US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Be careful with whom you book
The countryside is fantastic. The wildlife is even better. The people are polite and helpful. However, the traffic is horrible both inside and outside of the the game parks. The company with whom we booked, Bluerange Connect Ltd., did not live up to the proposed/agreed upon itinerary and there is nothing we can do about it.
Be careful.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great wildlife, friendly driver and chef, bad equipment
We choose the 4-day Safari to Manyara Lake, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti and the communication, before the Safari started, was good although it was not possible for us to do the online deposit, but it was possible to pay when we arrived Arusha. Our guide/driver Horas and the chef Vitalis cared really good about everything and did a good job. Sometimes we expected more information of the guide spontaneously which was rare, but he could answer all our questions. So we saw a lot of animals an he gave us enough time to observe them- what was great! And the dinners Vitalis cooked for us were really good!
But we also had a few problems: at the gate of the Serengeti we were not allowed to enter the park because Richard hadn't done the cash transfer or something went wrong (we still don't know). So we waited for three hours and one member of our group had to do the payment with his credit card. After the safari he got the money back from Richard but it was annoying that we had to wait for three hours without knowing what's going on. The second thing were the tents. They are okay but because of the age the zipper is bad/ broken and it's not possible to close them properly. One evening was an short rainstorm and all the water came in on every seam. Furthermore the sleeping bags smelled like hell (sweat of a lot of people) and I would recommend to everybody to take their own sleeping bag! Third and last thing: the car broke down on the third day. The driveshaft of the back wheel broke. It was nobodys fault and they were able to find a solution after 40 minutes - so we drove to the next camp with front wheel drive. The guide drove to the next garage and they fixed it during the night.
So all in all it was a good safari with some adventures.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing place but....
First of all, we didn’t do any safari. My partner and I have been travelling the last 7 months and we spent 6 weeks in the country.
Ethiopia is full of amazing places, very unique landscapes and lovely people that in some places made your stay a wonderful experience. The highlights for us were the Simien Mountains where we did a eight days trek and we had the chance to see Gelada monkeys a couple of Waila Ibexes and many birds and the landscape was just beautiful. The Danakil Depression, the lowest place on earth (100mt below sea level), although it requires lots of driving at the end it worth all the journey because it is such a unique environment with lots of things to do from the right moment you arrive in the desert until you climb the top of a volcano, the heat sometimes can be challenging. After that we went to the Tigray area where you can hike and climb some of the amazing rock hills to visit a medioeval church, again a very unique experience. And the Abuna Josef mountain was the last trek in the country where we were lucky to see three Ethiopian wolfs many monkeys and an amazing view of the mountains around also we had the chance to spend a couple of days with a local family.
At the end we did lot more and we visited many places but these were our favourites, it is a big country with too many people, interestingly diverse from north to south and with plenty of activities that can make the experience unforgettable but for us that we were backpacking sometimes moving from one place to another was difficult and challenging because the lack of official and reliable information especially for prices.
It is an amazing place that can be enjoyed easily with an organised tour operator but at higher cost but for backpacking style it can be a very challenging and expensive experience but it worth it.
Thanks
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing but now the government has reinstated elephant killing - tragic
We chose Botswana as a destination worthy of the additional expense due to their conservation and reputation. Safari Bookings and Desert and Delta were both top notch with excellent service. Tragically however the government has just reinstated elephant killings. These are smart and emotionally intelligent animals that understand who is attacking them. This is a safety issue in addition to the vulnerable status of African elephants. We will not return or support the decision to reinstate elephant killing.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money but definitely needs improvement!
Tour started as promised. Julius was excellent on transfers from/to airport to hotels. Our first 3 days were great with Stanley in Masai Mara ( very friendly / good driver) and Lake Nakuru. Our hotels Masai Mara Lodge (very good) and Lake Nakuru (average) were both in excellent locations. We had a very short game drive in Lake Nakuru so it was a bit of a waste of time. Last 3 days of the tour after Nakuru turned into a nightmare, spending long hours in the car with a non-company driver with zero knowledge in animals / safari, Amboseli tour was complete waste of time and very tiring... the connections/ timings / this trip could be improved. Suggest 3 days in Masai Mara and 2 day in Nakuru. Overall great experience seeing all of the animals (we have seen them all) but the entire experience could have been better...
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African experience!
We had a great time in Tanzania! Highlights would definitely be the Safari. It was exhilarating to see the animals in their habitat. This was truly an experience for us, as obviously this is not available to us in Canada. Our guide was excellent - he was knowledgeable and made every effort to make our Safari experience memorable in trying to see as many animals as possible despite the rainy condition of the day. Our trek back from Mikumi was a challenge, due to to the traffic jam we encountered. However, our guide got us back to our hotel safe and sound. We would recommend Selous Explorer to others travelling to Dar Es Salaam. Thank you!
LT
Indigo isn't making trips to Namibia by themselves
I've found the nice reviews of Indigo Safaris looking for a trip to Namibia. To my enquiry about the price for "6-DAY SAFARI & DESERT EXPERIENCE - GROUP ACCOMMODATED" with additional 2 nights pre- and post tour and airport transfer I got 21900 NAD. Only after asking isn't it the tour that costs "from 15720 NAD" (according to indigosafaris.com) we ended with 17800 NAD with additional percentage for paying by card and for conversion to EUR. We corresponded quite long and a had a feeling that something not said. Only after asking direct about the group size, Corinne Bly whom I communicated with, wrote it was not a trip of Indigo Safaris. The tour was good, the guide - perfect, but decide yourself if there's sense to pay commissions for a dealer, - or just look for Chameleon Safaris (or anybody else) when going to Namibia... And it's recommended to ask about the max group size and max places in the vehicle (we were 8 what was optimum, - for the maximal group of 12 the vehicle wouldn't be convenient)
BE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The trip was well organized, but rather expensive .
Guides and drivers were ok. Some accomodations (Debark especially) were not acceptable.
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Queen Elizabeth National Park by Karin
Very dry, quite flat not so exciting National Park. Unfortunately very limited wildlife sightings.
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great country to see wildlife
Murchison Falls National Park, Impenetrable Forest and the Vitunga Mountains offer great opportunities to see wildlife. People are very friendly and travelling is quite easy. Outside the national parks there is, however, not too much to see or do from a tourist perspective.