PT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing journey in Kenya and Tanzania
It Started in Africa made us a special safari, we chose the places we wanted to go and they made our trip absolutely unforgetable. All the hotels they recommended us were increadible, namely the Enkerende Tented Camp in Kenya and the Neptune Ngorongoro. Our guide Evans was extremely profesional, always very atentious and careful with us as we were a group of five women. The tour was incredible, as we went through all the main parks from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro. Our stay ended up in Zanzibar, where we choose the hotel, but It Stared in Africa took care of all transfers, including air transfers. We highly recommend this operator. It Started in Africa exceeded our expectations!!! Incredible experience. Thank you so much.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Uganda tour
We traveled from Entebbe airport to Marchison fall as well stayed in Kampala, Uganda. We stayed more than 6 days in Uganda. AAB tour had arranged everything for hotel, meal and transportation. They have done excellent job. It met more than our expectation. Very friendly, on time, professional and cooperative people. Every penny we spent worth it. If I had to go back to Uganda, I will only call them to handle all my travel needs. I highly recommend this company to all travelers if they plan to travel to Uganda. Of course I want my my family and friends to book with this company only.
CH
best safari ever!
simply said: It was just amazing! we enjoyed such a great time with Ryan and his friend at the safari!
Ryan knows probably everything there is to know about safaris and the animal kingdom in it. He finds a good balance of telling facts and stories and of just enjoying the wildlife. Furthermore, they cooked very delicious and even vegan for my girlfriend. They are very friendly and always helpful. I can recommend to book with them to every person who wants to enjoy a great safari-experience! At least for us it is clear: if we ever have time again to do a safari, we will book with Ryan!
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Scammed! Disappeared 5 days before departure
In January 2016 I wrote to several companies asking for quotes and given the good reviews here (which I am genuinely confused by!) as well as the reasonably professional looking website, and the proposed safari, we decided to book a 5 day 4 night safari with "Introducing Africa". The Safari for our group of 4 should have started on August 15th but Mataro disappeared about a week before departure and we have not heard anything since and lost our deposit of $2520.
While planning we sent a large number of emails back and forth to confirm details of exactly what we wanted to do and arranged to transfer a deposit of 60% of the fee with the rest to be paid in cash on meeting Mataro in Mwanza where we would start our tour. In these emails Mataro answered all our questions in a professional and detailed manner. A few weeks before our supposed departure, Mataro sent an email to inform us about the rise in VAT on safaris, which we would have to pay on arrival. I still don't understand why this email was sent, as it should have been clear that we would not be able to transfer it before arriving so nothing could be gained from it. I then tried calling by phone (I was already in Tanzania for work) to confirm exactly what additional amount needed to be paid and to arrange a pick up time from our hotel. The first few times nobody answered the phone then a day later it didn't even ring. I assumed Mataro must be on safari and so unreachable. Then as I was becoming more panicked at the fact that I could not reach Mataro, the website disappeared (which as of 1.9.2016) is still not back online. It seems that the company has run tours before as I have managed to contact reviewers on other sites but I worry that Mataro does not worry about taking people's money and running. It also appears that this is not the first time that this has happened. Upon searching specifically for fraud and the name of this company, I came across another person who experienced the same thing in 2009.
We managed to book a camping safari through somebody I had met while in Mwanza and had a fantastic time but lost quite a lot of money due to this scam of a company. STAY AWAY!!!
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good experience
Our driver Phennie was very helpful with our questions, not only informative about the wildlife but also helped us to plan our next step of our journey once we left him.
The communication was quite good before the trip also, although we would have appreciated the option to pay online or credit card!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My experience was awesomely packed with adventure, fun, amazing wildlife and culture
Overall, the trip exceeded my expectations in many ways. The tour, the service and communications allowed for an awesome experience overall. The tour group was also small which was great.
Some room for improvement in :
- confirming optional activities and officially adding them into the final itinerary
- having other methods of payment for tour
- making sure an official and most updated itinerary is sent out prior to first deposit. That way travelers know exactly what they will be doing each day and it includes the optional activities the traveler wishes to participate in, like the Batwa experience.
