20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Incredible experience
My first contact was with Peter who promptly directed us to Sylvia. Sylvia made every effort to meet our requests and we were very pleased with her professional treatment. I would certainly recommend to all my friends and hope to return soon to explore further this magnificent country.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolutely Awesome
We have just returned from a two week safari with Happy World Safari's and it totally exceeded our expectations. As you'd expect when booking a holiday with an operator in a different country without a travel agent you are very cautious. My wife and I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews to narrow it down. We then contacted a few and after a while settled with Happy World Safaris.
Joseph's (owner) expertise and friendliness from the very first email was exceptional. He was so very accommodating to our needs and every (several) question. He even organised a visit to a local school for us in order to provide stationary, school uniforms and other supplies to some very underprivileged children. I highly recommend this if you can.
We were fortunate enough to have Joseph and Tony (Driver) on our tour and both were very experienced and passionate about the animals and provided a lot of interesting information about them. Additionally they also gave us a lot of information on the country, its history, natural landscapes etc.
I cannot say enough about our trip and highly recommend that you use Happy World Safari's for your Tanzanian trip.
Joseph and Tony are absolute legends.
We will be back again soon
Peter & Jess
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Honeymoon in Kenya
Hospitality: 5/5
Accommodation: 4.5/5
Trip plan: 4.5/5
Overall: An amazing experience!
The longest pending review:)
I remember searching for packages to kenya and how exorbitantly priced each of them were. So I delegated the work to my then fiancé. The very next day he found Magical Retreats & Adventures Tours. And the most perfect package. Our long planned honeymoon was finally taking shape. Pamela offered us an extremely accommodative package at affordable prices.
We all have our doubts going into a new country and spending a holiday. But what changed was how Pamela personally came by to greet us at the airport. To me it felt like a warm feeling I would get at home. And we were taken to our hotel. We had a fabulous time at the capital enjoyed buffets, baby elephants, kissing Giraffes and a lot more.
We headed towards the much awaited Masai Mara (primary reason why we visited Kenya). My husband being an animal lover and me scared of everything that moves, we didn't opt for a resort which was in the middle of the jungle. But instead in the corner of the jungle just to balance what both of us needed. And spent an evening with the locals too! (A big plus)
The next day was the Safari. Unlike the evergreen forests, the Masai Mara is a grassland. And the best thing about it, you can see lot of animals as far as your eye can see. And also eat some packed lunch sitting in the jungle beside them. So you're sure to be satisfied. But some how I got extra lucky in Kenya, we got to spot the big Five (I've not spotted :( a tiger in the Indian jungle for the last 5 times that I've been). It wasn't just my luck that played, I think it was mostly Livingstone Masagha our safari driver (he drove us around the entire journey in kenya too!). His enthusiasm was like it's his first visit to the park. But his experience in spotting animals, was like he belonged in the jungle. I still remember it was 17:30 and we were heading back to the gate (gates close at 18:00 hours) completely exhausted after close to a 10 hour journey in the jungle, Masagha heard on his Walkie talkie one of the other safari cars had spotted a Rhinoceros (the one animal left in our big five list to spot) he made sure to drive us all the way back into the jungle and show us the Rhinoceros. We still remember him for his kind gesture. Post Masai Mara we headed to lake Naivasha before heading back to the capital.
Here are somethings that I took away from kenya.
Kenyans are really warm at heart, so make sure you show them some love. They might even invite you for a meal at their place.
Masagha had told us about the great African massage. A 70 kilometer stone road drive on the way to Masai Mara. It's quite a massage we had underestimated it! So stay ready for that.
The animals are always best in their home, so respect them when you step into their home. Noise scares them away.
Don't depend on real time navigation, traffic is random.
Apart from that enjoy kenya :)
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Johny created an experience of a lifetime!
I booked a 3-Day Masai Mara Safari as a solo traveller. I felt extremely safe and had a ton of fun with Johny. He is such a great communicator, which made our dialogue seamless. He seems to be very popular as well. It was great to drive through Nairobi and head towards Narok where he would speak to so many of his friends. I learned so much about the Kenyan culture on way to and from the park. He also takes great pictures for all of you social media influencers! Johny has a great eye for natural beauty and capturing moments every traveller doesn't want to miss. Immediately I could tell he loved his job and has a true passion for animals. He knows the park like the back of his hands and we saw 4 out of the Big 5 on the first day. We sang, joked, laughed and admired the beauty of the animals! Highlights include being in the midst of a heard elephants with their babies and watching two lions feast. So many great things that would have knocked your socks off and will if you book Beacon Safaris with Johny. I promise you won't regret it! ;-)
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect Honeymoon!!!
