US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzanian Safari of a Lifetime
After a lifetime of dreaming and a decade of planning, my wife and I finally took our first African safari in July/August 2018. One of the best decisions we made was selecting Soul of Tanzania to handle our week in northern Tanzania.
From our first request for information, the staff was always responsive to our many questions. Because of our time difference, I would send our questions in the evening, and could count on answers waiting in my inbox in the morning. It made planning hassle-free as we finalized our itinerary, customized the way we wanted.
We decided on an eight-day, private guided safari in Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti, with a side trip to Olduvai Gorge and a balloon safari in the Serengeti. Soul provided us with four levels of accommodation to choose from in each area (five in the Serengeti), so to keep within our budget, we chose the most basic level, comprising Planet Lodge in Arusha, Rhino Lodge at the crater, and Ang’ata tented camps in the Serengeti. All were adequate for our needs, and Planet Lodge was outstanding.
But the element that makes or breaks your safari is the quality of your guide. Here’s where we really scored. Soul matched us up with Edward, a twelve-year guide who seemed to understand us immediately. From the first day, when we came upon a lion hunt in Tarangire, Edward had a knack for finding the animals we wanted to see, then having the patience to wait till we could get the perfect shot. He worked with us on a daily basis to come up with the program for the following day. From talking to other guests on safari, it was apparent that others weren’t having the variety and quality of sightings we were enjoying. That was all because of Edward’s superior knowledge and skill, as he found lion and cheetah cubs, not one but two leopards, and even a dik-dik (five minutes after I said I wanted to see one).
Edward was also great at producing our signature, envy-inducing hot lunches, and was a charming dinner companion to boot. Our last memory is of Edward, waving with both arms, as we took off in our small plane back to Arusha.
Kudos also to Ben in the front office for checking in periodically to make sure our safari was meeting our expectations.
We highly recommend Soul of Tanzania!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service with even better personnel!
Everything about this trip, from booking to experience was impeccable. Liz Read took my number of days, budget and interests and put together the PERFECT trip with exceptional lodges and safaris.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
First class organisation, service, destinations and vehicles!
Our trip to Rwanda and the DRC was in limbo after the kidnapping in Virunga Park. Golden Rwanda reorganised a full itinerary that no-one else was willing or able to make. Frank himself toured us around beautiful Rwanda; to the Gorillas, Golden monkeys, Chimpanzees and to places off the general tourist map. He introduced us to local cuisine and told us the history and general lore of both countries. He organised excellent guides to safely explore the DRC; the Lowland Gorillas, the Bonobos, the markets and more. If you are looking for more than what the general safari agency can provide, then Golden Rwanda is for you!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent! A very authentic, professional and genuinely friendly experience, and delivers!
In one word we loved the experience. The staff were very prompt during booking, and throughout the tour. We left behind a camera and some documents when we departed and they were amazingly helpful in returning them to us by courier. Regarding the tour itself, the staff are very knowledgeable about the terrain, animals and so on and the organizational aspects were top class. We stayed at Katekani largely and we just loved it. It’s very private, has exceptional luxury level living arrangements, and the food was freshly prepared and served everyday to a very small group of us staying there which was a bonus in itself. The safari tours were fantastic. We saw all the animals except the elusive leopard and many birds at close quarters. The bush walk experience was fabulous - not something offered by all safari tours. In sum, Viva safari more than lived up to expectations!
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Company for Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
There's a lot of companies to chose from when it comes to Gorilla trekking in Uganda. The price is almost the same, so the important for our group was to find a trustworthy and reliable tour company.
With Achieve Global Safaris you need to pay your Gorilla Permit in advance, this can be done by credit card through pesapal, or bank transfer. A credit card is a great way to secure your payment. Rest to be paid in cash at departure day. Just to mention, you will not physically ever get to see the permit, but the price is fixed by the Government. One of our friends, unfortunately, needed to cancel his trip, and he got a full refund of the permit from Achieve Global Safaris!
We departed Kigali in Rwanda. We got the phone number to the driver two days before we arrived Kigali. The driver called me an hour before pick up. The car was a spacely and clean 4 wheel drive minivan, water bottles were provided. The trip was in the program mentioned to take 4-5 hours from Kigali to Bwindi, but it took actually 7 hours. Roads are good in Rwanda, bad to very bad in Uganda, and a lot of dust and anything can happen, so dress for adventure. The drive was never boring, you see a lot on the way, and meet a lot of curious people if you stop along the road. Our driver stopped anywhere we liked.
We booked a midrange accommodation, called Buhoma Community Haven Lodge. The view was fabulous, rooms big, and beds fantastic, warm water (sometimes more hot than others), and the food were delicious. The waiter was very detailed about the next day's meals, so no problem if you have allergies. One of my female friends usually only travel five stars and was very worried about the standard before the trip, but even she was very happy!
Gorilla trekking takes place at 8 AM in the morning. You will get a briefing and get in groups of max 8 pax. It's possible to hire people to carry your bag for 15 USD per person (+ a few dollars expected in tips).
A tip. Don't bring much for the trekking. Water, rain cloth, toilet paper, lunch box, and camera are all you need! If you will need to change lenses on your camera, don't let the carrier have it, because he/she will not follow you when you first find the Gorillas (the more people, the more stress for the Gorillas). Gorilla trekking can take from 3-12 hours. We found the Gorilla family after 45 minutes and was back after 4 hours.
If you get the time you offered a community tour for 25 USD. The tour is interesting, maybe a little expensive, but the money goes to the locals, at that's important! Remember, local people and Gorillas live side by side. Gorillas need the forest, the locals need money to make a living, if not the tourists, many locals would necessarily need more farmland. Gorilla trekking isn't cheap, but it's a win-win. Gorilla gets the forest, the local's bread on the table, and you get a fantastic adventure and a lot of "likes" on FB.... Business is much better than charity!
