US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great company to book with
Noah at Wildebeest Safaris was extremely professional and very nice. He was the only operator listen to my father and sister, they were planning the trip, and built a trip around our interests and not what the company wanted us to do. My father and sister spent almost 8 months with other operators who quoted the most expensive options only before they found Wildebeest. Noah helped them plan a unforgettable experience that was fantastic and fun. Our accommodations were great. Our guides very knowledgeable and took time to let us see and experience everything. I had no prior expectations since this was my first trip to Kenya and Tanzania and found this to be a wonderful, unexpected, brilliant trip. A shout out to our guides Max in Kenya and Homza in Tanzania who showed us the wonders of Africa.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing
We used Nick and Buya Buya during our two week visit to South Africa.
Nick met us at the airport and showed us around the area on the way to our lodge. He provided some cold drinks for the journey which were much appreciated considering how hot we were! Nick even managed to get us a car seat for our one year old for the journey that was an additional bonus.
We used Nick for some drives in Kruger and we were so impressed with his professionalism, knowledge and managing to get us some amazing sightings (photos attached!) The time flew by and it was the highlight of our trip.
I cannot fault the communication prior to our trip and attention to detail whilst we were there. It made it for a very stress free first holiday with a baby and we cannot wait to do it again!
SK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Januari in Kenya
Hi Robert,
I want to thank you very much we enjoyed our Safari in Style adventure and having cheerful and extremely knowledgable Aroni as our guide totally enhanced our experience. We highly recommend a safari at this shoulder season as the wildlife viewing was remarkable and there were so few other tourists to share it with.
SE
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
First class!
Back in Sweden after a marvellous trip and stay in South Africa, I like to give you full marks for professional arrangements and your choice of accommodation. All in all many thanks for your arrangements. Ever since 1975 we feel Africa is Greatest!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful wildlife viewing; logistics could use some work.
I took a 6-day tour of Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, and Amboseli. Leading up to the tour, Allan's communication was excellent, and he answered all of my questions, sometimes within minutes. The two guides I had were very adequate, especially Obama, who was exceptionally knowledgeable and pleasant. The wildlife viewing went beyond my expectations, which made the safari highly worthwhile. When we arrived at the Maasai Mara camp, there was a problem with my accommodation reservation, so Allan helpfully arranged for me to stay at another camp. The vans we traveled in were functional for a budget tour. However, on the way back from Amboseli to Nairobi, we had to stop twice for flat tyres, and at one point I had to wait for an hour alone in the van beside the highway while my guide went to purchase a new tyre. It ended up taking nearly 12 hours to get back to my lodging in Nairobi! However, Obama handled the adversity well, and it was not nearly as unpleasant an experience as it might have been. Allan was very apologetic about the mishaps. In sum, the time in the game parks was wonderful, but if you book with Back of Africa Adventure, you should probably be prepared for an "adventure."
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sensational guided Safari tour in Tanzania with more animal encounters than you can hope for
Compass Safari Tanzania is a very reliable and well organized tour company that provided us with an excellent itinerary. All the accomodations choosed were at the highest standard and all the bookings hand been perfectly organized so there was never any waiting time or other problems for check-in at the lodges. The same applied to the park entrance tickets and we never had any waiting time. The Safari tour itself was so planned so well that we could the maximum of different parks and animals within our limited time. Our tour guide Wilson is one of the best tour guides you may find in Tanzania. He can spot the animals where tourists like us just cannot see anything but trees and dark areas in the nature. Also Wilson is paying a lot of attention to everybody within in the group and takes care of the different needs you may have. With the managing director Peter all the administrative transactions had been done with good communication and smoothly. There is nothing you can better get but with Compass Safari Tanzania if you want to do Safari in Tanzania.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing safari experience with excellent amazing people.
From start to finish the experience was amazing. Legend safaris looked after all of us and gave us a safari experience of a life time. I truly can't wait to do it again.
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Professional
The idea of doing a safari came to us the day before we could actually go. We contacted gecko and within a few hours they arranged everything. Very fast responds and professional service.
The safari was a great three days experience with an excellent guide.
