AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A place where people are still honest, straight forward, smiling and a country with still nature
The wild life safari was amazing. Its definitely something one should do. I had my concerns that I may be bored, but it was wonderful. Most of the basic camps are good enough and pleasant. I was surprised by the hospitality and help i received from many locals there.
The whole country almost everyone speaks english, so you can get by very easily, and definitely visit a night club. Its comparatively very cheap and superb vibes
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
9 day safari experience beyond our highest expectations, it was so amazing!
In the middle of August, we experienced the most unbelievable and exciting 9 day safari in Tanzania which was way beyond our expectations. How do you describe perfect? That’s what our safari adventure was thanks to Easy Travel and the best guide ever, Jackson! We’re amazed at all we saw, including a cheetah hunt and kill, two of the elusive black rhinos, one in the Serengetti and one in Ngorongoro Crater, birds of all kinds, lots of every type of species in the deer family (including the smallest, the dik dik) and two crossings of the Mara River in the Great Migration, one of which was the largest observed in two seasons. We enjoyed watching 5 cheetahs and four leopards over the eight days, along with a spotting of two tree climbing lions sleeping in a tree. We also had days that we joked were the “day of the lion” when we spotted forty, the “day of the hippo” when we saw over 50”, “day of the giraffe” when we saw over 60, not to mention innumerable numbers of elephants, baboons, wildebeests, zebras, hyenas and warthogs. We were treated to smaller wildlife in the bush too; jackals, cerval cats, lizards, a tortoise, two types of Mongoose, Hyrax and an African rock python. Wow!
In the spring, our adult daughter, a high school biology teacher, received a monetary award from a special fund at her school to be used for wherever she wanted to travel. After deciding on a trip to Africa, she asked us, her parents, to join her for this experience. After extensive research online, talking with friends who had been to Africa and lots of discussion, it was decided we would book a private tour with Easy Travel, which was ranked #1 on Trip Advisor for the area. From the very first email, we were reassured by the prompt replies and willingness to work with our budget and desires for the safari. Over the next few months, there were speedy responses to questions that arose as we researched and prepared for the trip. The Easy Travel website provided good information and FAQ’s to help us have a successful experience.
Our first day, we were warmly met at Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport by our driver/guide Jackson, who immediately put us at ease and we knew we were in good hands.
He drove us to our first night’s accommodations at the Tulip Tree Hotel in Arusha. There we were joined by Emmanuel from the local ET office. He made us feel welcome to Tanzania and briefed us on what to expect for the next 8 days, from accommodations, game drives, gratuities, safety and answered our questions. We were greatly surprised to also receive a special cake to celebrate our daughter’s award and our 48th anniversary.
This special care and thoughtfulness continued throughout our safari. The lodgings arranged for us at the comfort level were all very good and as advertised. The staff members at each location were friendly and truly accommodating, anticipating any needs. The food was delicious and plentiful, including the box lunches provided every day, and we always felt safe. We were extremely surprised and thrilled to have special singing by staff and a cake at every accommodation. We will never forget how special this made us feel and we will always have those memories.
The 8 days of our safari, from Tarangire to Lake Manyara, the Serengetti: north, central and south, to Ngorongoro Crater and back to Arusha were magical, especially thanks to the instincts, care, sense of humor, genuine love of the Serengetti and a willingness to share information on the history, ecology, geography and wildlife of Jackson, our guide. He had endless patience to stop when we thought we spotted something and check it out, to back up when there was a particular picture one of us wanted, or to go pole, pole (slowly, slowly in Swahili) for me due to some physical limitations. We’re sure he worked extra hours each day to ensure we had the best possible experience, and at times even he seemed amazed by what we were seeing or experiencing. From the very first we were drawn into the excitement of the hunt and Jackson’s keen eyesight and experience made each day an awesome appreciation of the beauty and life in this vast area of Tanzania (we learned during the safari that others call him the “Bush Doctor” because he is so in tune with life in the bush).
After our debriefing with Emmanuel at the Easy Travel office in Arusha, it was with great sadness that we said goodbye to Africa and Jackson.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic Gorilla trecking experience
I highly recommend using safari bookings if interested in going Gorilla trekking. We were a group of 4 ladies doing a 6 day trip in Uganda. Justus was extremely professional and helpful with our bookings. And our tour guide Ben was fantastic. What a wonderful team this trip was everything we expected plus more.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
best tour safari in tanzania
Very good and honest communication.no promises only fact and precision. Good vehicule Fantastic itinery.
2nd time with them and planning a return with my grandchildren next summer
US
Complicated Trip Made Easy!
My wife and I had the pleasure of working with Darren and Compass Odyssey to plan an 18 day trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. We had an ambitious itinerary that included many different flights, hotels/lodges, excursions, and border crossings. Compass Odyssey made our complicated itinerary a breeze through a combination of excellent communication, customer service, and flexibility. Darren was an absolute pleasure to work with and I’d highly recommend Compass Odyssey to anyone looking to plan a South African vacation.
