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!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Really great trip around Namibia
We took the self-drive option for our trip. Communications before, during & after trip were first class. The vehicle provided was perfect for the trip & came with SatNav and a local phone.
The service from Ivo & his Team exceeded our expectations with everything about the trip explained very well.
The trip itself was brilliant and accommodation was first class, with one exception. In the Soussuvlei area, the advertised hotel was full & we were booked into Desert Quiver (we knew this at the time of booking). This is great if you are self-catering but we had meals included and needed to drive 5km each way to get our food.
Apart from this minor irritation, we had a wonderful time & can thoroughly recommend Dunas.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tent safari in Botsuana- an very intensive experience of nature
Excellent guide and team (Spokes, Moses, Oti, Patrick). It can't be better.
We passed nine wonderful, exciting and interesting days with them.
Due to the flood in Moremi we need to avoid the campsite there and been sent to "Duncan's Camp", two hours away. These camp was unacceptable from location perspective, the more it was in a pitiable condition. You shouldn't offer this camp anymore, in everyone's interest.
That's the reason why the overall rating is only "good".
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great
We enjoyed the stay, and the choices that were made. Little mistakes, they did not take a good week off.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
I was a zoo director leading safaris, Augustine was the accompanying naturalist on several safaris.
I met Augustine a number of years ago when I was leading safari groups. He was the accompanying naturalist and guide on several of my safaris when he was working for another tour operator. He was very knowledgeable about wildlife, natural history of the Serengeti, and local customs and culture. He was most gracious and attended to any of my guests needs. We have kept in touch over the intervening years and I wish him all success with his own tour company. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend Augustine's Africa Adventure to anyone considering a Tanzania safari; they will be in excellent hands.