Darren and Compass Odyssey planned the most amazing honeymoon for my husband and me to South Africa, Victoria Falls, and Botswana. From the very beginning of our email correspondence with Darren, he was always so professional, responsive, and gave us all the information we needed to help us plan our itinerary. At the same time, he allowed us to totally customize our trip to our own tastes. Other tour companies we looked at were not nearly as flexible as Compass Odyssey was. Our entire trip was beyond amazing and everything, including our bookings, transfers, etc., went off without a hitch, thanks to Darren. We highly, highly recommend Darren and Compass Odyssey!!
PT
Very nice environment, simpathy and service. The food adequate after all the bush adventures.
We had very lucky because we saw all the big five: lions, elephants, búfalos, Rhinos and hippos. Beyond that, we saw a lioness hunting a GNU. All the strategy she makes to follow the gnu makes us marvellous pictures. I'm not a bird watcher but I love to see the Troni eagle, several beautiful and coloured birds and even some rare animals as the wolfs and rare foxes. Not to talk about giraffes, zebras, Ilan, springbocks, Impalas, etc.
US
Trip of a Lifetime
The trip of a lifetime! AAAfrica worked with us to put together our personalized itinerary with tented camps, hikes, village interaction, wildebeest migration, Ngororgora Caldera, several national parks and of course, the Big 5.
Augustine and his staff knew where we needed to be to see the most action. From experience, they could observe an animal's movement and position the vehicles for the best viewing and photos. The drivers amazed us with their ability to spot even the smallest game and birds. With Augustine's narration and nightly talks, we came to love his native Tanzania and appreciate the treasures it holds.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spotted the Big Five!
Our safari through the Murchison Falls National Park was really great! We even spotted the Big Five! The ranger, who joined us in our car, really helped us spotting the animals that are hard to find, such as the lions and the leopard. Besides the safari, we also did the chimpansee tracking. It is good to know you should wear long sleeves and pants and good shoes, because some of the people in our group had to hire boots, because they didn't have the right shoes. The tracking was really cool, the chimpansees came really close to us and we saw lots of them.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An elephantastic safari!!
In januar we met Selma on the vacation market in Utrecht. She informered us very well about the possibilities on a safari. During some emailcontact we got some extra advice for a safari compare our ideas and budget. The safari was, in every aspect, above our expectations. First our excellent guide Humphrey. He was not only funny but know a lot about nature and wild live. Thanks to his exceptionele eyes, we spotted the Big Five(with spouse), the Ugly Five and lots and lots of other animals very close to our car.. Every day he brought some new excitement, took good care of us with nice lunchboxes and good coffee. And after a long safari day we were every time surprises by the hospitality and service of each lodge. The tentedlodges were all very good. We didn't expected so much luxury and very tastefull food.
This safari we will always remember as one of our topvacations. When we go once more to Tanzania we sure go for Humphrey and Makasa!
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Poorly organised and quick to take your money!
Where do we start!!! We gave all of our hotel pickup details in Arusha week's in advance of our safari. Nobody turned up to collect us until after 2 hours passed when we finally managed to make contact with the company and explain that we were waiting. The driver had no idea where to pick us up from. We believe if we hadn't made contact no one would have ever come to collect us. Then, on the second day of our safari the exact same thing happened, we were left stranded waiting for almost two hours and had to get our lodge staff to chase up the tour company drivers. No compensation was offered even though 4+ hours of safari time were lost/wasted by the company (this is a lot when its only a two day safari). The company was quick to take our cash at the beginning of the tour. The guides gave little or no information about the animals or parks unless we constantly asked them. They expected tips (what for!). Overall, a very poorly managed company and despite seeing lots of amazing animals (which we would have seen with any other safari company also) I would not recommend Tanzania Joy Tours to anyone! Very unprofessional and no doubt relying on outdated high review ratings!