CA
Experience level: first safari
Review about South Africa by Gavin Edmondstone
The diversity of bird and mammal life in South Africa is amazing. That combined with good infrastructure make it a wonderful destination.
DE
Wonderful unforgettable experience in Mikumi
Kanuth Adventure Safaris organised for us a very spontaneous 2days- Trip to Mikumi National Park. The operator was very friendly, flexible according to our wishes and gave us a very good price for the tour.
We had an excellent driver, who explained us everything about the wildlife and we saw everything we wanted to see: Zebras, Elephants, Giraffs, Lions and much more animals.
The camp we stayed was reasonable for the price and the food was ok.
Thanks fpr this beautiful experience! We can definatey recommend you!!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Safari to Amboseli and Mount Kilimanjaro
Our recent safari with Edward and chef Kevin was a once in a lifetime trip. Planning the trip I was immediately impressed with the responsiveness and cooperative approach to building our itinerary. Edward was very prompt, professional and personable. We quickly became comfortable with him and his dedication to making the most of our trip. Our meal menu was customized with fresh food cooked to perfection. Kevin is the best. Edward was very knowledgeable of the animals on safari and the geography surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro. Our acomodations at Kimana camp were just as described, the staff there was very friendly and accommodating as well. I would highly recommend contracting with Edward for any type of excursion or trip in Kenya.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great holiday and excellent accommodation and food
Well organised from start to finish. Good experience all round
Great safari experience with Amazing Kilimanjaro Tours!!
Amazing Kilimanjaro director, Godfrey, took great care when planning the safari we wanted where we only wanted two nights seeing the Ngongoro crater and Serengeti while starting the safari at one side of the national park and finishing at the other side. For most tour operators this short time was a constraint but we found our safari driver handled the constraint with ease while ensuring we had a great safari.
On the safari were our driver/guide and the cook and campground attendant, Ibra. The driver/guide was sensational in the way he spotted different animals in the park from a distance. Due to his skill we saw all the big 5 animals as well as various others over the two days.
The campgrounds we stayed at were excellent and the cook catered for us nicely. The Toyota Landcruiser was comfortable and had a push out roof allowing us to stand up for better viewing.
The trip was a complete success having seen great animals and having great company and information provided by our tour guides.
Thanks for your help with this Godfrey much appreciated!
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best safari!
We had an amazing time in Kruger Park. Arno is an excellent guide. He gave us loads of fascinating facts about the animals. We spent two days in the park and saw it all: lions, elephants, rhinos, zebras etc…
Highly recommended.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome safari experience
Everything was well planned, communicated, and presented.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An Amazing Safari Experience!
Everything was even better than we expected! The guides were fantastic and the accommodations were amazing (stayed in a mix of A & B level camping).
Tanzania is an incredible place and the safari we had was incredible. Saw all of the Big 5 plus lots of others. Truly an amazing experience that everyone should do once in their life (or more as we plan too).
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seasoned travellers - but this was Beyond our Wildest Expectations
A group of 6 of us from Canada began planning for this vacation ~1 year before we traveled. We diligently researched, compared and interviewed 8 separate safari companies before selecting Planet Africa to help organize our tour. We dealt only with Leah Humphreys at Planet Africa and can only hope that all their agents are as well trained, knowledgeable, helpful and personable as she is.
We started our adventure in Cape Town - but handled the logistics of this part on our own. We arrived in Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania and were met and transported to the Arusha Coffee Lodge in Arusha by a Planet Africa arranged vehicle. We spent two nights there to allow us time to regroup post Cape Town & the wine area of South Africa, plus the fairly long plane ride from SA to Tanzania. We wanted to start our safari rested and fresh. I would recommend you also consider this, since the Arusha Coffee Lodge has beautiful grounds to walk around - plus an excellent craft workshop at least partly manned by handicapped workers. The quality of goods there is very good - I was so impressed with the glass blowing and glass hand-craftsmanship that I videoed the whole process and bought a memorable distinctive tall wine glass (for only $11 CDN) and carefully hand carried it throughout the rest of our travels safely back to Canada. The food and comfort and service and ambiance at Arusha Coffee Lodge also are all excellent!
Our first day of Safari took us by jeep from Arusha to Tarangire National Park. We were met by our Safari guide (Stanford) who proved to be excellent - personable, articulate, and very knowledgeable of the wildlife and surprisingly the many birds that we encountered on our trip. We arrived at Tarangire in about 1 1/2 hours and started our first day of safari ~10:30 am. I won't go into the details of the specific wildlife & birds we saw over our 2 part days and 1 full day of safari other than to say - it was fantastic and it would take much too long to write. Tarangire seemed to me the most varied terrain we traveled - swampland, treed land and open savannas. It seemed that around every bend there was something fantastic to see. Some of the sightings were so impressive that you could spend 1/2 hour or longer marveling at them. Others were more fleeting. All were wild and memorable.
