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65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a life time grand experience
Great service all around from emailing Lennox to our Safari driver Richard. Richard was an amazing guide. He found an amazing amount of wildlife and was very knowledgeable about them as well. He stopped and stayed as long as the group requested for photos. He got us amazingly close to all. We saw other safari vans where the people looked like they had paid a lot more and we were all viewing the same animals often times we were even closer. The Lenchada Camp was super clean and friendly. Lots of places to charge cell phones. Also convenient location within walking distance to the Masai Village. Actually preferred the camp to the Lanet Matfam Resort. Food was plentiful and beer was available for purchase. Richard drove safely through some tough terrain in the parks and on the main roads. I believe the good time was had by all. Wished we had booked a longer tour.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Remarkable experience
Skilled well informed, very hospitable in hosting of guest. Love the charisma
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Simply amazing and proper service.
Service was amazing, the tour breathtaking and expectations outlived. Highly recommended.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Had a very superb experience with this company from the first day thanks for making it happen.
Very straightforward and highly dependable I liked the transparency from the first day and the professionals in this company are awesome thank you for making our stay enjoyable looking forward to booking our next holiday with you guys.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great custom trip to Rwanda and Uganda
Edris arranged a great 8 day Rwanda/Uganda itinerary for us. The accommodations (mid-range) were all very nice, and our driver/guide Fred was excellent. Fred really put in extra effort to notice what we were interested in - he asked the lodges to specially prepare local dishes for us, made extra stops such as helping us get a custom jacket sewn, pointed out animals long before we noticed them, and knew every bird. Our expectations for this section of the trip were exceeded!
However, we also continued on to 5 days in Tanzania booked through African Pearl but executed by another company. The Tanzania portion of our trip was not as well planned and the guides were not so good. Though Edris stayed in touch with us and tried to improve our experience, the company there in Tanzania was just not committed to providing the kind of 5-star experience that we had in Uganda. I would certainly recommend African Pearl for their home territory in Uganda/Rwanda.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poor guides, poor itinerary, mechanical problems
My husband and I did a 2 week/3 country East Africa tour, and Essenia was responsible for 5 days in Tanzania. This portion of our trip really did not meet our expectations in any category: itinerary, lodges, customer service and especially driver/guides. We had a lot of trouble communicating with our first guide. English comprehension problems meant we could not easily ask questions about the schedule, animals, or general cultural questions. During game drives we had a lot of trouble requesting him to stop in time to see animals, he did not know the birds or trees, and even misidentified a monkey as a species which doesn't live in Tanzania! After an upsetting first day of game drives, we asked to change guides. Essenia did not seem to take the problems very seriously, and we had to really push them to find someone else.
The next day, our safari truck was leaking gas and we stopped at a garage to have it looked at. 40 minutes down the road the dashboard suddenly started smoking heavily. Just as we bailed out of the car, a call came that they had found a new driver and he was waiting for us with a different car an hour down the road - lucky timing, I am not sure what would have happened if we hadn't already requested a new guide! After a comedy of errors where we waited an hour for the new driver to pick us up while he waited for us to come to him, we flagged down a passing car from another company and hitchhiked to the new driver. Between morning delays to call customer service, mechanical issues and bad coordination we basically lost this entire day of our trip - quite frustrating.
The new guide was better than the first one. I can say he was competent, but no where near the quality of driver/guides we had on other legs of the trip. For example: he kept telling us stories about customers who tried to make requests which he thought were a bad idea ("tried to do his job of guiding") and to show them that they were wrong, he would let them have a really bad experience (ie drive slowly and hit all the bumps on a road) until they apologized and begged him to do it his way after all. We tried to be careful not to upset him so that we didn't have an experience like that.
We also had problems with the overall itinerary/planning, especially scheduling transit time in the morning when animals are more active and game drives in the mid afternoon heat when animals are there but not doing much. It turns out all 4 lodges were actually owned by the same hotel chain. Though they were nice properties, we would have preferred to experience more variety and local flavor - and not the same buffet for every breakfast/lunch box/dinner! These two issues I should have paid closer attention to before booking, when I could have asked for changes. Essenia never followed up with us directly during or after the trip. We did see lots of animals, there are plenty in Tanzania so we didn't feel this was due to any special skills of our guide. In summary: Essenia really let us down and I would strictly avoid doing business with them.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Patrick is a wonder guide - one of life's gentlemen
I have to admit we've been unable to travel to Kenya for some years now but Patrick was our guide on each of our three visits. He's a wonderful guide, careful driver and a good companion - as I said, one of life's gentlemen.
I would unhesitatingly recommend any tour company with which he is associated. Miss you, Patrick!
US
Spectacular sunrises over Rwenzori Mountains
I identified Kisoro tours and Dan through TripAdvisor and contacted him via email. I told him what I wanted to do and we set up a 4 day tour that fit into my limited schedule. Dan picked me up at my hotel in Kampala and we headed out for a 4 day road trip to Queen Elizabeth Park. The journey through the cities, villages and country side was fascinating and colorful. The weather was lovely and I enjoyed seeing Ankole cattle along the way and a lot of dairy cattle and goats grazing along the road. The sunrises over the Rwenzori mountains were so amazing. I took some of the most dramatic photographs of the candelabra trees outlined by the rising sun. Dan was a skilled drive and a well informed tour guide. I would use Kisoro tours again when I next return to Uganda.
GR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Experience of Life
The 7-day safari tour that I had with BigTime Safaris LTD was by far the greatest experience of my life. I visited 3 days Maasai Mara, 1 day Lake Naivasha and Equator Line, 1 day Lake Nakuru and 2 days Amboseli. In all those places I had quite amazing adventures and captured those unforgettable moments with my photographic gears easily, because our driver and guide tried his best in order to approach at the closest the animals. I recommend everyone to arrange a safari tour with BigTime Safaris LTD, not only because it gives great service but also it is very much budget friendly.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Once in a Lifetime Trip - so get the right Travel Company
Gorilla trekking is one of the most exhilarating travel adventures you can experience. I am so glad i put my trip in the hands of Lets Go Travel. No slip ups, complete attention to detail, friendly and competent staff, great selection of hotel and transport. A perfect holiday and life experience.