IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The Great Migration - A timeless safari experience with a full complement of African wilderness
My trip to Masai Mara with ‘ It Started In Africa’ was everything I expected of an Africa wilderness & much more. Never ending planes, rocky roads, the most stunning sun rise, flowing river filled with hippo & crocs & a land where animals & humans live in harmony with each other.
Masai Mara was a destination which was amongst the top ten destinations on my Bucket List. So there I went planning a trip & trying to get quotations for many local travel companies in Kenya. That’s when we came across ‘It Started In Africa’ who offered us the best packages & deals.
Particia from ‘ It Started In Africa’ was our only point of contact while I was planning the trip and she did a fabulous & commendable job. We were a group of 4 people & our plan was to visit Lake Nakuru & Masai Mara for 7 days trip & she planned our itinerary offering us amazing & comfortable stay in the lap of the nature & all in our budget.
Our guide, driver & a person with fabulous experience & knowledge Alex from the company was our companion from day 1 to day 7 and thanks to him that we witness all the drama of the Mara jungle – migratory heard of Zebras marching across the river while the hungry crocs were awaiting for their meal, a cheetah making a mad dash through the grassland attacking wildebeest or croc dramatically rising from the waters in the Mara river…. We also witnessed the Big 5 and amazing species of birds.
I could go on and on and on about our trip to the Masai Mara, and by writing this comment I just wanted to thank ‘It Started In Africa’ team, Patricia & Alex for an unforgettable experience. Keep up the fabulous work & marvellous client services. I would highly recommend ‘It Started In Africa’ for any safari trips to Africa.
Cheers.
Vidhi
Trip Date: 25th - 31st August
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mathew
I climbed Kili with another company and Mathew from Wild Root Safaris was my guide. He was proffesional and responsible and I would recommend him.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great 3 day safari
Following our climb up Kilimanjaro with another Company, we decided to do a 3 day, 2 night safari with Kili vikings, visiting Tarangire national park, Lake Manyara national park and Ngorogoro crater reservation area. We met Charlie in Moshi the day before the safari to settle payment and sort details. Charlie was very nice and informative, and lead us through our options for the safari since the group we were meant to go with from Moshi had cancelled. In the end we joined a couple going from Arusha, and had to pay an additional $50 to get to the airport after the safari which had previously been included in the price. We also had to pay an extra 5% to pay by card, which hadn't been mentioned in our email correspondence. So we were slightly disappointed by these extra fees, but paid them, tried to forget about them and looked forward to the safari!
On safari we had a great time and saw a huge array of wildlife. We stayed in small huts in the evening near lake Manyara at a site called panorama camp, which had excellent views. We left our bags there during the days. The hot food provided in evenings and for breakfast was good. The packed lunches could have been slightly better, but in such great surroundings it was difficult to be unhappy. Our driver was very well informed and didn't struggle with any of our questions. His English was also very good. Our only criticism was that we often had to ask questions to get information from him, rather than him offering it voluntarily. The safari car was in decent shape with new seats and water was provided throughout the trip. Each day we did a full day safari, with our driver being very good at spotting animals, as well as listening to the radio to track down the more rare sights. Highlights included cheetahs, Lions (metres away from our vehicles), Elephants and Rhinos.
After the safari we were dropped at the airport in good time to catch our flight home. Overall we had a great time, and were very close to giving a 5 star score, but felt like the experience did have room for improvement, if only slightly.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Tour, great safari guide, awful hotel in Arusha
We booked a 3 day Safari with Northern Circuit in November 2014.
The Safari and all the Transfers were well organized. We had the best guide ever (Denis). He spotted all animals and knew a lot to tell about the National Parks, animal behavior and also Tanzanian culture. Also the Manager from Northern Circuit (Michael) is great.
Unfortunately they had booked for us an overpriced, but low quality hotel in Arusha. It is called cloudsview hotel (http://cloudsviewhotel.com/). It is located far from the center at a noisy street. Although everything was clean and the staff friendly, the service quality is bad, the breakfast not worth the $90 per night ad the WiFi does not work (because of internal network login issues). In the end they also wanted to charge items, which they said we had consumed, but which were actually part of the breakfast. Dreadful place!
We definitely recommend Northern Circuit, but ask for a different hotel!
Safari Bagamoyo, Selous national park, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam
Because we had planned a working vacation in The Baobab Home in Bagamoyo we asked NRSC to organize for us a tour. During our preparation we asked Francisca, very many changes in our itinerary. She was always very quick in answering our e-mails and gave good suggestions. Francisca showed to be flexible travel agent, always willing to help and finally able to put our ideas into reality. We met her in Bagamoyo a few days before we started our trip. She clearly showed interest in her travelers before, during, and after the trip.
The 6 days trip, from Bagamoyo to Selous Game Reserve and via Morogoro back to Dar es Salaam, with the excellent driver/guide Omari had excellent lodges, the time schedule was good and we had enough time to enjoy the country side and the game drives. The trip was therefore fully according to our wishes, although the Land Cruiser could have been a bit better.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience
I appreciated my trip with world tours and safaris . Great food, Nice staff. The only downside was the guide. He was more a driver than a guide. Overall, I liked my experience and it was possible I would have given them 4 stars and a half. The owner, mr.papa was really nice and even paid for my dinner afternthe safari. Their prices are very good.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Maasai Mara
Fantastic safari. Good service and information. Thanks a bunch.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good driver but 7 days for safari only is too much.
Good , precise and prompt comunication by email. Very good and kind driver .Some problems with the accomadation.The already confermed high level lodges have been changed with lower one once we arrived in Tanzania.
The driver has rearranged everything again at almost the same quality level but with some difficulties.
Be sure to have the same lodges you have chosen and payd for!!!!!!
Consider to take a flight to Serengeti and one day in Ngorongoro is enough.
The trip was any way interesting thanks also to our driver.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
5 days safari as a phantastic experience
Very good and flexible organisation of the tour by Maurice Mwanzia. He was very flexible in the wishes according to our individual programm. Changes of plan on the spot, even in the accommodations, were smoothly arranged. Our driver Haroon was an excellent driver and guide. Even though it was our tenth visit to Kenya, we had many new experiences.
wonderful wildlife - quite an adventure
The safari experience was great - wonderful, incredible wildlife - 2 day Masai Mara trip (overnight camp) and half day in Nairobi National Park - saw everything we wanted to see. Peter, our driver, looked after us well and he was very skilled at both driving off road and in finding the wildlife. Minor quibble, but water and T shirt was not provided despite being specified - check with owner, Mr Otieno, very carefully what is included and not included in the price.