50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
One stop shop! Handled all details and requests efficiently!
Within 24 hours I was contacted by a consultant to address my questions in regards to our family safari to Kenya. Booking was made and the whole process was quick and informative. The Safari was Excellent! - drivers, vehicles, game viewing, accommodation and food! What a fabulous holiday Thank you!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Time in Tanzania
This was the trip of a lifetime to Tanzania. African Wildcats (Jacob) took us to 5 amazing parks where we got to see every kind of wildlife; much more than we ever dreamed we'd see. Jacob takes pride in presenting his country and the people. The food was delicious and plentiful, the camps well set up, and our game drives over the top! We also enjoyed all of the cultural "people-to-people" experiences. We are so happy we were referred to African Wildcats for this experience.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
November was a great time of year to go on a safari in Kenya!!
We have been back home in Oregon for six weeks now following our remarkable and completely satisfying Kenya safari experience, which we had booked with Africa Safari Classics last spring. It marked our first trip ever to the African continent, and we have returned home determined to venture back to Africa at some point in the next few years, as we clearly would like to see more! All along, we had consistently pleasant, timely, helpful and highly professional communications with Maurice, the company's sales director, over a span of several months. We chose one of the company's exciting 9-day set itineraries ("Wildlife in Style"), which began and ended in Nairobi and took us to five national parks and game reserves. This company had some of the most affordable rates for their package tours that we have seen in more than ten years of keeping an eye out for such a travel experience. Maurice even upgraded one of our bookings, due to low season special rates, to the Maasai Mara Basecamp, where the Obama Family had stayed ten years earlier!
As others have shared on this site, we could not have been happier with our driver, Boniface (a.k.a. Boni). He was an absolute delight the entire nine days we spent with him. He had incredible vision, which led to numerous animal sightings that the untrained eye would easily have missed! We covered great swaths of the country, including a few 5- to 7-hour days of driving, and Boni answered our many questions about various cities, tribes, and Kenya in general. He also has a great sense of humor, and our days with him were filled with multiple rounds of hearty laughter. He apparently has been a safari tour guide for nearly 20 years, and he clearly knows what he's doing and where to take his passengers in each park and game reserve. When we make it back to Kenya, we definitely hope to have Boni as our driver and guide once again!
We had little idea that traveling to Kenya in November was an absolutely ideal time of year to visit! It marks their “short rains” season, following the long, hot dry season. It was like a spring-time trip, with temps in the 70’s or 80’s F, intermittent rains generating new greenery everywhere, and new water holes for the animals to play in. Most days started with brilliant, blue and sunny skies, puffy white clouds floating by, and occasional singular afternoon thunderheads floating over the plains. No problem for us rain-battered Oregonians, as we only wore our raincoats ONCE, for about an hour, the entire trip. It’s considered low season in November, so there were relatively few fellow tourists to contend with; usually no more than 10-20 other guests staying at each lodge we visited. (During our night at the Treetops Lodge in the Aberdares, we were the only registered guests, and got the full royal treatment of the staff!) We had not understood that many of the animals bear their newborns in Sept., Oct, and Nov., so we got to see LOTS of babies in every park we visited. We also did not know that Kenya has outlawed hunting of wildlife all across the country, which seems to generate a climate where the animals are not particularly bothered by safari vehicles and tourists. We had more “close encounters” than we could count, getting to within 15 or 20 feet of many animals, without them being spooked, including one instance of being right in the path of a stampeding herd of wildebeests. Boni took us out on anywhere from one to three game drives per day. We had countless opportunities for great photos and videos of the animals, likely getting enough footage and material for generating a new, amateur National Geographic documentary! We could not have been happier with the animal sightings we experienced, despite being in Kenya officially outside the annual migration season.
I should also add that we were extremely pleased with ALL the lodges and accommodations Maurice had booked for us throughout our time in Kenya, in Amboseli, Aberdares Treetops, Samburu, Lake Nakuru, and Maasai Mara. The food was consistently good and tasty, and the service was consistently outstanding. We had no stomach problems at all. I might add that most of the lodges we stayed at were a good distance off the major highways, often a good hour or more down fairly rough and poorly maintained dirt roads. Boni warned us of when we would be getting "good back massages" from the bumpy, bouncing drives along the way. This was the only aspect of our trip that was a bit of a downside. In all other ways, our trip to Kenya exceeded our wildest imaginings!
