50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Pleasant Park
This is a pretty park, but it's by no means one of the best in Africa. I did enjoy seeing the roan antelope, eland, zebra and bushbuck. The birding was good as well. I was lucky to see a serval.
I feel that Bale Mountain National Park offers something similar, but more unique. I was able to see species of wildlife such as the Ethiopian wolf and Mountain Nyala which are truly unique.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great Safari but not in every places , SAVUTI are for us The Best for Lions and Killing !
Wild life is Chobe at that time we are there ( 12 of June 2019 ) the animals are not so many and Cats we don't see , well many Elephants.
The rest of our Safari at Moremi , Sable Aley and Linyanthi ...it's many elephants , but the cats you must looking for them and some times are not that easy , because of the very thick bushes.
For us if we are favourite of the Big Cats ...exspecialy the Lions we like more SAVUTI ...as this place grear for Lions and Killing elephants !
KENYA and TANZANIA - are for us still The Best for Wild Life , and the p[rices for the accomodations are not so high as in Botswana !
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing wildlife, excellent lodges.
The safari with Best Memory Safaris was amazing. We did a 10 day tour visiting Nakuru, Masai Mara, Lake Navaisha, Ambroseli, Tsavo West and Tsavo East (finishing on Mombasa Beach).
All lodges were great and in privileged areas with good food. The drivers/guides were very kind and thoughtful. Real great value for money. Isaac the owner of BMS was great, he helped us fantastically in getting our lost baggage back and also with an other problem we had during the trip. He is great.
Outside the national parks there is not much to do, the roads are realy bad and rubbish and dirt all around, very disappointing.
We will go back to Kenya in the future but only flying directly into the National parks. We will make the reservations with BMS again for sure.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience, we saw loads of animals, but accommodation and food were very average and limited.
Overall I had a nice time and was able to see many of the animals which live in Uganda I thought that the range of activities were great and your guides were very knowledgeable. The campsites were very good and the fact that we did not have to carry tents made things much easier. However, there are a few points of issue which I would like to raise.
Firstly, we were only offered one small bottle of water throughout the entire trip which was not an issue when we were at the campsites, but was an issue during the long journeys. This became such an issue on the first day that after the walk up the waterfall - which was extremely hot and sweaty - one of my friends became ill with dehydration. One bottle of water was not enough to sustain us from 6am through to 7pm when we were served dinner and had access to a Jerry can.
Secondly, there was not enough food. The chefs made delicious food, but there was not enough - one girl in my group did not have lunch on the second day because there was not enough. On trips like this in a group of my size (which was 22), there should be more than enough food. Moreover, we were told on day one that we would not need any money for food as a packed breakfast and lunch would be provided. Instead, however, we stopped at a petrol station after 3 hours of driving and were told to pick up something from the shops. This would have been fine had we been told beforehand, but we were expecting a packed breakfast. Then, lunch was simply a wrap - delicious as it was, that and a banana was not enough to sustain us from midday to 7pm. I expected more in this packed lunch.
And finally, I have never been so frightened in a car before. Our driver drove ridiculously fast over potholes and puddles which was incredibly uncomfortable and nauseating. One of my friends was sick because of his driving. Furthermore, he would chase both animals and children to get them off the roads. This was unnecessary and frightening for us passengers. We would rather have gone slower and taken an hour longer to get to our destination than have to consider the prospect of our driver being imprisoned for manslaughter caused by reckless driving.
I hope that these comments will help you to improve your safari in future.
FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Awesome tours but poor tour management !
I spent some awesome time when exploring Tanzania. I joined into 2 tours operated by Kili Slopes, Mt. Kilimanjaro tour and Serengeti NP tour.
Im giving only 3 stars because of poor tour management.
+ guides + other personnel were awesome
+ landscapes were memorable
+ tour programmes were cool
Kilimanjaro:
- As a tipping culture not being common in my country, i was totally surprised when i was asked to pay extra 350 USD after my tour as a tip for the guide and personnel. I wasn't given any information about this arrangement beforehand, which annoyed me a lot. Im not definitely denying the staff wouldn't deserve and need the tip usually given, but as me being the only tourist joining the tour and still asked to pay for the normal tipping sum made this situation absurd. Moreover, I imagined the staff being paid enough for a decent income, obviously not. As a compromise, i gave them 100 usd.
- Again, when discussing about the matter of tipping, I was given the feeling by the tour operator, that as a tourist (and a white person ??) I'm supposed to be rich and afford to give away random extra 350 USD ! Oh, I am surely a millionaire, but only in my dreams.
Serengeti:
- My Serengeti tour was awesome, but bit messy. Considering this tour too, i wasn't given enough information beforehand, again including the thing with tipping. Other customers were having some more information, like list of equipment needed, which i never had. What comes to both of my trips, i thought i was having all the information in needed. Well, I didn't (even though asking for every possible information needed couple of times).
