PT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Went for the adventure, stayed for the people
I have to admit, at first it felt a bit weird because I’d never organized a trip like this on my own before. Everyone kept saying I was crazy for going to Tanzania without an agency — but honestly, everything went even better than I could’ve imagined.
Francis picked us up from the hotel — always cheerful and kind — and we made the payment in cash in Dar es Salaam before heading to Nyerere National Park. That’s where we met our guide, Kennedy, and we couldn’t have been luckier. He was full of fascinating facts about the animals and the ecosystem, and so was our driver.
We stayed in this super peaceful lodge in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature. Every now and then, we’d see local tribes passing by with their cattle. What made it even more special was feeling completely surrounded by local people — it never felt touristy or staged, just real and authentic.
It was such a special experience — simple, genuine, and unforgettable.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice wildlife mixed with nice beaches at Zanzibar
We even saw a lot of baby animals. Even though we slept good at the campgrounds we would not recommend it because it’s really wild.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Slightly above average operator but disappointingly poor tour guide
We booked a 7 days safari trip in Kenya, taking in 4 different parks including Amboseli, Nakuru, Naivasha, and Masai Mara. The communication from Susan was decent enough, and all out questions were answered. I did have some concerns as we got a week away from the start of the trip, as the website was down and i couldnt get any response from susan for a few days. However using the WhatsApp number helped and i got the reassurance all was fine. The safari itself was enjoyable in that we saw lots of animals and the big 5.
The weather was hot and it was sunny most days making it a lovely break from the british weather.
Accommodation was budget but fine overall, but my daughter did get fed up of the similar and repetitive food options at each of the different camps. So generally I was happy with our budget choice.
However, I can't hide my complete disappointment with the driver/guide that we had, called David.
I expected and hoped that we would have a guide that was engaging and Informative, to really make the trip memorable for me and my 12 Yr old daughter.
Sadly, it became clear very early that the guide was not really interested in us, or making the trip special. David hardly engaged us at all the whole week. He shared little knowledge of the animals, and what he did share was quite basic. Beyond naming animals, there wasn't much more shared than that for most of the time.
At the end of each day he'd tell us what time we were to meet next day after breakfast, and with a polite hello in the morning, that was pretty much it in terms of conversation.
This lack of communication led to a potential issue when we arrived at Masai Mara gate where he informed us we'd need to produce our passports. Why did he not tell us that morning before we left our camp? Or the night before? Thankfully I had photos of the passports which took me a while to find, but at least we didn't have to go drive back 25 min to camp and get them. This unnecessary stress and anxiety could have easily been avoided, but just epitomised the guides lack of interest, overall apathy, and generally jaded demeanour.
In general, to be absolutely honest, he appeared bored, wasn't very attentive, spent most of the time speaking on his phone while driving, or checking Facebook/other media whenever we stopped, and generally hardly said a word to us. As the only proper English speaking people there I thought he might have taken more interest in engaging us and sharing some knowledge. Not only that, his lack if attentiveness was realised several times, when we'd pull up behind other jeeps who were in a better viewing position of animals, and when they moved on, I'd have to disturb him from his scrolling in his phone ask him to move forward ro where the other jeeps had been so we could get the views they had.
It's a real shame, as I spoke to other people at the camps and their experience with their guides with other companies seemed far better - more communication, more conversation, more knowledge sharing, more engagement.
I feel a bit gutted for my daughter that David did very little to make this trip of a lifetime feel like a trip of a lifetime, but could have so easily been remedied with a few interesting anecdotes, facts, and general conversation. If David is the guide in future safaris, I'll use a different company.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Trip of a lifetime
Our 7 day Moremi and Chobe explorer exceeded our expectations. Our guide Dylos was so experienced, knowledgeable, patient and good natured. We saw lions every day, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, baboons, countless elephants, giraffes, zebras and impala , many birds and other animals. The camp crew Kennedy, Jonathan, Gee and Medu set up the tents each night with hot water for bucket showers and handwashing and produced delicious meals and even a chocolate cake for one of our group’s birthday. We did have some glitches with the vehicle but these were resolved and did not spoil an experience we will never forget.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good
I had a fantastic three-day safari in Tsavo East and West.
I highly recommend visiting both parks to see a variety of landscapes and a greater diversity of wildlife.
The lodges chosen by Steve were superb. They were perched high up, offering breathtaking views of the valley.
The drive went smoothly.
Our driver, Salomon, was attentive and a skilled driver.
The only thing we missed was communication with Steve during the safari.
We would have liked more information about the flora and fauna.
That was the only downside to the trip.
Otherwise, everything went perfectly.
(automatic translation from French)
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall Awuor was good
Lencer has followed up very closely from the beginning . Joseph was the best driver guy I have ever met. Enkorok Safari Camp was lousy. No hot water for shower and no electricity at night for 3 consecutive nights out of 4 days. The people there were very nice though. Should this happen in other countries, a compensation or credit must be given to the guests but wonder if this would work in Kenya.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3 days was the perfect lenght
IT was a very good choice to do a Safari that took three days, longer and i ver mich would have preferred to stay in a lodge. But three day Camping was perfect
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Watching the wildlife is really great, but the road facilities definitely still have room for improv
Maasai Mara is the most worthwhile place to visit. Although the accommodation is the most basic compared to the other places, it really allows you to see the most wildlife. Amboseli is mainly for viewing the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro. The scenery of Lake Naivasha is also nice, and it is recommended to take a boat ride and visit the islands. The animals at Lake Nakuru are relatively far away. If time is limited, the top recommendations are Maasai Mara and Lake Naivasha.
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
I booked a 12 day safari with Beautiful Safaris Uganda. My guide, Kelly, was excellent. Very knowledgeable, friendly, always attentive to any needs and accommodated changes to the trip part way through.
The itinerary included gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, Lake Bunyonyi, Murchison Falls, the national parks – all of which were amazing. To see all this you cover long distances so you also get a great overview of the country with changes in scenery, towns, agriculture and economic conditions. The lodges were clean & tidy and good food throughout the trip.
The tour company kept in touch prior to traveling to Uganda answering all my questions of what to expect.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nice itinerary
We appreciated the office working with us to craft a great itinerary that met our interests. Everyone should stay at Ride 4 A Woman for at least 2 nights. We were disappointed in the quality of the guide. He was late picking us up. He definitely did not offer up a lot of information about the areas we were driving through, but he did answer all of our questions. The car did not have air conditioning. In addition, our luggage did not arrive on our flight. Not the tour company’s fault but we were hoping they would have helped us coordinate the pickup. Instead, we were very thankful that the owner at one of our hotels really stepped up.