CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and fantastic service
Just back from a mid-range Safari and Zanzibar tour with Regional Tours which is a local company. Maturaf was really helpful and his responses were timely. The price was not over the top for the tour that we got. The accommodations and food were fantastic. Emmanuel, our guide, was fantastic. We couldn't have asked for a better guide. He is extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife, birds and parks. He has the best vision and pointed out things that we could until we got the binoculars out. He went out of the way to ensure that we had the best trip and also suggested changes to the itinerary to maximize our time. Thank you!! We had the best time.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by sixthofdecember
Tarangire is excellent for elephants. Not that that comes as a surprise for anyone who's ever opened a travel / safari guide book, but I can now confirm it personally. For people who don't like elephants as much as I do, I can also say that the park landscape is gorgeous.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Serengeti National Park by sixthofdecember
The Serengeti delivers on all its promises. The landscape is beautiful and offers animal sightings in abundance, and thanks to its size, the national park never feels crowded. Thanks hugely to our amazing guide, we saw all the big cats, both far away and very close, along with a lot of other animals, including pretty much all kinds of gazelles and antelopes.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by sixthofdecember
Ngorongoro is a beautiful place to spot a variety of animals while at the same time being very busy when it comes to tourists. Since the caldera is very open and you can see from one end to the other easily, you can't avoid seeing all those safari vehicles. The wildlife makes up for that, though. On my most recent visit, we even managed to see a rhino.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful walking safari in Arusha NP
On my most recent trip to Tanzania (September 2015), the first park we visited was Arusha National Park. In the morning, we took a "regular" game drive through the park, on which we were introduced to Tanzania's wildlife slowly but surely--we saw monkeys, birds and giraffes, among others. What makes Arusha NP special for me, though, is the walking safari we took in the late afternoon the same day. For obvious reasons, you can't get very close to most animals on foot (which is a good thing, of course--I would not have wanted to be any closer to the herd of buffalos we saw from afar), but we still managed to see a pair of giraffes less than 50 m away. Walking through a national park certainly puts things into perspective, especially the size of both the park and the animals. It feels very different walking paths similar to the ones you've already driven across, and gives you a new appreciation for safaris as a whole. It also adds to the "bush vibe" of the entire country, because it feels like it's just you and the animals.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing--surpassed expectations!
What can I say but wow! Jacque, our guide was determined to show us as many animals and he succeeded. He was so helpful and knowledgeable that he really made our safari all the better. The accomodations were so comfortable, the food delicious and the service impeccable!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tanzania by sixthofdecember
Tanzania has such a varied animal life that no one will take a game drive and come away disappointed. I'm not a birder, but even I saw so many different species of birds that I was blown away and would certainly consider coming back just to learn more about birds. Sadly, some places are completely overrun with tourists, but if you have a good guide, they'll manage to steer you places where you can still be alone with whatever animal you want to see. Tanzania is not a cheap place to visit, though, especially if you want to hit the more popular national parks, but I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about South Africa by Liz
It is such a diverse country and I hope to be back to get to see more of it next time.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hands down the best experience of my life
Everything about this experience was just beyond what words could describe and far exceeded my expectations. The people, the accomodations, the landscape and wildlife... I fell in love with Kenya.
Communication with Odyssey Safari staff before (for booking and questions), on the date of departure (an unecessary last minute panic on my part), and even after return (follow-up to see if anything could be improved) was excellent and expedient.
The only thing I was a little apprehensive about going into this trip was all of the sites we were traveling to, and the fact that we'd be in a vehicle on game drives and driving between lodging. So, just a lot of car time. But in reality, the scenery and the company made it fly by and I found I didn't mind a bit. All of the sites we stayed at had their own positive sides, and I found we ended up staying two nights at both of my favorite reserves (Samburu and Masaai Mara), which I was grateful for.
James was our guide and I similarly can't say enough positive things about him. He shared so much knowledge about not only wildlife and the parks, but also about Kenyan culture and by the end I truly felt he made the trip as much fun as it was. I was grateful to have him as our guide, and when I return for another trip to Kenya (which I DEFINITELY will), I will request him as a guide without hesitation. It was clear he had both love and respect for the wildlife and land, which is obviously what one wants to see when doing a trip such as this. One of my favorite quotes of his: "we take nothing [from the reserves] and leave nothing behind."
Mark Cahill asked me after I returned if there was anything I would do to improve the experience and I could not think of one thing.
All-in-all, it's an experience you need to have rather than hear about. I'm already recruiting family and friends and have been in communication with Mark Cahill...I plan to return through Odyssey Safaris next year. Highly recommend.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Once in a lifetime experience with an incredibly sincere, passionate and friendly guide.
My travels through Uganda with Paul were absolutely unforgettable. From the moment he met us in Kampala we felt very safe, relaxed and comfortable. All aspects of our tour were well organised and professional. We saw an exceptional amount of wildlife and Paul's knowledge on birds is second to none. Our lodgings were fantastic with comfort and cleanliness being first class. I can not recommend Paul highly enough and in fact was so impressed I toured with him twice! We still maintain a friendship seven years after our safari tour.