ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome trip, one of the best of my life!
Richard and his team of drivers and guides are amazing. Richard is a very proffesional and nice man who always is worried about their customers. The drivers and guides are amazing and they have a lot of knowledge about all the national parks we visited. All the team made us feel very comfortable and they take care of us in every moment. After few hours together we become a big family. Hongera sana!!!
NO
Great budget safari in Masaai Mara
The service of the operators was very good. Everything was neatly organized and I had a great time!
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Memorable safari Masai Mara & Amboseli
Thanks to the Director Tom Ocharo and all the staff who was responsible for organizing our safari holidays. We had 5-days safari, including Masai Mara and Amboseli. I would like to note a good organizing process and providing us with all needed information to safely enjoy our stay in Kenya. All the conditions that we agreed with the company in advance have been fully observed.
The only small inconvenience we experienced was that during Masai Mara we were together in a budget group with two families, including 3 small kids. The kids were cute, but loud.
MX
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was the trip of our lives!
World Tours & Safaris Tanzania exceeded our expectations. Their service was excellent. Richard was very helpful and attentive to our needs, even giving us gifts. We highly recommend the Neptune Luxury Lodge to anybody who is interested in going to visit this area.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Base Camp Site Ltd - So awesome!
We were a group of 3 couples (relatives) and got in touch with Achmed based on great feedback from close friends who went on safari with them in 2013. We had planned out safari for January 2015 but due to Ebola outbreak we asked Achmed about postponing for one year. He said OK, no problem. They rebooked everything.
Our Luxury Lodge safari was tremendous:
- Stayed in Arusha for a relax day after arriving via KLM
- went to Arusha NP, Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP (2 days), Ngorongoro Crater NP.
- Added Zanzibar: 4 nights in Nungwi beach resort and 2 nights in Stone Town (in hindsight 1 night would have be fine)
- Achmed greeted us the first night, took us through everything to expect, Do's and Dont's, and lots of laughs.
- Joseph, our driver was super. Punctual, uncanny at spotting, good reference books along, talking with lots of other guides along the way getting the latest, listening and responding to our every question or request. sensitive to trying for the best picture, and had uncanny anticipation as if he was an "animal whisperer"
We asked along the way to stop at an orphanage to make a donation so Joseph picked one for us. They took us in and talked about its start and all they are doing we left our packages and money.
In addition we asked to stop at a Maasai village. again, no problem. But had to pay $50 for the group, each couple was escorted by a prominent male, dancing, singing, visit inside a hut, explanation of their lifestyle and customes, answered all our questions, visited their kindergarten, their animal enclosures, and were encouraged to buy their crafts, which we did.
- The safari lodging gave us a tremendous and varied experience that we truly appreciated for the "Africa" memories we have beyond the game drives
- Traveler's checks were a running joke with Achmed till almost the end of our trip. 2 couples brought them to pay the final payment...but Achmed's bank was so slow in clearing them into his account that we were practically done before he had received full payment.
- Achmed met up with us again after the safari for a debriefing, sharing our exciting stories, and more fun laughs.
Oh, we had specifically requested to add on the hot air balloon but in hindsight the time of year without Wildebeast migration where the balloons go made it a little disappointing - However it is an unbelievable experience (saw a leopard with a cub, lions, hippos, lots of giraffe, elephants). We had always wanted to do a balloon ride so why not over the Serengeti!!
Finally, Base Camp was very highly regarded by the manager at the Zanzibar Nungwi beach Langi Langi resort for being totally trustworthy and reliable for their resort. They have had dealings for many years.
Our group agrees with their assessment.
DK
Private camping safari in Botswana, our highlight of a 2 week Africa trip.
