JP
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guide, worst agency
I do not recommend this agency at all.
All the bookings are fine, but they hadn’t pay petrol fee to our guide in advance , so we had to stay at petrol station twice for long time to wait them to send money to our guide.
Eventually they did not send him money so he had to pay out of his pocket. Which is INSANE.
As you know, petrol fee in Kenya is bloody expensive.
Anyway, our guide was super nice guy. He said that our tour will be the last job with this agency. Bless him.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by Val
We did not see any birds
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything and more than you would ever imagine in Africa
South Africa has so many diverse geographical regions, waterfront at Cape Town, agriculture both beautiful and tasty, and multiple terrain for animals. We’ve been to multiple countries in Africa for safaris and loved all of them, however it seemed South Africa had even more to offer. Absolutely best wildlife, we saw everything on this trip that it took several trips to see in the past, although maybe we were just lucky since animals aren’t predictable. We even had an opportunity to do the shark cage diving, a little different than Great White cage diving we’ve done elsewhere, but a great experience just the same. And if nothing else, you could eat your way around the country, especially outstanding is the produce. Kudos to G Adventures who we traveled with part of the time, and Mmilo Tours for an outstanding private sunrise tour. We would go back in a heartbeat. And before I forget, the history should not be missed with a tour of Robben Island and Soweto. Lastly, the people of South Africa are beyond friendly and helpful.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Several felines
In Masai Mara we have seen a lot of animals, also felines hunting or with babies.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Vast wilderness and wildlife
I went on a mobile safari to Savuti and Khwai (which I especially loved because of the scenery next to the river) and one day in Moremi.
I was a solo female traveler and felt well protected and looked after by the crew of my tour operator Xaa Safaris. I had a spacious tent with an en-suite bathroom and loved hearing the animals at night: lions roaring, hyaenas howling, elephants rumbling and hippos barking. I was great to watch the elephants strolling through the campsite in Khwai during the day, and I even encountered an elephant drinking out of a my wash basin while I was inside the tent! We saw lions a few times in Savuti and Moremi, came across a pack of wild dogs and a bat-eared fox couple and had a great leopard sighting where we spent quite some time with the animal. Apart from that we enjoyed spotting many gracious giraffes, a lot of hippos and elephants, but also saw also the rarer sable and roan antilopes and ground hornbill. It was good fun and excitement to track lion, leopard or hyaena.
After the safari I spent a few days in Maun and went on a one day trip to Okavango delta.
I can recommend Botswana as a travel destination for its vast wilderness and wildlife. Looking forward to return and see other areas like the salt pans and Kalahari.
good in general, my favourite is the gorongoro crate.
I like the whole trip, 4 days is definitely enough for me. I don't see there is a reason to have a longer trip. We are quite lucky to see all the rare animals including leopard and rhinos.
Take away food was like meh, so don't expect too much on the lunch side.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A new adventure every day
We toured Uganda for 17 days mid range accommodation. We took many game drives, launch trip on Kazinga Channel, gorillas and Chimpanzee trekking, plus visted Lake Bunyonyi and local villages. We had the most amazing holiday with many animal sightings. Accommodation was very good and food excellent.
We felt very safe whilst in Uganda.
Uganda represents great value when compared to other African Countries
Our main TIP for other travellers is not to leave any money in your room or unattended. Even if it is locked in a bag, unfortunately we had some money stolen from a locked bag which was opened and relocked so it was not evident we had money stolen.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
This is a professionally run safari with great value.
We were completely happy with every aspect of our safari. Our guide, David, was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and was always eager to impart that information to us. He is the guides’ guide as he often told other drivers where to go look for the animals. I’m so amazed how he can spot an animal hidden far away as he drove. He’d stop and tell us where to look and sometimes it took us 10-15 minutes with binoculars to find the animal. He’d go to any length possible to make our adventure the best possible one. He also knows how animals behave and will park at a spot where he knows the animal will walk towards. He’ll beat other drivers to getting the best viewing spot. Also he’ll park where you’ll get the best angle photographically and tell you if a video would be better and he’s right.
Originally we booked a minivan but upgraded to a Land Cruiser and were glad we did. About 90% of the safari vehicles in Maasai Mara and Amboselli National Parks were Land Cruisers. We used an open top minivan with another operator in Nairobi national park and got stuck in wet mud on one section. We had to wait until another vehicle came by to use a bungee cord to pull our minivan out. Land Cruisers with their four wheel drive are much less likely to get stuck and the seating is more spacious then the minivans.
We also upgraded to a private safari which is good because we can tell David however long we want to stay at any given viewing spot. Often the drives are hours long and one time after eating something bad I had to tell David to pull over so I could use a “bush toilet.” I would have been embarrassed if I had to do so with a shared safari packed with strangers.
We were wary about doing the optional Lake Nakuru 2 hour boat ride and nature walk after reading reviews. But we were glad we did. You can see hippos much closer on the boat and you can walk to about 20 feet from wildlife.
