US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent arrangements by Kerry of Pembury Tours
Kerry was an excellent professional to work with over the internet. All the arrangements made were excellent. The staff at Shinde camp were very friendly and attended to our every need. The ability to get the laundry done at the camp was most helpful. Simon was our guide and extra-ordinary. A night drive with him was our first such experience and we were lucky to be able to see wildebeests, a hippo grazing, a hyena and a baby jackal. At Chobe Marine Lodge, breakfast was very good but lunch and dinner were of poor quality. The game drives and boat drives on the chobe river were amazing. Pretty was our guide and after hearing that another guide had spotted a leopard, raced our Landcruiser to that spot and we enjoyed seeing a fully grown leopard on a tree limb. Wow!! The David Livingston Lodge was excellent and Victoria Falls tour was memorable.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional customer service that goes above and beyond and leaves longlasting memories
I'm not really sure where to begin, I couldn't have asked for better customer service from the moment we sent our initial request to post-safari check-in!
We had organised a last minute trip to tanzania giving Alex and the team less than 2 weeks to organise a 3 day safari tour and flights to suit our needs and budget. Needless to say it was a tough ask to get everything confirmed including accommodation availability with the upcoming christmas holidays but not only did they deliver they did everything with a smile also!
Alex was a great communicator and kept me in the loop at every turn (even when things were proving more difficult than initially thought), he gave us a number of options for different locations for tour and then gave us his honest and realistic recommendations about what to see to make most of our limited time.
We ended up visiting Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater on the 3 day tour in a private vehicle. Everything was smooth from pick up at Arusha airport by Mike (our tour guide) and his fellow colleague (sorry i forgot her name!), explaining the itinerary, answering any questions we had about the local culture, packing in as much as we could see in the time we had, clean vehicle, great accommodation, excellent picnic food for day trips, safe driving and comfort. I could go on and on about the great experience we had!
We managed to see 4 of the big 5 thanks to Mike's expert driving skills including 3 black rhinos! We were able to get close to so many animals and never felt we were in danger. I really believe it is so important to have the right tour guide and Mike was definitely that and so much more for us!
Special thank you again to Alex, Mike and the entire Mama Savana team! Your professionalism, kindness and willingness to give us memories for a lifetime was greatly appreciated. We were really sad when the tour came to an end and we had to say goodbye to Mike. We wish you all the best success and we will definitely see you next time we are in Tanzania!
For anyone who is tossing up whether or not to go with Mama Savana, I urge you not to hesitate and get in touch with them. My only regret is wasting so much time looking at different operators when I needn't have worried and Mama Savana were definitely the best ones for the job!
Karibu sana!
AR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent Advice for a Safari in South Africa
Karl was a great advisor for our Safari in a game reserve in South Africa
We started the search late for a period when everything is almost booked, but Karl never gave up and proposed us something that fitted perfectly for our family of 7 from Argentina.
The place, staff and experience was great, and we are very pleased with Karl and Discovery Africa service.
Thanks Karl!
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fully supportive in planning, outstanding performance in supporting during the trip
Great know-how to pick the right itinerary and solutions, very fast in asnwering to tons of requests I made, and very supportive during the trip to manage small incidents
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded our expectations in every way!!!!
I don’t even know where to start with this review, we were just beyond pleased with every part of the safari. From the moment we were picked up, our guide was accommodating and helpful. We had a flight change come up, and the office was happy to change our last night’s accommodations to get us closer to the airport for a very early flight. Moreover, at the office during our “orientation”, they asked if we were okay to change our schedule around to try to catch the Wildebeest migration. They had expected it to be more south at that point, which is where we were booked to stay, but had learned that they hadn’t made it that far yet, so they rearranged our itinerary last minute to get us in to see that. AMAZING service all the way around.
