US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Over and Above Expectations
We used Avocet for our safaris in Feb, 2017 and they were fantastic! We went to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro, the entire experience was incredible! Our guide was great and the owner, Jeff, went above and beyond expectations to take care of us. I accidentally left a shirt in a vehicle and he was able to track it down and had a man meet me at the airport to get it back, I was very thankful for this! We highly recommend Avocet!!!
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avocet were very responsive and accommodating with our specific requests and needs.
Communication with Avocet was mostly through email, and their response was always very prompt. We specified our requirements and they tried their best to cater accordingly. The game drives were wonderful, more so because of the enthusiastic drivers/ guides. We had requested moderately comfortable accommodation, not basic or luxury, and we were provided exactly that. Overall our experience was wonderful, and I would recommend Avocet to others.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
No problems from start to Finnish
We did a Kilimanjaro climb and a Serengeti safari with Mega and both were great.
FI
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A very well organised tour from the Cape to Kruger, during which we learned a lot about South Africa
We started our communication with Compass Odyssey about eight months before our trip, having got the contact from a friend. Their first task was to perform a sanity check, what all we could cram in a period of 11 days. Once our party had agreed upon a list of prioritised pkaces to see, Compass provided us with a proposal which we accepted. From there on, Compass did all the arrangements in Cape Town and surroundings, bought flight tickets and reserved us a safari in a private game reserve in the north-eastern corner of the country. Everything worked well, and we apprexiated especially being guided both in the Cape area and in the game reserve - our travel experience was exceptionally educational.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
great safari experience
Overall the experience is good. We got prompt feedback in most of cases. The arrangement of hotels and safari trips are very thoughtful and meet our expectations. We will recommend Solaris tours and safaris to anyone visiting East Africa.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Heavenly Honeymoon
We wanted to do something completely special for our honeymoon and after lots of research decided that a week on Safari followed by the beach would be perfect.
We called a few different safari operators that we found on the internet and decided to book with Safari Club as the guy we spoke to seemed very professional and to understand exactly what we were looking for.
It proved to be a good decision as we were advised to consider Ruaha National park and Selous Game reserve for three nights each followed by six days in Zanzibar at a small boutique hotel. The price was lower than we expected and as everything on the safari was included so we were pleasantly surprised, that no big credit card bill was waiting for us at home.
We were treated like royalty at both the safari camps we stayed at with private bush dinners and lots of other little touches which made our honeymoon special. We were particularly impressed by the guides who seemed to be able to spot and identify small animals hidden in the grass from miles away and who kept us royally entertained with stories of the experiences of life in the bush.
The hotel in Zanzibar was also lovely the beach was superb with pure white sand although the tide went out a long way, the food was very good with plenty of fresh seafood washed down with a decent South African wine. We took a snorkeling trip to Mnemba Island which we loved and also visited Stonetown, which was interesting.
We both fell in love with Africa and are saving for another trip for our anniversary. When we will again contact Safari Club to help us arrange it.
TR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Thank you Ines
I said Ines because Ines helpmed a lot to make my dream happen. I was not sure how I was going to selecet a program for my 5 days safari at Botswana. Ines did a great job and I did achieve my dream. Therefore, thank you Ines and thank you Indigi and Kalahari Tour.
CL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The greatest experience In my life
I had the greatest time. Good organization, quality/price is good. I was alone in a group of six. We had very nice moments. The driver Victor was excellent, he could see every hidden animal. The chef , doctor Charls cooks really good. They take good care of all group. I am very satisfied with my experience. I will give to my friends the information of this same safari. Totally recommended.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful time, can't wait to go back!
My sister and I went on an East African 9 day Safarai in Kenya and Tanzania with Africa Safari Classics and have finally got around to doing a review (almost a year later, whoops)! We had a great time - loved the people and the environment. We'll attempt to give you a brief, or not so brief summary.
First night we stayed in EKA hotel in Nairobi, which was lovely, clean and had good food. Maurice, our contact for Africa Safari Classics met us at the hotel the morning of departure for safari and went through everything with us again, prior to introducing us to our first guide, Mackenzie, who looked after us very well in Kenya and taught us our first Swahili words.
The next morning we headed to Maasai Mara reserve, where we stayed for 2 nights at Basecamp Mara, which was amazing! We were blown away by the welcoming staff, fantastic accommodation and mass amounts of food (delicious, but a bit too much for us - 3 courses 3 times a day). Grounds were beautiful, 'tent' was amazing, loved the eco side of things and the positives for the environment. Also note Obama and his family stayed at Basecamp Mara too. We were warned to lock our tents to stop the Baboons 'taking our passports' and going through things. Basecamp is mostly fenced, however one sides boundary is 'fenced' by a river that also backs onto the reserve. You can often see animals passing through the reserve from the camp grounds. The Maasai staff also danced for us one night too, which was great to see their culture. Reflecting back, I think Maasai Mara was the best animal viewing we had. We managed to get up close to Lions, Cheetahs and many others. We managed to see a small crossing at the Mara River also, and Mackenzie did a great job getting us good spots while not interrupting the animals or other viewers. I liked the accessibility of Maasai Mara - there were a lot more tracks that meant you could get to other spots more easily if you saw something in the distance.
