UA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
That was perfect :)
Thanks for the Safari and the climb. All very much. Emilias accompanied us throughout our stay in Tanzania, from a meeting at the airport to farewell there. Therefore, we did not worry about anything and only rested :) Emilias has the best prices and quality. Definitely recommend!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Left stranded in Capetown when Owner Chris No-Showed-Terrifying Experience
I will get straight to the important points.
1) I booked this tour as a single, middle aged women traveling alone. I booked and paid nine months ahead. Twenty one days prior to depature I called about my flight and tour arrangements. Chris stated "I am sorry but your tour has been cancelled. You will have to leave five days earlier or you can't go with us. We can still make it happen, but not with us." I made arrangements, at great inconvenience, to leave 5 days earlier.
2) Hotel for Capetown is TWENTY FIVE MILES FROM CAPETOWN.
3) Chris dropped me off at V&A for a shopping trip, at my request. I confirmed, three times, that he would pick me
up at the designated stop at 5 p.m. HE NO SHOWED. PERIOD. LEFT ME TOTALLY ALONE AFTER DARK. TOOK A TAXI BACK TO HOTEL WITH THE HELP OF V&A security. I was terrified, but made it back to the hotel.
4) I was dumped so Chris could assist a dentist who had booked his family of ten. There were numerous adults supervising all children at this time, on that night. There were no children left alone. I was left alone.
5) Chris called me the morning we were to depart for Sabi Sabi, and asked me to meet him alone in a hotel conference room, prior to our group departure that morning. I WAS MET WITH THIS THREAT:
"If you say anything negative about our company, I will take legal action against you."
Great trip otherwise.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great experience for my family and I
We had an amazing tour with Rhino Explorer. Our driver/quide "Rocky" impressed us by his knowledge. I even had a story for each of the animails we saw. Pretty clean and nice camps with noices of hyenas and grassing zebras during the night. During daytime we saw most of the animals possible to see, and many of them pretty close to the car.
Our chef during the trip made us fantastic meals.
We have lot of memories and nice pictures from this trip!
BR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Almost all the time Excellent
Communications were all the time during the booking process excellent and accurate.
The hotels / camps we booked into met or even exceeded our expectations.
The safari tour was awesome. Our tour guide was self-confident and an excellent driver and never spoke on the cell phone when driving. We were shown all the animals you want to see as a layman in Tanzania.
The only little disappointment was when asking for seeing the Olduvai Gorge Museum regarding early human ancestors, our driver told that we have ´passed already and there is no time to turn back. Probably our fault not to point out beforehand our interest.
We can fully recommend Makasa for a memorable trip in Tanzania!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzanian Nightmare! We're out nearly $12K USD - a year later
We had booked 4 days of Safaris in Tanzania and 5 days at an all-inclusive 5-star resort on Zanzibar back in the spring 2017 for a once in a lifetime trip for my family of 5 to celebrate my wife's 50th birthday. We had prepaid 100% of the cost of this epic adventure up front.
2 days before we were to fly from Kigali, Rwanda to Arusha, Tanzania, we received an email from advising us the It Started In Africa was having serious cash flow issues and lots of unpaid for their unknowing customers. We immediately started making calls to the various hotels, safari camps and airlines only to find out that none had received payments in full with a number not receiving any payments at all.
We were crushed...what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime turned into a total nightmare.
We had followed up with ISIA when we arrived back home in Canada in late August and was told by Baraja that the Police would send us money starting in September. We were later told that we would be receiving a full refund of $11,995.00 USD. We continued to follow up over the next few months and it was nothing but radio silence. Only when we emailed a senior official at the Tanzanian Ministry of Tourism, cc'ing Baraja, did we get a response in November 2017.
The charade continues with only ourselves to blame for being as patient (and naive) as we've been.
I'm glad to read the positive reviews of late and that no one else has seen their trips destroyed. It's hard to stomach though seeing It Started In Africa profit from this while ourselves and many others are out of pockets in the tens of thousands of $$$.
I'm glad to read the positive reviews of late and that no one else has seen their trips destroyed. It's hard to stomach though seeing It Started In Africa profit from this while ourselves and many others are out of pockets in the tens of thousnads of $$$.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Etosha National Park by Giulio Ranucci
Great wild life but we did not have a chance to see lots of bird but was fine for us. Nature was expolisive and amazing.
BE
Amazing
We had such a great time! We had a 3 day safari with Michael, he is such a great guide. The boat safari was really beautiful, on the second day it was the game drive and we saw a lot animals, lion, wildebeest, elephant, birds, monkeys, impalas, buffalo, zebras... the last day we made a safari walk with a bushman, and came across wild elephants, it was a dream coming true. The accommodation was ok, sometimes we had no water in the shower, but everything else makes that good, the food from Amos was soooo good! Every night he made a veggie meal and I loved it! We miss it already. We did a short safari and i really recommend them.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience full of nature and well organized
Very well organzied safari in an amazing country, full of nature and beauties. We got very good wather in particular in the desert that was a truly unique experience. Our guide was well prepared and kind expecially beacuse we were in our honeymoon and he took care of us every hour of the day.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
AMAZING Safari!!
My friend and I booked a mid-range 5 day African safari with Orongai and it was truly the best trip I've ever been on! Before the trip, the office staff at Orongai was prompt in responding to our emails and answering all of our questions, as well as tailoring our safari to our wants and needs. When we arrived in Arusha, we were picked up by our driver, Fredrick, who was amazing!! He was our driver and safari guide for the entire 5 days and he was polite, highly knowledgeable, trustworthy, and made our trip really fun! We visited Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park, and Ngorongoro Crater-all absolutely breathtaking! I had seen pictures of these places before, but none of them were as beautiful as seeing it in real life. You really have to see it to believe it- both the landscapes and the animals so up close and personal! We saw cheetahs, lions, leopards, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, gazelles, and many more. The accommodations we stayed at were all very nice tented camps (all with AMAZING views!!) with friendly staff and yummy food. We enjoyed meeting people from all over the world and getting a taste of the local Tanzanian culture! One thing (among many) that we loved about Orongai is that it is a locally owned company- owned and run by Tanzanians! I highly recommend booking with Orongai and hope you, too, enjoy a trip of a lifetime! If I ever make it back out to Tanzania, I will be sure to use them again!
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything we hoped for.
From the first contact and organising of our Safari with Martha, to the Safari itself we are very happy to endorse Orongai Africa Safaris. We had a wonderful experience that was made even more memorable with the experience and friendship of our guide, Goodluck.
