35-50 years of age
A highly recommended authentic bush experience with a wonderful team of local people
My mom of 74, my son (13) and I did a 3 day delta plus 4 day Khwai (next to Moremi) tour, We had an experience that would definitely qualify as one of the highlights of or lives. Phillimon and his team (Joe the chef, Lee - camp hand, BK - second guide and Fish - guide help) are great and humble people who truly go out of their way to make your safari as unforgettable as possible. Being locals, their knowledge is incredible! The boat rides, mokoro trips, Xaxaba village, game drives and walking activities were all unique experiences. Phillimon also took my son fishing, which was a special request and he enjoyed every moment! The accommodation is basic but everything is supplied - just live a little closer to nature for a while. Joe's food is delicious! It is wonderful to see people striving to uplift themselves and I can highly recommend Walking Stick Safaris!!
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Meeting all our requirements
- The trip-Safari met all of our expectations.
- Kathi understood very well our requirements and developed an itinerary to fit perfectly what we were looking for:
* Family fun
* Wild Life
* Some adventure (not excesive)
*Comfort in the nature.
She managed to combine a good trip for our party of 7.
The part of the trip from Cape Town had several roadblocks (not due to African Welcome).
Disapointing was not to be able to do the White shark cage diving. It is annoying that no sharks have been seen in the last months. (we regreted to miss this hit).
We were not even able to pick up Roben Inland Tour tickets netiher (fully booked during our stay).
I appreciated the flexibility of African Welcome looking for alternatives like the Whales Watching trip, Seals colony trip or thd Birds Sanctuary in Hault Bay.
I recommend next time African Welcome should warn on the sharks shortage in advance ..
Beyond those two missings, the rest of the Cape Town part was easy and funny.
Cape Royal suites were great and I recommend to advertize the courtesy shuttle from the hotel , very convenient to visit Waterfront , downton and all kinds of pick ups for a party of 7 (and free of charge).
Regarding the Kruger part of the trip I want to remark that Bateleur was great (low level of accomodation but very appealing, great level of exclusivity and quality of the staff).
Thornibush was surprisingly known by us, as last time we were there in 2009 when Thornibush was called Kapama Bush Lodge....so we unfortunately repeated our lodge without knowing it. However the quality of Lian (guide) was so great, and we saw so many wild life scenes , that we did not mind to repeat.
Regarding Tintswalo Manor House it is relevant to differentiate the accomodation from the game-drives.
Accomodation in a private house, private garden with our private waterhole always plenty of animals was the best spot of the trip. Exclusive butler, ranger, tracker and chef was also a hit .
However the quality of the guide and the tracker was well below the average of the other two previous locations.
Their attitude and behaviour was OK and they were always looking for us. But beyond the Big 5 they were not really able to talk about insects, birds , small mammmals, plants , flowers, other animals, etc....We felt their qualification and English level below the average.
We actually saw more wild-life from our private in house water hole than during the game drives. And Sophia (Bateleur Camp) was able to tell us more about the bush in one morning that the Manor House's guide in 4 days and very little talkative.
Big 5 is OK, but the quality of the guides/tracker resides in their ability to find other exciting topics in the bush when big 5 are not found or when we have seen the same lions family the last two days.
In the positive side the hospitality in Tintswalo: dancing, singing, dinner and breakfast in the bush was memorable.
I would recommend anyone to follow the same order: Bateleur, Thornybush and Tintswalo Manor House. Each of them had a pick of memory:
- Bateleur: modest but exciting and exculsive camp, excellent insects, scorpions, stars speaches.
- Thornybush: the best wild life sightings: running the wild dogs with cubs, hyenas fighting, tracking the black rhino and more.
- Tintswalo Manor House: animals came to our waterhole while having a beer from our coach: elephants, kudus, bufalos, warthogs, etc.... More fun than animals, and that is also part of the expectation.
All in all a great Safari...we will come back again .
AT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
wonderful experience
I booked a 5 day safari(mid-range accommodation) to selous and mikumi for myself and my 18year old son. we deliberately opted for the -tiring-version of driving there and back instead of flying because we wanted to see as much of the country as possible.we had the most awesome time, especially thanks to our wonderful driver/guide michael who took such good care, was an excellent and careful driver and tried to listen to what we really wanted-see as many animals as possible but be safe.we succeeded and saw elephants, lions, buffaloes , a leopard, giraffes and zebras, antilopes and impalas, hippos , hyenas , wild dogs, warthogs, wildebeasts and various birds.I can really recommend usambara expeditions.asante sana.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful Ugandan and Wildlife experience
I've rated this organisation with 5 stars! That is not only because of the wonderful safaris we have done, but also the personal touch which they have. As there where problems with our arrival flights, we couldnt be there on the assigned day. The organisation was very flexible and it turned out that they adjusted a bit of our safari so that we could go relaxed on our holiday in Uganda. Besides the flexibilty this organisation has, the contact was also very fast and kind. Everytime I had a question they replied within the hour. Also when arrival they welcomed us with two people, one of them from the office and one guide. This welcome made us feel very welcomed and made the tour from the first second very good and personalised. The name of the guide we had was Paul, he was very kind and was very experienced. Not only he could answer a lot about the animals, but also a lot about the country itself. So 5 stars for the guide Paul aswell. As far as I can tell, most tour operators want to get as many tourists in a van, this results in a lack of a personal tour. With this tour I felt free to ask whatever I want and whenever I want. Besides the persons which made our tour very comfertable, the safaris itself were also very good organised. We had fun every day, the safaris were diverse and so we could enjoy everday with something new. We went daily on safaris, but in the resting time we were also able to see something from an Ugandan village, which made the Ugandan experience complete.