Day 3 we drove from Maasai Mara (Kenya) to Serengeti (Tanzania). This was a very long day of driving, including through the boarder and immigration. We joined a small family and their guide for some of this day, who had booked with the same company. At the boarder we found our new driver, Abdul. Abdul, like Mackenzie, is a veteran at tour guiding and was a pleasure to be with. He joked with us and answered our many questions.
We arrived in the Serengeti with a little game drive and arrived at our accommodation at Serengeti Tented Bush Camp. Upon arrival it looked like a bunch of canvas tents in a field, but the tents were simply amazing! My sister was actually speechless. We had the most comfortable mattresses there compared to everywhere else on our entire trip (including Singapore). We each had a double bed to ourselves, accompanied by a writing desk and sitting chair with footstool. The ensuite had a flushing toilet, but you need to give notice when you want a shower so they can fill it for you. Worst shower we had, but they made up with everything else, plus what else can you expect in the middle of the Serengeti?! The staff were very friendly and loved teaching us Swahili around the campfire. The food was lovely, but not quite as great as Basecamp Mara. Most of our stories are from our time in the Serengeti. We loved just being with the staff, learning the language and seeing the animals pass through the field. This accommodation is not fenced at all and we loved it! The first night I saw our guard chase away a Hyena over dinner. The second night I woke to hear a pride of Lions killing something right outside the staff tent (roughly 150m away from us), then heard all the Hyena's calling and fighting the Lions for the carcass. Hence why many of our stories come from that time.
Day 5 we left Serengeti and headed to Ngorongoro Crater in the hope of finding a Rhino. The Crater is worth a look as it's quite fascinating. We did see one Rhino from afar, plus many other animals. We stayed at Bougainvillea Lodge, which wasn't the best accommodation we had, but still quite good.
Day 6 we departed for Lake Manyara National Park. Lake Manyara was probably the prettiest park in my opinion due to the rainforest-like trees. Despite being the most beautiful, unfortunately it had the least animals and was quite anticlimactic at this stage in the trip. It's worth noting that we apparently did the cheaper route - Kenya to Tanzania, rather than Tanzania to Kenya, but therefore meant the smaller parks were at the end. We didn't see Lions in trees, which is unique to this park. We were told this is reasonably uncommon to see; not rare, but uncommon, mainly due to accessibility of cars. We stayed at Manyara Wildlife Camp, which was gorgeous once again!
Day 7 we headed to Tarangire National Park, which was quite pleasant. Stayed at Lake Burunge Tented Camp, which was fabulous! We had time to relax with a swim. The staff sang a version of happy birthday to someone, which was joyful, cheeky and simply beautiful!
The only day I felt unsafe was the day we crossed the border. I found the people, it was mainly the children we noticed, were less friendly than in Kenya. Of course some were great, but others yelled at us as we drove past and seemed angry we were there. A few matters later dawned on me. Basecamp Mara in Kenya works well in conjunction with the local Maasai people, and many Kenyan's have experienced the good of tourists and missionaries, and realise the good it brings to their country. However the roads we travelled on our first day in Tanzania went through many secluded villages. The tour cars travel on these dirt roads, generally varying 60-80km/hr, which creates mass amounts of dust and disruption, while the locals are just trying to live a simple life and move their herds from one place to another (generally on the roads).
I would definitely go back (if I ever save the money). The people are fabulous - kind and funny. The culture is fascinating and the animals are marvellous. Thank you, Maurice, for a wonderful time!
[Flights: We flew Melbourne to Nairobi (Kenya) with Qatar Airways via Doha. Loved Qatar Airways - so polite, give you everything you want and free care packages! We left Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), also with Qatar, and flew to Singapore for a relaxing stop over (not realising how relaxing Africa would be).]
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experience of a Lifetime
This was my second safari in Africa but my first to Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangiri. WOW what an amazing experience. Easy to work with, easy to book, and constant contact to make sure we were happy prior to trip. The guide Chedi (Chad) was the best. informative, funny, helpful, knew every animal, and helped us get some amazing photographs. We may have to add him and Joseph (the owner) to our Christmas Card list. They are like family now.
The scenery was amazing, the Tent lodges in Serengeti were unbelievable. Surrounded by animals in the wild was a bit scary to say the least. but the staff at the lodge was amazing, You can tell that Tomodachi Tours had done their research. The lodge at Tarangiri was unbelievable (roika tented lodge). It felt like you reached a paradise in the middle of the jungle. straight out of the movies.
Chedi made our experience feel like we were filming a movie for national geographic. The food was great, the service was amazing, and the hospitality was top notch. The fact that we were able to spend about an hour with the Masaai in their homes and dancing and singing with them was unreal. Have nothing negative to say about this trip or this company.
Thank you so much Joseph for such an amazing tour. Thank you Chedi for such an amazing 4 days teaching us so much about your country, the safaris, the animals, and your culture...