonderfully friendly, easy-going, and experienced tour guide and native Zimbabwean. From pick-up on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, to drop off at Maun's airport a week later, Blessing was an outstanding host, driving us many hours across the bush and veld in a private minivan, with only Sheila accompanying us (she tagged along as a training session to learn more through experience about the trips she books). Besides the game drive, all transportation was organized and performed by Blessing - he would even get up early in the mornings to fill up on petrol and replenish our stock of drinks and snacks so that the long drives were made as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Scheduled activities included a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, a visit to Victoria Falls (we understand why it’s a wonder of the world - and got soaked to prove it!), dinner at The Boma in Victoria Falls, which is a must-try for African cuisine - the warthog was especially delicious, an early morning game drive in Chobe National Park and sunset cruise along the Chobe River, elephant viewing at Elephant Sands (which isn't technically an activity but sure is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!), and a Mokoro boat ride and game walk in the Okavango Delta. They went above and beyond to accommodate some last minute (the day we arrived - booked for the following day) requests for my husband and daughter to go whitewater rafting along the Zambezi and for me to do a “lion walk”. The rafting company chosen by Blessing (there seem to be many outfitters) was excellent - great guys and lots of thrills, though my daughter was disappointed the boat didn’t flip. My lion walk was amazing, though I’d never heard of the activity before - it was recommended by Blessing amongst a list of other potential activities to do while the other two were out rafting. I was able to walk with and even pet wild lions for about an hour! While reviews of these two experiences are not relevant to our interactions with AfricaZim, the flexibility and promptness shown by Blessing and Sheila to accommodate all of our needs was fabulous.
The accommodations organized by AfricaZim were wonderful, and any issues we had with them were the fault of the hotels themselves, not AfricaZim. For example, one of our rooms was clearly a smoking room, but that was quickly rectified when Blessing spoke to the front desk for us and we were promptly moved to a different room. Other than that, the localities and rooms of all of the hotels were beautiful and clean. One of the hotels had vervet monkeys climbing on tree branches outside our rooms and amazing sunset views over the Chobe River, while Elephant Sands of course meant elephants trampling past our tented cabins at all hours of the night, an exhilarating, fun, and unique experience. Service at our Victoria Falls hotel, Guest Paradise, was especially outstanding, and we were warmly welcomed by all of the staff. Food throughout the trip was excellent, and we tried lots of different kinds of game meat (though there were always more traditional and vegetarian options for those who are so inclined).
Overall, we could not have asked for a better experience. A huge thank you to Blessing and Sheila and the rest of the AfricaZim team who made this experience possible, as it is not one we will soon forget. The people and places made it the experience of a lifetime.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Experience
Going on a safari in Africa has been a dream of mine for many, many years. The choices available are countless. After doing much research, I chose Viva Safaris. Of the options offered, I decided to stay at Tremisana Lodge, and I'm so glad I did. Where to start... The property was exactly what I was expecting... Large, well maintained and authentic. On arrival, I was greeted by at least a dozen monkeys running around the area, a great start! The room itself was spacious, simple and kept very clean. The bed was quite comfortable, a must in my opinion. The food prepared for the guests was tasty and enjoyable. Now, for the best part... The people who work at Tremisana. They made everything perfect. Lianne, master organizer and go to person for anything needed onsite. Pretty (who incidentally fits her name perfectly); the game drive organizer (among other things). The guides: James, Tanya, Bongani and all the other guides who truly go out of their way to make your time in the park sensational. And sensational it was. Way too many sightings to mention, but I do have to mention the last one. On my last morning in the park, James took myself and another guest on an hour tour. Somehow, James noticed footprints in the dusty road and raced to the area he thought the animal the foot prints belonged to would be. Low and behold, we came across the owner of the feet. A mature lion named "Sonof". He was just going about his business calmly and was so close to us, I was able to get at least 50 truly awesome shots including a lion selfie!
If you're debating which safari tour to take, I highly recommend Viva Safaris. It's is the best, bar none when looking at quality/price, (or bang for your buck) and the friendliness of everyone just makes it all the better.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Absolute wonderful trip and Jackson is a fantastic guide - can't wait to come to back to Kenya again
This was our second trip to Kenya with Jackson being our guide. From the planning of the trip, the pick-up at the airport, the accommodation and the service, everything went perfect. We especially enjoyed our time in Samburu. As Jackson has excellent eyes we were most of the time the first car spotting the predators and it resulted in great photographs. On our next trip to Kenya we will definitely book again with adventuretravel Kenya.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
excellent service
We had a safari last year with this agency. The service was excellent, always available to solve any problem we had. They can offer you budget and high end safari. If you want a tailored safari they can help you in anyway.
Their strong point is reliability service and fast answer for you needs.
BY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A mixed experience
We opted for a 5 days private reserve tour + Panorama route with RedAfrica.
Overall, we have to highlight that it was very pleasant to spend time in Jaco’s company: he is a highly dedicated and motivated person eager to do his best to share his passion of nature and his knowledge. We greatly enjoyed our exchanges with him throughout the trip and his respectful attitude towards us.
The first part of our tour – the gorgeous landscapes that we saw along the Panorama route – was just great.
However, the private reserve part of the tour was unfortunately disappointing: the area, which was described as located in the Greater Kruger ecosystem and thus hosting the same animal and bird species, was highly affected by the recent draught, which forced the animals to migrate elsewhere; a factor which we were not aware of prior to our trip. During our stay in the private reserve, we thus saw extremely few animals. Moreover, the information and time management by the reserve staff was not entirely satisfying, which added to our overall frustration.
Afraid of leaving Kruger disappointed, we requested Jaco to change the plan for the last day of our trip and spend it in Kruger proper instead of the private reserve. Luckily, Jaco was flexible and accepted this last minute change. This last day trip (although a rushed one) enabled us to see almost all of the Big Five in one day and somehow compensated for the frustration related to the impossibility to see animals during the previous days.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't book with Travelust. Very bad experience with this company & it's owner. Read others' reviews.
Absolutely do not make the mistake of booking with Travelust. Not only has our group had significant issues with this travel company and it's owner James Kateeba but so have many others before us. We waited to initiate our social media review of this company, hoping that the owner James Kateeba would do the right thing and refund us the $6700 he stole from us. But we have now waited for 2 months and have received excuse after excuse for why our money has not been refunded. We will also be reviewing Travelust on multiple other travel sites so that other unsuspecting travelers are not taken advantage of as we were. You can read many other peoples' negative reviews of this company in addition to ours. Here is what happened to us in Feb 2016:
James Kateeba and his travel company, Travelust, almost ruined our entire trip to Africa because he did not secure our gorilla trekking permits nor our golden monkey permits. We payed him 6 months in advance and when we arrived in Uganda and Rwanda to trek with the mountain gorillas, he had stolen our money and never booked the permits. Only because one of the people in my travel group had close connections with the tourism board in Uganda were we able to trek. We had to pay the money a second time and wait for hours of phone calls and special accommodation so that we could trek. Had she not known the right people, Travelust would have been responsible for completely ruining our entire trip since the whole reason we traveled to Uganda and Rwanda was to trek with mountain gorillas. We waited to post on social media, giving James the owner of Travelust a chance to refund the $6700 he owes to our group. But after months of excuses and delays and continued fraud, we are now speaking up. We only wish we had read other similar posts before we booked with him. But by the time we saw the other negative posts on line about this company, we had already paid him in full. I hope no one uses this travel company after reading my review. We even filed police reports in both Uganda and Rwanda to try to help keep this horrible experience from happening to others.