- giving advice to travelers about types of currency needed in certain areas and where it is best to withdraw money.
- would also rule out going to Bushara island. Didn't really gain anything from being there.
- something else needs to happen at the boomu women's group. Getting travelers to participate in local community activities would give them a great insight to what life is like for a local family.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent review of Kylie & Kruger Park Travel's Booking experience
Kylie & the team at Kruger Park Travel did an excellent, value for money job on booking our 10 day holiday. Everything was taken care of as promised & the accommodation was fantastic for the price. My dad & I were really impressed. At 84 years, this was my dad's "bucket list" holiday & he couldn't have been more thrilled with the trip. Thanks Kylie for doing an excellent job with organising our tour.
The only thing I would suggest is when booking hotels, ensuring that there are twin beds available for people if required. I got to 2 hotels where there was only one (Queen or King) bed...BUT the hotels were extremely helpful & just changed them around to accommodate dad & I in separate beds...no problem!
We saw the Big 5 & some on our safari. The tour groups were kept small which was wonderful...we met amazing people on our journey & the staff at all the places we visited were fantastic. I would highly recommend Kruger Park Travel to anyone!
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience - everyone should have the chance to go!
Makasa provided our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 teenagers) with a trip of a lifetime. Selma was so accommodating and easy to communicate with. Frank, our guide through our Safari, was amazing. Dina, in Zanzibar, made us feel like we were at home. The people of Tanzania are friendly, welcoming and so kindhearted. The wildlife was unbelievable and the beaches of Zanzibar were beautiful!!
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding experience
We had an outstanding time on our trip with It Started in Africa. This was a first safari so we didn't know quite what was ideal. We gave It Started in Africa a general idea of how long we wanted to go and what we wanted to see and they recommended a great itinerary for us. We did a 6 day safari through Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Central and Northern Serengeti. This was perfect in terms of length. Through it we managed to see all the big animals - lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, giraffe, wildebeests, antelope, leopard, etc. - up close with the exception of a rhino (but these can be hard to find). The wildebeest crossing of the Mara river was really something special too.
All of the hotels It Started in Africa recommended for us were outstanding. We especially enjoyed the Serena Hotels we stayed at.
What helped make the experience so special was our driver Heaven. For one, he was very committed to making sure we saw everything we wanted to see, and also reacting to things he heard on the radio so we could see rare and unique things (for example, lions hunting prey, or crocodiles grabbing wildebeests). On top of being very good at his job, he was just a nice personal guy that we enjoyed getting to know and spending time with on our trip.
Following out safari they organized a post-safari stay in Zanzibar which again they recommended great hotels to stay at. Zanzibar itself was a relaxing end to a great trip.
Finally worth mentioning is they also organized all transfers to and from the airports in Tanzania and again in Zanzibar. This was great as we really had nothing to worry about except getting to the country in the first place. Highly recommended company!
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Memorable South Africa tour
I and my two Italian friends came back from a memorable South Africa tour a few days ago. Southern tours organized a customized 13 days tour for us. After our arrival in Johannesburg we went straight to the beautiful Drakensberg mountains where we spent one night in a wonderful lodge surrounded by a fantastic landscape. From there we continued our journey to St. Lucia, Hluhluwe, Swaziland, Kruger and then back to Johannesburg. Also all the other lodges have been chosen very well by Southern tours, especially at Hluhluwe game reserve and Kruger where we stayed inside the parks.
Bongizwe is not only a very professional guide, but also a very polite, responsable and helpful person, he always did the very best to meet our expectations and to make this trip an unforgetable adventure. He knows the bush very well and without him we would not have seen so many animals. It did not take us much time to see the Big 5!!
During this trip we also had the possibilty to learn a lot about African culture. Moreover Bongizwe has an excellent knowledge in history.
We are looking forward to planning our next trip with Southern tours!!