DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The tour itself is very nice but be careful with the payment
Basically, the tour is quite well organised and planned and everything worked out. We saw a lot of the country and even more animals. It was really nice.
But be careful with the payment. The organisation tries to take money out of your pockets wherever possible. It starts with a very bad exchange rate and allegedly high bank fees that you have to pay additionally to the tour operator and then again afterwards to the bank. In addition, you often have to pay for two days' admission to the park, even though you only spent one day in the park. However, you do not get the money back.
In addition, they are very uncooperative and unfriendly when you ask them questions about this, put you under a lot of pressure and immediately threaten you with the police if you try to defend yourself.
The tour itself is highly recommended, as long as you pay attention to the payment.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Agency presents a picture of the tour that exceeds expectations and reality
Safari - The Seasons hotel fair. Only positive is the food. A/C and TV not working, no hair dryer. Needs updating. The tent camp was a unique experience that was very nice. Our safari guide, Tandi was excellent. There were only 2 of us at the hotel which was sad. No choice in the meals, but they were good. The lion enclosure was a disgrace. Very small fenced in space with several lions laying around. Our guide was knowledgeable, but his actions disintegrated as the week passed on.
Capetown - great overview of the city and had a wonderful guide in J.P. J.P. was outstanding; knowledgeable, timely, professional; perfect. Showed us everything on the itinerary and we were not disappointed. The hotel staff and food was excellent. The chef made us ostrich one evening and it was well prepared and delicious. Hotel does not have elevators, only cement stairs, which should be told to guests beforehand. Only one guest room on the main floor. Although the hotel was nice I would have preferred to stay in the city where more shops were readily available and you could walk around the city and talk to residents. The location is on the beach, but isolated. Only one small shopping area and it was quite a walk from the hotel.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Would have love to give 5 stars …
There was a confusion about the pick up time but we made everything to be ready at the given time even if it wasn’t what was requested , but we ended waiting a little bit more than an hour to be picked up
From there everything was very nice , the safari was amazing , we’ve been lucky enough to see many animals and magical scenery on the first and second day !
The camp was okay , and was exactly as described . The food was nice also !
The masaai made a fire camp for us during the last night , we stayed around and enjoyed this time !
But the third day was a bit deceiving , we were brought to the masaai village at an extra cost , and to be honest it looked staged , and everything was made to make us give more and more money ! And the prices were excessfull !! People over there were kind of putting pressure on us to make us buy something or give money .
It’s a bit sad cause it was nice to discover the traditions at the beginning .
The we were brought to the community school and were again ask for “donations”.
After all that we were all a bit disturbed about this experience , and it was time to hit the road back to Nairobi .
On the road we asked our driver if it was possible to be dropped at Nairobi Terminus to catch our train , he told us that it was okay for him but he ended up dropping us in central Nairobi , with some guys who offered us to keep our luggage during the afternoon for free and then drop us at the train station for free in the evening ! But after, when we got in the office to leave our stuff , they started telling us that the ride to the train station will be at an extra cost !!! So I refused !! It wasn’t supposed to be like that !
All the other person in the group were dropped off were they asked !!
So we left and ended up paying a Bolt to get to the train station , which I find non professional at all since the tour guide was supposed to drop us there !!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good price, bad safari.
If you can only afford a budget safari and just want good pictures of animals, then this one might be a good option. The cost includes all meals, park entrance fees, transport and everything was well organised. However, if you would like a good safari with nice animal encounters, then I'd recommend going with another operator.
We were driven around in the Masai Mara for 3 days by Isaac from Jocky Tours. Isaac had his radio on constantly, listening out for reports of sightings. As soon as a sighting was reported (which was pretty much constantly, the charm of the Mara!), he'd put the accelerator down and drive full pelt to the sighting location. You'd be thrashed around at the back of the vehicle. Isaac would go off road at every possible opportunity. The Mara is scarred with tyre tracks, even though guides are supposed to stick to the roads. Once we'd reached the animal, Isaac would do all he can to get in the path of the animal, and as close as possible. Sadly, most other cars had the same idea, making the animals very stressed as lots of cars (most of the time 15+ cars) fight to move within 2 metres of them. As the animals move, the cars move too, constantly creeping closer and interrupting their path. This meant that most of our animal encounters were actually just distressing, rather than enjoyable. This appears to be a problem with most drivers in the mara, not just Isaac, and needs to be sorted.
We asked Isaac if he could slow down, stop driving in the animals path and we said we did not want to go close to the animals and cause them stress. However, he didn't listen and continued to do as he liked.
There were a few nice moments with animals, where we asked Isaac to stop and turn the car off. But any peace was disrupted by the radio or him on the phone. He'd also decide quite quickly that he was bored and start the car and drive off, cutting our nice moments with animals short.
I left the Mara feeling quite sad, realising that the chaotic and cruel interactions between animals and the drivers that I'd experienced, most likely happen on a daily basis.
