20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolutely horrible experience for female solo travellers
My experience has been FAR from pleasant. I have travelled across different regions using 2 different local tour operators and different accommodation providers and the overall feeling was the same: everybody pressures you into giving them money, overinflated prices for basic necessities (you can't even get a bottle of water without paying more than what you would pay in London!), constant harassment on the beach or anywhere touristy for tips, and the worst part is that the tour providers DO NOT PROTECT YOU from it, they are COMPLICIT. They will take you around to gift shops that will demand extortionate prices because they get a cut from it, they will demand tips daily because their employer doesn't pay them enough after you have paid THOUSANDS of pounds for the trip already. I was travelling alone and they took full advantage of that, especially at the beginning. I have used Jambo Safari Tours for visiting the national parks in the north and Mwanamshiki Tours And Safaris for chimp trekking in Gombe National Park. The second operator was a complete joke, tents at the park are regularly attacked by baboons and despite the park authorities knowing they do not provide any security to ensure your personal belongings are safe. All they do is sleep all day while you pay $100 a day to be there in a semi-destroyed tent that they call "luxury". My operator refused to pay for any damage despite paying over $2000 for 4 days (FOUR DAYS!!!) of trekking. Once they get their money, you can forget about it, whatever happens they won't have your back.
Not only I was heavily disappointed by the tour operators, especially the second one, but even the state of the National Parks was in shambles. Demanding foreigners to pay $100 a day entrance fee to a park in a third world destination where basic facilities are not provided. Imagine how many millions the government is making off tourists and then look at the state of the country and their citizens. If you wanna fuel this corrupted industry go ahead, if not, honestly I had a MUCH better experience in South Africa in 2023, where national parks fees were actually HONEST and PROPORTIONATE to the cost of living, camps were very well maintained and organised, and they even organised game drives through the national park, which means you didn't need to rely on private scammy tour operators who demand thousands of pounds to drive you around barely once a day in the middle of the heat when animals are sleeping, but you could actually do several drives a day for less than $20 per drive and you could book sunrise drives, sunset drives and night drives. All of that through the OFFICIAL national park website and for very little money.
I'm not saying it was the perfect experience, I think when travelling to Africa there is always quite a big margin for error and dangerous situations and south africa was definitely not a stroll across a meadow but at least I paid half the money and got way more out of it!
I also went to Zanzibar at the end of my trip and even there nothing good to say. I felt sick possibly from food poisoning and had to get some antibiotics and the hotel manager told me I'd have to pay $80 dollars for it cause it was coming from Stone Town. My insurance doctor had it delivered to me from a local pharmacy and guess how much it was? Less than $5. I did a snorkelling trip where the boat was sailed by a barely legal young boy, no safety whatsoever, 30+ boats all around the same spot trying to chase dolphins. The island is extremely dangerous to go around so you can only stay in the resort, the seaside is indeed blue but not crystal clear, you can barely see anything as it's always very murky. Beach boys harass you continuously, taxi prices are CRAZY due to the island being dangerous for tourists and tours were quite the disappointment as I explained above. So I'm sorry but heavily not recommended!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A beautiful adventure with the wonderful people of uganda
We loved the ziwa rhino preserve. It was amazing to be so close to those beautiful animals. We did multiple boat tours on the Nile.And saw different animals each time. I love safaris.We saw many, many elephants giraffes, seven leopards, only a few lions. Our highlight of uganda was the gorilla trekking and the chimpanzee trekking. The small villages Were eye-opening
Of the hardworking people of this country. Our guides made our trip.
Very pleasant and memorable. They did everything they could to please us.
Were very friendly and willing to do extra.So we could have the best at experience. For us, a once in a lifetime adventure.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip to Madagascar and Kenya
This was my wife and my first visit to Madagascar and Kenya. Harilala from Natural Tours was a great choice. He arranged a 10 day tour of Madagascar, including Rainforests and Nosybe Island and a 10 day Safari in Kenya with an associated tour company Holidayworks. He communicated through WhatsApp timely and clear. Flight delays due to the Iranian war at the end of the trip required an additional day at the last hotel which was accommodated . The cost for our driver and guide was very reasonable. The guide’s English was excellent and he was informative as we drove out to Andasibe and other national and local parks. We went on night hikes and saw lemurs, chameleons and other animals. Went for many day hikes and saw lots of different lemurs. Harilala’s service was great including local boat tours of smaller islands near Nosybe, where he provided a local guide for the island. Highly recommend using Natural Tours.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Kenya Safari
The experience we had with Holiday Works was fantastic. Our 2 Guides, Lawri and James, took such great care of us. They worked very hard to made sure we saw the Big 5! We understood it is mainly Luck to reach that goal but Lawri did not give up. It was like being in a National Geographic special on TV. The lodgings we stayed at were right in or adjacent to the parks. We had so much fun and can honestly say it was a trip of a lifetime! I would highly recommend Holiday Works and will use them again for our next trip back.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent
Me and my family had an absolutely unforgettable safari experience with Savanna Adventures in Victoria Falls! From start to finish, everything was perfectly organized and exceeded my expectations.The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about wildlife. He made sure we not only saw amazing animals up close but also understood their behavior and the surrounding ecosystem. The scenery around Victoria Falls is simply breathtaking, and Savanna Adventures made sure we experienced the best of it. Their attention to detail, professionalism, and warm hospitality truly set them apart.
