DK
Super good guides!
I went on a 2-day one night safari with Kilimanjaro Vacation Company in May 2015.
We were 12 people traveling together, which made bookings a bit complicated. Also the information provided to do the transfer wasn't quite sufficient initially for the international tranfser.
However we made it work and the guides and the parks were amazing! Very nice safari vans as well!
The camp we slept at was a bit dissapointing though, as it was basicall justy tents in on lawn in the courtyard of a hotel. And you had to bring you own towels, which we had not been informed beforehand.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Tanzania by Hari L Ratan
Great wildlife, hospitality, kind people make it a great destination.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Easy wildlife spotting and in quick succession
We left our hotel rather early in the morning to enter the crater hoping to leave behind the crowd. A large number of sightings and in quick succession are possible as the crater or in fact the Ngorongoro Caldera holds a variety of mammals and birds. All mammals are contained within the crater and most of them live here till they die, without easy access to the outside world.
Within a few minutes of entering the Crater we were rewarded with a sighting of a Serval cat, which according to our driver is not rare but difficult to spot. Then started a series of spottings, rhinos, elephants, gazelles, hyenas, lions, kori bustards, wildebeests, ape buffalos and many birds.
If in a short while one wants a taste of African wildlife then one must visit the Ngorongoro crater.
Go there early in the morning and take in the wonderful landscape in the early morning sun. The landscape changes with every minutes with the sun changing the quality of light swiftly.
In a couple of hours and after more than 20 minutes with the black rhinos we decided to drive over to Ngoitokitok Springs for our breakfast, Ngoitokitok means a bubbly spring and this is a great spot to spend some time watching the Hippos grunting, coming close to the shore and staying away at a respectful distance. Weaver and other birds coming over to share your food, the ducks making noise all add to the wonder of this place. A drive to Lake Magadi to watch the flamingos though from a distance and at the same time watch the numerous mammals that graze there will make one believe that this a Garden of Eden.
The walls of the crater offer a great background for photographing the animals here in the open crater and this along with the quality of light make it a photographers delight.
No visit to Tanzania can be complete without a visit to Ngorongoro crater.
IN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Hari L Ratan
Excellent place for elephants and ungulates, the great Baobob trees which are common here provide a great experience. Stunning in fact.
US
Dreamy Escape into the bush
We participated in a three day safari at Selous, organized by Kanuth Adventure Safaris. Kanuth Staff picked up us from our hotel, they were kind, helpful, appreciative of our business and fair priced. The drive from the city to the park was beautiful and exciting, an adventure in itself. We stayed at Hippo Camp, which was a lovely camp, just outside the park gates. We stayed in a lovely tree house right on the rufiji river, it was much like "glamping". The park was extraordinary. It was remote and beautiful. It was rainy while we were there, but honestly the experience was so dreamy, it wasn't too upsetting. We chose Selous over the Northern circuit because we were looking for something a bit off the beaten track. We wanted to immerse ourselves in vastness of the land, away from "tourists". We knew there was a risk in doing so, as we heard the wildlife sightings were less of a guarantee at Selous. But we were very lucky. Our guide was wonderful. We spent all day driving around the park, seeing everything we could have hoped to see. The only other humans we saw were the two other jeeps we entered the park with, from our camp. It was truly lovely. I highly recommend this park. One thing I might say when booking a package-- we were sold a boat safari, jeep safari and "walking safari". The walking safari, was a bush walk that took place outside of the park. While it was lovely, we felt mislead. There were some travelers who received an actual walking safari inside the park. Just be sure to receive clarification on this. Other than that piece everything was a dream. Cheers.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our safari with Usambara Expeditions: punctual, dedicated and knowledgeable
For our two week early March 2016 Kenya - Tanzania trip we wanted to see friends, do all travel over land by bus, get some safari feel in Tanzania's Northern Circuit but focus on Ruaha National Park in the South and wrap up with Zanzibar beach days. Bookings were done from abroad, choosing Tanzanian companies based on reviews: we had no prior experience with any of them. Ultimately this means trust and with Usambara for our Ruaha safari that played out very well. So much so that after the safari they also handled our getting from Iringa (town closest to the park) to Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar and eventually back to Dar's international airport: a company that also handles your getting from A to B in a tailor-made way proved a real bonus.
Given that our time of visiting was not the best to spot game - long grass, dense bushes - the Usambara guide being local to this part of Tanzania nevertheless tracked many: unforgettable encounters with lions. lionesses and elephant families in particular. Ruaha National Park is firmly on our list for next time - be it in a different season.When that happens Usambara Expeditions will be our choice of safari company again.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Day trip to Kilimanjaro
As we were staying in the hotel where the office of Kibosho Tours is located, we chose to pass by and see what they had to offer. Previously we passed by another agency and were approached by flycatchers on the street, but here a lovely and enthousiastic lady at the desk informed us about their offers for day trips and we decided to take the risk of going on a day trip to the Kilimanjaro with them (they didn't have a lot of reviews yet). It was worth it, for us they had a good balance between price and quality. We were driving in a jeep to the entrance of the parc, our guide helped us with the registration, we got enough water, good lunch box and our guide made sure we were okay during the hiking part (which was 4h going up and 2h going down, more or less). We were only out of luck when we got to the small crater where clouds prevented us from seeing the summit. But now we are inspired to come back to get to the top, one day... They were also kind enough to help us with information about local transport.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safaripark for self drive with beautiful scenery
We went to Ithala game reserve as a part of a round trip along the elephant coast.
We stayed for two night's at one of the wonderfull chalets. They are clean en up to date.
We did a self drive safari, we took al de routes in the park. (also the 4x4 roads, we had a hyundai ix35, but it was dry, maybe in the wet season this wouldn't been possible)
The scenery was absolutely beautiful, within the park there are allot of viewpoints.
we saw zebra, kudu, impala, elephant,eland,waterbuck, giraff, wildebeest, rhino, baboons, busch baby's in the camp.
We would recommend this park especially if you enjoy scenery icombination with wild life.
Booking our trip was hassle free and consideration was given to our specific needs.
We stayed at The Lodge in Thendele in Royal Natal National Park. Loved the setting, which is stunningly beautiful and the gardens and verges well maintained. Road has quite a few potholes leading up to the Thendele car park. The fact that the Lodge was big, spacious, and was very eco friendly with the grass growing on the roof was really lovely. Sipho, our cook was very good, pleasant and helpful in every way. Only complaint was the carpets badly need cleaning or replacing, very badly stained. The bathrooms need renovating, there is only one shower in one bathroom, the rest have baths, and although clean on the surface the bathrooms are old and not water conservation friendly...
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our Tour guide Nestor was very friendly and knowledgable.
The Safari was great and we had the best tour guide ever. We saw thousands of animals and our guide Nestor always tried to find the best spots to look for new ones.
The lodge where we stayed for the 2 nights (Tan Swiss Lodge) was not nice. Horrible rooms and most horrible food.