50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience
Did a 3 day fly-in safari from Arusha. I think fly-in worked out great, we probably avoided a 7 hour drive on rough roads in one stretch (we drove back, but in 3 days).
Wildlife was great. Caught Big 5 and a hunt. Rhino was hard to find, still caught a couple.
We visited Serengeti and Ngorongoro, both were mainly open areas with few trees. We also visited Lake Manyara which was a thick forest where we saw different types of monkeys and birds.
We were also able catch a part of the Great Migration just south of Serengeti, which was a wonderful sight.
I used safaribookings.com to get quotes from multiple companies. They followed up to ensure the companies responded.
We ended up using Soul of Tanzania, which was a great choice. The pricing was broken down clearly and they were very flexible with accommodation options.
They also provided hot lunches including wine set up with a nice table and all and small taste of Tanzanian food (most others we saw were box lunches).
Guide was excellent. Overall a great experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One of the best trips EVER!
Kruger National Park was amazing. We did a sunset drive and an all day drive and saw SO many animals, including lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, a leopard, baboons, warthogs. It truly is an incredible experience to see the animals in their element like that, and it's even more fun for it to be a surprise about what animals you will end up seeing. Norman was amazingly accommodating, and made everything easy, including travel to and from Johannesburg, booking our hotel and game drives and telling us about the people and culture of South Africa. This trip was life changing, and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking of doing so!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing and stunning experience
Kenya is a wonderful country to be visited: good food, good people and a unique nature show . Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Lake naivasha and Masai Mara are amazing natural parks where you can enjoy wildlife a stunning. I was with BIg Mac SAfari Africa and they were top safari tour operator
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
UGANDA ADVENTURES.
Date of trip .December ..022
Visited . Murchison falls ,queen Elizabeth,kibale forest and lake Mburo.
I arranged group trip with my friends from Dubai to visit the beautiful country of Uganda through The shuttle tours.we had a great time and would definitely recommend them .
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stress, lies and nature
I booked (and paid) a Safari in 2019, which would happen in 2020, for 5 days including: chimps in Kibale, gorillas, climbing lions safari, and birding in Mabamba Swamp.
Obviously, COVID came and we couldn't make the trip in 2020. Richard (the owner), said that it was OK and that we could postpone everything to 2021, but he wasn't able to return the money. 2021 arrived, and we were not yet vaccinated, so at first, we decided to go but then we postponed again. Richard said that it was okay, with no penalties for postponing to 2022.
2022 arrives and around April I start moving everything for July of that year. We fix the dates, I buy the planes and everything seems to be okey. A couple of weeks later, the first unpleasant surprise, Richard tells me that the gorilla permits have expired, and we need to pay again. Even though he was explicit on the opposite a year before. We were angry, but what could we do, we paid again. Starting from that date, I asked like 6 times during the coming months for an official itinerary of the Safari, with the specific dates and what was included. Richard didn't send anything. A week before going to Uganda, he sends me the itinerary, and it was wrong!! The gorillas were booked for the day I was supposed to leave the country. Imagine my stress, ONE WEEK EARLIER with no gorillas, because Richard told me even in April that we should book the gorillas right away because it gets sold out very very quickly.
He said a couple of days later that everything was ok with the gorillas, but the chimps were not going to be in Kibale, but in Kalinzu. I paid 150$ for Kibale and the fee for Kalinzu was 45$. I didn't receive back any money.
We arrive in the country. The planning (roughly) was:
1-. Arriving + Transfer to Chimps zone
2-. Chimps + boat trip
3-. Safari + transfer to gorillas
4-. Gorillas
5-. Birding + departure flight
First day, everything OK.
Second day, chimps. We were alone in Kalinzu, I suppose because it's way worse than Kibale. Terrible surprise, Richard ask me on Whatsapp to borrow him 500$!!! Something about his mother. WTF I thought. Very angry, I answer him that no, I would not give him any money and he ask again for 100$! At that point, I was equally upset and surprised.
Third day. We arrive at Ishasha, and the guide tells us that the national park is closed because of an injured animal. I tell him that then what about the money that I paid for the entrance and how is it possible that an entire park closes without prior notification causing inconveniences to all the visitors. After insisting a couple of times, he said that we could try on the other entrance. We go to the other entrance, and after a couple of minutes of speaking with the people in the park, the guide comes out of the reception tent of the park with a soldier, and the soldier tells us that it was some elephant in the middle of the road that the veterinaries were healing. Big lie, and the soldier was for increasing credibility, I suppose. We arrive at the end of the day at Bwindi. The accommodation was super amazing, and because of that I was a little bit disappointed because we were supposed to start our day at 8 AM, but the guide eventually changed it to 9, and that hour in the balcony of the accommodation would have been amazing.