In Tarangire we spent two nights at Oliver's Camp. Our host & hostess there were Justin & Jackie. They were both very knowledgeable and helpful in identifying the many birds we saw around the property and Oliver's Camp has a beautiful deck overlooking a very large plain. We were served our breakfast there on our last morning and it was special to look out over the plain and see Zebras passing through and the small elusive Dik Dik antelope grazing in our midst. Oliver's is an upper scale camp, but if your budget allows, this is one of two camps that I recommend you indulge in.
After we left the Oliver's Camp, we had a final 1/2 day safari in Tarangire before we traveled to Lake Eyasi. This was an add on that we planned to our Safari experience to give us some feel for Tanzania and some of the peoples and tribes that live there. We spent one night at the Kisima Ngeda Lodge in Lake Eyasi and on the day travelling there we visited a Masai village. The next day when we traveled to the Ngoro Ngoro Crater , we hunted with four very skilled young boys from the Hadzabe tribe (one of the few remaining tribes in Africa that are truly bushmen - living off the land almost the same as they have for millenia). We also visited the DaToga tribe (blacksmiths) that make metal bracelets and arrowheads etc from reclaimed brass and aluminum. The Kisima Ngeda is a typical tented camp, very comfortable and accommodating. The extra day we allocated to allow for this cultural excursion was very well spent and very much recommended.
Our next stop was for two nights at the Plantation Lodge, which is very close to the Ngoro Ngoro Crater. The accommodation and grounds at this lodge are truly excellent. It is very much appointed like an upper scale hotel, with individual villas interspersed throughout beautifully maintained grounds. We asked for a brief tour around the grounds and it was arranged that the head gardener, who has been there for over 20 years, gave us an excellent tour around the Plantation. We spent one day touring the Crater area. We chose to get a very early start and had tie to loop the Crater a couple of times. The crater area (although very large and with a great variety of wildlife) can be reasonably covered in one day. And the wildlife there is amazing. We had excellent views of Hippos, and our only sighting of a pair of rhinos at the Crater.
From the Crater area, thanks to valuable input from Leah at Planet Africa, we decided to Fly from Lake Manyara airport to the Central Serengeti. This eliminated the need for a fairly long drive to reach this area and allowed for more time on safari. The small plane we traveled in was a wonderful experience in itself. Also, since we had decided to stay at Namiri Plains Camp in the Central Serengeti, it was necessary that we use their camp guides. So by opting to fly rather than drive, although we paid a premium to stay at the Namiri Plains, we also saved some money in that we did not have to pay for other less expensive accommodation, plus our own guide.
We spent three nights at the Namiri Plains Camp in the Serengeti, and for me, this was the highlight of the trip. This camp has recently been opened up in an area that had been closed to the public for ~20 years and is renowned for its cats. We saw several cheetahs, and many many lions at amazingly close distances!! Also, and this was somewhat fortuitous, we arrived at the camp (short rainy season) at the time that the wildebeest migration was passing through and saw tens - probably hundreds of thousands of these animals, several thousand of them parading by our campsite. This camp is also first class, but if your budget allows this would get my number one vote ( although my wife also makes a very good case for Oliver's Camp). If you can - do both.
Following our stay at Namiri Plains, we were transferred back to the airport and flew to Zanzibar. We spent two nights at Kisima House in Stone Town - also very comfortable accommodation - and spent a day doing the Spice Plantation Tour plus a guided walking tour of Stone Town. Both were well conducted and reasonable. We then went to Chumbe Island a very small and isolated Eco Tourism Island off the coast of Zanzibar. This was a truly delightful experience - we had a guided walking tour of the island, a night walk where we saw very big coconut crabs, and were transported to a coral reef where we snorkelled for an hour or two both days we were there. All in all an excellent experience.
In summary, Planet Africa and Leah in particular helped us put together a trip that truly exceeded our expectations. Of the 6 of us, Deanne & I decided to book our return flights from Canada to and from Cape Town. This allowed us to Fly via Mango Air from Zanzibar to Cape Town via Johannesburg. We decided to spend 2 nights in Jo-burg and (again at Leah's recommendation) stayed at the Residence Boutique Hotel there before traveling on to Capetown. If you visit Johannesburg as art of your adventure - I highly recommend this hotel and experience as well!
Kevin
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Pole, Pole - Hakuna Matata
I got to know Spot Kenya Safaris thank to Safari Bookings.
I contacted Maurice via e-mail and from the very beginning he was very responsive and accommodating to our needs.
We did a roadtrip from Nairobi to Diani, stopping to Naivasha, Amboseli and Tsavo West on the way there and to Tsavo East on the way back. We covered a lot of ground, yet our drivers have always been available to take us to as many game drives as possible. Spotting wildlife was not the easiest (after rain season Tsavo was very lush), but we have been compensated by the amazing landscape, especially in Tsavo West. Jonas, one of the drivers, was of great company and has a great sight and instinct for finding animals.
While at the coast, Maurice organized for us a one day trip to Wasini Island at a good deal as well as showed us around town.
The few issues encountered on the road were promptly managed.
It was a great experience and I would definitely recommend Spot Kenya Safaris!