DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
One week individual tour Uganda - a great experience
We did a week-long tour through Queen Elizabeth NP, Bwindi NP (Gorilla tracking) and Lake Mburo NP. The camps and lodges where we stayed were all beautiful and clean, nice and helpful people. We saw all animals we wanted to see, including lions, gorillas, giraffes and the shoebill. Our tour guide Kule was the best guide we could have imagined: friendly, knowledgeable and a safe driver. Organisation by Matoke was excellent: they were very responsive and helpful during the preparation of our tour and understood immediatelly our wishes and expectations. Highly recommendable!
RO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful 5 days safari in Tanzania, professional and knowledgeable staff, good food&accommodation!
They went above and beyond to make the safari trip unforgettable experience. Allan was really quick to respond, at any hour, giving us important tips and support on how to get to the safari starting point from Kampala in Uganda to Arusha in Tanzania. They made us feel welcomed in both their offices in Nairobi, through Allan and Arusha, through Abraham, who was also helpful in organizing an extra day for us in the safari. As for the safari itself, we had Max as guide and Yusuf as chef. Max was really knowledgeable about all the places we visited, animals, people, local culture. As we were particularly interested in the Maasai way of living, he was more than pleased to give us extra information about them. He knew a lot about the savanna flora and fauna, and we especially liked the peculiar details specific to each animal, never a dull moment on the trip. Max made all efforts to be sure we'll see the Big 5, and we encountered them all, many times. As for Yusuf, he cooked delicious food, in the morning, for lunch and dinner. We especially liked the three course dinner, it was every time different, and the pancakes for breakfast. They both made a good team and they even organized a surprise for one of us who had his birthday during the safari trip, a moment to remember! All that, plus reliable car, good accommodation, as they provided all that was initially promised and even more, made an excellent safari trip. We want to also thank them for being flexible in setting up the schedule for the safari trip, especially for the last day, when we needed to be at the airport at a specific time. Will definitely recommend them!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safe and precise. Everybody knew our timing and planning. Enjoyable! Very friendly people :-)
We started preparing the safari around two months in advance. Communication was very clear and quick.
Working over email with Mike we defined a safari schedule that included everything we wanted withing our available budget. Ancient did take care to book everything, and even they upgrade one of the hotels on their account, as the one we had originally defined was full book.
Once we got to Nairobi, a driver was waiting for us with a label that displayed our names for clear identification! :-)
Next day the safari started. Masai mare is amazing and you can get really close to animals. Balloon trip is really expensive, but i think it's a must do!! It's a superb experience to flout on the air with no engine noise around. Magical!
In Serengeti we had more chances to see animals, but you can not leave the road! So, a good zoom is mandatory if you want to have good pictures.
Hotels along the safari were good, and hotel in Zanzibar was excellent!!! Just as we need it to be in order to end the trip with a good rest :-)
I think Ancient Safaris people (Mike and is team) did a great job! So we could just enjoy the experience, he animals, and the great people we have meet along the way.
All in all, I'm very happy!!! I wish we could repeat it at some point!!!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Zimbabwe Adventure
We had the most fantastic experience with Falcon Safari--they arranged an amazing tour that included lodging (A'Zambezi River Lodge), dinner cruise on Zambezi, walking tour of Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe side), helicopter tour, dinner at Livingstone Room, dinner at Boma, day trip to Chobe, and then arranged for a 4 day stay with lodging and tours in Johannesburg.
We cannot say enough good things about our experience. From the time we were picked up at the airport to the time we were dropped off again--every transfer was on time or early, accommodations were fantastic and the tour guides were amazing. Worth every penny (which I thought was very reasonable for completely private tours).
We loved our visit to Zimbabwe and Chobe. The arrangements in Johannesburg were awesome as well.
Thank you, thank you, for a trip of a lifetime. Your vacation package was absolutely amazing and your services superb.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dream Safari come true...
From start to finish my experience with Oranje Safaris was perfect.
Harry was so patient with all the queries and adjustments that myself and my son made to our safari itinerary from the UK when we booked with him.
We wanted to see everything!.. in just 2 nights and 3 days. He was so helpful and understanding of our needs and ultimately helped us put together an amazing safari experience, and one that we will never forget! Harry also arranged the itinerary around the fact that we had adopted an elephant from the Sheldrick Orphanage, and we wanted to visit him at the Voi Stockade, which was a magical, emotional, and unforgettable experience.