My girlfriend and I booked a 5 days/4 nights camping safari in Moremi Game Reserve with Lelobu Safari in January. Right from the beginning the communication with the owners of Lelobu was excellent, and they provided us with a lot of useful info like lists of gear to bring for the trip and continuous updates on weather conditions in the area, allowing us to organize our baggage accordingly. The camping safari in Moremi was absolutely amazing in every aspect. We had a great guide who was very experienced and knew the area in detail and provided us with a lot of interesting information about the wildlife and the Reserve in general. Our chef was also great and prepared delicious meals for us throughout the tour and organized the camp in an excellent manner. The two of them were very helpful in customizing the tour to our needs and desires, and in general we felt very safe and well-informed when travelling with our guide and chef. The wildlife spotting in the area was just outstanding, we were truly amazed by the sheer number of animals and the diversity of species. We spotted elephants, giraffes, lions, wild dogs, buffaloes, hippos and many other beautiful animals in fantastic sceneries. Moremi holds some quite varied landscapes from flowing rivers and deltas to barren plains, and our guide did a great job at showing us the variety of the reserve. We also had multiple animals visiting the camp both during the day and at night, which added to the feeling of a true wildlife experience, sleeping in the tent on the bush under the stars and the occasional thunder storms. In every aspect, Lelobu safari and our guide and chef gave us a truly memorable experience of a lifetime, rating among our top travel experiences despite having visited multiple countries and continents. We highly recommend Lelobu as tour operator in Botswana as they by far lived up to our expectations on all levels.
Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointing i m afraid though maybe ok for first time visitors to Africa
We travelled Johannesburg to Victoria falls last November. The truck was full to capacity at 12 plus provisions and was far too cramped. We had two guides, only one of whom could drive the vehicle and he was by far the better at his job. The second guide had preferred clients and was often rude to those not among them; his knowledge was poor, demonstrated at the zimbabwean border crossing when we found his visa advice to be incorrect and more generally in terms of local traditions. Group integration was poor based on our worldwide experience. The farewell event was pointedly only open to those favoured few.
However, the local park-based guides were really good. We saw all the animals we hoped to see and more thanks to them. No complaints about the food either.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
8th time with best camping and as good as ever
Best camping tours have always looked after my family the teaching group I take to Kenya. The camping experience in Masai Mara is unique as you camp under the stars guarded by Masai John. I have stayed in numerous lodges (also organised by Best Camping) but nothing beats getting up close and personal with the wildlife. The food is excellent and site conveniently located to access all areas of the park. I have seen all the big 5 in the Masai Mara with Best Camping and would wholeheartedly recommend their services.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall good experience but very dependent on which safari guide you are given
The tremisana lodge was a little tired and basic (compared to other lodges I've stayed in before).but the staff at the lodge were very friendly and helpful. The Dutch lady (I can't remember her name) who was the manager at the lodge was absolutely lovely and very warm and friendly. The safari guides were very variable. We had a day safari to Kruger with James who was absolutely outstanding. He is the best safari guide I have ever had. He was knowledgeable and worked tirelessly to find wildlife for us. He was truly excellent. I can't recommend him highly enough
Murray, was also an excellent guide and knowledgable and enthusiastic.
We had a morning safari walk with Philip, however, which was very poor indeed. He seemed totally uninterested and the entire morning was very dull and I would not recommend doing this with him.
We also did a sunset drive with Rex. What should have been a nice evening safari drive was ruined by our guide, Rex. He was obviously upset at the vehicle he had been assigned and spent the drive complaining about the organisation of the company and the poor state of the vehicle. We then stopped for a drink to watch the sunset and he spent this entire 30 mins or so complaining to us about viva safaris, their organisation, the staff, the lack of investment and how he had used to work in 5star lodges that were much superior. I found this odd and very unprofessional. If he had an issue with his bosses etc then I would expect him to discuss this directly with them and not spend a few hours moaning to us about it. In summary, I think safaris are good here if you are lucky and get a good guide (James or Murray from my experience). But I would be careful because if given a poor guide in my opinion it can really spoil the safari.
NL
Excellent experience, weird tip experience
Excellent safari, well organized, etc. but the driver/guide continued to talk about his tip and tried to negotiate and make an 'arrangement' out of it, which is of course not the point of a tip. In the end, he did not accept the individual tips of the group members, because it was too low. This was weird and affected at some moments the atmosphere in the group.