Beyond the logistics, were were highly impressed on safari. Our guide got us up close and personal to all of the Big Five. He gave us all kinds of interesting information about what we were seeing without going overboard. Emmanuel made the trip exciting, adventurous, informational, and definitely memorable. Some of the places we would go there would be “crowds” of trucks around, but for the most part we were seeing some very exciting moments with nobody else around. We got close enough to lions and cheetahs that they were—I’m not kidding—four steps outside of the truck. Had it been safe, we could have reached out and touched them. Emmanuel also went at our pace. If we wanted to linger and watch longer, he waited, and if we had seen enough, he carried on. We also had a couple of animals we wanted to try to find, and so he got us close to those as well. Our last day in Serengeti, he took us off the beaten path to a section of the park where there was nobody else around for miles and miles. We saw the plains stretch out for what seemed like forever while herds of zebras grazed around us. We could see a rain storm off in the distance, which just enhanced the beauty. We enjoy several quiet moments just there appreciating the beauty and standing in awe of what surrounded us.
A very important note is that we got a hot lunch every day. Every other tour group around us, without exception as far as we saw, ate a boxed lunch every day (a sandwich, chips, and apple, etc.). It seems like not that big of a deal, but it really does make a difference. Most other groups were quite jealous of our lunch. As far as accommodations go, we stayed mostly in the economy lodges, and we felt even there the service was exceptional. All of the food we ate was great and did not make us sick. We also never felt like we were in danger, as staff made safety a top priority.
I could honestly go on and on for a long time about how amazing this trip was. We had never really necessarily wanted to go on a safari, we just found ourselves in the right time and place to do one. Soul of Tanzania completely exceeded our expectations in every way and from here on out I will be telling everyone I know that they need to go on a safari, and to book with nobody other than Soul of Tanzania. It was truly the experience of a lifetime, primarily thanks to the care and attention to detail that Soul of Tanzania provided.
AT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
13 days northern Kenia masterly tailored
Our 13 day safari was, by far, the most expensive journey we ever made. Did we like it and do we have the feeling that it was worth it?
Definitely: YES!!! :-) :-)
The tour Daniel has choosen for us was exactly what we wanted! Driving safari, boat, walking, culture.
The midrange lodges exceeded our expectation! Especially the Tumbili Cliff Lodge and the SOPA lodge have been stunning. Best vegan kitchen was SOPA.
We managed to stay mostly vegan. All of the kitchen staff was very helpful.
As we already have seen the big 5 and many other animals of Africa, we asked our guide Peter especially for distinct animals. The day we wanted to see a cheeta, we saw 8 and a smashing hunting scene. Our guide did a good work and fulfilled all our wishes.
Even when I left a beautiful masai-designed belt in our last hotel, Peter offered to send it back to Austria.
It was a fabulous safari!!
THX for the neat organisation!!
Greetings, Spiritus & Girlfriend
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A week in Ngorongoro/Serengeti with a fantatsic guide-100s of great pics and a lifetime of memories.
Our family tour with Above & Beyond was amazing! We came in from a week in Kenya at Namanga and then drove to Lake Manyara. Spent a night at beautiful at Kilimamoja Lodge and then on to Ngrongoro Crater and Conservation Area. Stopped at Olduvai Gorge as we headed up to Lake Masek on the Serengeti border. We had already had a number of awesome game drives in Kenya (Masai Mara and Amboseli) but driving to our tented lodge we saw a lot of new wildlife we hadn't seen in Kenya at that point...migrating wildebeests of course and various gazelles and some new birds. Our guide was very knowledgeable of the area and before we reached the camp he found a beautiful cheetah. The next day he found a male and 2 female lions. We were so close. The next day heading back to Ngorongoro our guide found a Cheetah mom and her cub with a gazelle kill. Fantastic! Our trip down to the crater was also amazing. The wildlife was varied and plentiful. Our guide always seemed to get us to the right place at the right time to see the amazing wildlife and get great pics. He was so knowledgeable and just fun to spend time with.
I will definitely book my next trip to East Africa with Above & Beyond!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Old decrepit vehicles and poor communication
I booked a 14-day safari with Yala – this was to cover safaris in both Uganda and Rwanda – the booking process went well and Yala was initially good in communicating promptly. When I arrived in Entebbe, they were a bit surprised as they had not seen the arrival announcement – the van that was to transport me to the hotel was an old decrepit van without an A/C (I should have seen this as a sign to come) – in any case I made it to the hotel and was told that the safari vehicle was to be another one in much better condition.