We did the optional Massai village tour and it was interesting to see and learn how they live. However, we did have a bad taste at the end when we were led into their market area where we were subject to overly aggressive sales tactics for souvenirs vastly overpriced by multiples over what you can pay anywhere else for the exact same items.
We help support the massai with the “donation” fee for admission on the front end and to subject their guests to a rude ending doesn’t really help their cause in the long run. Then again, the massai aren’t known for being good business people.
Neither the Maasai village, boat/nature walk or balloon excursions had anything to do with Wild Adventures. They just dropped us off at those places if we wanted to do those excursions and we paid those places without Wild Adventures being a middleman.
We did the balloon ride over Amboselli which lasted about 1.25 hours at $450 per person. It was ok, but we didn’t see too many animals and the view of mt Kilimanjaro was not much different from 500 feet up. Personally I thought the balloon went too high because the few animals we saw were too small and far away. I’d rather see animals from just above tree height, which I’m told is the case at the massai Mara balloon ride.
We upgraded to the Sentrim chain lodgings and they were clean and comfortable. They consist of single rustic bungalow buildings. The food was buffet style and tasty with a decent variety. I did get an upset stomach but neither my two family members nor David did so go figure. Wild Adventures provided ample water during the game drives and the lodgings put a 500 ml bottle for each guest in the room, which we used to brush our teeth as tap is not completely potable.
One of the sentrim properties only had electricity available from 5-7 am and 6-10 pm so overnight charging wasn’t available. Not all sentrim properties had outlets compatible with US plugs so we still needed our adapters sometimes. All the lodgings had hot showers and flushing toilets.
We highly recommend using Explorers wild Adventures as they are a professionally run operation geared to high client satisfaction.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable experience
We recently went on a 5 day Safari excursion to Mikumi and Ruaha in Tanzania with Kihindo Tours & Safaris. We can confidently say this was the most surreal and exhilarating experiences of our lives. The organisation was seamless; Winnie was extremely helpful as she was the main point of contact even prior to our arrival.
The Experience: Our adventure began from the moment we were picked up by our guide, William from our hotel in Dar Es Salaam in the morning and went on a 5-hour drive to Mikumi. We found the drive insightful as you get to see different parts of Tanzania and its rich culture. The Jeep itself was very comfortable and spacious, we had plenty of water to drink in the car and stopped half way on our journey for a delicious lunch (buffet style). We arrived in Mikumi in the afternoon and headed straight to the national park where we saw various animals such as lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants and antelopes! William was very knowledgable and very passionate about wildlife and welcomed our curious questions.
We proceeded to Ruaha Hilltop Lodge the next day following an early morning drive around Mikumi National Park. We spent the whole of the next day in Ruaha National Park; this was by far our favourite experience as the park itself is one of the largest in the country. Our favourite part was that it felt completely untouched and less touristy. We would drive around for a long period without seeing other Safari Jeeps! We were very lucky too as we saw 4 of the big 5 in what felt like the most natural habitat. Being in what felt like the only ones amongst these majestic creatures along with the owe-filled-silences observing them is a memory that will stay with us forever.
As you are looking out for the big 5, we would also recommend tuning in on the birds (there are over 500 bird species!) and we saw everything from eagles, vultures to the smallest kind with remarkable chirps. Additionally, the ecosystem is very diverse with savannahs, woodlands, river-systems and baobabs. Not only are the guides informative, they are also impressively attentive to afar animals!
Accommodation: Kihindo Tours arranged our accommodations in Mikumi (Camp Bastien Mikumi) and Ruaha (Ruaha Hilltop Lodge).
Camp Bastien was beautiful and had lovely cottage style accommodation, swimming pool and a large outdoor sitting area complete with a fire pit in the middle. It was a wonderful way to unwind following the Safaris.
Ruaha Hilltop Lodge is perched on a hilltop and offers the most breathtaking panoramic scenery of Ruaha (national park included). The lodge had spacious bungalows and we had to walk up the hill to get to ours! You are escorted to and from your accommodation by a member of staff as they are separate from the main lounge, dining area.
The lodges were beautiful, luxurious, comfortable and spacious. The staff were very kind and the food extremely delicious (all buffet style).
Final Thought: This safari felt like a journey into nature that left us in awe of the beauty and complexity of wildlife. It is at a reasonable cost (cheaper than some of the safaris we looked into) for what is offered (pick up from and to hotels/airports, Safari excursions, meals, experienced guide for the duration of your journey etc). I highly recommend this experience to anyone looking to connect with the great outdoors. Pack your walking shoes, comfortable clothing (including a jumper or 2 as the mornings and evenings are slightly chilly), camera and binoculars be prepared for the most extraordinary adventure!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The driver and guide were quite impressive
to visit Madagascar was a great experience for me. As a manager, Theresia was dependable and extremely accommodating. The driver and guide were quite impressive. I saw a lot of lemurs, baobabs, and interesting locations. The Tsingy de Bemaraha was an amazing location. It was a really amazing experience.