50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Galloping Safaris delivered a superb holiday, and the expectations raised by reviews here were met.
We were looking to book direct with a local owner operator, our spend benefiting Tanzanians and not many middlemen. We found Galloping Safaris to be a reliable and trustworthy company. Our Tanzanian Chic Safari and Zanzibar Retreat was really quite brilliant. The owner, Walter, was responsive to our enquiry, and adapted a trip to suit our requirements. Our driver and guide, Lawrence was excellent, and was on point for the whole trip. He quickly understood our needs, and was able to tweak our daily activities for the better. The accommodation was luxurious, glamping at Nimali Tarangire (my favourite), Kubu Kubu at Seronera in the Serengeti, and Chaka Camp at Ndutu. We also stayed at Lake Duluti Lodge Arusha on arrival, Neptune Ngorongoro Lodge, and Breezes in Zanzibar. At each place, the food was delicious, and for the more remote small camps, quite amazing that they were able to do this, with a special mention of the baking skills.
Lawrence was able to find all the animals, though he sweated on Cheetahs until the 2nd last day. The sheer number of animals is amazing, even though you are expecting to see them. I have been to many National Parks in Central and Southern Africa, and for animals, this is the best place to see them that I have visited. Lawrence was able to spot animals well, at the same time avoiding getting us bogged in the Serengeti and Ndutu mud.
If there would be room for improvement, it would have been nice for Walter, the owner to have spoken to us during the trip, as there was opportunity, though no need as such from our part. We also had issues with our bank transfer, which was not received and eventually reversed. Subsequently paid by credit card, with surcharge. Bring on ripple and other non bank payment methods!
In terms of the enquiry procedure and credit card payments, these are handled through the Safari Bookings platform, and I found it a reliable way of transacting.
Go for it!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible guide, wonderful food, out-of-this-world experience
My wife and I visited Tanzania for the first week of 2018, and we could not have found a better way to see Tanzania than with Duma Explorer. The owners were very accommodating and helped us with our itinerary, even as our plans changed somewhat close to our arrival date, and provided us with an amazing opportunity to visit four of the parks/conservation areas in northern Tanzania. From Arusha we visited Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Oldupai gorge, Serengeti, and Tarangire, all in five days filled with animals. One special highlight was seeing a mother leopard and her cub playing on a fallen branch, very near the road.
Our trip would not have been nearly as memorable without our guide, Alex. I am a professional archaeologist in the US and as a result I have known a lot of guides, scientists, and rangers, but I have never once met someone as accomplished as Alex. His eye for animals was the most impressive skill I've ever seen in anyone working in the wilderness. He could spot and identify things a mile away, even if they were as small as a jackal or a mongoose or a bird. But what was even more incredible was his alertness, no matter the time of day or the conditions. Not only was his skill unparalleled in my experience, but he never missed a beat over the course of five days of game drives. It was truly a privilege to ride with him, and without his expertise we would never have had the experience that we did. On top of all of that, he was very interesting, and great to talk with on the game drives and at the end of every day.
We cannot recommend Duma Explorer, and Alex, highly enough. We count ourselves incredibly lucky to have had the safari that we did, and it was all thanks to them.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
5-Day Safari
I never dreamed our safari would be as awesome as it was! And thanks go to our Good Earth Tours driver/guide - Aaron Richard. Aaron seemed to have an intuitive sense when it came to finding animals...even the elusive ones, like the rhino, cheetahs, and leopards. He has been a safari guide for 13 years, yet he seemed genuinely as excited to see the animals as we were! We saw pretty much every animal living there; we saw the Big-Five many times over! Zebra's, wildebeast, giraffe, hyenas, lions, cheetah, leopard, rhino, hippo, elephants, birds of all kinds, warthog, fox, turtle, crocs, monkeys, and more! We saw animals eating other animals, animals fighting, playing, sleeping, eating, and animals mating.
If you are going to Africa for a safari and want a guarantee that you will see lots of animals, then book with Good Earth Tours...and ask for Aaron Richard!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Chris and Safari Partners put together a perfectly co-ordinated and executed safari trip for us.
We had high expectations of our trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana. Our trip exceeded those expectations on every level. From my initial contact with Chris, relaying to him what we wanted to do, to his recommended itinerary and to our face to face meeting, where he answered all questions, the process was perfect.
We stayed in four lodges, with two of them being remote, fly-in, bush camps. The places were exactly as pictured (no brochure shock), but what could not have been relayed prior to our arrival, was the warmth, friendliness and happiness of the staff that ran and worked in the lodges. The food in all locations was fantastic. Because each of the lodges, (other than the Ilala Lodge in Victoria Falls), was small, we got to know our fellow travellers and the staff on more than just a superficial level. The guides and trackers were highly knowledgeable and accommodating, always trying to get us the best views and positions for their photo happy clients. The managers and guides even ate meals with the guests, which further enhanced our stay as we got to find out about their lives and families.
