DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania was beautiful but the change of our travel plan by Uhuru was not nice
We visited end of February Tanzania. Wildlife, scenery and the weather was perfect. We did camping. So nothing luxury, but the tents and sleeping bags were clean. It was a great experience to hear the wild animals in the night in the near of the tents. The cook prepared amazing food for us. So Tanzania was beautiful and I recommend everyone to go for it. One thing was not nice. It was planned that we visit first Tarangire, then Serengeti and then Ngorongoro. Uhuru changed our travel plan, we visited first Serengeti and then Ngorongoro with two other tourists. In the third day the safari ended at 1 PM for us (half day!). The two other tourists went with the same SUV to Arusha on the same day. We spend the half day at the camping side. Next day another car brought us to Tarangire. This change was not nice. Uhuru informed us about the change at the first day of the safari. So we did not have a chance other than doing the best out of the safari.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I got what I paid for for booking last minute!
AMAZING scenery, especially at sunrise and sunset! The weather was perfect at this time of year (dry season). Got to see a pack/herd? of giraffes, elephants, buffaloes...etc. We were able to see everything except Lions!
We booked very last minute and so we had quite a few disappointments...
- no park ranger as a tour guide - which would have helped us see lions! we were so disappointed to miss the lions!
- our guide spoke poor English and barely explained things to us
- did not go in a 4x4 land cruiser as stated...ended up in a very old van with broken A/C and extremely shaky
- Stayed at Bwana Tembo, which is outisde of the park. Good food, nice manager, but not exactly worth the mid-range price. No electricity in the rooms! Just a fan to help keep cool at night, and our driver was put in a room with NO fan at all and it was boiling hot all night. Very unfair treatment for him.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Drones was great in Kenya, but struggled in Tanzania
The communication from Drones before the trip seemed great. In Kenya we had a little orientation of what to expect, and that went well. Our guide was knowledgeable and looked out for us well. The accommodations were very comfortable.
The transfer to Tanzania was confusing because we kept being handed off to different people and the information they were giving us was different that we had been told. And our hotel was changed to a place that was not as nice as we had been told we would be staying. That was apparently for the convenience of the manager on the Tanzania side. That manager was rude when questioned about the change. The cook for our stay in Tanzania was great. Our guide was not quite as good as our guide in Kenya, but was fine. The camping was uncomfortable because the provided tents were old canvas tents which were not waterproof and the weather was cold and rainy. Additionally, the tents were put away wet, so even before the rain started, the tents smelled terrible and were very wet inside.
Despite booking the entire trip through Drones, the experiences between countries were very different.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exhiting
I recomend to improve the information on the elements for choise the best tour.
The dexcription of the park, rate the lodge not only by quality but also for their position (to avoid long transfer to park entrance) and finally to the vehicle.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Skeleton Coast National Park by Heather Johnston
Dunes run to the ocean. Cooler than inland. Seal colony a big hit, but smelly!
KR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Let down
When I had made my booking, I had specified that I needed a driver/guide who had knowledge of local birds.
The vehicle provided was a below average vehicle. Lots of noise and smell. The driver a good man but not so knowledgeable about birds. There was not even a reference book for birds. Even worse was he was on the phone for a long time due to which he was not engaging with me.
A trip to Africa is probably once a lifetime to many people. The tour operators needs to respect that and ensure proper service.
CL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience and recommendable but not liked expected and with many objections
We are a couple that booked a group joining safari of 11 days in Kenia and Tanzania with Pride o Africa. We booked it in advance from our country. Below I describe first all the positive things of our experience with this company and then all the negatives:
Positives:
- All the staff is very friendly and are nice persons.
- Stephen was very fast in reply all our inquiries before and during the safari. He was very attentive and was always concerned about us and our satisfaction.
- Jacktone and Deo, our drivers in Kenia and Tanzania respectively, were very good guides, they knew good the visited parks and made a big effort for giving us a great time.
-We could see the big fives (but leopard just one time and it was the last today and from afar).
-Both drivers cleaned the vehicules everyday.
-In general good organization (except the problems mentioned below)
In general I think the people of Pride of Africa is serious and very reliable.
