DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect organized Safari
We booked 5days, 4 nights safari with meru slopes and made a great experience. Geoffrey helped us organizing and was always available to answer questions. The tour was well planed and we enjoyed it a lot!
LV
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful 1- day Kilimanjaro hike and next day hot springs
We had the best guide for 1-day Kilimanjaro hike and at the next day - a great expierence at the Kikuletwa Hotsprings near Moshi! Great service and airport transfer!
Very supportive and flexible. Everything was aaranged!
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Called Frank last minute, three days later we had an excellent lodge + driver born and raised there!
Next visit to Uganda we will call him again. Nothing to add to that.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Guide, Poor Administrative Services & Communication
I booked a five-day safari tour of Northern Tanzania through Zara Tours in early August. The tour itself was an incredible experience. Our guide, Regan, was knowledgeable, and we learned a lot of about the animals living in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
Unfortunately, there was some poor communication with the administrative staff of Zara Tours. We booked our trip before June 30, 2017 and at the time there was a promotional deal going on which stated that if were booked before 6/30/2017, our airport transfers would be included our package. The salesperson we were communicating with, Kitondo, also confirmed this via email. I also doubled checked when we arrived to the Springlands Hotel with a female staffer that our airport transfers were included. She said yes. After we completed our safari tour, we came back to the Springlands Hotel and I once again confirmed the night before our departure with another female staffer that our airport transfer the next day was included in the package we purchased. She said yes. The morning of our departure, there was a male staffer at the front desk who helped us check out of the hotel. He told us that we owed $60 USD for the previous airport transfer (from airport to hotel) and we would have to pay an additional $60 USD if we wanted to be driven to the airport. We tried to explain to him that the package with bought included airport transfers. He said Kitondo had told him it wasn't included. He allegedly called Kitondo and spoke in Swahili with her on the phone while we watched. At the end of the phone call he said that she said our package did not include transfers. Instead of arguing with this man, we decided to pay the money for the prior transfer were had taken and take a taxi to the airport (which was much cheaper).
I later looked up our package online and looked up emails with Kitondo and I called this male staffer. I was very upset and told him that I had proof that airport transfers were included. I told him I could come back to the hotel (our flight didn't leave until late at night) so he could return our money. He said that he had to "check with someone first" and that he would call me back. I gave him my phone number. He never called me back. I am convinced this was a scam on this man's part because he was upset that we had not bought anything at the hotel. My sister had been living in Moshi for 3 months prior to this safari trip so she knew taxi drivers and was familiar with the area. So instead of purchasing dinner or drinks at the hotel, we venture outside. Therefore, we had no hotel bill to settle.
If I were to do this over again, I would get everything in detailed writing and print out copies of the terms of the agreement. I would also write down names of the staffers. Ultimately, it was not the money that was an issue but rather the unprofessional nature of this exchange.
Other issues
We had travelers with dietary restrictions on our trip. For the most part, these were accommodated well but there were a few times when we could only eat rice and pasta. I recommend bringing your own snacks just in case. Breakfast and dinner options are decent but the "lunch boxes" are not great. You may want to pack your own snacks for lunch.
The five day safari felt a little long. I would recommend something a little shorter, maybe 4 days. It's gets very tiring to be in a bumpy car for 8-10 hours each day.
I highly recommend staying in one of the wild camps. It was an amazing experience to be in a tent in the middle of the Serengeti and wake up to gazelles outside.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Wonderful time !!!
Me and my family (my husband, my son and his girlfriend) spent 15 wonderful days in Uganda. I was preparing the trip since January. From de beginning I choose Gorilla Booking because Justus was so kind to answers our questions so immediately that so inspire confidence.
Our driver was Ben, what a charming person !!! He did his best to feel us comfortable and enjoy de time spent. He made everything easy. Good driver and high knowledge of the roads.
The car very comfortable and also the accommodation.
I highly recommend Gorilla Booking. Unforgettable experience.
Thanks a lot.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The perfectly planned 60th birthday adventure.
I can't say enough good things about the trip Rose put together for me. It exceeded my expectations in so many ways.
The camps, the guides, the sites, the food all outstanding.
The ladies of Dunia Camp threw me a birthday party that brought me to tears. Singing and dancing, drums and grass skirts, even hand made cards and speeches.
It was very special and I can't wait to return.
All transfers seamless all accommodations lovely (with the possible exception of no elevator at the Zanzibar Palace).
You made the impossible seem effortless. When I thought I had no hope of replacing my canceled trip they did it all to perfection in less than a month.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What an adventure!
From the very first e-mail to our airport drop off at the end of our trip, Classic Journeys Africa exceeded our expectations. Communication was exemplary. My questions (and there were many!) and concerns were answered quickly and efficiently. Elvis is very good as his job! Our guides were knowledgeable, polite, nice and fun. We are a family of four with teen children and frequent international travelers. This was our best trip to date! We will definitely travel to Africa again and we would absolutely book another safari through Classic Journeys Africa.
MY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best Africa Safari Trip Ever!!!
Amazing tour company had such great fun on my 6 days trip in Kenya. Peter (owner) is a great guy! incredibly friendly, professional and helpful throughout the whole process from booking my trip until leaving Kenya. Response rate is 100% and always replies me on WhatsApp when I'm in doubt in the middle of the trip. As a female solo traveller I highly recommend this tour. Detailed itinerary is provided which is very helpful. Peter always make sure I'm enjoying the trip at all times n even sent me to the airport at night. Safari drivers are friendly, well knowledge bout the animals and safe drivers as well!
Thank you for making my safari trip the best experience!
HK
Safe and wonderful!
This is a review written for our wonderful guide, Dickson.
My family and I value safety before all things. Dickson was one of the safest drivers we had ever encountered. He always drove carefully and paid extra attention to my mum who had a bad back. He also made sure the car was safe to drive at all times. Our car never broke down during our journey and it saved us a lot of time and trouble.
Dickson was also highly knowledgeable about animals. He was always able to explain the interesting facts about the animals to us, which made our trip a lot more insightful. He was experienced in finding the animals and we were able to see a great deal.
We also appreciate Dickson’s politeness and kindness (he brought my power bank which I forgot in the car to our hotel the day after we said goodbye and even gave us a lift to the town centre to run some errands). We really enjoyed our safari trip with Dickson from Shadows of Africa and we won’t hesitate to recommend our guide and his company to anyone who intends to go on a safe and enjoyable safari trip.
AT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great value for money
We had the 8-day safari program in Kenya and Tanzania (Maasai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro). Abu was our guide in Tanzania and he was tremendous, client oriented and extremely knowledgeable about everything. We really got to see all the animals we wanted to see and highly recommend him. Our talented cook Jacob was also great (he accompanied us in Kenya)! The accommodation was much better in Tanzania but no complaints for the ones in Kenya...
There are a few things that could be improved: In the Kenyan part, we would have wished for slightly more proactive communication on our logistics and shortcomings in the timing of game drives as comaprted to the original written program (instead of copy pasting generic programs to client itineraries, they should be realistically altered to each trip), but all in all it was a wonderful experience, and certainly great value for the price.