50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Family Trip of a Lifetime
Our family used Yellow Zebra to plan our Africa adventure. Kirsten, our YZ representative, had a couple of conversations with us to find out what kind of experiences we wanted, what was important to us, and some specific things we would like to see. She then presented an amazing itinerary to us with location and camp recommendations for the best wild life viewings and quality of the camps. Her expertise in this area was highly evident. She managed to find availability in fantastic camps even though we were booking quite late. Everything was organized from the minute we landed in Johannesburg until the end of our week. Every detail was taken care of - flights, transfers, luggage transfers, accommodations - and was executed without a hitch. Kirsten also communicated during the trip to ensure everything was going well. This was a trip of a lifetime with lasting memories for our family and Yellow Zebra was instrumental in making this happen. Thank you Kirsten and YZ staff. We would highly recommend Yellow Zebra to others.”
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best safari company and a trip will we never forget!
Soul of Tanzania is the only company to consider if you visit Tanzania! Everything exceeded our expectations. Our guide, Dominic, was excellent! He is extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife, environment, and culture of this wonderful country. The company recommended camps were all unique and exceptional. The lunches were amazing with local foods and wine rather than the boxed lunches. People were jealous when they saw our set-up. I can't say enough about our time in Tanzania and am so thankful that we chose Soul of Africa. Request Dominic as your guide for sure!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most amazing trip of a lifetime!
“It was by far the best trip I've ever taken. Every detail was handled and conveyed to us so there were no surprises. Everything happened like clockwork and all accommodations were outstanding. The service was exceptional and everybody was so kind and friendly. Food was phenomenal and it was nice that everything was included including drinks. The game drives were amazing; the guides were so knowledgeable and the spotter did A great job in finding anything we wanted to see. I would highly recommend anybody to take this type of a trip and to especially create your own itinerary using yellow zebra. They were very detailed and professional and were very responsive during and following our holiday trip.”
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safety, well organized and suitable for families
Communication with Roberto was good, instead with the guide it was a little bit difficult because of his poor italian knowledge ; the accomodations were very good; the food was average because we don't like the buffet system; the safari was great: we saw a lot of animals. The nature is wonderful!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review of Kilimanjaro Trekking Mate
We came across Kilimanjaro Trekking Mate after comparing reviews for various Kili trekking and safari operators mostly on TripAdvisor. While there are not many reviews available for these guys, they all seemed positive. The decisive factor was our limited budget: with many other positively reviewed companies Kili climbs and safaris can be significantly more expensive.
Price: $1045 per person for a 4-day safari (Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro) plus a $150 tip for the guide + $80 for the cook from the group. $1700 per person for 8 days of Kili trekking via the Lemosho route plus a $300 tip per person to the guide (who then distributes it as appropriate to the trekking crew). Note that these tips are considered mandatory. For a bit extra KTM offers various equipment for rent, which is a good solution if you don't fancy bringing your own sleeping bag or trekking poles to Africa.
Safari: overall an excellent experience, with our guide Shirima being a highly professional and pointing out animals that our untrained eyes would have never noticed on their own. The car was comfortable and had no issues with the tough roads in the national parks. Camping in the parks' vicinity was a lot of fun, especially seeing zebras and hyenas sneaking around at night. Definitely consider adding a safari to your hike, especially if you love seeing exotic animals in the wild and up close.
Kili: once again, an excellent experience. Our crew carried the heavy stuff around (thanks, guys!), leaving us to enjoy the hike with daypacks. The tent was comfortable and spacious, with an integrated mess section. The food was enjoyable for an 8-day hike, and around day 5 we even had fresh goods delivered up, including some absolutely delicious ginger tea. Kudos to the guides, Baraka and Goodluck, for doing a fantastic job of leading us through, especially the hike at summit night (which was tough, but "pole-pole" does the trick). Baraka and Goodluck measured our oxygen levels and pulse each evening as well as our lungs in the morning to make sure we're acclimatizing well. It's important to have medically trained personnel with you on the mountain, we've heard about bad things happening in groups that apparently didn't. Lemosho route is highly recommendable due to its beauty and relative lack of congestion. As the rest of the mountain, it's quite dusty, so bring some gaiters along. KTM does not provide private toilet tents, so be prepared to use the common squat toilets. While not an issue at the lower camps, squeamish people may cringe at those in the higher camps. If you want to hike at a more relaxed pace, have problems with altitude or have never been as high as Kili, we suggest you opt for an extra acclimatization day (Lemosho can be done in either 7 or 8 days).