Negatives:
-As soon as we arrived at Nairobi and were picked up by the people of Pride of Africa (the managers), they persuaded us to change our group joining safari for a private safari (only for the Kenia’s part). We agreed because they recommended it strongly and we didn’t have much time to decide (we were under pressure). They said that the only way to keep the original accommodations was making the private tour. We had to pay an important extra cost not considered in our original budget. It would much better if people of Pride of Africa had talken about this before arriving there, so we would have time to think about it without pressure. Besides the group joining safari in Tanzania was as good as the private option in Kenya, we were only three persons in total, and finally we didn’t see real advantages to make the private safari in Kenya, specially considering we like to share with other people.
- We didn’t all the game drives indicated on the original program. I think this happened because the program was very optimistic. Is not possible to do all the game drives offered because of the timings.
-We were cheated in a shop where we stopped for resting on the way to Masai Mara. I think that the guide should not stop on bad reputation places or at least he or/and the company should aware the tourists of this bad practices.
-In Tanzania the Safari was made by another company from that country (I think that they are partners of Pride of Africa, but we were not informed in advance). They changed an important part of our program without asking or telling us. Luckly and casually we realized this the day before thanks to a conversation with the driver. We were just at time to talk the managers of both companies and claim for maintaining the original program. They solved it quickly, but if we didn’t see this the day before we would loss an important time in Seregenti.
-We liked all the lodges and campsites we stayed, except one because it was a campsite in a town and not in a park or in the wildlife as expected (Jambo Lodge, Lake Manyara). Also the staff there were not very friendly and we were almost the unique tourists there. We didn’t feel comfortable in that place. Unfortunately we spent three nights there(more than in all the other places).
- Again, without asking us, they changed 1 night in Nogrongoro for 1 night in Lake Manyara (Jambo Lodge, the place we didn’t like)
-The Land Cruiser in Tanzania didn’t have radio (important tool for communication between guides and to find animals). This was offered in the original program. The vehicle had also the windshield broken and seat belts were not very good working.
In brief we still recommend this company, but we suggest to be aware checking everyday the program in advance to have time to claim is anything is changed or wrong. Take care with the shops where you will stop for resting. If you visit Lake Manyara, ask to not say in Jambo Lodge, is not a comfortable place. Is better to stay on campsites inside the parks with the wildlife and sharing with more tourists.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorilla Trek
I'll begin with the positives... I had a remarkable time with the gorillas, I trekked with the chimpanzees, I saw a number of animals in Queen Elizabeth and Uganda is one beautiful country.
I was the only person on my tour, the car was nice and comfortable, the guide Jesse was enthusiastic, and for what I did and saw the experience was great value.
But.... The communication between Michael and the rest of the Mushra team was severely lacking, the moment I'd paid my tour fees communication stopped which caused a great deal of stress from my end. During the tour it was super unorganised with many fees still owed, which almost made me miss my trek with the chimps.
Overall it is what it is. It's super cheap compared to other agency, it's rough around the edges, but it delivered for me.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Addo Elephant National Park by Anna Mahon Oneill
I prebooked alot of my SA trip and felt Addo was the hardest place to book. Their accommodation is booked separately from the game drives and restaurant bookings so nothing seems straight forward, linked or easy. It took a total of over 20 emails to book anything, information on the website is wrong, email addresses on the website bounce back - i honestly don't know how they're so busy. I was expecting great things since it is the second biggest park in SA, both of the Addo accommodation we stayed in were lovely (better than expected) altho the plunge pool at our nyathi rest camp booking was very dirty so I sadly didn't use it at all. We did two guided game drives that did end up enabling us to see animals we hadn't seen at other reserves but the park is so big and the bush so dense that its hard to actually see anything unless you happen to be lucky and find the animal crossing the road. We didn't do a self drive, drive which we regret but as we stayed in the Nyathi rest camp it ment we were locked out of the park and made us feel like we couldn't explore as much as we would have wanted. The reception is a frustrating place were staff definitely take their time processing things. Paying for game drives is unorganised and could definitely be dealt with better. All in all i'm glad i got to see some animals as if i hadnt it would have been a waste. I'm not sure i would recommend Addo - maybe if your in the area or driving passed and have a few hours or a day to kill then definitely go but if pre booking i hope its a better experience than i had.