Harry came to meet us a few days before our safari to go through the itinerary and answer any questions we had... The morning of the safari came and at 4.30 am, bleary eyed but so excited, we met our driver for the next 3 days, Alex...
Alex was the kindest, most professional, friendly, helpful and environmentally conscious driver we could have wished for. An absolutely treasure chest of knowledge, sharing information about everything we asked, from the African tribes, to the behaviour of termites, Alex had the answer. An absolutely credit to the Oranje team.
Both myself and my son have studied conservation and zoology in depth, but Alex never ceased to amaze us with his knowledge and love of the parks and the animals. I was particularly impressed with Alex's care of the park and it's residents, never overstepping the boundaries that exist to maintain the beauty and welfare of the parks and animals. It was pleasure to meet such a gentleman, who took such care and pride to ensure that we had the best experience we could. Everything was done to our time scale and if we wanted to stay and wait for the elusive hippo to surface it was fine with him, he just quietly sat and waited whilst we took in the amazing scenes. We also came across the amazing, and fantastic scene of a lion family with 3 cubs which were literally 15 foot away from us! Alex was more than happy for us to stay as long as we wanted to and admire these beautiful creatures... Seeing an elephant walk behind the family was just breathtaking... Thank you so much Alex for helping us see such a variety of animals!
Harry helped us choose two of the most stunning and magical lodges that we could have imagined.. Lions Bluff and Epiya Chapeyu. Whose accommodations, locations, and staff were all beyond our wildest expectations, again thank you so much Harry for recommending them.
During our 3 day / 2 night safari, Oranje Safaris enabled us to experience both the stunning Tsavo East and inspiring Taita Hills Sanctuary, which together with being able to see Kilimanjaro made our dream safari came true.
We cannot thank you enough Harry and Alex!!
(Apologies for not leaving this review sooner).
MY
5 day Marangu Trek
I went on the 5-day Marangu trek with Kilisa and thoroughly enjoyed it! Naick is very professional and quick at replying emails and organising the trek even though i booked it last minute. Initially I was meant to go in a group however I ended up being the only person. The guide Patrick is a great guy and the chef Hasan an excellent cook! Overall had a good time with these guys, I would highly recommend them!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
O U T S T A N D I N G! In Every single aspect, Earthlife Expeditions overdelivered!
So after extensive research (and I mean extensive ... I hate spreadsheets, but I created one to compare tour operators and their offerings), I selected Earthlife Expeditions. It was the single best decision I've made in quite a long time. Deo Japhet is the owner and the main point of contact while discussing your safari needs. We were looking for a family (two parents, two kids) safari on the northern circuit. Deo was patient, helpful with suggestions, and open to more dialogue. Unlike some other tour operators I contacted via email, I never felt any pressure to sign a contract or make a deposit. And even after I had booked, I was allowed to add on other activities (a coffee plantation tour), which he deftly scheduled in a suitable timeframe.
During the safari, our driver-guide Paul help to exceed all our very high expectations on safari. He was super friendly, answered tons of questions (both on animals and just about life in Tanzania), has that uncanny ability to spot animals.
The safari started in Arusha, after Paul picked us up at JRO. We left the next day for Tarangire National Park. In consultation with Deo, we selected Tarangire over Lake Manyara, and are so happy with the decision. Tarangire was a wonderful start. Don't skip out on it. We stayed at Tarangire Simba Lodge, which Deo selected and was wonderful. This felt like a luxury safari without the luxury price tag.
The next day, we did a cultural tour in Mto Wa Mbu village, hike to Enduro waterfall and explored the elephant caves, and visited a coffee plantation. All arranged by Earthlife, with expert local guides for each. Paul was waiting for us at the end and we headed to Ngorongoro.
The crater was incredible. Paul was expert at plotting out our day. We stalked lions as they stalked buffalo. He spotted a bat-eared fox first thing the morning, which are tough to spot. We forded a rocky stream in our Land Cruiser easily. And speaking of the Land Cruiser, this vehicle has it all. First, Deo promised plenty of water, soft drinks, candy and snacks in the vehicle to be sure the kids were always fueled up. Paul didn't disappoint on that front. The icebox in the back was always accommodating. And ginger snaps, butter cookies or cashews would appear on the shelf in front of us. The four seats were spacious, with lots of storage (a shelf ran across the front with walls ... very handy), and each seat had at least one outlet with international prong access, no adapter needed. Two large beanbags were under the seats for your camera. Don't waste space or weight packing one. And some tour operators promised 1L of bottle water per person per day. Earthlife has no limits, which is good when you do long game drives under the Tanzanian sun. Stay hydrated!