If you’re looking for an authentic, exciting, and well-guided safari experience, I highly recommend Savanna Adventures. I would definitely do it all over again!
RS
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Profesional
Unforgettable 6 days!!!
Imagine a team that, when it comes to pick you up, says, "You are not just our guests, we are not just your drivers, we are Family for these 6 days" only Malaki Safaris can do that!
An incredible experience in Tanzania.
Expect dedication, knowledge, hospitality, professionalism and much more from this team!
They made sure that we experienced Tarangire, Ngorogoro, the Maasai village and everything else in the right way!
In the end, we really had a relationship like a big family.
Thanks and regards to Malaki Safaris
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime!
We planned a once in a lifetime Safari vacation, visiting Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Zanzibar. We chose Super Eagles to be our guide and they did a wonderful job plotting out route to help ensure we were able to hit the highlights. The guides were great and the accommodations within the parks were better than anticipated. We'd be happy to recommend Super Eagles to friends and family when they plan their Africa Safari vacation.
BG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable Safari Adventure
We had an amazing safari experience - everything went perfectly from start to finish! Communication with Erick was very easy, and he was always quick to respond and helpful.
Our guide, Kisali, was fantastic. The hotel we chose was also lovely, with stunning views.
I would highly recommend Serengeti Savanna Adventures!
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari experience
We initially started researching the tour we wanted a few months before our scheduled trip in March. We had other commitments in Mombasa and were travelling with our children and parents so wanted to stay within Mombasa. We chose 5-Day Unique Luxurious Kenyan Coast Tour which featured Day 1 Tsavo East National Park- Day 2&3 at Amboseli National Park, Day 4 Tsavo West National Park and then returning to Mombasa airport on the 5th Day.
Jack from Loushir African Safaris was very communicative and also assisted in some modifications to the accommodation that I wanted. Jack was able to meet all my requests. The tour started off from our hotel and we met the staff from Loushir African Safaris which was appreciated. Our tour guide John was fantastic and part of the success of the tour was becuase of him. He was friendly and respectful and very knowledgeable about the safari and the animals. He was also a very skilled driver which is really needed in this part of the world!
We did encounter an issue with the tour hence the slighly less score. The original package put together by Loushir African Safaris listed the journey time between day 1 and day 2 and driving to Amboseli National Park as being three hours; however, it was actually an 8 hour drive, followed by an additional 6 hour drive back to Tsavo West National Park. This would have made it impossible to have the scheduled number of game drives. The children and my elderly parents were in no position to sit in an unconditioned car on the highway for 8 hours.
When our tour guide John informed of the timings we showed him what we had agreed to as part of the tour and we refused to go to Amboseli National Park. Rearranging the tour became a little stressful and somewhat ruined my experience. Initially Loushir African Safaris explained the constraints and financial pressure they were under to amend the tour and urged us to continue to Amboseli. However, in the end they did agree that it was an oversight on their part and did the honorable thing by amending the tour so we had two days at Tsavo East National Park and two days at Tsavo West National Park.
I hope that Loushir African Safaris learn from this experience and review the importance of diligently checking tour timings and reporting these factually to potential customers. It later transpired that the people organising the logistics of the tour had not consulted with the tour guides who would have spotted this error earlier on. This is not good planning and needs to be improved.
Despite the issue we had, I was very happy that we were able to resolve the situation and so Loushir African Safaris should be given credit for this. The tour was otherwise reasonably priced and was good value for money. I would happily recommend Loushir African Safaris to others and strongly urge anyone considering a tour to ask for John as a tour guide. He is an amazing person!
The safari itself was an amazing experience. We had realistic expectations, anticipating that some drives would be less eventful than others but overall, we were lucky to see a lot of wildlife. The landscape in East Tsavo area was mostly flat, arid landscape characterised by vast savannah plains, thorny bushland, and arid acacia scrub. The flat landscape was ideal for elephants giraffes. West Tsavo was similar but the landscape was a little more varied, featuring some mountainous terrain and with slightly more greenery
We stayed at a lodge - Ashnil Aruba Lodge in Tsavo East and then at Taita Hills Safari Resort & Spa in Tsavo West- both which I would recommend. There are other options for lodges in the area some are more basic but we did opt for slightly more comfortable accommodation.
A family safari is an amazing experience and I would love to do it again!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Bison Safaris is an awesome company to book for safari
From my first conversations with Maggie to the actual transport and drive with Mike, they made my experience smile and uncomplicated. Maggie was so patient with me and quick to respond to my questions and needs. Thank you Maggie!
Mike was our driver. He picked us in Kericho early the morning our adventure began. He constantly carried a smile on his face and his attitude was nothing less than stellar. He is very safe and knowledgeable to his craft. I will definitely return to Bison Safaris in the future.