On our last night in Nairobi, before starting our long flight to Seattle (via Dubai), we insisted on taking Boni out to dinner, and Maurice was able to join us as well!. It was a very fitting and pleasant ending to what was likely the single greatest adventure my partner, Clark, and I have ever taken together! We have spoken so highly of our trip to many friends and family members, and we hope to be able to generate some more travel clients for Maurice as a result, in addition to making a return visit ourselves in the next few years!
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing customer service, friendly and competent!
I booked a 4 day tour with Justus. He answered my questions always very quick and I was confident to be in best hands. Last week I went on my tour with driver/guide Ben and all my expectations were exceded! Service, knowledge, friendliness: all superb. The lodges Justus booked me were also amazing. On top of that, Ben adres some nice extra's as f.e a pineapple snack stop on a spot where there was a wonderful view. I definately recommend Gorilla Bookings and especially Ben since he was awarded with a gold medal for tour guide of the year 2016!
Great experience
We had an amazing trip organised by PaperJet. We absolutely loved our time on safari at Arathusa lodge, Sabin sands. Justin was great at organising it all for us and suggesting where we could go. He kept in contact the whole time to keep us updated on our booking and even got in touch before we left to wish us well and provide us with contact details in case we needed anything.
All transfers went smoothly and our safari accommodation was gorgeous. As first time safari goers it really helped to have someone organise it all for us.
UA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good Organized
It was very vell organized tour. Although the price is better than others .We saw more than we expected. Also our guide Otto was very kind and experienced. He knows everything about animals, when and where we can found them. Very nice hotel and fine food. Gecko Adventure by fo me tickets to ferry.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Thank you Carol!
If you want timely communication, humour, honesty, attentiveness, and the best safari tour and accommodation there is, book with Carol! She's not afraid to get exactly what she wants from the safari guides so that you can have the greatest experience and has so much experience under her belt so she knows what to expect in every detail. She also makes everything so fun and her laugh is so contagious! Thank you for putting your all into my safari in Uganda, I'll never forget it!
HU
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We waited 6 years to track mountain gorillas and the experience was worth the wait...
My son and I traveled with Paul and Inter-Tropical Tours in the past and our previous trip was so well-planned and enjoyable that we promised to return to Uganda to track mountain gorillas when my son turned 15. It was worth every second of the 6 year wait! Five members of our family traveled to Uganda on what we considered to be a trip of a lifetime and Paul, Inter-Tropical Tours and the mountain gorillas didn't disappoint. We visited Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls National Parks as well as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We saw every animal that we wanted to see, including a beautiful leopard on the morning of my husband's birthday! What a birthday gift! The lodges were all luxurious and the food was beautifully plated and delicious. The happy, smiling locals were friendly and kind and catered to our every need and want. Paul is a safe driver and we always felt cared-for in his capable hands. There is absolutely nothing that I would have changed on our trip. Uganda has a special place in our hearts and I will be forever grateful to Paul and the lovely Ugandan people for an experience that my family will never forget!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
First time To the Kruger.
We selected Wildlife Safaris because of the quick and efficient response from Christine Duxbury.
The tour was amazing. Everything well organized, lodging, meals, transport.Our guide Sue was a
total mine of information she made the whole tour a pleasant and relaxed time (even the 5 am starts).
We were collected from Johanesburg south and went to Kruger via the panoramic route which made
the start of the tour fantastic to see the beauty of South Africa.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience
I definitely recommend ilmaasai as a tour operator. Great service before and on the trip: Highly responsive, always willing to help us to make the best arrangements according to our needs and wishes. We changed our plan several times and Loth always stayed friendly and helpful. The car was not the newest, but ok and reliable. Our driver Brycon and Oman as our cook ("stomach engineer") did a great job: Brycon has a lot of interesting stories to tell about animals and nature, and was very successful in spotting animals. Oman made great food for us at night. We stay at Camp Lilac, which was a very good choice.