If you are looking for an enjoyable safari and a guide that actually cares about the wildlife, I would not recommend Jocky Tours. Despite the price tag for this Jocky tour trip being so appealing, I'd recommend finding another operator and being clear to them before booking about what type of safari you'd like to go on.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
It was really amazing
We starting researching safaris about a year before travel. Because of Covid, I'm so glad we chose Tanzania in the end.
We chose to work with Salim because he is a local Tanzanian with tons of experience. Be careful with the bigger outfitters, you won't get quite as personalized experience and it will cost more.
Salim had great communication from the beginning and answered all of my many questions patiently. We chose to do an 8 day safari, visiting Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. Our guide was a true expert with years of experience and spoke perfect English (which is helpful because they are explaining so much about the animals). Having a good guide is vital to a successful safari as you spend so much time with them.
If you're looking to save a bit of money, here are my tips.
The affordable lodging is the route we went (mid level) and it exceeded expectations. Don't fret about staying at a fancy lodge, you're barely there, and when you are, you are exhausted. Save your money. I would have been disappointed if we spent extra on a nicer lodge because often we were gone from the room from 7-6pm.
Also, 5-6 days is plenty. I have no regrets about doing 8 days, but if I was on a tighter budget, we would have been just as happy with shaving a few days off the trip. We figured it was a once in a lifetime experience, so why not, but we definitely could have saved one day, which would have been about a $750 savings.
Flying from the Serengeti, or to the Serengeti, depending on how your trip is planned, is worth the money, but you could do the drive and save quite a bit. Our flights were $800 and in hindsight, I would have suffered through the bumpy drive back to save the money. BUT if you get car sick or hate traveling for long periods, spring for the flights, it does save time.
Here are some things I wish we would have known that I felt the internet was misleading about.
The clothing.
Yes, wearing lightweight clothing is important as the weather does change rapidly. That being said, you are in a vehicle most of the time. I certainly wouldn't have dropped as much money as I did on "safari" clothes if I knew we were barely going to get out of the vehicle. Bring a variety of clothes but don't fret terribly about the color.
Game drive time.
Everyone told me we needed to be up and on the road at 5:30, 6 am. This isn't true. We didn't start any game drives before 7:30 and saw plenty.
Camera gear.
Yes, having a long telephoto lens definitely helps if you're a photography junkie like me, BUT, you do get fairly close to most animals. Unless you're an pro or semi pro photographer, a 70-200mm lens will do you just fine.
The ONLY con I really have is the food, which isn't necessarily a con, just something to prep for. Most places you'll go are fairly remote and the cooks have to do their best with what resources they've got. While all the food tasted great, it is a simple menu. The packed lunches are quite simple as well, so bring snacks if you're a picky eater. For the total cost of the trip, normally food would be more "gourmet" so just be prepared. Once you see the landscape and the villages, you'll understand the depths the camps go through to provide good, fresh meals.
We had a phenomenal time and if you're on the fence, BOOK it! Using a local guide with on the ground knowledge like Salimu is the way to go.
DK
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Quick answers, fine contact, sympathic and good driver and guide
Fine safari to Mikumi National Park over the weekend. The communication with Isaya was easy and quick and our driver and guide, Mr Peter, brought us safe from Dar to Mikumi and back again. Many useful informations.
The cottages in the park were rather basic, but ok. The food was not ok.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not bad not good experience
I expect to have a more authentic experience.
What we have was a really touristic one.
If you want the easy and touristic way you 'll enjoy it but I expected something closer to the nature.
You can see a lot of animals though.
Another really bad thing was that our driver made a lot of stops without any reason (even for 30 mins) and a lot of locals were coming to sell stuff.
They just want to "sell" you to the locals which is really shame and touristic thing.
I would never booked the same operator even if the guys were so kind and pretty willing to help.
NL
Nice safari
The safari is really great, only one day of game drive is not that much though. The food was good, the drive between Dar es Salaam and Mikumi pretty long with a guy who hardly spoke any English.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guy, bad businessman
The first week on the Kilimanjaro was great, i can't complain. But then for the safaris they told me there was a problem because other people had cancelled last minute so I had to find a new group and pay 1300 dollars again, but they promised to give me that money back.... 3 months later and i am still waiting!!!
NL
under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nice view but poor guides.
We booked the Ndere Island Tour, of one day. Although the views were amazing, we had issues with the tour guides. We were on a boat for quite a long time and were very curious about Lake Victoria, but the guides seemed not interested in us and mostly kept to themselves, which was okay since it was early in the morning and not really part of the tour. However, we had to stop to pay parkfees to the Kenyan Wildlife Center, where our Hallmark guides started to argue with the employees about prices. We got a great but annoyed guide from the KWC and he showed all of us around on Ndere Island. Once again, nice views, but our own guides were having a vacation too: they made plenty of pictures of both the view and us, and seemed to be there for the first time. There seemed to be a rush and in high tempo we walked across the island at noon in full sun. Requests to rest or even look for more animals than the ones we bumped into were not taken seriously. Afterwards we asked to see hippos as they said they would do, but they laughed us off. Long story short, we paid a lot of money for our guides to basically have a tour too, next time we will just book at the Kenyan Wildlife Center and do without the Hallmark guides!