50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Encompass Africa planned and delivered our dream African holiday.
When we first met Jono & Danica from Encompass Africa at a travel expo in Adelaide we were impressed with their approach and their obvious passion for and knowledge of Africa. Jono is from South Africa and travels back there regularly so you are dealing with a company that has local knowledge and that gave us confidence that we would be getting expert advice.
When we were ready to plan our trip Jono spent time talking to us on the phone, providing detailed information and options and taking our budget into account. A personalised package was then put together for us.
Before we left for Africa we received a detailed itinerary including contact details for the places we were staying and the travel partners in Africa. We travelled independently and it was reassuring to know that we had private car transfers organised to pick us up and get us to our hotels/ lodges/ the airport/etc.
We were very happy with all aspects of our trip including flights, accommodation & transfers. The highlight of our trip was a wonderful 3 night safari experience at Kapama Buffalo Camp in South Africa.
In all of our dealings with Encompass Africa we have found the travel consultants to be friendly, helpful and efficient. Upon booking we were given a timeline of when final payments were due, when our travel documents would be provided and a very comprehensive guide with information on the countries we were visiting, luggage guidelines, foreign currency, what to pack, etc. This was really useful & very much appreciated and ensured we felt as prepared and ready as we could be leading up to our departure.
We would definitely recommend Encompass Africa when planning & booking an African holiday.
AR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
hi ! this is my 3 times with visit mount kenya tours, everything was ok as allways!! thank you very
jambo! we are very happy wirh your services, i did 3 trips in Kenya with (mr. rufus) and everything was ok, even i recomended 3 family friends who came to kenya and use your service, all of them were very happy with you.
thank you very much and see you in my next trip!
Bye !
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great friendly service, went to a lot of trouble to meet my needs.
Had a great trip to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Ally our guide was knowledgeable friendly and flexible.
Accomodation supplied was first class.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari and Tribal Adventure
What an exciting trip! My only company was Paul, my driver who was fantastic. He looked after me as if I were his grandma. His eyes were sharp. I don't think he missed one little movement that was worth some attention. He would spot a leopard in the fork of a tree from far away. He was able to anticipate situations. Once we saw a herd of elephants standing tucked together in the shade of a tree. There were many tourists in many cars watching. The elephants started moving slowly on, one after the other. The cars drove off. Paul said, "They are heading for water!" We slowly moved in the same direction as the elefants and discovered a water hole. We stopped close by. What an amazing sight! One by one , little ones, big ones, everyone walked steadily into the cool water. They rolled, showered, sprayed, drank and trumpeted in sheer joy!
I saw just about every animal possible, even a black rhino. To me it looked like a big thick sausage towards the horizon. I just had to believe Paul. He was right! At home on the zoomed-in photo I can see the horns!!!
On this trip I came in close contact with 3 tribes which was a once in my lifetime experience.
The accommodation was excellent (even though I downgraded somewhat) and everywhere we stopped the staff was friendly and helpful. Not to forget the two fantastic local guides, Mossa and Tobias, who both spoke beautiful English and their knowledge was bottomless.
There was a lot of driving ca 2400km. In Serengeti the roads were rough and dusty.
I am very happy I chose Ajabu Adventure for my first Africa experience!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My experience with my guides was unforgetable
I had a truly amazing experience this was down to my guide Johnson who was an exceptional individual and the amazing animals we encountered. As well as our fantastic chefs who prepared our food.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An unforgettable journey !!!
What can we say about our 31day self-drive tour in South Africa with Tailor Made Safari’s ?
It was fantastic !!!
Thanks to TMS we have had an unforgettable journey. We have been to the Drakensbergen, St. Lucia, Tembe, Kosi Bay, Mkuze, Hluhluwe and Capetown. Everything is so well organized by TMS. Your holiday starts at home when you receive your personal pre-departure pack (GPS navigation system, South African cell phone and a tailor made book providing all the day-to-day information with beautiful photos). Our whole stay was a highlight, but our favorites were Didima Camp in the Drakensbergen, Tembe Elephant Park and our stay in Capetown. We saw a lot of animals in the Game reserves. In Capetown we got a personal guide (Michel) for one week. He took us to all the beautiful places in and around Capetown (Cape Point, Table Mountain, Hermanus, Gansbaai) . We even saw an albino Southern right whale in Hermanus!!! If you want to go on a holiday to South Africa and you just want to enjoy it and don’t have to worry about anything else….....book with Tailor Made Safari’s.
Thank you TMS team en especially our guide Michel in Capetown for making a dream come true !!!
Patrick & Miranda
20-35 years of age
Fantastic
Overall organisation was incredible. I felt welcomed and comfortable in the care of this company. I would happily return to do this trip again and when planning to return to Tanzania will be looking for this organisation. The only issue i had was the distribution of payment issues regarding tips and KPAP. Whilst i appreciate the tourism industry is vital in Africa as a whole the use of American economic policies in an already financially disadvantaged and abused country was disheartening. I believe the African people are being taken advantage of, and would do far better to take the company as a whole upon themselves without interference from 'charitable' third parties. Thank you to everyone who made my trip incredible.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great 9-day safari to Tsavo, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara
All was very well organized by It Started in Africa and we found it good value for money. The correspondence with the office is very smooth, prompt and clear and they lived up to their promises.
We liked the proposed combination of Tsavo - Amboseli - Nakuru - Mara. It's a nice variation of scenery. Mara was a highlight of course for the great variety of wildlife, but the more quiet parks in the east have their charm as well.
We opted for the most basic accommodation offers and we found them all very neat. Especially in Rhinovalley lodge in Tsavo is located beautifully and quite luxureous. The tent camps Punda Milla in Nakura and Wajee Mara were more basic, but we found them fine and all had very friendly staff.
Our driver/guide, Evans, was excellent, a pleasant travel companion, a great driver and very knowledgable on the safaris and everything else Kenya. He really tried to make the most out of all game drives.
In short, we would definitely recommend It Started in Africa to anyone wanting to do a similar journey.
LU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great camping safari experience
Was a great experience to be out in the wild and being there with a good operator for budget safaris. The communication was perfect and everything was as described. The wildlife was amazing and we saw almost everything on the first day already! The camping site in Serengeti was a small one with simple washing facilities and a daily evening guest - a male elephant who enjoyed drinking out of the camp site water tanks. But don't worry, the rangers know and there is still enough water left. It is also amazing what our cook was able to cook while we are out in the wild. Thumps up!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!!
I booked the 2-day Safari to Mikumi National Park spontaniously for last weekend, since I was on a business trip in Tanzania. First I was worried to travel as a woman alone in Tanzania, but Ahmed and John from the Wildness Team organized everything so perfectly, that I felt very safe at all times. My guide John picked me up at the hotel early in the morning on Saturday and brought me to the airport again after the trip on Sunday evening. On the Safari, we got to see a lot of elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffalos and even a lion right next to the Jeep! I enjoyed especially the open roof of the jeep, since I had a perfect panorama view, which is just fantastic in the park. I was very lucky with my accomodation too, I got to stay in Vuma Hills Tented Camp, which is a really luxury tent experience. I met the manager of the place and the other guests in the evening when we had dinner together. I even got to feed the bush babies at night with bananas and got to see some wild cats which were around the camp at night. So overall the whole trip was a great experience for me, that I do not want to miss!