When we were having dinner, another terrible moment. Richard WhatsApp me, telling me that we were not going to make it to the Birding because watching the gorillas + transfer to Entebbe is too much for one day. Obviously, I was mad again. I asked about the money, and he refused to give anything back. The only option we had is to drive a long long time during the night for arriving on time. This was a bad option because the driving in Uganda is crazy, and even worse at 2 AM with a guide that has driven for 10 hours already.
Forth day. The guides make sure that we were with the group that would arrive quicker to the gorillas. Luckily, we saw the gorillas early and we started heading to Entebbe. We arrived at our very late in the night and we woke up at 04:30 to make it to the birding.
Fifth day. Woken up at 04:30, went to the birding and then to the airport. End of the trip.
The guides made everything that was on their hands to make our trip comfortable, they drove uncountless hours and were very nice to us, but the owner is a very unprofessional person that made our trip very unpleasant for moments, so I can't recommend him.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great company! Every communcation was timely and clear, while being flexible and accountable.
We had a fantastic experience with African Big Cats Safaris. They were very accommodating and thorough with all requests and helped customize a 5 day, 4 night safari that included Tarangire, Southern Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. I would highly recommend this company. Every communication was timely and clear. Like anyone trying to book a trip like this, you just want to trust you're in good and accountable hands. We definitely were. Thank you to the whole team there that assisted us throughout the process!
The best part of the tour was our guide, Lovoi. He was a joy to have along on this amazing trip. Tons of knowledge, always up for any questions and flexible to whatever my friend and I needed or requested. He seemed to have a knack for finding unique animal interactions that we continually benefited from. We covered all of the big 5 and many, many more. There was nothing we feel we missed out on, other than booking a longer trip! Lovoi had a great attitude and an excitement as well for the sights we all shared. I learned a ton about the parks and animals, along with the Maasai culture. It was an added bonus that made the trip even better. Book with African Big Cats and ask for Lovoi!
For specific tour reference, the safari was a COMFORT NDUTU MIGRATION SAFARI. We booked a personal stay at the Four Points in Arusha the night before the tour. Great hotel. Then moved on to Eileen's in Karatu, which was very enjoyable and highly recommend. In the Serengeti we stayed at Heritage Ndutu Camp. Awesome spot. Finally we stayed at the Tanzanice Farm Lodge in Karatu. It's a lovely place, with a great purpose and well worth checking out.
Value and service for the money was excellent. It met or exceeded any expectation I had. I would not hesitate to book through them in the future.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very responsive and organised, with great local partner
Kerry from Indigo Safaris was super responsive from the very start (and in fact, one of the reasons we decided to go with them). She was always open to exploring different options in terms of budget and our focus/ interests rather than trying to sell any one standard package to us. Even during the trip she kept checking in on us, which was great.
Their local partners Chameleon Safaris were also great with great guides and superb organisation. Everything was per itinerary - no nasty surprises or downers or hidden costs, and everyone was great at communicating well in advance and managing expectations.
This was our first group tour experience (where someone else had planned for us) and so we were slightly nervous, but all our nervousness vanished in the first couple of days because of high level of organisation and clear communication.
I’d recommend Indigo and Chameleon. Our Namibia trip was a mix of lodges and camps and we wanted to cover as much as possible in 9 days and so a bit on the expensive side but I’m sure they could work with you to find the most suitable option!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding
Sarah and her expert team of travel consultants planned my trip to Mara meticulously. She called me throughout my trip to make sure I was comfortable and happy and that made their service even more personalized. Incase I had any questions about my trip before the actual travel date she and her team were more than happy to answer them. My vacation to Masai Mara was seamless, enjoyable and stress free all thanks to them. I would highly recommend their services, you definitely get value for your money!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
good service, very good guide, generally a good trip!
we stayed at ashnil camp, I was not so impressed by the camp. price quality I think it was a little overprices, place needed some renovations.
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Breathtakingly beautiful and unforgettable experience!
The tour reservation went smoothly, and he was really kind, helping me with my visa before entering Kenya. The Masai Mara tour was a truly new experience, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone planning to visit Kenya or anyone interested in traveling to Africa. At Axis, you can experience a very neat and comfortable tour that exactly matches the information given when booking!
(automatic translation from Korean)