The next day, the driver showed up in another old decrepit vehicle and lo and behold, the A/C was not working in this one either (Note – most of the roads in Uganda are dirt roads so you need to keep the windows closed and wear dust masks). The driver did not speak much English, even though what was promised was an English-speaking tour guide. We decided to push on – about a couple of hours into the journey, the right rear tire developed a side bulge (this was a re-treaded tire that had developed a sidewall failure – re-treads are banned in the USA for just this reason). The jack that was in the vehicle did not work, so we had to limp back to town to get a shop to help us – this took about 3 hours in all. I contacted Yala and insisted they provide me with a better vehicle and they promised to do so. When we reached Murchison Falls, we were covered with red dust due to having to keep the windows open as the A/C did not work. All of my game drives were in this broken-down van which had a low clearance resulting in us scraping the bottom every time we went through a ditch.
Two days later, Yala had still not provided a replacement van, but they did change the driver to one who spoke better English – we made it back to the main town again on dirt roads with no A/C. I had asked for the replacement van to meet us there so we could continue on our journey – guess what – no van. We ended up leaving the decrepit van at the hotel and continued to our next stop (chimp trekking) in a small Toyota Corolla. Two days later, a replacement van showed up – guess what the windshield had a big crack in it along with pockmarked glass – it was an old van but the A/C worked. So, we continued onwards and got stuck on a mud-soaked road (the van did not have off-terrain tires and did not have a high clearance) – the villagers helped us and we resumed our sight-seeing when suddenly the engine stopped and would not start. After waiting for 2 hours for a local mechanic to show up, he discovered that is was a GPRS failure as the van was not permitted to go out of a certain area – the mechanic by-passed the GPRS device and we were able to start the engine and go on our way to the next stop. By this time, I had sent Yala about 6 emails none of which were replied to.
The next day, while climbing up a mountain road, the gear shuddered and then gave way with a loud bang – again we were stuck on a mountain dirt road for 2 hours before getting a ride to the gorilla lodge. Yala switched the gorilla lodge without my consent because it was closer to where the gear breakdown happened and did not return any of my emails on the subject.
Two days later, a different vehicle was provided – this time an SUV (which is what was agree to when I first accepted their contract), and an A/C that worked. I was told that we had to exchange this vehicle back for the one which had broken down in a couple of days when returning from Rwanda. Two days later on returning from Rwanda, we were to meet at a designated spot to exchange vehicles as the van had been repaired with a new transmission and drive shaft – at the last moment, we were told to continue onwards in the same SUV as before. Yala again changed the safari lodge I was to be staying at without informing me (this after confirming that all the lodges had been booked and that I could not change any dates given all of the issues I was having) – again no replies to any of my emails other than talking to the driver.
I finally made it back to Entebbe – no word from Yala, no apologies for all of the issues, no explanation for the 2 lodge changes (and both were terrible when compared to the original places) – nothing. Be careful when booking with this agency – they have terrible vehicles and very poor communication. I would not book with Yala again -the only reason for the 2 stars is because of the efforts of the drivers who were with me – they tried to do their best with little or no support from Yala
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience with everything
Tekko Tours helped us with everything, they are responsive and are professional in what they are doing. We were able to have a customized Safari itinerary in Kenya created with the help of Maggie. She gave us a lot of options with our requests for our 10-day visit and we were able to arrange the Safari itinerary perfect for us. The driver William is an amazing driver in many regards. He drove us safely between the national parks, and his extensive knowledge about spotting the animals made sure we got to see everything we wanted on the game drives. He puts the clients first and makes sure you get a wonderful experience. We wholeheartedly recommend this company.
AR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
100% recomendable!
We booked the 5 day safari (Tarangire, Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro) and it was simply spectacular.
The guide (Elemes) was very correct, the vehicle was in optimal condition and the accommodations, one better than the other.