US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic!
I worked with Bjorn, who was incredibly responsive to my emails, quickly answering all my questions (and with a 6 hour time difference!). He handled all the details of our safari, including flights from Cape Town, airport transfers, the safari at Thornybush River Lodge (which was beyond amazing!) and our return flights to 2 different cities. We are a family of 7, and Bjorn secured us the entire Thornybush River Lodge - an incredible experience - Bjorn did a fantastic job!
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Etosha did not disappoint
We stayed in the park for 14 nights and visited all camps. Each camp has it's own highlights, for instance the waterholes in Okaukuejo and Halali or the silence of Onkoshi. There were plenty of sightings every day. Elephants, lions, a leopard, a honey badger, giraffes and other game. We had organized everything on our own and used a rental car for the trip. It's not necessary to hire a guide, just drive from waterhole to waterhole and you will find animals.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful scenic trip
We found this tour company online and initially spoke to Dennis. He was very helpful and efficient in getting the tour set-up and we were soon on our way to the Mara. Our driver was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and skillful, he took us to the best parts of the park and we got to see the animals up-close and enjoyed the looking out into the landscape. Thank you for a great trip!
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best Quality-price! Amazing experience, they treated us like family, make our trip really special
We are a couple, in our early 30's from Spain but living in Ireland for the last 6 years, we like to travel a lot and we decided to do a safari in Tanzania for 5 days this summer , the safari included 4 National Parks ;Tarangire , Ngoromgoro , Serengeti and Manyara. Initially was hard for us to trust Meru Slopes coz we could not find any references about it apart from the ones in Safari booking . So we started Our own research to find out more about them , their website , their manager , the hotels they work with , their staff , their company number , if they were TATO members ... Etc. Since the very first moment the communication with the manager of the company "Geofrey" , was excellent , and the feedback we got from our private research worked out well, so we exchanged few emails with them and then Geofrey added me on Whatssap so I could ask him any questions ,any time . I requested all sort of info since I wanted to be 100% I could trust them ,Not just with my money but also with our holidays , and once again the proved themselves as a serious company and helped me out with everything, also arranged transportation , accommodation and other activities .
The Great advantage of Meru Slopes is that they are local , and also smaller in size. When comparing Meru with the bigger European/ American companies , we noticed a big difference in price , also the bigger companies were not so approachable , and definitely less flexible to adapt to our needs and budget . Normally all these big companies rarely adapt to your needs unless you go "luxury" or high end .Meru was really flexible , and could adapt to our needs and demands for a reasonable price. They arranged everything for us ( transportation , accommodation , trekking to Kili and other activities apart from the safari ) and also treated us like family , they really made us feel special, always trying to please us and make our staying better and enjoyable . The hotel they recommended to us was in Arusha ( Arusha tourist inn hotel ) was very clean ,with nice views and good service . The hotel is very functional , nothing luxurious about it , but it had everything we needed , including a restaurant with good prices and nice food . Everything in the hotel worked well and was perfectly clean .
The Safari was also amazing, our guide Marco ,had a lot of experience and was the best driver ever . We got to see all the animals, absolutely ALL, ,with the exception of the Rhino , that We only saw from far away ( they are nearly extint amd are very hard to see these days ). Any way, all the parks were absolutely stunning , but our favourites were Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We spent 2 night sleeping in tent and two night in a lodge . We wanted to experience the real adventure In these two magical places and it was really worth it . In the end everything worked out well, we enjoyed tipping everybody , eventhough is mandatory, we actually felt like tipping any ways coz they all were super nice to us . The last day of out trip , they guys had a lovely present for us , and we cannot thank them enough for it , coz they really made our week with them unforgettable . We Highly recommend to go with Meru Slopes tours and safaris .
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
trip of a lifetime
My husband and I just got back from a wonderful 12 day safari with Ecological Wilderness Adventures. I cannot recommend this company enough. Brian answered our e mails promptly and professionally, providing all the information and preparation we needed to proceed with our trip of a life time. Our driver/guide, Gerald, took great care of us from arrival to departure and not only answered all our questions about the wildlife but also gave us some excellent insight into the Tanzanian culture and history. He is a great driver and was always able to get us into an excellent position for viewing. The man also has the eyesight of an eagle! The lodges and mobile camps we stayed at were clean and comfortable with helpful and friendly staff, good food and great locations inside the parks. We saw some amazing sights but my favorite location was in the northern Serengeti Savannah Mara River camp. This camp puts you right in the center of the migration and we were lucky enough to see several river crossings. Truly a trip of a lifetime! Hakuna matata!!
