IL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly recommended: Emmy Safaris & Tours
I want to highly recommend Emmy Safaris & Tours. We booked a 3-day safari with them covering Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, and the local tribes.
Right from the start, their communication was excellent. Prior to our arrival, they kept in direct touch, answered all our questions promptly, and were incredibly accommodating with all of our requests. They took care of everything seamlessly—including all internal flights, round-trip transfers from our hotel in Zanzibar, meals, and an unforgettable safari experience.
Our guide, Nick, was wonderful—friendly, professional, and extremely knowledgeable. He managed to spot all of the Big Four for us on this trip, and even spotted a cheetah, which is quite rare in Tarangire!
Thanks to Emmy Safaris & Tours, we had a perfect experience from start to finish. We couldn’t have asked for a better trip!
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent and well acknowledged Guide
Please try to get Juhu, he is excellent, very experienced and knowledgeable person.
Thanks and see you next time.
PT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable 16-Day Journey Across Kenya with an Outstanding Team!
We recently completed an incredible 16-day tour across Kenya with Eliteways Travel & Safaris, and overall, it was a truly wonderful experience! Our itinerary took us from Nairobi (including Nairobi National Park and the National Museum) to Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli, the Maasai Mara, Mombasa, and Diani Beach.
Seamless Planning & Warm Hospitality
A special thanks to Susan, who coordinated our itinerary. She was an absolute pleasure to work with over weeks of going back and forth to fine-tune every detail and build the perfect trip for us. Meeting her in person was a delight!
Although we had a slight hiccup with our initial airport meet-and-greet, Eliteways rectified it as quickly and smoothly as possible given the early morning hour. Mistakes happen, and we greatly appreciated how promptly they handled it. In Nairobi, the hotels and restaurants were great, with Ankole Grill being our absolute favorite meal!
The Highlight: Our Incredible Driver & Guide, Sospeter
What made this trip so special was Sospeter, who accompanied us across the entire country for 16 days. He was exceptionally professional, flexible, highly knowledgeable, and personable. Sospeter took a genuine interest in getting to know us, which made spending over two weeks together feel comfortable and relaxed rather than stiff. His patience during our park visits was amazing, and his enthusiasm made us feel like he was seeing every animal for the first time right alongside us. He truly elevated our safari experience!
Constructive Feedback for Eliteways
While we thoroughly enjoyed our trip and highly recommend Eliteways, we wanted to share two pieces of gentle feedback for future itineraries:
1. Dietary Expectations in the Bush: For travelers with non-meat or non-dairy diets, options in the bush lodges tend to lean heavily toward meat dishes or standard Indian cuisine, with very few plain vegetable, fish, or plant-based choices. While this is understandable given the remote locations, it would be helpful for Eliteways to set clearer expectations upfront rather than assuring guests that all dietary needs will be effortlessly catered to.
2. Hotel Selection (Mombasa): We strongly suggest removing Travelers Beach Resort in Mombasa from your roster. The property feels dated, with damp smells, visible stains on furnishings, and rust in the bathrooms. The staff was unwelcoming, the buffet layout is inconveniently tucked away, and the spa setup requires guests to walk through public hotel corridors in towels. Given how wonderful the rest of our trip was, this hotel fell far below the standard of the rest of the tour.
Final Verdict
Despite these minor points, the thoroughness of the itinerary, the natural beauty of Kenya, and above all, the incredible expertise and warmth of Susan and Sospeter made this an unforgettable vacation. We would happily travel with Eliteways Travel & Safaris again and gladly recommend them to anyone planning a safari!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great wildlife experience with our guide Stanley
We booked an 8-day private safari through this company. Communication with the operator Omar was prompt and effective, and we were provided with a detailed itinerary. Unfortunately, the schedule for visiting Olduvai Gorge and the footprints on the same day was unrealistic, meaning we couldn't see both. Had we known this beforehand, we maybe would have extended the trip by a day to make the driving times more manageable. The booked accommodations were all excellent. Lunch was served as a picnic-style packed meal within the national parks—a nice touch. The food was tasty, though unfortunately already cold by lunchtime due to the long drives. We had a great time with our guide, Stanley. He has an exceptional ability to spot wildlife and is a very safe driver, which is crucial given the sometimes bumpy roads. Thanks to him, we were able to see the "Big Five" and many other animals. Overall, I would recommend this company.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Think twice...
