20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A time to remember with Preigod and Sokofo
We had the best time during our safari experience with Preygod and Sokofo. They were so friendly and assisted us very well during our time in Tanzania. We felt with friends all the time. Preygod was very good guide/driver and encouraged us to enjoy sleeping in the wild. Sokofo’s Food was amazing, being vegetarians he had always lot of options for us.Our experience in Kenya wasn’t that great and they did really changed our perception of the safari and Made us laugh and enjoy the wild of Serengeti and Gorongoro. Thank you for everything!! Amaia and Marco :) xxx
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Couldn't expect a better experience than with Hekima Safaris!
Jackson and his team were perfect and amazing. They arranged the 4-day safari in tents for my friend and I. The organization was really good from the pick-up to the drop-off at the airport, including the safari itself, the food (very tasty), the accomodation and even the great night out (thanks again for the great fun!). Jackson even dropped my forgotten sunglasses to one of my friend in Dar. I recommand really much Hekima Safaris which is a reliable company. Thanks again for the great memories and hope to come back again!
IN
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great experience.......awesome trip
Our family (me, my wife, my son and his wife) have just returned from Tanzania after a great experience of a 7 days trip with Happy World Safari and I must admit that we will cherish the memories for the rest of our lives.
We had picked Happy World Safari for the trip based on internet reviews and as it turned out we were extremely lucky about our choice. Our trip was planned well in advance for December 2018. After a long trail of email exchanges with Mr. Joseph, the owner of Happy World Safaris, we decided to include Tarangire, Ndutu area, Ngorongoro crater and of course Serengeti in our itinerary.
As regards the services, during the planning and booking stage itself we found Mr. Joseph to be very professional and patient and we started to feel positive about our upcoming trip. His responses were quick and his inputs and suggestions later turned out to be spot on. Above all Mr. Joseph is a gem of a person and very helpful by nature.
In addition I would like to put in a word about our driver and guide Mr.Tony who was also a nice person, an expert driver and had a very sharp eye to notice the game while driving. There were plenty of times when he stopped the vehicle, reversed a bit, picked his binoculars and showed us animals barely noticeable by naked eye. On one instance as we drove by a pond, he asked all of us to look hard towards what we thought was a rock and we realized it was a huge croc. As it was rainy weather, at times our 4 x 4 land cruiser got stuck in the sloshy mud and both Joseph and Tony displayed their expertise to resolve the situation. On one occasion, after getting out of the sloshy mud with the help of another vehicle, Tony had to drive fast so as not to get stuck again and vehicle skidded left and right in the mud avoiding the thorny bushes which required a high level of driving expertise. It was as though we were on a speedboat rolling and pitching on water. We all admired this awesome team of Joseph and Tony and those moments will remain forever etched in our memories. We were visiting Tanzania for the first time and to put it briefly the best compliment we can pay to Mr. Joseph and Tony is that we feel that this will not be our last trip as we all wish to go back again with them in future. To put it mildly the service was excellent.
As regards the arrangements, everything was handled in a professional manner right from welcome at Kilimanjaro airport, checking in at various lodges during the entire trip and final dropping at the airport. All the lodges were great experiences and we will remember all with fond memories. We stayed at Maramboi Tented Camp, Ngorongoro Farm House, Ndutu Safari Lodge and Serengeti Sopa Lodge. Accommodation was clean and food was delicious including the packed lunch boxes for our daily trips.
Our vehicle was a Toyota 4x4 Land Cruiser with plenty of space for four of us to move around and handle our cameras. There was no problems for charging our camera batteries etc. while on the move. Vehicle was robust and well maintained which gave us confidence on difficult terrain and a feeling of safety.
Although it may vary from trip to trip, but we were very lucky to spot a wide variety of game including the big five. We were fortunate to see some animals at hand shaking distance including a Lion eating a Wilderbeest, a pair of Cheetas next to our vehicle, an elephant having a mud bath, a leopard on a tree and a pride of lions just relaxing.
Overall it was a dream vacation and we had a great value for money trip and I would recommend all who are planning a trip to Tanzania to go with Happy World Safaris for a memorable experience.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Be aware!!!! Avoid this travel agency!!!!
The owner of Mushra travel agency Michael Ahabwe Mugerwa is such a untrustworthy!!!!
I am writing this review because I don’t want anyone to have the same bad experience as me and lose any money. Also they shouldn’t be in this business.
If I write about the whole experience I had with this company it would be such a long review so I will keep it simple but still quite long, sorry.
1, Micheal changed the original itinerary on Tourradar because on the first day of the tour no one picked me up from the hotel so the 7 day tour became a 6 day tour and I had to pay for an extra nights accommodation upfront which he has never refunded.
2, The accommodation near to the Queen Elizabeth National Park for the 3 night safari was actually 2 hours drive away from the National park! The first morning game drive we had to leave the hotel at 4am in the morning! So I had to ask to change the accommodation to something closer to the park.
