US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a lifetime!
This was a trip of a life time and I am so grateful that we had Masingira Safaris as our guides. Jacob and his team were excellent in every way. They took care of all the lodging and transportation. Making sure our group of 32 were taken care of. Everything from the lodging to our experience in the Serengeti were perfect. I cannot wait to come back. There is so much more I want to explore in Tanzania. Thank you Jacob for making this an unforgettable trip. I can’t wait to return.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience...to be repeated again
One week safari with Spirit of Kenya. Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Naivasha and Amboseli, definitely a great choice 👍. From the planning with Jorge, always patient in answering our requests, to the game drives with our driver Samuel, always ready to find animals in the most unexpected places, everything was beautiful. Spirit of Kenya has truly transformed our dream into the trip of a lifetime 💪🏽
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very responsive and proactive
I was introduced to Carolyn Nankya through my friend Gilbert, a new immigrant to Canada who attends my church. Carolyn was very quick to organize a tour for my girlfriend and I. We initially just wanted to do safari’s and gorilla tracking and then decided to do a chimp tracking as an ad on. Carolyn was very responsive and quick each time we had another request or question, as was Damian Joash, the owner of Jokun Tours. They paired us with our guide, Abbas and he was very patient and accommodating throughout most of the trip. Able to have some very special exceptional experiences with wildlife, including a leopard, two lions, and the gorilla and chimpanzee tracking experiences were both exceptional.
Carolyn had her work cut out for us because our budget wasn’t that high so the only complaint I would have is that some of the accommodations were not up to our standards, especially Red Chilli Rest Camp which was a disappointment. A bit more research is recommended for future clients in the accommodation department. Otherwise, everything went according to plan and it was an unforgettable adventure that I will remember for the rest of my life.
MT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Service
"I had an unforgettable experience with my family in Tanzania, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have chosen Highneck Safaris as our tour operators through Kraze Malta. Their service was exceptional, and our guide, Edward, stood out with his extensive knowledge and unwavering dedication to making our vacation a dream come true. He consistently went above and beyond, and by the end of the trip, we considered him more like family than just a guide.
Highneck Safaris made sure we are comfortable by sending daily messages and to check whether we need anything. Definitely recommended 👌
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Totally recommend (especially for solo travelers)
Wonderful agency. I was a solo traveler and got added into groups- the agency was so flexible and communicative and made sure was 100% comfortable at all times. In fact, one of the jeeps (a third party) they added me on to provided a boxed lunch (it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t good at all) and they were so apologetic they invited me to dinner and a hotel room for me to shower after the safari (this was def not included - they were just supposed to take me to the airport). They are amazing and I really really really recommend them, best customer service I have experienced. Oh, and the safari was great I saw tons and tons of animals (but this isn’t a highlight since they aren’t really responsible for the animals you see or don’t).
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and very well organised
We had one day safari trip from Dar Es Salaam to Morogoro Mikumi Park. Everything was so well organised by Leopard with perfect timings and communication. Our time in Mikumi Park felt so special, with also big thanks to Bacari/our guide.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Really great company with fantastic communication
Absolutely fantastic 5 day safari, our guide Ben went above and beyond to make sure we had seen every animal you could imagine and to experience Kenyan culture.
Cycling safari,boat safari, walking safari and game drive all with really knowledgeable people.
Great communication from start to finish and all the accomodation was great!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding!
Our experience with Paul’s Untamed Escapades was exceptional. From the outset, communication with Paul was transparent and effective, with regular check-ins throughout our safari. Our guide, Jack, demonstrated remarkable attentiveness and kindness, consistently going above and beyond to ensure that our experience was tailored to our expectations and aspirations. After spending a week with Jack, my husband and I felt as though we had forged a genuine friendship and look forward to maintaining contact with him. I highly recommend this company and would not hesitate to utilize their services again in the future.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience with Serengeti Smile – Highly Accommodating!
We recently booked our Zanzibar trip through Serengeti Smile, and they were fantastic to work with! From the start, they found us great hotels at very competitive prices, making the planning process stress-free. I did have a small scare when they asked for a second balance payment after we had initially planned to settle it in cash upon arrival, but it was quickly explained that this was due to a request from the hotel. Once clarified, everything went smoothly.
The transportation they arranged was comfortable – from our drive from the airport to Nungwi Beach and later to Stone Town, everything was seamless. We also had the pleasure of meeting Abraham, our city tour guide, during the walking tour in Stone Town. He was incredible, and we thoroughly enjoyed the three-hour tour with him.