Gecko adventure Tanzania is highly recommended
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Mixed feelings
I had a great time in Tanzania, but I am somewhat disappointed that I cannot "rave" about the services offered by Kili Serengeti guides. Perhaps it is because I had just come from Kenya with an outstanding guide, so it was natural to make comparisons (and that may be unfair).
The Good:
KS Guides met my group at the Kilimanjaro airport upon arrival, arranged all transfers, hotel accommodations, and activities. The price was extremely reasonable and we did everything we set out to do! Most meals were included, so once we had paid the guides (cash upon arrival), there was very little need for any cash on hand throughout our stay, other than for souvenirs, tips, and incidentals. The safari vehicle we took to Ngorongoro Crater was great - large enough to accommodate the group, comfortable, the top popped up (like most safari vehicles), which made the experience more enjoyable. By the way, the crater itself was AMAZING! Definitely go there if it's on your list; you WILL see a ton of animals. KS guides brought in some local guides when we visited Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Chagga village/caves/coffee plantation. Those local guides were wonderful - friendly and informative, easy to talk to, accommodating, etc.
The Bad:
With the exception of our day trip to Ngorongoro Crater, we were driven around in a small mini-van (actually, it was smaller than a mini-van, but I don't know how else to describe it) that was not very comfortable for my group. There was just enough space for our luggage in the back, but we felt like we had to cram ourselves into the vehicle, climbing over seats at times because the mechanism for the front seat to fold forward got stuck. A couple of the seat belts were non-functional as well, which was a huge concern for one member of my group since they work in a safety-related field. In general, the van was not comfortable, the AC did not work so we were hot (I could overlook this - it IS Africa, after all, I expected to be hot - however, it could be a problem for some). The windows on all except the front of the vehicle were also tinted with an incredibly dark tint, which made it nearly impossible to enjoy any of the sights we were passing and made it seem dark much earlier than when it actually was. Additionally, we took this vehicle down dirt roads with pot holes that it was simply not intended for. There were times when we weren't sure the vehicle was going to make it, and we wondered why KS guides had opted for this van vs. the safari SUV that we had taken previously, which was more capable of handling this type of terrain. We were given no explanation for the change in vehicles, and I can only imagine it was a cost-saving effort for them, since the van likely consumed less fuel.
Okay, enough about the uncomfortable ride... I also was not pleased with the first hotel we stayed at in Arusha. The accommodations were just so-so and there was a loud generator outside my window, making it difficult to sleep. Breakfast was supposed to be included but did not start until after we needed to leave in the morning, so they packed a "boxed breakfast" for us to go, which was nice; however, it was essentially nothing but bread. We also didn't get any coffee as they did not have "to go" cups available.
Finally, I need to speak about the guides themselves. There were 2 people with us most of the time. I am not sure why, as they did not seem to actually DO anything special, since they also picked up local guides for some of the places we went (making us all less comfortable in the already too-small vehicle because the new local guide joined us in the van!) I initially thought there were 2 to share in the driving when we went to Ngorongoro since that is quite a long drive/day. However, that was the one time that we did NOT have two people with us, which didn't make sense at all. The driver who took us to the crater did give some "tour guide" type information about the animals, but generally only when we asked. Perhaps this speaks to a lack of experience, but I have had much more involved guides in the past. These guys were more like escorts, which is fine, if that's what you want. It just wasn't what I was expecting. On the days when we had local guides, there were still 2 KS guides with us. At one point when we stopped to visit a waterfall, we had 4 (or 5) different people with us. This was awkward since most of them didn't say anything and yet tipping your guide is part of the local culture, so it felt like a ploy to get more tips out of us. We opted to tip the one local guide who rode with us in the van because he was friendly, informative and just generally great at what he did! We did not tip the extra people who were milling about that day.
All in all, I wouldn't say I had a bad experience. KS guides did take us to some amazing places and they arranged everything for us ahead of time. They were very responsive via email. However, the actual guides themselves were a little less personable than I was expecting for someone who does this for a living, and they did not communicate well with us in person, which led me to feeling frustrated at times.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Get the most of the safari experience at low cost
This safari was a great experience, I was pleasantly surprised about the quality of it.
Since it's a low cost, you compromised a bit on the food and quality of the camp, but not on what you are seeing in the park itself.
I recommend it.