Review about Spioenkop Game Reserve by Johan B van Niekerk
Great weekend destination.
Review about Augrabies Falls National Park by Johan B van Niekerk
We did not encounter any "wow" moments at Augrabies
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Moremi Game Reserve by C H
We stayed in Sango and were disappointed overall. game drives with the exception of the first morning were very long and not much wildlife. Guide was not very interested. Overall we would have skipped this one.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Queen Elizabeth National Park by Callan
Wow, this place was not as expected. A lot less animals than expected and while the boat trip was a different way to do a safari in africa, the commentary while on the boat was a real disappointment.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by rick harner photo
The lake level is continually being depleted for agricultural interests and as such the ability to see hippo, flamingos and other water reliant species are being diminished. This park can be bypassed if on a tight schedule and/or budget. I rate this park Fair for wildlife photography.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing attitude
I wouldn't recommend TSS to anybody considering a safari in Tanzania - we didn't find them to be very professional at all and overall they handled our trip poorly. Firstly, their representative was late for our pre-safari briefing, and when we tried to call them their number was disconnected. As our hotel receptionist said she had never heard of them we found this a little worrying. When they did arrive we were told that due to reports back from Lake Manyara (where we were supposed to go on our first day) that there wasn't much wildlife being spotted, we would be going to Tarangire instead with a different group. This wasn't really a problem, but it would have been better to be told in advance rather than just before departure as we would have had more time to consider our options.
On the safari itself, our second day took us to Serengeti. As we were driving into the Serengeti the car had a fault, causing us to then be stuck at the gate there for 3 hours while it was looked at. This meant we missed a lot of game drive time, and arrived at camp having to set up our tents in the dark without any assistance after eventually being picked up by a different vehicle just before sunset. While we understand that faults like this happen, the way the situation dealt with was really not good enough - we repeatedly asked what was going on and were not given any information or any sense that there was a proper procedure to follow in incidents such as this.
After returning to Arusha at the end of our safari, two members of our group went to the operator's office in person to request a partial refund due to the time missed on safari, which they were given ($100 each). As we were leaving that day we didn't have chance to do so ourselves, so decided to email Elvice at TSS afterwards. The attitude we received when telling him what had happened and requesting the same refund as the others was appalling and completely unprofessional. He implied heavily that we were lying, and that the others had no such refund (they did, I maintained contact with them and checked this several times), then this changed to him telling us that the others had a refund because of problems in Kenya beforehand (they hadn't even been to Kenya).
The final straw was his attempt at emotional manipulation in telling us that they only offer group safaris to help people and they don't make a profit on them, so this refund would have to come out of his own pocket and would destroy years of hard work and that they'd have to consider stopping group safaris, that he'd have to beg to borrow it from a friend etc etc. At this point I gave up - I am not interesting in bankrupting anybody, and frankly found the whole thing ridiculously unprofessional.
There are plenty of other safari operators available and I would advise avoiding Tanzania Safari Supremacy if possible.
BE
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Mieke Verschueren, Belgium
Not a lot to see
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great safari, average food, poor accommodation..
The driver who picked us up from Dar and stayed with us the whole trip was a good, safe driver who really did an effort to make sure we had a satisfying safari tour.
The accommodation where we stayed the first two nights, cottage in Mikumi, was very poor (shower didn't work, room wasn't really clean, some windows did not have curtains, AC only worked 10% of the time) but the view was amazing. The food they served was average, if there was any. After our morning drive we only got an egg for breakfast... So our driver took us somewhere else for lunch, which was great, the food was really good and we had a fantastic view over the wildlife park.
The accommodation in which we were supposed to stay in Udzungwa appeared to be fully booked (how is that possible when you book your tour two months in advance??), but luckily they were able to place us in Hondo Hondo instead of a downgrade hotel they offered us at first. Hondo Hondo is great place to stay!
The safari's we did during the first three days and the hike in Udzungwa on the fourth day were perfect! We saw all animals you hope to see on a safari and the view on the hike was amazing (good knowledgeable guide as well)!
Overall we feel like we have paid way too much for this tour and would not recommend to book your safari's with Gombe unless they give a 50% discount on their price or give you some sort of a guarantee to arrange proper accommodation.
Review about Shiwa Ng'andu Estate by Achim
A wonderful place for a one-day-visit.
IE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Refunded for day 1 of trip
** UPDATE APRIL 2015
Thanks to peter for refunding us the cost of our first day's travel as promised
** ORIGINAL REVIEW
We booked transport from Nairobi airport to Masai Mara for 7.30am dept time so we could do an afternoon game drive. We left nairobi 8 hours late at 3:30 pm having waited all day and arrived at 9:30pm and missed entirely one of our two days of game drives. We were given continued excuses over and over again and several requests for money en route for expenses etc. We had paid upfront and in full. This company almost ruined the entire trip. Thankfully we had independently booked great accommodation who provided their own good driver and guide for our game drive the next day. This company is not anywhere near good enough and should be avoided at all costs. They have promised a refund but continuously have deferred about paying this.