US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
the experience in the park was great, we saw chimps on both treks.
As visitors, we had the experience of being bounced around from car to boat to park without anyone really telling us what was going on. The personal touch, that we have had with other tours was not present. We never met with Joshua and never felt like our business really mattered. With the exception of the last meal, which we bought ourselves, the itinerary was followed and we enjoyed our time with the chimps. I hope that future tours are less impersonal, otherwise I would recommend saving some money and doing this trip on your own.
LT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by ramunaskr
This park is called "Home of tree climbing lions" - never saw any lion in 3 hours trip inside this park.
I've been in mount Kilimanjaro national park. This park is not in the list here.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Toffael Rashid
amazing for birds and elephants!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Toffael Rashid
Amazing but also abit like Disney land, its almost too good to be true! You'll see the big 5 within an hour and the landscape is very dramatic. But its quite poor for birding and also feels abit enclosed and claustrophobic compared to other parks.
JP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Mikumi National Park by Jumbokedama
Too many people, not many big cats.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Really wanted to like them, left some things lacking
I went on a 3 day Rwanda gorilla trek with Encounter Africa. While I really want to like them, there are a few things that were lacking.
Pros:
1. The driver was nice and friendly. He also spoke good English and very helpful.
2. The car was good and comfortable for the two of us.
3. Accommodations were but clean, safe and hotel staff was friendly.
4. Price: The price was fair.
Cons:
1. Communication troubles: Not sure what it was but the office was extremely responsive at first via email which I why I wanted to go with them initially. But then fell radio silent. So I followed up on skype and had some challenges getting a hold of them. They said that there were issues with their email, so may that is fixed?
2. Quoted a price, and then told us that they didn't have any more availability at the lodging and then wanted put us in a lower quality hotel. Ended up paying the original price for a lower quality hotel. The hotel was fine, but the experience of that change was frustrating.
3. Finally, the biggest issue was that the driver was 2 hours late for the initial airport pickup! This was extremely inconvenient because we did not have Rwanda phones and had no way of contacting the driver. For a minute, I thought we had been completely scammed. He came in the end, but this resulted in us driving back in the hills in dark, getting to the hotel extremely late, and missing a proper dinner (that we had paid for in our room/board).
However, what frustrated me most was they claimed that it was the Uganda / Rwanda time difference that caused the delay. However, Uganda time is 1 hour ahead, so of anything, they would have arrived an hour later rather than 2 hours late. When I mentioned this to them, they then said that it was because they had to pick up the permits. If that were the real reason, then tell the truth the first time. Do not lie or try to pull one on me.
So all in all, I'm mixed on this group. While the rest of the experience itself was incredible (highly recommend the gorilla trek to anyone), there were logistical things that were a lacking and the lying about being 2 hours late was a huge detractor.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Mokala National Park by Raffaella
Nice place where to see ungulates
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Mapungubwe National Park by Raffaella
It's nice to see lot of baobad
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve by Raffaella
we didn'see very much, maybe we where unlucky
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Balule Nature Reserve by Raffaella
Yuo can't drive around by yourself and you always need a guided safari.