In a nutshell: a good and fast responding organisation. Good experienced tour guides. A great personal touch.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amarzing Trip with Bush2City
Great trip from first contact with Jackson for the booking and tailoring to what we wanted to do. We added a couple of days to a standard trip. The trip was amazing and exactly as described in the booking. Our guide and friend for the duration, Said, was very knowledgeable, always ready to please and took perfect care of us throughout the trip. Our airline lost our luggage and between Jackson and Said they managed to get them to Saronera where we picked them up. Excellent team for anyone out there looking to take a trip into the wild. You can trust them to take good care of you. The Parks themselves - Amazing - You have to see for yourselves. Thanks Guys !
IL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Phenomenal Road Trip Through Rwanda and Uganda
I booked a three week tour of Uganda and Rwanda with Love Uganda Safaris as a solo traveller in July of 2017. The tour was extensive, beginning in Kampala, then going through the Mabamba Swamp, the rapids of Jinja, Murchison Park, the Rwenzori Mountains, Kabale Forest, Queen Elizabeth Park, Lake Bunyonyi, Nyungwe Forest, and Kigali. I sent a request through the website of the central tourism agency and received dozens of suggested prices. I was immediately struck by the honesty and professionalism of Love Uganda Safaris, which offered me the fairest price. My Emails with the company were always answered immediately, and I just knew I would be in good hands. The trip itself was phenomenal; Moses and Israel, my guides, were super-friendly and well informed, and even the longest car rides passed quickly with them. I very much enjoyed seeing the orphanage run by the company--one of the best parts of the trip was the fact that a large percentage of what I paid goes directly to charity. I noticed that some of the reviews complain about problems with hotels or with the transportation, but this was not my experience. Most of the hotels were phenomenal, and when they were less than stellar, it was because I had asked for budget accommodation to lower the cost of the trip. And occasional roadside problems are par for the course when you're dealing with unpaved streets and insane traffic. Overall I would unequivocally recommend Love Uganda Safaris. They really went out of their way to tailor the trip to my needs and make it one of the most unique travel experiences of my life.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful experience with very knowledgable guides
All areas fo the tour were great. The accomodation was all fabulous. The guides knew everything about every animal and spoke very good english. I would recommend Wildebeest to anyone going on safari.
US
Fly over Kenya 10 Days Safaris
Its been a fantastic time in Kenya after we inquired a safari from Cheetah Safaris C/o of John. We enjoyed every bit of it from Masai Mara to Amboseli, Nakuru, Nairobi and Samburu. Would recommend the same to other travelers to use Cheetah Safaris.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most amazing holiday ever, thanks to the company and our guide!
We booked 9-day luxury safari in Kenya, and from the onset everyone has been extremely helpful, supportive and informative. The office answered all our questions (and we had many) promptly and patiently. My elderly mother was extremely happy with the care and support that was extended to her during the tour by our excellent guide, Michael. We have been happy with our selected tour and lodges, and were lucky to see amazing wildlife due to Michael's patience and enthusiasm. He was very friendly and told us exciting stories about Kenyan history, cultures and traditions. I would recommend this particular tour, guide and company to anybody looking to spend about 10 days with some amazing nature and wildlife. I cannot thank Kenya Walking Survivors Safaris enough for this excellent adventure!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic tour of Zimbabwe
We booked a 7 day trip to Zim with Nyati - Terence was an absolute delight to work with! We received better service that we've had in Europe and I have already recommended his services to everyone we've spoken to.
We were very impressed with his recommendation of the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge - he somehow even managed to have the elephants arrive at the watering hole just as we got to our room. Transfers and activities in Vic Falls were seamless and well thought out to maximise our time there, everything was well communicated and detailed. We were also thankful that Terence had booked our white water rafting trip with Wild Horizons and not Shearwater as the latter make their clients walk around one of the most exciting rapids - we considered this cheating. We were totally blown away by our stay in Hwange - Somalisa is the most spectacular place I've ever stayed, hopefully one day I'll be lucky enough to return.
We have traveled a fair bit to 'exotic' places, however, we usually plan and book everything ourselves. It was an absolute pleasure handing this all over to Terence - it allowed us to get onto the important work of enjoying our holiday.