US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful! We saw so many animals! We saw animals hunting, mating and taking care of their young! A+
A trip to Tanzania was number 1 on my bucket list. To make this dream happen, I contacted “Shadows of Africa” to help me put this trip together. I could not picked a better company! The trip was wonderful in every way.
I did my homework before I contacted “Shadows of Africa” and had a general vision of what I would like the trip to be like, parks to visit, timeline, and accommodations. Jake McCormick and Stacy Breen, the Safari Specialists, with “Shadows of Africa” listened to my vision, and did their best to make it happen. They answered all my questions in a timely manor. They made good suggestions to make the most of our trip. The accommodations they lined up were wonderful. A good, balance between tented camps and lodges, all well run, that added to our safari experience. Shadows of Africa has a USA office in addition to an office in Tanzania.
My boyfriend and I usually like to travel independently. In Tanzania, the two of us traveled with our Shadows of Africa guide and driver Dickson Julius in a Toyota Land Cruiser, modified for safari travel. What a fantastic guide and driver he was! Dickson strived everyday to make our trip memorable. We just didn’t see animals. We saw animals doing thing like hunting, mating, or caring for their young. Dickson could read the movements of the animals, and knew when “something special” was going to happen. We saw so many birds and animals! Elephants, leopards, cheetahs, lions, impalas oryxes, jackals, hyenas, warthogs, rhinos, zebras, and MANY more. Dickson was a master at navigating the terrain. One evening, while we were in the Serengeti, we had a heavy rain storm, so the next day the roads were sloppy. That didn’t stop Dickson. He knew those conditions would be the best to see the hippos. When we saw the hippos that day, they were active in the water, with their mouths open, enjoying the infusion of fresh rainwater. Dickson was able to drive the Land Cruiser to places I never thought we could get to. But, he also knew where not to go. There was a river in Tarangire National park, that he decided not to cross at the first crossing. So we crossed it at a different location, further up river. Later in that day, we can back to the first crossing and there was another land cruiser stuck badly at that crossing where Dickson knew not to cross. I would love to go back to Tanzania, and without a doubt, I will use Shadows of Africa and hope to get Dickson as our driver.
Our trip consisted of 1 day in Arusha to overnight after arriving from USA, 2 days at Tarangire NP, 1 day at Lake Manyara NP, 2 days in the Serengeti NP- Ndutu Region, 2 days in the Serengeti NP- Central region, 1 day Ngorongoro Crater, 1 day Lake Eyasi, 1 day near Mt. Kilimanjaro and airport to fly home. Our trip was late February and Early March.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Majestic Vastness of Serengetti---I'll always remember.
I've Traveled in Latin Am, Asia, Europe and Africa & I appreciated Hilary and the Suricata Guide-Driver and cook! Hilary, the owner was so hospitable, on-time, and thoughtful to us. His price was reasonable and yet he helped us in extra ways, like taking us to the shuttle bus to Nairobi, even though we had already paid him and he did not have to do this big favor for us! I enjoyed the safari---especially the majestic vastness of the Serengetti. Emmanuel, the driver/guide has amazing eyes for spotting animals and is kind and thoughtful towards his guests in the safari. Dionnis, the cook prepares really good food and it comes on time---a big contrast to the lackadasical service we experienced at even a supposed 5 star hotel in Arusha. If I could do it over again, I would arrange to spend 2 days and 2 nights in the Serengetti, and sacrifice Tanguire or Manyara during a 5 day safari.
PL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience!
Me and my friend did the 5 days safari tour, Masai Mara, lake Nakuru. Saw the big five. The hunting cheetah was breathtaking. Our driver was very knowledgeable and open for our questions and requests.The safari group did amazing job. Lovely people, good accommodation and food. I definitely recommend this trip!
Fantastic experience
Saleh is an amazing tour guide. We saw all the animal we wanted to see. The accommodation was fantastic. Anna met us and welcomed us on the first day. Highly recommended. Dont forget a jacket, it can get cold at times!
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding service from incredible staff
Brian and his staff succeeded in providing myself and a large group of friends with an unforgettable few days in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. We were given a jam-packed itinerary that included a boat trip on the Kazinga Channel, chimpanzee trekking and several game drives throughout the national park.