- Overall 6 customers attending to this Serengeti tour, and every person was having a different tour program. It was obvious right from the beginning that it would be impossible to coordinate everything. This is why some ppl didn't get what they were looking for - but ill let them to write their reviews on their own behalf, if they wish to do so. ++Our awesome guide Jackson did his best trying to fix it all ! ++
MM
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One thing I had never done in my life
It was pretty nice game reserve drive. I enjoyed most of the time. But the tant wasn’t what I expected. It was a bit cold at night, maybe cuz of the season. The ranger was very skillful one and he also explained everything he knew, make us to be comfortable. I liked everything overall.
Thanks for everything
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Ava
We went to Lake Manyara after visiting the other places, and it's just not as exciting as the Serengeti, or as beautiful as the Ngorongoro crater. They have a lot of cool birds there, a variety of monkeys, and the lake is beautiful with some nice vistas, but you just don't see as many animals here. It may have been a better place to go first, as it felt lackluster when we visited as our last destination. I would have rather spent another day in the Serengeti rather than stopping here.
Being immersed in Nature: a surreal experience defying expectations
Stunning scenery, access to all wild nature and an enthusiastic knowledgeable driver / guide made the whole experience unforgettable.
Highlights such as “fights” between teenage elephants, lionesses surveying migrating zebras and crocs submerged in the water lurking for their moment to strike were vintage as was the hospitality offered while glamp-ing in the wild.
Masai villages, probably unchanged in the last 20,000 years were a point of serious reflection as the realisation that Serengeti was once part of the Lake Victoria before it dried up.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent driver and guide but the Agency changed 4 out 7 of our hotels, lots of extra driving time!
Our driver and guide was the best! He was very informative in all areas of Uganda’s history, wildlife, people, etc., and of Africa in general. He took into consideration all of our needs and wishes. His safari driving was excellent and he knowledge of the fauna and flora superb. Unfortunately, the Pinnicle agency changed 4 out of 7 hotel destinations and not all of them the same high standard we had paid for. They gave us NO explanation as to why. These changes caused us to spend AT LEAST 12 or MORE HOURS DRIVING ON PRIMARILY UNPAVED ROADS (NOT PLEASANT) AND MISSING OUT ON OUR FINAL NIGHT TIME GAME DRIVE! Needless to say we were disappointed
Uganda is a beautiful country, the people friendly, and the wildlife spectacular. A place to visit again! With the same driver but not organized by Pinnicle Africa Safaris
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
There's room for improvement (2.5 Stars would be more realistic)
June – July 2019 – 8 Days safari
PROS
- Unique experience
- Amazing people
- Beautiful sceneries/places
- Rich wildlife
- Awesome driver (Atif)
- Awesome cook (Rashidi). Always smiling and whiling to help us with loading the car and so on. Great guy!
- Ibrahim has offered competitive prices
CONS
- Poor communication with Ibrahim (the owner) especially after paying few thousands deposit, he wasn’t interested in answering my emails very fast.
- No one waiting for me at the airport at 5.00 AM on my arrival. After 10 minutes of waiting while thinking that I was scammed, Atif, the driver shoved up.
- Atif, (driver and guide) as I mentioned above, very good driver but not such a great guide. First of all, he was very quiet. Most of the time we had to spot the animals and ask him questions.
- I was promised by Ibrahim that his team goes the extra mile, but I didn’t feel that during my trip.
- I’ve politely asked Atif to stop as I can take some pictures and he rudely informed me that he is the driver and he knows where to stop, telling me to “calm down”. He supposed to tell me instead: Just wait 20 more seconds and we'll get to a nicer lookout.
- I’ve asked the driver if he has a map as I can better visualize our trip and he said “I don’t have a map. I don’t need a map.” I am 100% he doesn’t because he knows all those places in and out, but the tourists don’t.
- Ibrahim didn’t provide me with a clear itinerary and plan. I always had to ask the driver what’s next. Including my commute to Zanzibar, I expected to find an envelope with instructions about it, at my hotel front desk in Arusha. Surprise! Nothing was left for me there. More than that, he didn’t even get in touch with us at all during the trip to get feedback.
- We spent too much time at the park entrances. I got the logic behind it but spending 2.5 hours at the Serengeti park entrance I still think is a bit too much. I would rather spend that time in the wild spotting animals.
- Other small things that I am not going to mention anymore. I am sorry for the CONS, not trying to affect his business in a bad way but I am trying to help other people with my experience that I had with Afrishare. The main reason for choosing Afrishare was the good reviews, not the competitive price. It didn't work for me.