The animal sightings were off the charts. The skill of the trackers and guides to actually track the big cats, and to lead us to them was fascinating. Tracking a leopard for an hour was exciting and fun.
There were so many aspects of the trip that fantastic, that there is no way to relay them all to any prospective client. I would just have to say, that we would not hesitate to recommend Safari Partners to anyone contemplating an African adventure. We will be contacting Chris in the future to help us book further trips to one of the most truly beautiful and friendliest places on the planet. Thanks Chris and Safari Partners for making us such happy clients!
AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Far beyond our expectations!
Congratulations to Humphrey and his excellent team. Thanks to their experience and quality of service we had an extraordinary journey over 9 days and estimated 2.000 km on and off the road. All was well organised. With Patrick, far beyond a driver guide and more a very very capable man with a vast experience on the road and for the wildlife, we considered very lucky to see so many of the beautiful wildlife in Kenya. In Masai Mara we saw the "Big Five" within 3 hours. And we did not only spot 1 or 2 of these impressive animals during our 1 1/2 day. No, we saw more than 20 lions at once , 8 cheetahs ( 5 at once), 100 or more elephants. We saw 2 Leopards (one eating a zebra high on a tree) and countless Zebras and Impalas. During our trip through different National Parks we got the impression that it was Patricks experience and his own passion for wildlife which gave us the chance to see so many of Kenya' wildlife. Hotel Standard is very high, food was really excellent and on top of everything, Kenyan People are extremeley friendly and self confident. An mixture which makes them very amicable. For a a better understanding for Kenya I definitely recommend to go to Kenya and get an first hand impression of this vibrant country. It will help to change opinion and prejudice.
RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful trip
We went on an individual tour for 4 people for 8 days and we were very happy with the trip. The trip was perfectly organized and we fully realized our plans and saw even more than we had hoped. Special thanks to our guide Joshua and Minneh for the great organization of the trip, patience and attentive attitude to our wishes.Next year we are going to go again on a similar trip and again turn to organize a safari in the Jocki Tours
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very efficient and reliable as well as offering the best quotes!
Truly amazing experience for the family. Even though it was off season for the migration we got to see the Big Five and really up-close. Our very experienced driver/guide Nester had tremendous local knowledge being a Masaai himself. Jaqueline in the office of Bushtroops was extremely helpful and patient since my wire transfer took some time. Will recommend Bushtroops any day.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This Company offers Superb Value
We did a relatively short 3 day Masai Mara Safari with Shoor Safaris in Kenya over the Christmas period. We actually often come to Nairobi for work and I've sometimes booked similar safaris with other companies. However I would highly recommend Shoor as they have us an excellent your with accommodation in a quality tented camp at a great price. The tour can was in very good condition & the driver Chris was amazing.
Excellent value.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wow! A Great Little company.
My wife and I did a lot of research before settling on Travel For Change to do our Safari. The initial correspondence was excellent with all our questions answered and the information provided was helpful. This was the initial reason that we picked this company. Upon arrival to Kenya, they sent a driver and guide to meet us and take care of our transfer to the hotel before we headed out. These guys saved our bacon as the hotel was not ready and we would have been stuck if it had not been for them.
The next day we began our safari and were greeted at our hotel by our guide, Francis who was to be our point person for our safari. We could not have got a better person. He was everything we expected and more. The safari was a 6 day/5 night journey that took us through 3 parks and through it all, Francis went above and beyond to ensure our safety and comfort. His skills were amazing and took us to around each park and made sure we got to see what we wanted. In a nutshell, he made it a special trip.
This is a smaller company and their flexibility and attention to detail, made our safari a truly special memory!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A wonderful Safari
We were recommended this group by a friend who takes people on tours to climb kili and uses this company for Safaris
We booked an 8 day Safari and it was such a wonderful experience
Our guide and driver Swalehe had such great knowledge of all the animals and birdlife a lovely person to do safari with Thank you Sal....
We went to Tangarie,Ndutu,Serengeti.Ngorocrater and lake Manyara national parks
Loved it accomodation was great did a variety hotel,lodges and tented campsite
Ndutu lodge was great to wake up with animals Zebra grazing out the front of the lodge in the mornings and loved the tented campsite Kati Kati hearing the animals roam around at night
Saw lots of animals and sat near the campfires at night and shared stories with felllow people also on safari and of course just took photo aftyer photo..amazing experience and Thank you RA safaris for making it great