Paul knew that in June, the main road between Ngorongoro and Serengeti would be under construction, causing some slowdowns and even more bumps than usual. With our permission, we went off the road (allowed in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, not in the crater or SNP) and found amazing sights we would've missed otherwise.
In Serengeti National Park, we stayed at Kubu Kubu Tented Camp in the Seronera area. Again, Deo hit it out fo the park. Paul had not yet visited this camp as it was relatively new, and even he was impressed. Staff, food, views, cabins ... all excellent. Without Deo, we'd have missed out on it.
We relied on Paul to plan out our time in the Serengeti (three full days). He was masterful at it, with one day going into the Western Corridor for the migration, another searching (and finding!) one of only three packs of African Painted Dogs (aka, African Wild Dogs) relocated from the south of the country. Even other driver-guides were incredulous of our find, pestering me to confirm what Paul had told them.
Deo had booked our tickets out of Seronera to Zanzibar and Paul delivered us and handled all the logistics at the airport. It was a sad time since not only was our safari ending, we had to say goodbye to Paul, who had become a great friend.
Bonus Plug for Earthlife Expeditions: We had booked our international plane tickets into JRO and out of Dar es Salaam, going to Zanzibar after the safari. Deo graciously booked our plane tickets from ZNZ to DAR. However, after we got to Zanzibar, reasons cropped up that caused us to want to be in Dar for a night before our international flights. We contacted Deo on a Saturday afternoon, asking a HUGE favor: could he rebook our tickets for a day earlier? Not only that, he had already given us gratis two free aiport transfers, so could we get picked up a day early, also? He called the airline (Coastal Aviation, recommended) and got the manager he knew at home. He secured a promise to get us rebooked in the morning and told us to be ready for the pick up. He said to expect an email by 9:30 am with the new tickets. Well, Africa Time is a serious condition and I wasn't sure if we'd have the tickets then. Call me a Doubting Thomas: the email arrived at 8:48 am.
This was supposed to be an item I had always dreamed of doing (African Safari!) and then I could check it off and move on to other things. It went sooo well and simply was far better than anything I had imagined, that we will return to Tanzania. We will book with Earthlife and we will ask for Paul to guide us again.
If you have been searching for a Tanzanian tour operator, stop now and contact Earthlife Expeditions. You. Will. Not. Be. Disappointed.
OM
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Serengeti big and full of animals..
Comparing 2015 Masai Mara experience guiding was weak. The foods in the hotels as well.
Hotel staff was tired and looked unhappy mainly.
We should repeat a few times and wait so long time to reach the desired F&B.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a great and unforgettable experience
Everything was great from the booking request to the end of the safari.
Rama was very helpful and the driver/guide as well.
The hotel was amazing and mikumi park is great not too crowded.
The safari was unforgettable. Good money for value !
SG
Efficient service that exceeded expectations
My family visited Kruger National Park, the Victoria Falls and Johannesburg in June. Rose and her team made the experience fuss-free and extremely enjoyable. After we discussed what we wanted to do during the trip and our expectations regarding accommodation, she and her team arranged all the logistics for us. Everything that she arranged went seamlessly and exceeded our expectations. One particular incident that left us extremely impressed occurred when our flight from Kruger to Livingstone was delayed (through no fault of the company's). We were running on an tight schedule and the delayed flight reduced our touring time and caused us to miss a helicopter ride over the Victoria Falls that we had been looking forward to. Thankfully, Rose and her team rose to the occasion and quickly arranged another helicopter ride for us the next morning, and even arranged for the helicopter to take us immediately to the airport so that we could catch our flight out of Livingstone punctually. Rose's responsiveness and efficient management of this hiccup on such short notice allowed us to enjoy our holiday without worries. We are very happy with the services that Rose and her team provided, and highly recommend The Luxury Safari Company to anyone who wants to enjoy the beauty of South Africa hassle-free.