US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ol Pejeta Conservancy by Dawn
Reticulated giraffes were beautiful!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An experience not to be missed
The Masai Mara is not just a feeding ground along the great migration, it's a scene taken from the pages of earth's majestic hot spots. Not only does the beautiful scenery go on forever making you see--maybe for the first time--just how big and wonderful our planet is, but you also get to be part of the animal kingdom in ways you've never imagined. As our driver turned a corner here and there another species of animal, bird, reptile, and plant came into view. A pride of lions nursing their cubs, giraffes eating from tall acacia trees, elephants on their way to the water, a cheetah getting up from a nap and walking so close to our jeep I could touch him, wildebeest as far as the eye can see--some battling for supremacy, hyenas snatching a leg from a carcass where vultures were having a last snack...so much and so wonderful. The hippos and crocs, and birds and lizards, and warthogs and monkeys were all so entertaining as well. If you don't know God yet, you'll get pretty close to Him on the Mara.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Kenya by Dawn
You'll see everything--animals, birds and more. The people are friendly and lovely and the scenery goes on forever.
Mala Mala was absolutely AMAZING!
Brett and Yuri were amazing guides. It was a great experience and we got to see the Big 5 in just 2 days.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Most unique park I've visited in all of East Africa.
The oil camps popping up were sad to see, so I hope they don't expand in the park anymore. This park was stunning, with the rolling hills, and acacia trees and palm trees. We booked through EcoExpeditions Uganda and our guide really knew what was going on. We stayed at Fort Murchison just outside of the park, but it was close enough that we were able to get to the park early. The food there (4 course meals) was great, but the mosquitoes were bad. Overall, my favorite park in Uganda.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing experience with the chimps, with an easier trek than Bwindi!
This area of Uganda was one of our favorites as it was much greener than other parks. The tea plantations were stunning. We stayed at the Kibale Forest Camp just outside the park and it was our favorite accommodation of the entire trip. The staff was super helpful and attentive, and we loved staying in the forest and hearing the sounds of the jungle in the morning. The trek to find the chimps was a very easy one on flat terrain and the actual experience with the chimps was fantastic. My one complaint was the large number of people who go see the chimps at the same time. They split you into several groups of about 7-8 and each group takes a separate path into the forest. We all ended up trekking the same large group however, and I was surrounded by more tourists than chimps. Other than that, I can't recommend this highly enough.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Flawless safari
My family and I just returned from a 10 day safari with Awaken to Africa. Grace Evans planned the trip for us earlier this year and the safari was perfect. There was literally nothing in the least that was out of order or less than expectation. Grace's knowledge of the area and the various tent camps and accommodations, ability to plan an aggressive yet achievable safari and her attention to all of the details was impeccable. She arranged all of our local flights and transportation to and from Dar as Salaam. All of her planning was meticulously documented in both emails and documents mailed to our residence in the US. Her responsiveness to questions was prompt, clear, and comprehensive. That she is located in the US is very helpful. The trip was flawless due to her knowledge and planning. We stayed at four Lamala tent camps including the new and highly luxurious Kuria Hills camp in the northern Serengeti. We also spent a night and half day at the Gibbs Farm cottage/lodge in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which was one of the nicest, most pleasant stays I have experienced in my lifetime.
For the 11 nights and 10 days of safari, her co-owner for Awaken to Africa, David Mshana, was our full time guide. He met us at the airport in Kilimanjaro and was with us 24 by 7 until he dropped us off at the Kogatende Airstrip inside Serengeti National Park 11 days later. David guided us through Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and the Serengeti National Parks along with the Ngorongoro Crater. We also had an impromptu stop at a local outside market in Karatu and a planned stop at Olduvai Gorge where the Leakey’s did their most noteworthy anthropology work. David suggested and coordinated a guided tour to the bottom of the gorge where all of the famous Leakey excavations occurred. Seems no other tour operators did so. David also coordinated a walking safari and a night safari in Tarangire.
David is simply the best. He has incredible knowledge and experience with the area and paced the 10 days perfectly. He was able to provide excellent insight into the regional fauna and flora and is highly intuitive on animal behavior. This intuition allowed us to see things that other tour operators either were not aware of or did not have the patience to endure. For example, we came upon a number of safari vehicles watching a lioness in the Serengeti. David immediately noted that the lioness was calling her cubs and patiently waited until she disappeared in the brush near her cubs. While all the other tour operators left the area, David drove us near the brush and we were able to see the lioness with her three cubs from a less than 10 yards away. Only then, did a few of the other operators return. He also showed us a recently abandoned Maasai village outside Serengeti National Park. It certainly helps that David seems to know half the drivers in the various parks and is well connected to them via a radio in the safari truck. We seemed to be in the know at all times as to where the animals were. The best experience with David, however, was his knowledge of the migration at the river crossings. We saw six in total, including four in one day and one with over 3000 Wildabeests. David knows exactly how to observe the beginning of a crossing without getting so close to distract the animals and disrupt it, unlike too many other operators who where consistently disrupting crossings. In all we were able to see everything we expected including Cheetahs, Leopards and their cubs.
In summary, the trip was completely flawless and I highly recommend working with David, Grace and Awaken to Africa for all of your Tanzanian safari needs.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A truly amazing safari
The staff at Expedition Kenya Safari gave me a spectacular safari experience during my 7 day kenya safari in April. Patrick was very accommodating on our requests and communication via e mail and phone during the safari operation were smooth. Meshack met us at JKIA airport and it was a pleasure to have such an upbeat safari guide who was patient and took us on very exciting game drives. Our safari started at the Amboseli national park where we stayed at Amboseli serena. The lodge was pretty awesome and the Mt Kilimanjaro views were breathtaking. We ended our safari at the Maasai Mara and i will always treasure my safari in Kenya. What a beautiful country. Thank you Patrick and Meshack:)
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awaken to Africa is an amazing safari tour company!.
We are extremely happy that we chose Awaken to Africa for our Tanzania Safari!! Grace was extremely helpful to us as we developed our travel plans. She spent a number of hours with us, answered all of our questions, listened to our desires and planned an outstanding safari itinerary and within our expected budget!! We had checked into a number of other Safari Tours and did not find the same personal attention to create the perfect safari trip
Both of our guides were extremely knowledgeable gentlemen and were our teachers throughout the safari. They were great at finding animals across the various parks and were very accommodating to whatever time we wanted to spend watching the animals – we never felt rushed. They answered all of our questions and we even learned some Swahili.
We had a fantastic Safari each day.
Each night we arrived at spectacular lodges/camps chosen by Grace. Each lodge had outstanding customer service, accommodated our dietary restrictions with fantastic meals and had beautiful rooms and dining areas.
The ‘young men’ were always available to take us to and from our lodges/tents at the end of the evening. We had wild animals in view from all our camps. The morning sunrises were fantastic and the coffee delivered every morning was a real treat!
Grace planned the trip perfectly around a 3 day window when I could visit my daughter who was volunteering in Tanzania and to coordinate with a nephew joining us on the trip.
We feel so fortunate that Awaken to Africa planned our trip. The Safari far exceeded my expectations! We were thrilled every day with the Safari experience! We recommend them highly!!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They took care and thought of everything!
The team at Safari Specialists was simply excellent. Erica provided us very detailed and comprehensive information in answering all of our many questions during trip planning and pricing. They took all of our trip ideas and desires into account and created a wonderful custom safari trip for us. The experts at Safari Specialists really understand Botswana and its regions and will steer you exactly where you should go to maximize your safari experience! Don't look anywhere else.