At last, I will give our contact at Achieve Global Safaris, Mrs. Jolie, a big thank you. We never got to meet you, but always well organized and always responded quickly on my emails. Bless you!
As a traveler that visited more than 155 countries, I know the importance of reliable and trustworthy local tour companies, and I can highly recommend Achieve Global Safaris for anyone needing their Service.
TH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fraud
I booked a tour with full payment but had to cancel because I was worried about Ebola outbreak in DRC. Barack, the head of the company, promised to refund me 80% of my payment according to the policy. It's been more than 3 months now but still hear nothing from him. Very dishonest and unreliable.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding
From the very start communication was fantastic. I never had to wait long for a reply and despite all my questions they were answered quickly and in detail.
We had the fully guided private tour and wow were we looked after ! Our guide Holly met us at the airport despite being a day and a half late due to a plane delay and missing our connection.
Holly put us at ease straight away , she was extremely knowledgeable and was there for us at every step of our tour. Nothing was too much trouble and she went out of her way to personalise our holiday specifically to us. She cooked absolutely delicious meals for us and really felt like part of our family.
The tours of the parks in Zimbabwe were unbelievable and were way beyond our expectations as was our time spent at Victoria Falls.
We caged dived with rescue crocs, went on a zip wire , took a helicopter ride and went horse riding to name but a few activities along with seeing the amazing animals in the parks. To say we were close would be an understatement!
We couldn’t have had a better trip to be honest.
I cannot recommend this company enough and feel extremely lucky to have had such an amazing time with my family in South Africa.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Attentiveness, fast response, patience, focused customization and friendliness at its absolute best!
Our trip was for 11 days from Cape Town to Greater Kruger to Victoria Falls to Chobe to Okavango Delta. Words cannot come close to expressing how outstanding Compass Odyssey was to work with for planning our trip of a lifetime. In taking a chance by choosing to work with someone across the Atlantic, it was important to gain trust. With my very detail oriented nature, there were a lot of questions. Darren ALWAYS responded quickly, with explicit answers about everything to whether we could find a particular bird in one region to what place had the best souvenirs to whether it was safe to eat crocodile in Victoria Falls. Never did he show impatience, and his friendliness and support was unmatched. With his focused attention to our desires, he was able to put together several choices of itineraries even though we were planning our trip only 5 months before peak season. And even when airlines were cancelling and changing flights during a shake-up, he stayed the course and was able to keep our entire itinerary in place with only a few minor changes by pushing his contacts to get us on certain flights. And as two women in a foreign land, it was also important for us to know we had someone to contact if trouble arose. While we traveled, he even checked in with us to make sure everything was fine. Every place we went, the experience we were looking for was nearly perfect, with excellent safari guides who expended tremendous efforts to meet the desires of their clients, and probably at least 50 bird species and 25 mammal species spotted, often in high numbers. The accommodations were also well matched to our preferences. The guides Compass Odyssey uses (We had Dot in Cape Town, Mortimer and Ruth in Vic Falls, and Charles also in Vic Falls) were fun and passionate and patient, and also focused on what we wanted. Everywhere we went we always had someone making sure we got where we needed to go, usually even finding the appropriate person at the airports to check in with. The experience working with Compass Odyssey could not have been better! Oh... and the animals in Africa are awesome, too!
MX
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing! The best tour EVER!
Simon makes our stance in Kenya the best, take us to the best places, amazing company, amazing drivers, definitely I will come back to another tour but just with you, I’ll been over the world in different tours and this is the top! Thanks for everything Simon, you make our trip was the best! We knew Kenya
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Communication, Beautiful Accommodations, Amazing Wildlife
We began working with Ute earlier this year. When we initially reached out, we weren't certain on dates, so in the coming months as we determined our timing, we had to follow-up with Ute several times to find dates that would work with the itinerary we wanted. Ute was very accommodating throughout this process, and planned a great trip for us. Because of the date change, one of the initial lodges she recommended wasn't available, so she recommended Pangolin Lodge in Chobe. We were a bit nervous as it hadn't yet opened, and was only scheduled to open one month before our trip. As it turns out, we're quite lucky we ended up with this accommodation as it was amazing! They offer photo safaris with really nice cameras, and we got amazing photos with the team. We saw all kinds of animals and had a great time. The lodge was great as was the food. Our guide Aubrey was fantastic, as was all of the staff at the lodge. Prior to Chobe, we stayed at Victoria Falls Hotel, and initially had a bit of an issue when we checked-in with two twin beds in each of our two rooms. We didn't believe this had been booked for us as Ute knew we were two couples traveling. After speaking to the Victoria Falls Hotel and also Ute via WhatsApp/e-mail, we were able to get the beds pushed together and it turned out just fine. They also left each one of our rooms a bottle of wine, which I imagine was because of this mix-up - very thoughtful and appreciated. Lastly, we stayed at Machaba Camp in Okavango Delta - likely the best aspect of our entire trip. The staff there are absolutely amazing, our guide Glen was fantastic, the food was wonderful, saw lots of animals. This was one of - if not the best - trips we've ever taken and couldn't be happier with the experience. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Roho Ya Chui and Ute. We would certainly use them again in the future. We never use travel agents and typically book directly ourselves, but glad we booked how we did. Knowing the price of each of the the individual components of the trip, the overall price was completely fair. I believe it was actually better priced to book together with Roho than had we booked each piece on our own (plus the complexity aspect!) Thank you Ute and Roho!!!
