CM
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
6-Day-5Nights- Lake Manyara-Serengeti-Ngorongoro
Am a tour operator in Cameroon the best safari trip i have ever expérience is when i visited Tanzania with a group of 9 Russia tourist ,we had a fantastic 6-Day -5 Nights- Lake Manyara-Serengeti-Ngorongoro trip.mercury zanzibar safari limited provided great advice but was always amenable to customization, and in general, provided great serrvice. Our guide Loi Kidaa was extremely knowledgeable, conscientious, and professional.We strongly recommend Mercury zanzibar safari limited to meet your safari and beach holidays needs.
Wainfen Victor
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
It was the best safari of my life
They were to my expectations.. The travel,park,food and accommodation. Everything was great
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfect experience
Qualified tours- We throughly enjoyed our entire experience with qualified tours, going on the 3 day safari to Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro crater and the Lake Manyara national Park. Special mention to our safari host Mdee who clearly had an excellent knowledge of the animals and a passion for his job, which made the experience even more memorable. The food whilst on safari was excellent and exceeded expectations. Alongside this we were situated at hando coffee lounge, included in the package, which was an excellent location for the safari and provided a great base to relax. Would recommend this company to anyone thinking of a safari for both value and quality.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Trip of Serengeti
We had 1 week of holidays in Tanzania and we are glad that we choose Mercury Zanzibar Safari for all the arrangements. I had contacted them for the Safari and hotel for Zanzibar. The lodges and the hotel that they have selected were better! They perfectly understood our expectations and made very good suggestions to us. We did not have any problem with Mercury Zanzibar Safari neither for the hotel nor for the Safari in Lake Manyara,Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Our driver was very nice and kind to us. He had very good knowledge about the places. Mr.Ndamungu from Mercury Zanzibar Safaris was very helpful since the beginning until the end of the trip. You can 100% trust Mercury Zanzibar Safaris
PL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional and very friendly
Everything was ok. People from this company are excellent. Everything was perfect. They want to get my satisfaction.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very pleasant and easy to work with.
Ndamungu was very pleasant to deal with everyday! !
NG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Private tour of Prison Island
The services and communication were excellent and the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. the prison island tour was fun and i would definitely recommend it.
IL
Best trip ever
We are a family of four and it was memorable and special holiday. Everything was Excellent organised
The planning of our safari was thorough and gave us, as first timers, a safari as complete as I can imagine Our guide on safari was superb very knowledgeable and well spoken he ensured our safari experience was superb. The lodges were fabulous, the surprisingly good. We had 10 days in Tanzania followed by a beach holiday in Zanzibar including a day in stone town. We loved it and regional tours took all the hassle out of our trip. We would highly recommend MercuryZanzibarSafari
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible
We (me and 6 other people) did a 3 day safari (2 nights) with Qualified Tours and it was really great! Our guide picked us up on the first day in the morning at our accommodation in Arusha and we went directly to the first national park - Tarangire. In advance, we clarified everything easily via WhatsApp and were able to select our desired route. Included in the price was everything from guide to accommodation to food and water. The Tarangire National Park was super beautiful. In the evening we drove to the accommodation that Qualified Tours booked for us and were overwhelmed! We were accommodated in the super beautiful Hhando coffe lodge and had a 4-course menu in the evening (drinks had to be paid extra). The houses we slept in were super nice and big, there is a pool and the breakfast buffet was also very good! On the second day we went to the Ngorongoro Crater and were overwhelmed by nature and the animals. We then spent the afternoon at the beautiful pool in the lodge and in the evening there was a delicious buffet. We spent the last day in Lake Manyara National Park and in the evening our guide took us back to an accommodation in Arusha. I highly recommend Qualified Tours! It was super great!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worth it! Exceeded all expectations and wouldn't change a thing!
Wow we don't even know where to start with our review of East African Safari, but basically it ends with smiles and two thumbs up! Simon was beyond helpful answering our many, many questions and was also very accommodating with our requests on length of trip, and where we wanted to stay at night. We E-mailed other safari operators as well but Simon's prompt and helpful replies, in addition to their community integration and conservation efforts, is really what sold it for us. This cost is a bit higher than other operators, but as we soon found out that it is 100% WORTH IT!