We provided Compass Odyssey with a rough outline of our goals for the trip, including the budget, dates, locations, and attractions we wanted to see. With only that minimal information, Darren was able to develop an itinerary that included top notch lodging, all relevant transfers between locations, and access to all of the highlights we wanted to see. He was even able to incorporate a safari package that we purchased from a charity auction into the overall itinerary. Darren’s insight was incredibly helpful in navigating across the various countries, including timing of flights/vans as well as crossing the borders. This would have been a stressful trip to plan on our own, but Compass Odyssey made it seem easy.
There were no surprises once we arrived. All of the lodging was exactly how it was described to us and all of the transfers ran smoothly to/from the airport and between lodges. From the drivers to the tour guides, everyone we met that was affiliated with Compass Odyssey was helpful and pleasant. International travel can be difficult, especially traveling to a new country for the first time. Using Compass Odyssey to plan our vacation was a great idea and helped make the experience a memorable one.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome!
It was a awesome trip! Joshua came to pickup us ontime and gave us 3 boxes of water for 4 days trip:) Our tour guy name "James" were super well organized and nice, always answer all the questions that we had and try very hard to drive us around to find the big 5! Overall, everything is great and definitely recommend! Thank you:)
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awe inspiring, amazing and wonderful memories to last forever
Email correspondence was fast and accurate whilst booking a tailor made safari for clients with a fairly specific criteria (and travelling and meeting up from UK / Australia) - massive thanks to Nick and his team.
We were really fortunate to have Kit as our guide - he was so knowledgable about the wildlife and knew exactly where to find them, very organised and checking us into lodges, and even took us to his local once we were all back in Windhoek! Friendship and memories made from the most amazing two weeks! Can't wait for my next trip to Namibia - a geologically rugged and stunningly varied country.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Avoid this guy!!!
Attention, be very careful with Faustin!!! I can't recommend this tour operator at all!!! We have never experienced such a disaster before. The tour was a nightmare!!! The organisation was terrible.
The driver left us in Mikumi at the Hotel, on the last day returning back and disappeared into thin air!!! Faustin and driver would not pick up the phone since then! We were left alone and had to go back by ourselves to dar!!!!!!!! Luckily it was not our day of the departure, else we would have missed the flight back home!
We reported this incident to the Police and the Tanzania Tour Association as well as the National Park Administration!
But let me tell you the whole story...
...My girlfriend and I, booked a 5-day Mikumi and Selous private tour. Faustin was recommended by friends, who made a 9day luxury safari. Faustin and his driver John picked us up with the car ready to start the tour. Once we paid him the full amount cash (by the way we never received a bill) he left the car telling us that he is not going to join the tour with us. If we knew before, we would have canceled.
Alone with the driver we soon realized, that John wasn't speaking English at all. Luckily my girlfriend is from Kenia and speaks Swahili. Even though John was not talking to us, he was just driving like a robot. No conversation, no stories, no jokes, no social interaction. In fact, he was texting all the time and even stopped to handle some private business while we were waiting for him in the car. Being scared of getting a fine he drove 40km/h although the speed limit is 50km/h. Can you imagine how long a 5-day-trip can get with someone like that!
John was just the driver, he had no clue about the daily planned program. He asked us, what to do next, instead vice versa. We had to coordinate the trip with the local guides ourselves, who were also shocked with Johns behavior. He littered in the national park. In the national park, during safari he jumped many times out of the car while talking on the phone, although advice differently by the guides as it is forbitten by the rangers. He scared away animals and spoiled pictures. He had no patience and was bored quickly. At some point, after a long wait, trying to get a good pic, he decided to drive off. At this point I lost my calm and had an argument with him. Because he didn’t understand English, he thought we insulted him.
A regular (taxi) driver with no safari experience would have done the job with more passion and care.
We booked a regular tour, but Faustin delivered less than promised. He cut our program short. He is profit oriented but delivers a really bad service and showed a very unprofessional behavior!!!!!!
During the whole tour, he never got in direct contact with us, although we expressed some concerns. Maybe he will do that now, through this platform. I'm curious to see his response.
After the driver dumped us in Mikumi, locals told us, that Faustin is known for this tricky behavior. He owes local guides/drivers money. He doesn't pay them their full salary.
If you are thinking of doing a safari-tour check the safaribookings.com for the best rated company. I strictly advise you not to ignore my review.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Honest, fulfilling, courteous and very client friendly.....
Everything was top notch and upto expectations.....
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a life time experience!!!!
Where do I start?!?! Soul of Tanzania team was extremely patient and resourceful in helping us plan our route, they booked all our stays, provided all transportation, booked our balloon safari, and even our domestic flights to/from Zanzibar! The only thing we had to do was book our international flight, that was it! Once we stepped foot in Kilimanjaro everything was handled and we never had to worry about a thing. We initially began planning our safari with Soul ~ 1yr before arrival and interacted with about every staff member and experienced the same high standard of customer service across the board.
Our guide Ben was simply outstanding to say the least! He was very knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the wildlife. It was 5 of us friends traveling together and because Ben had such a great sense of humor and personality, that as days progressed he became a friend and not just our tour guide, it felt like 6 friends on vacation now not 5. Our only regret is not spending more time on safari. Oh, and if you’re a coffee lover Ben makes the BEST coffee in Tanzania! Thank you, Ben and the team, at Soul of Tanzania for all the wonderful memories!!!