NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A few hiccups, but great overall.
Our Regional Tours organised safari was really good. Communication beforehand was not the greatest, with questions asked by email not being answered, and options not being offered, and we were very disappointed when a visit to the Olduvai Gorge that we had specifically asked to be included in the itinerary did not eventuate. Our driver and guide, Immanuel (of Mama Savannah), was not the most communicative, but he knew his stuff, and got us to where we needed to be to see some great stuff (except the aforementioned Olduvai Gorge). He definitely lied to us on a couple of occasions, which was very disappointing. There was a mix up at our second stop where some supposedly included activities were not included, so we had to pay an extra US$80, but this was reimbursed to us later. Our luggage was delayed, and Regional tours was very good about getting our bags for us. Overall the organisation of the trip was excellent, and the execution really good, with only the few small quibbles mentioned above stopping it from being superb. For an 8-day Safari and 11 day trip overall, in a 3rd-world country, it's almost surprising that everything else came together so well. Payment by Bank Transfer from our New Zealand Bank's online website was very straightforward for us.
IT
loved it
Jones was really helpful and flexible in adapting the safari with my needs. the safari was great...amazing experience..I would suggest
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The experience was tremendous I recommend
The safari tour was the best experience I had in Africa my boyfriend and I were there for my birthday, how I loved Queen Elizabeth National park.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Kilisa Tours and Safaris should be avoided!
I had a horrible experience with Kilisa Tours and Safaris. Originally I had booked with them because they had received such positive reviews from Trip Advisor. They also offered cheap prices and I decided to go on a safari with them, but I am glad that I didn't book with them to do Kilimanjaro otherwise they would have definitely botched it up.
Twelve days before my trip, they informed me via email that my hotel was changed from Moshi to Arusha and that the tour group decided to start a day earlier. I had been doing Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro so I had no email access, and went to the hotel that they booked me in Moshi. I was told that I was booked for Moshi by Kilisa tours, but there was not room for me and I had to go to another hotel.
After Naick was told, he tried to tell me I should have gotten the email and I explained that I had no Internet access since I came to Africa. I was tired after my 8 day Kilimanjaro trip, and he claimed that the Lemosho route that I had done should have finished at 5AM. That isn't true as I didn't finish until 2PM that day with another group as we went back to the gate, and then had lunch before I was dropped off to my hotel.
So instead of staying at the Key's Hotel, in Moshi (which I was originally told) and had a high standard, I was booked to stay in Arusha Centre Inn in Arusha which is a much lower caliber hotel. However, I was not told this, and the price that I paid for the safari did not change.
I was also asked if I brought $875 in cash to pay for the trip. I had not been informed via email to do this, and asked if I could pay by credit card. Instead, I was told that to avoid a surcharge, I would pay for the park admission which would total $875. I was not told that I would be paying for the park admission of the other people on the tour and my tour guide.
I was not told that the safari was going to be with other people and it was thru another company that wasn't associated with Kilisa. I thought all of these other tourists were from Kilisa tours. I was driven to Lake Manyara to catch the tour group on their second day of the safari since I had missed the first day.
They were staying at the Sunbright campsite which offered a cabin. I was given a cabin initially, but when two people in my group complained that they had a cabin before, but were then designated to stay in a tent, the manager asked me to move to the tent and to give the two people the cabin. I was sick and had a cough (after finishing my Kilimanjaro trip) and despite that these two people paid less than me, I had to move.
For the next 2 days I ended up sharing a tent with 2 other people on the trip that I didn't know.
When I went to pay at one of the park gates, I was told to pay $10 more than Kilisa had informed me. Although that shouldn't be a big deal, I did not like how the driver had forced me to just pay, and not question it. I was angry and said that at the next park gate, I would pay $10 less so that I would not be overcharged. The driver did not like that and insisted that I pay what I was told to pay.
On the last day, at 9:40AM at Ngorongoro Crater, our safari car had broken down. Our driver called his friend to pick us up and take us back for brunch at 11AM. The friend just drove us back to our campsite and we didn't do anymore sight-seeing. Then when the driver got back with the safari car repaired, we had to be driven back to Arusha and end the trip.
I asked for a refund as I paid for 4 days for the safari, and on the last day, since the safari car broke down, we could not explore Ngrongoro Crater much at all. I brought this up to Naick who tried to claim that the second safari car had taken us around Ngorongoro but I insisted that it only drove us back to the camp site. Then Naick said that the blame was actually for this man from another company who actually run the trip, and that man refused to refund me saying no one had ever complained about the trip.
At the end of the day, I wish that I hadn't booked with Kilisa as there were these screw ups with the hotel and also having a cheap safari car that broke down. Also, since the safari car was overloaded with 5-6 passengers (sometimes with the cook too) and luggage, I did not get to see the animals properly nor take as good pictures as I expected to.
Stay away from this company!
US
Very thorough!
Lisa was knowledgeable about the Kwando camps and provided good suggestions to make the most of our safari. She did a great job communicating and answered all of our questions about what to expect. The safari was wonderful with no hiccups :).
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best experience ever
Their service was amazing and James the driver was really nice, my little son always talked about him.
I would highly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris
US
Great trip
We visited Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Serengeti parks and then spent three days in Zanzibar. It was a perfect itinerary. The owner of the company Samuel worked with me to put together the itinerary that was just right for us.
I contacted several companies during my planning and picked this company because Samuel was always good at responding quickly to my emails and also because he is from Masai community and has strong connection to it. He was also very accomodating in all of my requests.
All the parks were beautiful and we saw a lot of animals. The accommodations were great - Tarangire Sopa Lodge, Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, and especially Kubu Kubu tented Camp in Serengeti which was wonderful. Our guide Musa was very good, he gave us a lot of good information, was friendly and courteous and had some kind of sixth sense where to find the animals.
Overall it was a wonderful experience and I would not hesitate to recommend this company to anyone who would like to visit beautiful Tanzania
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience
So many reviews of going on Safari in the Mara are so positive that I was worried that we were setting ourselves up for a slight disappointment. Not so! Our experience with Shaheen and Fareen coordinating our trip was outstanding. The accommodations and wildlife were unbelievable, but more than that, Shaheen and Fareen went out of their way to have graceful touches of "wow" surprise us throughout our time in Africa. My family and I are grateful to have gotten to know them!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent services, exciting experience
The service of wildebeest is amazing. During the itinerary discussion phase, Noah provided transparent price breakdown which helped a lot for my decision on itinerary. During our visit in Masai Mara, our driver / guide Joseph stayed with us for three days close to Mara river and we captured four times wildebeest river crossing. His experiences really helped a lot. Everything goes so smoothly during our trip in Kenya and Tanzania. This company operates both Kenya and Tanzania themselves, so the transition on the border also goes very well.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
7 day Northern Circuit Safari
Had an amazing 7 day safari with It started in Africa. Our guide Erasto was amazing, knowledgeable and fun and really made our trip! The Serengeti and Ngorogoro crater were amazing places. I was really impressed with the professionalism of the trip and how the parks rules were adhered too and the animals were calm and relaxed around us, and not harassed. Our cook was brilliant and the food was amazing. Additionally, the company were quick to respond to messages and were attentive to all arrangements.
I will definitely be using this company again :-)