OM
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional team at its best
It was such a great time and experience with the communities under the guide of the heart warming Verdoro guides.
I will surely visit again and i highly recommend their services.Thank you team Verdoro we had a great time with you.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Meticulous Tour guides
I have used the sovereign tour and safaris for visiting various groups to different destinations within Kenya and the East African region severally. They deliver on price and offer various choices to look at so as to work within my budget. I have used them for conferences at work place and even personally for family vacations
They are deliver and follow up on our comfort. Ensure the experience is smooth and they are available and on call throughout my tours. I would highly recommend the company.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Meticulate and articulate staff who seem to enjoy what they do!
Hassle free booking and relaxing safari. Very helpful staff who ensured that my family was comfortable. This is the second time I have booked a safari with Kwezi safaris and they have always delivered. I contacted them at the last minute, requesting for a quiet and scenic safari to just unwind and they were quick to deliver a package at a reasonable price that included horse riding and nature walks. We took a scenic bike ride in the countryside, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. We got to wake up to the sounds of birds chirping (though at one point a pesky bird got to peck on our window and so had to chase that particular bird away..haha)..All-in-all, a relaxing safari, just what we wanted..
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent Ethiopia tour company
Sam at Gamel tours is one of the best operator I have dealt with. From the first communication, she organized our trip to fit our plans and desires, making helpful suggestions when requested. She remained in contact with us throughout our visit, ensuring our expectations were met. The tour was priced very reasonably and the hotels very clean and nice.
Our drivers during the tour did a wonderful job. The vehicles were spacious and well maintained. We felt safe despite some poor road conditions and congested traffic.
Our guides were knowledgeable and communicated well in English. They were prompt and kept us well informed of details.
I would not hesitate to book again with Gamel Tours should we return to Ethiopia.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
This was not just a vacation it was an exceptional experience!
From the first email from Heidi Bedford we knew that we were in good and professional hands. From the what about questions to how does this all work enquiries Heidi was quick to respond and always friendly and informative. Our African Adventure has become our favourite tour ever! The itinerary planned for us met all of our needs. A personal and enthusiastic greeting at the Cape Town airport was very welcome to the weary travellers. All of our guides were amazing and the tours we had with each one were way beyond our expectations. Nine game drives has left us hungry for more. The scenery is outstanding, and we loved the wine tram in Franschhoek. The elephant walk on my birthday was the icing on the cake. We think we will definitely be back! And Pembury Tours will be our guide again!
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.