Just a few quick details about our trip: 10 days Safari, starting in Mwanza with stay near Speke Bay, and then passing through Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, and finally flying out from Arusha.
Our guide, Cosmos, was beyond expectations and definitely one of the reasons the trip ended up perfect for us. He met us promptly at the airport in Mwanza with a big smile and immediately shuttled us over to the Tilapia Hotel so that we could relax after being on airplanes for 20+ hours. The place even had a pool and gorgeous view of the water so we felt relaxed and ready to go the next morning! Cosmos was waiting for us right when he promised, and after chatting for a bit we knew he was going to be a great guide over the next 9 days. We were both interested in learning Swahili for the trip and so were constantly bugging him for swahili translations but he energetically answered every question we had!
One of the first big highlights that made us glad we chose EASTCO happened when our original hotel for the second day, the Speke Bay Lodge, ended up being full so instead Simon got us rooms at nearby Serenity on the Lake lodge...which was one of the nicest places we've ever stayed! Throughout the entire trip there were multiple instances like this, where things didn't go exactly as planned (for those of you you've traveled to Africa this shouldn't be a surprise) only to find that Cosmos and Simon would improvise quickly to make everything perfect for us!
Every day had a pretty standard routine, Cosmos would tell us what time to meet him, we'd drive around watching wildlife, and then spend afternoons back at the lodges. My girlfriend and I are slow eaters so a few times were a little late to meet him at the vehicle but he would just respond with a smile and the usual Tanzanian response of "No worries! Pole Pole!" Cosmos' energy, promptness, and especially knowledge of African wildlife really were incredible. He'd usually spot and identify wildlife before we could even see them! We managed to see every bit of wildlife we had planned (including rhinos and leopards) and he even managed to find something I had absolutely been dying to observe...a leopard tortoise! I can't stress that enough with Cosmos, he will go out of his way to make sure you get a chance to see what you want and he has the eyes and intuition to make it happen. At the same time, he is also very patient and would sit quietly while we sat for long periods of time just to watch a pride of lions eating or hippos bathing.
Another reason we're glad we went with EASTCO: I accidentally left my cell phone at one of the lodges which of course is always a stressful situation. However, Simon called and had the lodge actually mail the phone to himself in Arusha, after which he personally organized a driver to BRING THE PHONE down to us near Tarangire park!! We didn't have to worry at all about the entire situation because it was handled perfectly by Simon and Cosmos, and phone was delivered back safely into my hands!
Also, we had planned (and paid) to stay at the Rhino Lodge near the Ngorongoro crater because it was a more budget friendly lodge option, but on the day were supposed to head over there Cosmos got a text from Simon telling him to put us up in the Serena Wildlife Lodge instead!! For no extra cost to us! For those of you unaware, Rhino lodge is a budget lodge away from crater rim, while Serena is one of the few luxury lodges that actually sit on the rim...with an incredible view! This was a very pleasant surprise for us, and I have to be honest, that hot shower felt incredible after a dusty day in the crater.
The final days of the trip were spent in East African Safari's own lodge, the Boundary Hill Lodge (can check out our review on TripAdvisor) which also exceeded our every expectation. Reading about the history of the lodge was inspirational, basically created to help support the local communities (and indeed even 50% owned by those same communities) and an inseparable part of the Tarangire Conservation Area. One our final day Cosmos took us around souvenir shopping and even offered to help bargain with vendors if we needed the backup (a very nice offer sometimes when buying things as a traveler!).
In summary, if you want a dependable, quality, top-notch safari with a guide who is friendly and very knowledgeable...then pick East African Safari Company! Also I should mention that Simon also organized all of our airfare to other places around Tanzania. We picked them because of their integration and support of local communities and incredible work with wildlife conservation (basically the entire reason Boundary Hill Lodge was even created) but found that they also provided a better Safari trip than we could have ever hoped. Absolutely worth it!