Asante sana Brian and Gerald!
Chris
US
Enjoyable trip with good mix of activities
Itinerary was really good & scenery in both Crater & Serengeti are stunning. Generally good levels of game. Mafia really is a great destination to relax at the end of the trip. As expected the guiding / service is really nice .
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Terrific safari in Kenya and Tanzania - couldn't have been better
This summer I went on safari for 10 days with Ancient Wild Safaris and it turned out to be a great choice. We had very reliable and frequent contact already before the trip and they provided great assistance during our entire time in Africa.
Ancient Wild organized a pick-up service at the airport and after 1 day in Nairobi we started the safari with 8 people overall. Our tour guide Joseph was outstanding, knowing Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru like the back of his hand. He provided us with great insights to the nature and wildlife of Kenya and enhanced the overall experience.
After the transfer to Tanzania, we joined a partner company of Ancient Wild, which took us on an amazing safari to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Tarangire.
Overall, the trip was outstanding, the accommodation was above expectations at all stops and the safari vans were in great shape.
I highly recommend this company: Mike, Joseph & Co. will take you on an unforgettable journey!
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 11-day safari in both Kenya in Tanzania
This summer me and two friends went down from Sweden to explore beautiful East Africa. As we had in total around 20 days and we wanted to spend a couple of days in Zanzibar, we decided to go for a long 11-day safari to get the most out of Kenya and Tanzania. As a summary, the trip was fantastic, great guide & driver, very safe travels, nice accommodation and good food, couldn't have expected anything more!
We found Ancient Wild Safari through safaribookings.com actually and picked it based on the high number of good reviews and a fair price. The first contact was with Mike who was very helpful from the beginning. He also assisted us with planning a little customized trip because we wanted to have one day less in total and stay in Arusha at the end of our safari so that we were able to make it down to Zanzibar from there.
Paying the deposit was smooth and we got a receipt, so throughout the whole process before we started the trip, we always had all information we needed. Mike even answered a lot of other questions that we had about visa, vaccinations and travel in general.
Once arriving at the airport in Nairobi we got picked up by Paul, one of their drivers, who had waited for us several hours in the middle of the night because my luggage had gone missing. But it was clear that the luggage wasnt gonna come that night so we decided to go back the next day to get it at the airport. While in Nairobi we went to the office of Ancient Wild Safari and met Mike and another of his employees. Everybody was really friendly and we got a lot of tips for Nairobi as well. At night, Paul drove me to the airport again so that I could pick up my missing luggage.
The next morning, the actual safari started and we got picked up by our guide and driver, Joseph. A super cool guy who was fun to hang out with from the first minute. We picked up some other passengers and left for the Masai Mara. In total we had 5 days safari in Kenya and 5 in Tanzania. We saw a lot of beautiful places and animals and Joseph was a guide with 12 years experience so he really contributed a lot with all of his knowledge, not only about the local wildlife and nature, but also about the country and culture in general.
Joseph was our guide for Kenya and after five days we went back to Nairobi to take the bus to Arusha where we met our guide for Tanzania. Just like in Kenya, everything was really great and we saw a lot of cool stuff, had great national park experiences and in Tanzania we even had our own chef with us.
Well, I can't write much more, it was just a great experience and please contact me if you want to know any more information or tips, happy to help out!
I can highly recommend Ancient Wild Safaris, we got so much help from them, it was superb service.
Thanks!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip with Josef and the gang!
We booked 11 days budget safari and the whole experience was just amazing. Great accommodation, great food and experienced guide. Highly recommended.
Everything has to be paid in cash at departure but there is a Barclays bank with security right in front of the office . Mike and Kennedy, who manage the company from Nairobi, walked us there to help us sort everything out. They are honest and caring people, who helped us way more than they were supposed to (for example, they organised dinner for us outside of the tour and gave us tips before and after our trip). If you want to ask more specific questions feel free to contact me at emgei90[at]yahoo[dot]it !
IN
Kruger Park Travel is helpful and eager to please
The service was excellent but inter office communications were poor and therefore there was confusion and errors in the bookings . However, Kylie was more than willing to help make up for these errors. The safaris were excellent in terms of the lodge, the facilities and the food. However, the draught at Kruger was a huge shock and the websites of the park should be more informative regarding this