The service was truly brilliant and our guides, Brian, Joseph and Charles couldn't have been more helpful. Before we even met Brian, we found him to be very accommodating while planning an itinerary for us that suited both our interests and our budget.
It made a big difference to our safari to have staff that were friendly, caring and could give us so much information. We were incredibly impressed with the time that we spent with GoExplore Safaris and we had a truly unforgettable experience
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The perfect 10-day safari with Benson
Safari Bookings linked us to Benson Safaris, and from the very first email exchange with them I had a good feeling about this Tanzanian-run operation. Each email was prompt, helpful, and we designed together our once-in-a-lifetime safari experience. Benson did not disappoint. From the moment we were picked up at the airport, our guide (named Good Luck, really) was very kind, and extremely knowledgable about any question raised by anyone in our family (ranging in age from 10-58). Everything was smooth, the accommodations were all excellent, with some much more excellent than we anticipated.
We were fortunate to witness the massive wildebeest migration across the Mara River (including croc attacks), up to 40 lions in various stages of activity, from sex to eating a fresh kill to just lounging around. We missed out on Cheetah/Leopard spotting, but all others species got a big check mark (including the illusive Rhino).
We had a 10-day safari that was indeed the safari of our dreams, and at a fair and reasonable price (especially when compared with European-based tour operators).
Thanks GoodLuck and Benson, it was awesome.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our 6-day Safari – what an unforgettable experience!
Somehow we pick Shemeji Safari as our tour-operator from the many available and we didn’t regret it. We started inquiries quit early with the problem that we could not state an actual start/end date for our safari due to private reasons. Furthermore after receiving more and more information and options from Froukje we made quite some changes in the duration and locations to stay. Froukje supported this process flexible and supportive and arranged the best fitting safari for use including transfer for the airport and hotel before and after the safari.
And then, finally our family of 3 arrived at Kilimanjaro airport where a driver was waiting and brought us to our hotel so we could chill by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
The next day at 08:00 hours promptly we met our guide/driver Joseph. He explained us what we could expect from him, the safari and the basic interaction rules, really useful as you spend 6 days together in a close compartment.
We in return gave Joseph a challenge; “Please stay away from as much places where all other tourists are going! And do not ‘jump’ on a location as someone calls in for a rear animal”.
And being the professional he is he did his best, although he must be worried that we would not see enough animals let alone the Big Five.
We visited Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. We have been in places where you could not see other safari cars/tourists not even with binoculars for hours and hours.
But, yes we did see the Big Five and mostly with us alone with the animals. And we have seen much much more animals.
Joseph told us of course all about what we could expect and what we were seeing including the symbioses between the animals, but he also did some ‘funny’ stuff like in the midst of a wilder beast group he started roaring like a lion and the wilder beast got scarred and run away.
All in all Joseph did all to give us the best possible experience with his lunch locations, exchange of knowledge on the country, the people and animals. We could not get it any better. Thanks!
We loved the lodges, but we loved the tent camps the best, what a great experience.
It has been truly an amazing adventure.
Would we recommend Shemeji Safari? Yes, and without hesitation (and we already did)!
HK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great First Time Experience in Kenya, all to the credit of our guide George and KWSS
It was a 10 days private tour for me and my wife. The initial communication with Otineo was smooth. The itinerary and accommodation arranged by KWSS all turned out great. Our guide George had been most friendly and knowledgeable. He knew where best to go within the enormous parks and would always on his own initiative move to the best position for us to watch and take photographs of the interesting creatures. It rained very heavily on several occasions and some of the roads were extremely bumpy but George always drove safe and as steady as possible. It was really great value for the package tour we chose.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good organized
Good information, quick answers. The safari was like his name: Absolute (fantastic). Only negative Afrika was colder then we expectd.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful safari of northern Tanzania!
The owner of Suricata safari, Hilary is very friendly and helpful, he will make you feel super comfortable no time! We did a 5 days private tour safari in the norther parks: Tarangire, Serengeti e Ngorongoro. Hilary came to pick us up at Arusha airport and took care of our overnight accommodation in Arusha. The safari was beautiful! Our guide Floris, and our chef Mister Delicious were the best and really took care of us for all 5 days. I truly recommend Suricata Safari! Write to Hilary and he will organize your itinerary base on how many days you have and who you would like to see. The price is good, the jeeps are good and well maintained and the camp gear is also new and clean!