Overall, Serengeti Smile made our Zanzibar experience unforgettable, and we truly appreciated their flexibility and transparency throughout the process!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good overall experience
Me and my wife have been travelling with Destiny explorers on a 5D/4N safari at the end of september across 4 national parks in Tanzania (Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara): I won't mention here how fantastic and adventurous the whole trip was...!
We booked plenty in advance (in January '23) but due to the company being quite small and the low season we would have probably found a seat also a few weeks before (but maybe not flights and accomodations).
We choose it because it was one of the cheapest company providing the tour we wanted and the accomodation (mid range) and the tour proposed were perfectly fitting our needs: to be honest we were a bit apprehensive about the reliability of the company and the personnel until we got to Tanzania and met the staff; being such a small, possibly unknown company and having paid such a lot of money in advance from the other side of the world made us feel a little worried until the last moment: the same feeling would have applied for any other safari company probably.
In one word we have no regrets in our choice!
PROS:
- being a small company we managed to keep the whole cost within our budget compared to the thousands of companies on this site
- the accomodations were absolutely gorgeous (2N in "Ngorongoro Forest tented Lodge" + 2N in " Serengeti baobab camp") and we couldn't ask for more despite them being cathegorized as "middle range". The food was also perfect, both for the buffet/restaurant dinners and for the packet lunches.
- this was a private safari, only the two of us on the jeep, deciding times and movements according to the guide: this was a huge pro compared to other companies providing group safari (we've seen even 8 people on a single car) at an higher cost.
- despite the low price we did absolutely everything else that all the company did; we went in any place and saw everything was possible to see and more; infact we kept meeting the same cars from all the different companies in every stops we made.
- Peter, our driver and guide was exactly the person we were aiming to have with us in the tour: he was extremly serious and professional, few words but the right ones at the right moment! His english was very good, he was listening to the radio to bring us to see the rarest animals when spotted.
- the car had 2 UK sockets with a 220 inverter to charge your phone or camera, an old fridge to keep your water cold (free bottles of water were provided), pop up roof, no AC, manual windows, lots of space.
CONS:
- main negative (or less positive) point would be attributed to the car and overall safety: on our last day in Serengeti we stopped at a gas station to get one tire fixed and one, that was completely worned out, replaced and we found out both spare tires on the back of the car were punctured and would have not be possible to use them in case of a flat tire during the trip until that moment; on our last day the morning pick up was delayed becase the car wasn't starting at all: our guide went above and beyond his duty to get it fixed fast. Car stopped suddenly due to an harsh brake and we had to be pushed by another car to start it. Seat belt wasn't properly latching. Fridge was old and little dirty inside. To summarize: a very very old car that definitively requires big maintenance that should be done BEFORE starting the tour and not left to the driver to fix it as an emergency. We were lucky that nothing major happened (we have seen other companies with very big issues on their cars that fully compromised the whole safari), but this shouldn't be left to luck: a break down in the middle of Serengeti would have cost us a couple of days to get a new car delivered.
- the food the accomodations provided for our packed lunches were good and appetizing yet little basic for somebodies needs: we were absolutely happy with our choices and to spend less than an hour for the pick nick (we were there to see animals, not to waste time in lunch and getting drunk!), but this might be a little disappointing for somebody: we've seen tables prepared with proper hot food (rice, chicken, soups etc) and even with beers and wines served in glass chalices... not what we were looking for, but just an heads up if you fancy that kind of "high standard" comfort.
- last but not least was a little/big misunderstanding at the very end of the journey that left us with a bitter feeling: I calculated and prepared a very decent tip for the driver based on what I read online being a fair amount and on our experience with the car damages and overall comfort. There was a moment of embarassment with the driver as I handed the money to him and he counted... he asked for more in a very polite way, 20 USD per person per day, total 200 USD! We got to find out we were actually paying his own salary as he was not receiving any money from the company. This was very disappointing from many point of views: we were not aware of this fixed price we had to pay, it could have been communicated from the very beginning (I just had enough cash to cover this but I was left without a dollar for the rest of my trip). Why was not this a fixed price per car but it was per person if this was the driver's salary? Tip should be a free choice in quality and quantity and not a fixed imposed price... we would have been happy to know and pay this from the beginning as part of the safari cost.
OVERALL CONSIDERATIONS:
All went fine and we had an awesome experience.
Destiny exporers was exactly what we were expecting in terms of costs, quality, services so for us it was a 9/10 choice, but it could not be for everybody if you wish to pay slightly more and have a better comfort and safety.