3, They didn’t pay the activity fee on time to my guide, so I almost missed a few of the activities. For example, the chimpanzee trekking and even the main activity of the GORILLA TREKKING!!!!! Which is the main reason I went to Uganda in the first place!!!! I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet the gorillas so I had to pay the permit fee of $600 from my own pocket, of course! Micheal has never refunded that money either.
They use a payment system called ‘mobile money’ which supposed to be easy and quick so there are no excuses for them to not complete the money transfer to the guide.
4, During the tour the hotel asked my guide to pay the bill upfront but he didn’t have any money because Michael hadn’t transferred it to the guide on time so I had to pay again! Of course, he has never paid me back for that either.
5, On the last day of the tour in the evening I sent some messages to Michael about refunding all of the out of pocket expenses I had accrued and how much stress he had put me under during this tour. He messaged me back and said ‘my returning day in Kampala is 1st January which is a public holiday so no one is in the office.’ He promised me that he would meet up with me to pay me back when I was back in Kampala!!! There were many excuses to escape from the payment.
6, In the message he said “I am a dishonest person”, “I am taking advantage of them” and he said "he thinks I was treating them like slaves” etc.. Shocking!!!!
I went to Uganda because I just wanted to enjoy my holiday and meet the gorillas not to have extra stress and spend extra money unnecessarily. So please, please, please be careful with this Mushra travel agency and the owner Michael!!!!
I truly hope Tourradar team will investigate my issues and will protect the future innocent customers.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best Experience!
Congo Discovery Safaris helped me fine tune my itinerary so it would suit me down to the very last detail. I had an amazing adventure in Rwanda, DRC and Uganda and did many things including gorilla tracking in Congo and a climb of Mont Bisoke in Rwanda.
I was a bit concerned before going about safety and visa etc but I was helped with all of those issues and everything went very smooth. even when I wanted to swap a hotel for another, it was not a problem. Barack (Company chief) and his team are honest, knowledgable and passionate about their jobs and we had many laughs together on this trip as well as me learning a lot about the this part of Africa.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Recommandable touroperator
We had a nice trip with Shoebill Safari’s too The Murchison Falls in the north of Uganda. We had good contact before the start of the trip and we were able to make some adaption to the standard planning. Our guide was a walking encyclopedia. He knew a lot of the country, the wildlife and especially the birds. By that the trip was very informative too.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything was substandard after reading other people's reviews. We were mistreated + put in danger
We trawled reviews and websites looking at hundreds of operators, and settled on Wildebeest in the end because of pretty good reviews and also a willingness to book us in the resort that we wanted to go to. We did not use the one with 1600+ 5 star reviews.
We agreed on the price and all the inclusions beforehand, to include driver, 3 days 2 nights, all costs included for 2 adults 1 child 1 infant, for air-conditioning, pickup and drop off in Nairobi at specified times, a private 4wd tour, accommodation at our preferred resort, and also air ambulance evacuation cover. Communication was excellent.
We were picked up on time.
We never received confirmation of air insurance till we were nearly home on the last day – ensure you receive your policy numbers before you leave on safari to ensure you are covered while you are far from medical facilities!
The vehicle was fitted with a fridge, 2way radio and power points. We were unable to attach our baby seat to the car properly as it did not have the required anchor points for a baby seat- so we had to improvise and use the headrest as our anchor.
It wasn’t till we hit the dirt roads a couple of hours later where we noticed things going wrong. We had a tyre puncture in the searing midday heat. I was left in the car with a screaming 6 week old baby. There was no air-conditioning as promised AND despite their website also stating that “ALL vehicles are fitted with air-conditioning.
Driving on, our car was filled with thick dust – there was a hole in the floor allowing dust in. We resorted to wetting some baby clothes with our drinking water and blocking up the hole so we didn’t choke to death. The baby carseat I covered with a wet towel to try to trap the dust. My son was beside himself screaming with dust inhalation and heat. Then the ride got violently bumpy… in fact so bumpy I had to take him out of his car seat and hold him mid-air for suspension. I was afraid he would get brain damage with the violence of the car. My daughter was telling the driver he was going too fast, she was also being thrown around like a sack of potatos. Other Wildebeest and safari cars were flying past us without issue. So here I am holding my baby in a wet wrap over his face mid air for hours in midday heat… I started to message the company owner saying this was dangerous and I wanted the car changed. He didn’t bother to reply to me.
Outside the Masai Mara we were asked to change into another Wildebeest vehicle at the entry, and our car was taken to the mechanic. It turns out the suspension was broken.
The new 4wd was coasting along no issues with dust or bumpiness, so we knew we had been given a lemon of a 4wd.
My review of the resort is on its own post.
