US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Put your camera down for a while and let your senses soak it in!
We enjoyed a very informative guide who was very accommodating of guest's preferences. The animals were awesome and provided great photo opportunities. The accommodations, food and service were fabulous. I highly recommend that you make the trip.
Mahale is a unique safari destination
There are no driving safaris in Mahale. You are on lake Tanganyika on one end and a very dense forest on the other. Viewing the chimps requires hiking to find them. Some of the hikes can be difficult, so you should be in good enough physical condition for the hiking. You cannot hike deeply within the park without a park ranger and guide. When not hiking, you can sit on the beach, kayak, snorkel, bird, and or relax.
Tanganyika is famous for its chiclids, so grab mask and snorkel and see them! The water is nice and calm.
Other than the Chimps, there are not a lot of large mammals to be seen. There are other monkeys in the forest and you may see an occasional hippo in the water, but that's about it. If you want to see the big 5, this is not the place. You can combine Mahale with another park to see the big 5 and to make a more complete Safari experience. For chimps in the wild, Mahale is amazing.
Review about Tanzania by David
Amazing safari parks, lots of diversity, beautiful views, amazing birding.
Review about Pilanesberg Game Reserve by Mark Ratcliffe
Good location next to Sun-city and located in a huge volcano crater. Stayed offsite at Bakubang which was pleasant but I prefer to be staying in the reserve itself
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
the ultimate Africa experience
Mashatu was recommended by friends who visited the reserve. They saw lot's of game but I was very interested in the leopards as I never had a good sighting of this shy animal. So we booked 2 nights in the tented camp. We had to drive 5 hours to reach the border on the Limopo river. We were 1 hour early (meeting point at Pont Drift was 1 pm) but a Mashatu-representative was already there to help us thru customs. The car stayed in South Africa. We crossed the Limpopo river in a cableway. The drive to the camp was already a gamedrive. Big herd of impala on the road and a cori bustard walking around. On arrival it seemed we were the only guests at this moment. The tent was perfect : a good bed and furniture. Toilet and shower were outside. There was no lunch on the day of arrival but no problem. We ate a light lunch in Alldays. At 4 pm we were ready for our first gamedrive. It was very hot and the car was open. So a hat was not a luxury. We drove quitte a while to see the first wildlife. The leopard I wanted to see was laying along a small river. Our guide drove towards it and I was afraid he'd scare it away. But it was very relaxed and we spend about 30 minutes there watching this beautiful animal. It walked even passed our car about 2 meter from us. We had 3 more leopard encounters later on. We also saw the wild dogs. They were very curious and came to our car to investigate us. About 8 pm we arrived back at the camp where dinner was served in the boma. The next morning we were woken very early for our morning gamedrive. Coffee, tea & biscuits were served before we hit the (dirt)road. Very special was the herd of elephants - all mothers with there babies. Our guide put the car on a strategic position and the whole herd walked passed us. Very impressive. Every gamedrive had something special. Like the cheetah with 5 cubs. On the last one we saw spotted hyena eating wildebeest. Lot's of vultures were waiting for the leftovers. The only animal we did not see was lion. They crossed the border of Mashatu. All gamedrives have a ranger/driver and a tracker in the back. In between the gamedrives you can relax, take a swim or sit in the hide to see more game. I must say it was a bit noisy there as you could hear the staff talking to eachother. But I saw a lot of kudu, impala and warthog there. Birds too.
Mashatu is a beautifull reserve but not cheap. One even has to pay for the drinks during the gamedrives. But if you want to see game ? Go there. It was a great experience.
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Kibale National Park by majzik viktor
beautiful scenery of wildlife
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Boatsafari on Chobe river 2 gamedrives in park, 6 gamedrives in Elephant Camp
Game is very diverse and abundant in both locations. Well organized drives, perfect knowledgeble guides and drivers. Exept for rhino's we came across all kinds of species also very rare-ones. Accommodation meets reasonable standard. Staff friendlyness could be subject to improvement in Safari Inn, but was perfect in Elephant Camp. It should be stressed more clearly that luggage weight is limited to 12 kilo's when using airtransport to remote camps in tiny 6-seaters. All in all the best value for money in all safari's experienced in Africa, inc. South Africa and Kenya.
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Botswana by jouke schotel
Fully recommended especially for the better situated tourists, less for "backpackers" may be. Ample opportunity for watching and photographing, adventurous and much variation.
Review about South Africa by OriginalNeilly
Without having previous experience of Safari, South Africa lived up to our expectations