DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best Safari ever!!
From the first contact via internet until our last big hug at the airport after the best safari ever everything exceeded all our expectations! With Oussi we had the very best guide and the safest driver. He shared with us the best spots in the parks, his knowledge about all animals, his language, the tansanian culture and his humor! Asante sana, Oussi!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Extraordinary Wildlife / Bush experience with a great and skillful team!
The end of August our family (two adults and two kids; 15 and 17 years old) had the pleasure to spend three days (two nights) with Walking Stick Travel & Tours in Botswana's Okavango delta. It was an extraordinary experience which has created memories for life!
Early 2019 first contacts have been made and all communication ran very smoothly. Philimon the owner of Walking Stick Travel & Tours was very informative, helpful and fast in his response. Although we did not know Philimon and his company before we trusted the excellent reviews on the internet. We have not been disappointed.
At the time of booking we decided to go to Moremi. Because Botswana and the Okavango delta suffered severe draught in 2019 Philimon took the decision before our arrival to change our booking to Khwai concession. From his recent experiences he knew that Moremi would be less interesting to see than Khwai. The vast majority of wildlife moved to the wetter area's of the delta. We followed Philimon's advise and this did not disappoint us at all.
After 4,5 hours of travel we arrived at the campsite. Philomon's team had set up the camp and welcomed us with a nice (bush) lunch. Our campsite had a great view on the river. While having lunch the wildlife experience already started with elephants passing by on a distance of maybe 50 - 100 meters max. Great view for a lunch!
During the trip we have made two afternoon/evening and two morning game drives with Philimon. While making these trips we experienced that Philimon was born in the delta and is a very experienced wildlife guide and driver in the bush. Based on his knowledge Philimon has been able to trace all the wildlife one could imagine to see during a trip like this. Lions with cubs swimming. Lions hunting and mating. Leopard hunting and feeding young cubs, hyena's with cubs, Elephants, crocodiles, Giraffes, antilopes in a wide variety. Too much to name all.
During the trip Philimon learned us a lot of the wildlife and behaviour of the animals. Although the animals / predators were allowed very close to the car during the drives we have never had any uncomfortable moment. Philimon knowledge of the behavior was really great. His knowledge and experience also helped him in always taking the right position to take great pictures. Sometimes we needed patience but in the end it was always rewarding.
While we were having our gamedrives the other teammembers were preparing the meals and maintaining the camps for us. The facilities in the bush are of course basic however part of the experience. It is amazing to see how Joe the cook was able to prepare the nicest meals on simple campfire. Big compliments to the chef and his team.
Over the years we have made many gamedrives and visited many National Parcs in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. These were all great, but cannot be compared to staying deep in the bush of the Okavango Delta. The sights during the day but also the sounds during the night while camping (and the vicinity of the wildlife strolling around the tent) have been our best experience so far.
We are Philomon and his team very grateful for making this (lifetime) experience so special for us. If you want to enjoy a real bushexperience with a great team, we would highly recommend Philimon and his team!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro combined
I made a combined trek to Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro with Adventure Africa Expedition in August 2019. Both treks have been well organised. Dickson was always available to provide helpful information and the crew was professional and friendly. The food and the service whilst on the treks have been very good. I also appreciated the flexibility to make some changes in schedule on the go.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Personalized
Excellent well organized tour with a guide that was beyond expectations. Another tour we had arranged was canceled so Kenia tours arranged a wonderful four day tour in Kenya which included Masai villages and all the animals we wanted to see including rhinos which I had not seen previously. Our guide attended to our needs during the safari and was so patient during ou picture taking. Would highly recommend this company.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bateleur Eagles were absolutely incredible. Their patience, organisation and knowledge is the best.
We were originally meant to do our safari holiday with another company, but due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to change companies 4 days into our 21 day trip. Our previous guide, Peku, highly recommended Bateleur Eagles, who he had worked with before.
Right from the start, Newton and Matthew (the owners of the company) were incredibly helpful, attentive and efficient. They managed to plan a complete itinerary for the next 2 weeks of our trip in less than 36 hours, and patiently waited with us for 7 hours on their weekend when we had technical difficulties. During this time we got to see some amazing photos that Matthew had taken at game parks, and they answered every question we had. The next day when our new itinerary began, they even came with us to the Kenya-Tanzania border (a 6 hour round trip for them!) to make sure that we were comfortable and assured.
The accomodation that they arranged for us was incredible (especially at last minute in peak season) and they checked up on us every step of the way to make sure things were going great. We did have some very small hiccups along the way that were in no way their doing, but they still did everything in their power to fix them - and at any hour of the day, too. You can tell that they both have a passion for what they do and genuinely want their clients to have the best holiday possible.
We also have to include a bit here about Peku (or Sammy), who was also our guide with the original tour group that we changed from. He was so good that we insisted on having him as our guide again (for the Kenya portion of our trip) with Bateleur Eagles. When things went downhill with the previous company, Peku was always honest and upfront with us and did everything he could to make things go smoothly. When that other company left us stranded 3 hours out of Nairobi, he immediately arranged for his brother to drive 6 hours to pick us up and take us back to the city. He was definitely our hero for the trip and without him we probably would have just flown home early - I’m glad we stayed and put our trust in him and Bateleur Eagles. Peku is such an incredibly compassionate and capable person, you’re really missing out if you don’t have him as your guide. I know we’ll see him again when we go back!
At the end of our trip when we were back in Nairobi, we caught up with them and were able to give our feedback. We really appreciated having this time to talk to them as I’m sure they take on their clients’ responses and use it to continually grow as a company. Without a doubt we will be back in Kenya and will use Bateleur Eagle Safaris again. I’d recommend them to anyone wanting a tailored, trustworthy, professional and welcoming service.
To Newton & Matthew - thank you so much! We will definitely be seeing you again (maybe we will climb Kilimanjaro with Newton next time) and I hope you can come visit us in Australia one day!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tarangire National Park by Kaitlin
This was our first safari day and it made us feel like we were at a zoo because there were sooooo many animals and they were so close to one another. We got an amazing video of a male and female lion mating and then fighting.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Serengeti National Park by Kaitlin
This was by far my favorite park! It was insane to see the sun rise and set over the serengeti! This is how I pictured a safari would be. It felt like being in our own personal lion king. The amount of animals that we saw here was insane! We saw a leopard up close...baby cheetahs played on our car...we saw a mom and baby leopard from afar...we saw baby lions everywhere and they got super close to our car many times...there were elephants galore..hippos abundantly....basically you name it we saw it! Every 5 minutes we had to stop and take incredible pictures.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Kaitlin
Loved Ngorongoro! The crater itself is incredibly beautiful even if it wasn't full of animals! We saw a water buffalo be taken down by a pride of lions....incredible!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Kaitlin
We had a "poor" day in Lake Manyara in comparison to the rest of our safari days. The scenery was beautiful and felt like a jungle, but it also meant that animals were often hard to see. The flamingos were very far away to the point where you could only see them on the horizon.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about Okavango Delta by Vidyasagar Premkumar
Great wildlife sightings (both predators and plains animals) and birdlife. Delta from the air is magical for photography, with sitatungas in the channel and same as kwando - focus of guiding on what we are there for - wildlife