At the resort our driver didn’t engage with us much, sit with us or explain what the plan was, we were just left hanging. In saying that, he was polite and never rude to us, but lacked communication skills with us. I was watching Dennis, another Wildebeest guide, who ate, laughed and talked to his clients… and enroute was actively chatting, informing and having a great time himself.
The next day, the driver had lost his keys, so we were put into a van instead, having to get into our 4wd through dodgy unlocked windows to get our things out of the 4wd. Then someone told him they found his keys so we drove back to the “fixed” 4wd. We noticed more flaws with the truck – the 2way radio was never on, it didn’t even have a mouthpiece to speak through – so I guess we missed out on all the game sighting calls and were in danger should we have needed help in an emergency while out on safari. The drivers door was jammed so he had to exit through the window! The fridge and electrics just turned on and off with the bumpy roads… flickered and rarely even worked. Some of the seatbelts did not work, windows were jammed, the car was generally in very poor repair.
We did see all the park animals - except Rhino, which are too rare. The following day, we were meant to do a morning game drive, stop at NON TOURISTY souvenir shops (not the safari preferred ones where they get kickbacks and charge customers ridiculous prices). Our game drive was a hot footed exit out of the park, the driver didn’t speak, nor slow down, nor look for any animals. By this stage I was so furious with the company, I just wanted to get home. The owner never replied to my SMS or emails alerting him to the danger to my family and requesting a replacement vehicle. We had no other way to get home other than the same vehicle back. We stopped at one pathetically expensive tourist stop – you know with the special “guide waiting room” where they can chat, have drinks and wait for their customers to be ripped off blind and collect a commission. He knew we wanted to stop at either street sellers or the other numerous shacks set up on the road selling masaii wares, but he didn’t stop at those. Into Nairobi by 3pm, our driver did help us unpack and then even apologised for the terrible vehicle – again an admission from the company.
In ADDITION and the worst of it all – there is a pop top on the roof of the 4wd. One support strut had rusted through and I had noticed it was cable-tied down to stop it rattling – rather than being fixed. While driving home the 2nd strut failed and the roof crashed down. Had my daughter been standing at the time she would undoubtedly been killed. For an adult we would have suffered severe injury to the head.
I followed up with Noah the owner – he told me that the vehicle had come down from the north of Kenya and he had noticed that it was in very poor repair. Rather than talk to us and reschedule/give us the option, he just allocated it to us knowing we had a newborn and a toddler with us and required safety and air conditioning. I had even mentioned a reviewer before me mentioned an old vehicle and in poor repair, and had asked for assurance that this was not going to happen to us! At the end I requested a rebate of $250usd which was roughly the cost of a proper vehicle, which we FINALLY got after harassing them for months. Despite having kids, the owner doesn’t seem to have any insight into the grave situation they placed us in, nor care about his company reputation. I have read all the reviews, and know someone who has used them multiple times and likes them. From what I saw of other vehicles and Dennis, the company does have the potential to stand up to what other reviewers say, but we just drew the short straw and were really mistreated and put in danger.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best family vacation ever
This was our first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. We spent a week with Johnson and his team on a terrifically well-organized safari, visiting a number of parks and seeing more wild animals than I had ever dreamed of. There were 9 of us (three generations) coming from three separate countries, and Sweet Africa brought the whole thing together. Our ages ranged from 17 to 84, and everybody loved the trip. There must have been glitches but we didn't see them, and Sweet Africa made it possible for us to relax and focus on watching the animals in their habitats and spending great time together as a multi-continental family.
Transfers to and from several airports were handled seamlessly, as were all the other details, and the team was available day and night, in all time zones, to help us plan our trip, handle tricky visa questions, inform us on the multiple medical issues, and keep us organized.
The drivers, Peter and George, were fantastically skilled and incredibly well-informed, and so able to tell us not just what we were looking at, but all kinds of great details about habitat, feeding, migrations for the animals and birds, and tons of fascinating facts about the plants in every park.
Sweet Africa catered to our needs before we needed to ask, gave us time together and made a complicated trip incredibly easy and joyful. They deserve 5 + stars, and I recommend them wholeheartedly for any safari in East Africa.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Outstanding Short Safari
We only had 3 days available, but Martin put together a fantastic game viewing itinerary including Sweetwater camp and Samburu. Everything went smoothly with Martin being an excellent guide. We saw Lions, Cheetahs and Leopards in our short time including many other animals.
I highly recommend Fede Tours and Martin.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience!
I really recommend everyone to book their safari with Hekima! I had an amazing safari experience with them, much thanks to our excellent guide Juma with his knowledge about animals and nature and our fantastic chef Marcus that cooked tasty meals for us. I enjoyed it so much that im thinking to do it soon again, and it will definitely be with Hekima next time too! Also thanks to the staff at Hekima house and the management for being so friendly and helpful. I will always remember this good experience!