The company: we found KTM to be very reliable, patiently answering our many questions prior to arrival. We were met at the airport by Nick, the company's director, and transferred to Moshi where we cross-checked our plans and equipment rental list. Nick even threw in a few freebie rental items for the mountain (asante sana!) :) We also found out that evening that our post-Kili flight to Zanzibar by Precision Air had been cancelled. Since we would definitely not have internet and only very sporadic mobile signal, we asked Nick if he could buy us new tickets for the same date while we were away. He was glad to assist and helped us out brilliantly (thanks again, Nick!). Since the new flight schedule introduced some spare time after the climb, he and Baraka offered we go together to some of the local sights. Thanks to them, we had an impromptu and very worthwhile visit to Chagga tribal coffee growing villages and a beautiful waterfall that day.
I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but I consider KTM to be a trustworthy company that can provide you with a fantastic experience in Tanzania without breaking the bank.
Great company, unforgettable experience!
My friend and I did a 3-day Safari with Earthlife Expeditions and it couldn't be better! Me and my friend had a very close schedule and have only begun talking to them 3 weeks before the Safari.
They were not only very efficient on arranging everything but also extremely kind from emailing with Caudence and telephoning them to the day we actually met. I believe the best thing about Earthlife Expeditions is that it is a small company (though one of the 10 best in Tanzania) but surprisingly organized and able to do personalized schedules.
Regarding the Safari itself, we went from Kilimanjaro International Airport to a hotel in Arusha (where they happily took us to buy a few supplies and change money) and then to our stops: Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. Most of hotels were of high standard and we had great meals (the only problem was that sometimes the shower wasn't warm).
Our Tour Guide was Charles, who has 35 years of experience and a pair of Eagle Eyes. What was best about Charles was that he would go slower than other cars when he thought that might be animals around, but when he heard of lions or other more less common animals, he would just rush through the savannah to get us there (and he did quite a few times).
Regarding prices: it is not the cheapest nor the most expensive company out there: we paid 1200 dollars for 4 nights, all meals, transportation and Safari. Drinks at the hotel are not included and there is a lot of tipping (5 dollars per day per person to each hotel; 15-30 dollars per day per person to the Safari Guide, we gave 60 euros for both of us).
You have to keep in mind that it might not always be comfortable and you might be unlucky some days and do get to see all you want (we were extremely lucky: lions, cheetahs and a caracal). It was a great experience, and A good fraction of it was because of Earthlife Expeditions!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
6 nights at 3 different NPs
We spent six nights at three different parks (at four camps) and it was amazing. First we spot a tree-climbing lion cub at Lake Manyara. Then we found the migrating herds in Serengeti NP at River Mara, thanks to our guide we also saw a river crossing. Then we spot a lot of big cats in the central region of Serengeti, last but not least we spent an amazing night at Ngorongoro Camp where we met a thursty elephant right inside the camp. Our cook provided delicious dishes, our driver/guide did anything to find memorable actions and sights at the parks, so it was simply amazing.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Close contact
We had a wonderful 3 weeks in SouthAfrica. TailorMadeSafaris was very helpful in translating our wishes for our family (with 3 children) to a variated programm that brought us all sides of SouthAfrica. Wildlife, spectacular views, local life, and friendly people everywhere.
And because they work inside SouthAfrica, they were even able to help us immediately when we ran into some problems.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We loved it
I would like to recommend Mosu Safari Tours. Olivier and Fifi were so helpful to help us to set up our trip to Botswana. The country is beautiful in wild life. We loved it!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very accommodating, knowledgable and friendly
The itinerary proposed was relaxing as requested but allowed us to see some of the great parks and enjoy wonderful experiences. Guide was fantastic and he knew where to look and could spot animals when you thought there was nothing there. We highly recommend this company. They were fantastic, very accommodating, knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you to Annette and her team, we had a great time.