FR
Superb "à la carte" trip
Hello,
I went alone to north East Tanzania in November 2017. I met a group of amazing US tourists there, I traveled with them to Tarangire national park, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
Amazing trip, with amazing people in an amazing region. I can only recommend it, just be careful of the tips you need to give on a daily basis to locals (driver, guide, cook... around $10/person/day), which can increase your budget travel quite significantly.
Before traveling, don't hesitate to ask for some pictures to the places where you will sleep, huge differences between public camp, private camp and lodges in terms of comfort.
Christophe
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing wildlife but a very disorganized tour.
I visited Masai Mara during the great migration and it was an amazing experience. I have been to a lot of national parks in Africa including Kruger and the Serengeti and Masai Mara was the best experience. Although I may be overly influenced by the fact that this is the only time I have been able to see a leapord up close. The down side was our tour operator, Karibu Tours. They seemed to be completely disorganised and modified the tour to suit their needs over their clients. In addition our guide/driver was very poor at keeping us informed and answering our questions. The other sites we visited were not as interesting especially Lake Nakuru which is no longer visited by the millions of flamingoes it is famous for as the water level has risen and they have relocated to another lake where it is easier to feed.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible!!
Speke Uganda Holidays was very easy to work with and they were able to accommodate my aggressive itinerary. They were always quick to respond to my questions and concerns. My guide Peter was amazing and he went out of his way to make sure that I saw as much as possible. He was very knowledgeable and I had a great time! All but one of the lodges were fabulous with all of the amenities and they were located in beautiful locations. There was one issue, but Tony the owner of company, made sure he personally took care of it.
I would highly recommend this company the are both very professional and reputable.
There was one issue with the transportation, but Tony was able to
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Compare Kruger Park with Sabi Sand (Private game reserve) I would only go private in future.
The game reserves were excellent and showcase Africa's unique wildlife. Spent 2 days in Kruger and 2 days in Sabi Sand. There was more game in Kruger but a greater variety in Sabi Sand. I would only go to a private game reserve in future. Accommodation and food were far better in the private reserve as well. Weather was mixed - cold at first but much hotter later. We also visited Johannesburg and O.R. Tambo airport has to be the worst international airport in the world. There are no signs anywhere to assist you in checking in and we had to go to the domestic terminal to check in for an international flight to Zimbabwe. Compare this with King Shaka in Durban where for every flight, the check-in desk is shown on a very large information board. We also visited Cape Town. Trying to go up Table Mountain as individuals is almost impossible. There was a queue which took 3 hours to get onto the cable car and another queue that took another 3 hours just to buy a ticket. We gave up eventually. Same issue with trying to go to Robben Island. Unless you are prepared to pay an exorbitant amount for a private tour, you can't get on a boat. Again, we had to give up. The V&A Waterfront is well advertised but in the end is only a shopping centre with some restaurants - quite disappointing. For an Australian, the prices in South Africa seem very cheap and it's a good place to go for a holiday once. Not enough different things to do to keep returning though but I would recommend it to anyone who has never been.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Super organisation and service
Peter had organised a 2 nights and 3 days safari in Lake Naivasha & Nakuru, with a stopover on Hells Gate + Crescent Island for us. We had a great organisation and everything was ready for us.
Good cars / guides / service at the hotels or restaurants he had booked for us.
We were two women travelling by ourselves and we felt very well taken care of. Safari for princesses :)
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great opportunity to reset after a very hard week's work
Pilansberg was beautiful and the Shepherd's Tree Game Lodge is to be recommended - friendly staff, excellent food and our guide, Ruan. was exceptional. All transport was efficient and friendly
AR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great experience
I felt very happy with the service and the personal of viva safaris. the places were great, the food, and the guides. it was a great experience. i recommend.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Don't expect too many animals during the wet season
In general, Etosha seems to be a great park to go to. The facilities were good, camping was fun and the scenery is just lovely. As we went there in the wet season of February, Etosha was very green, with plenty of water everywhere, so finding animals was very hard, even for our nice and very experienced guides. We did end up with a few sightings though, highlighted by a young leopard, who was drinking some water in the middle of the road. We saw plenty of giraffes, ostriches and springbok, but the rhinos were unfortunately hiding! It was fun to spot birds and also smaller animals like honey badgers, even though hard when the car was moving. I can definitely recommend going there, but would personally try again in dry season!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Beat the crowds and go in winter or early spring and layer, layer, layer!
Kruger was never actually on my Wishlist. Over the last 15 years I've travelled to several different areas in Africa - Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. 'Kruger' is the place that everyone asks about - 'have you been there'? I'm not a big fan of the tourist pathways and have gone along the volunteering route to experience a different side. A side that I love.
Having said that, I was actually volunteering at The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which is in the general vicinity of Kruger National Park. We were given an opportunity to visit Kruger on a day trip. Seeing that I was so close, I decided to see it for myself.
We left before sunrise in an open safari vehicle. The sides were up so the breeze was quite chilly. Our driver stopped so we could get pictures of the beautiful sunrise. Entering at Orpen Gate, we stopped for breakfast. Shortly after we found a leopard at the side of the road, relaxing. Eventually he got up and left. Two rhinos were spotted in the distance but we couldn't see them well without binoculars. A leopard tortoise also reposed in the middle of the road. He was a big specimen!
Elephants, lions and lionesses, zebras, kudu, wildebeests, impalas, nyala, waterbuck, giraffes, the usual parade were on view. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a lioness walking near to the road (our guide had missed her). We were the only vehicle around so had a good chance to follow and observe her without other cars. The best sighting was a group of spotted dogs, reclining in the shade. At the most there were 6-7 vehicles at a sighting at any one time.
Lunch at Satara Camp and time for souvenir shopping before the afternoon drive. By this time it was quite warm. Our group enjoyed the day and were happy to sit and watch the animals, rather than race around to see how many we could find. The safari guide was very compliant with our requests. Another stop at the Orpen Gate souvenir shop for anything we missed and a 'comfort stop' before heading back home.
If you want to see Kruger I'd recommend going in a low season to avoid crowds (unless that's your "thing"). More space for all to see and breathe!
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great choice for a first-time trip to Africa
Takims Holidays is an extremely reliable tour operator. Despite us planning the trip very last-minute, they were able to organise a 2-weeks trip (one of safaris, one on the sandy beaches of Zanzibar) which went very smoothly.
They know the touristic offer very well, so once you make up your mind in terms of budget and accomodation they will offer you options that won't disappoint you. In our case, we should have done a little more digging in terms of the available options (sometimes we underestimated how popular some destinations could be), but this small hiccup was definitely on our side.
The car was very well maintained and Nelson was a very professional and pleasant company.