The trip overall was good. The design of the safari itinerary could be adjusted based on our preference. Our guide in Kenya, Daniel, and the guide in Tanzania, Japhet Bundala, both are very nice people, responsible, professional, responsive and very friendly. We almost got all we expected for the animals and migration. The quote is fair and you could choose the level of accommodations.
However, there were a lot of confusing situations that I have to mention. 10 days before the trip, when I wanted to confirm our accommodations, the adviser was not replying very in time, which was a red flag for me. And later when we had arrived at Nairobi, we didn't even know the contact number of our pick up. The night before our safari started, the adviser again disappeared, so I had to contact their manager to find a guide for us in Kenya. That was 8pm, and we were told we would start our safari 7:30am the next morning.
When we arrived at Arusha, their manager met us in person and made a good brief. And the safari guided by Japhet was good. He has nice teamwork with other guides and we saw big five and river crossing. But when we transferred to Zanzibar, again we weren't told the contact number of pick up, standing confused at the airport.
There were many other details that I didn't mention, e.g. they checked our passports and flight information many times as they never saved our information, many arrangement seemed very temporary. At the end our trip finished completely, but that's the result of many back and forth communications at WeChat, email and Whatsapp. I really tried hard to find different people through different methods to get their attention.
My suggestion is, if you are very good at communication and have the preparation to handle all the random, you can still choose them for the fair quote.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very attentive and well-organised service.
Josana Tours is truly an excellent team! Due to flight issues, we arrived 12 hours later than originally planned. However, thanks to their thoughtful arrangements and flexibility, we were still able to complete our entire itinerary as planned.
They carefully considered the pros and cons of every possible option and always came up with the best solutions. We really appreciated their patience, professionalism and attention to detail, especially when things didn't go according to plan.
The entire safari experience was also fantastic and so much fun! We managed to see almost all the animals we had hoped to see. A big thank you to our incredibly professional and knowledgeable guide for making this trip so memorable.
We are truly grateful to the whole Josana Tours team for organising such a wonderful safari. If we go on safari again in the future, we will definitely choose Josana Tours again!
Highly recommended!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent More than Excellent
Safari with Utukufu Travels & Adventures was a very good experience. Exaudy did a great job planning the trip and keeping us informed just within 5 Day From Sengerema Mwanza . He was kind, responsive, and paid attention to the small details that made our safari comfortable.
Excellent and had good knowledge of the parks and wildlife. We enjoyed the game drives and learned a lot along the way. Seeing the Big Five in one day was a real highlight and made the safari even more special.
Everything was well organized, including the daily activities and transport. The team was friendly and attentive, and we felt that our needs were taken seriously.
We appreciate the work Exaudy and his team put into making the safari successful. We would recommend Utukufu Travels & Adventures to other visitors looking for a well-organized safari in Tanzania.
Amazing attention to detail
Our group of 8 consisting of family and friends had the most amazing experience. Our guides were wonderful and our resorts were fabulous. We enjoyed our delicious meals in the bush . We were able to see so many animals on our safari. We enjoyed our coffee farm tour and the fabulous hike to the materuni waterfalls before we started our experience in the Serengeti. Jasmine and the Sarafika team had beautifully arranged everything for us.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very detailed safari experience with excellent staff and hotels provided
We saw 4 migrations, the big 5 very close up and afantastic balloon ride. Beautiful sunrises.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent communication and helpful service
The tour operator was very accommodating and professional providing excellent explanation and responding well to all my questions