20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I had a memorable great experience with the safari that I would like to visit again.
I travelled last year to Kenya and I had an opportunity to go to the safaris. I had a remarkable and wonderful experience. I had the chance to see the lions, girafffes, rhinoceros and other animals. All in natural beauty. Please plan to visit the place as it will be the most memorable experience in your life. The staff at the Safaris are also welcoming and this made me to be comfortable and happy.This will be a perfect place for your vacation for new adventures.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An excellent tour operator who stands for expert advice when putting together customized trips.
We had been looking forward to it for a long time. Our trip to Namibia in March 2020. After 2 beautiful trips with Tailor Made Safaris to South Africa, they put together a tour for us through Namibia. We were already impressed by the beautiful nature of South Africa, but after almost 3 weeks in Namibia we can add another country to our list of impressive and beautiful countries. Traveling through this country you will experience one surprise after another. A diversity of untouched nature. Panoramic views and colourfulness. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The Kalahari, the KgalagadiTransfrontier Park with an abundance of animals and birds, the Quivertree Forrest, the natural beauty of the Fish River Canyon, the Namib Desert, Sossusvlei, the Naukluft National Park, the stay in Swakopmund and Etosha (with again large amounts of animals and birds) what an alternation of areas. Even moving from one area to another was breathtaking. The words "wow" and "amazing" have been said a lot on the way to and on location, but we also often fell silent. Caught by the beauty of nature, it was quiet enjoyment! With our Toyota Fortuner 4x4 we were able to travel in a luxurious and relaxed way on roads that are not always comparable to those in the Netherlands. Every day was enjoying and recovering from all impressions. We were allowed to do that in very luxurious lodges and cozy basic but also luxurious accommodations in the parks. Everything was provided by Tailor Made Safaris. That made our holiday an unforgettable.We had a wonderful stay in Namibia at a time when the Corona virus spread all over the world. The consequences of this also occurred to us when our airline did not respond to emails. At that moment Tailor made Safaris have shown that they are also there for their guests when problems arise. In consultation with Tailor Made Safaris, we were given tickets on a repatriation flight, the last one from Namibia before they locked down the country. This allowed us to continue our journey and continue to enjoy all the beauty of nature. We already knew that Tailor Made Safaris guarantees quality and that you can count on them. That was confirmed once again with this wonderful journey and their help. Thank you to Nick and thanks to your crew, you were great. Bram, Rina, Aria and Marco Barnhoorn.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari and Mara Fairmont was the best hotel
We don't have enough words to express how amazing our safari was, much beyond our expectations! Sino Africa Safari is professional from every detail, they don't miss anything. Our safari guide Solomon was extremely knowledgeable and provided the best service. We saw all types of animals because of his effort. We love all the hotels we stayed, espeically big thank you to Mara Fairmont Safari Club, Sino Africa Safari arranged with the hotel and gave us a memorable birthday celebration.
We highly recommend Solomon and Sino Africa Safari!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Eric is knowledgeable, honest and simply the best!
Pallid Safari’s took care of everything we needed and was an amazing tour guide. He made traveling from Kenya into Uganda easy and seamless. Our organization has used Eric for many years when we travel through East Africa and will continue to do so. Highly recommend!!
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
very nice trip
I enjoy a lot the conversation with the Guide, Audwin, very interesting. It was not only question of landscapes (beautiful) but also to discover the people and the society and to understand the global context. Amazing anecdotes and stories. Thank you!
Unique an amazing experience.
Excellent service. These guys are incredible. Unique experience, iI would never expect like it so much. I enjoyed from the first till the last day. I highly recommend it.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Most amazing safari ever!!!
It was great working with Pallid Safaris, they took care of everything we needed ahead of time, anticipating our needs. It is hard to guarantee what animals will be seen on a safari, either we were extremely lucky or the guides have secrets! We saw almost all the big 5 and at such close range. Most exciting was the quick work of the drivers to change a tire while some stood on guard watching the movement of the lions several yards away! Our party of 12 had an amazing experience and even those who had been on several safaris before agreed this was one of the best! Highlights were all the animals of course but also the lovely lunch in the shade of a classic acacia tree!
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful safari and wildlife photography experience
The communications on arrangements for our five-day trip with Wild Planet Safari were timely and helpful. Our guide Darren and his assistant Lungi were very experienced, friendly and professional. We chose a camping trip and our tents were comfortable and meals were tasty. Darren and Lungi focused on our interest in finding and photographing birds, as well as the "big five" animals and other wildlife. They know the park well and places to maximize chances for interesting viewing. The open safari vehicle performed well and had excellent visibility. It was an amazing experience!
IN
Safari guide
We had with Otto a very good organized tour to the quit south of Tanzania. Ketulo NP; Ruaha NP; Mikumi NP; Selous and at the end a nice stay at the Indian Ocean in the little town of Kilwa
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Rwanda is a hidden gem for wildlife observation
Our group of three pretty active seniors (63 ,66, 72) were traveling to Rwanda to observe mountain gorillas and do a more traditional safari. Two of us were birders, so naturally we focused on avian creatures a lot, but saw plenty of other wildlife. We like to go to sub-saharan Africa in January or February, which is what they call the emerald season. This is the time between two rainy seasons, where plants are lush and blooming and plenty of water is available for animals to drink. It is considered "off season", because it is not the time the big migrations happen. But we were not interested in that. We like to see the African landscape alive and blooming as well and with a good guide and from a safari vehicle that sits quite high it was easy to see wildlife. And an additional plus of the emerald season is that it is cheaper.
It has not always been possible to travel to Rwanda safely, since they had gone through a horrific genocide in 1994. In the 100 days of slaughter almost one million people, mostly Tutsis, were killed by Hutus. But today, Rwanda is an amazing country and completely safe to travel. The country is re-building itself from the genocide and its destructions. Comfortable roads and infrastructure have been put in place in cities and throughout the country. Government support helps people plant crops and bring them to market. Health insurance for all makes medical care available for everyone. Environmental laws such as the ban of single use plastic bags in 2008 have been passed. As a result the streets of Rwanda are some of the cleanest I have seen anywhere. Rwandans live peacefully with each other no matter what their "ethnic" background. So we were happy to support with our tourist dollars a country that does such an amazing job with its recovery.
We went to two different regions in Rwanda. The first one was the Akagera National Park at the North-eastern end of the country. Our transport
by van from Kigali took about four hours of driving through the country and getting a sense of the people that live there. They seemed very content with their lives and were very friendly and welcoming towards visitors. We stayed at Magashi camp during our stay in this area. This camp was pretty new, I think only one or two years old, and very well run. The staff was super friendly and emanated a warmth that was very pleasant. The food was outstanding, and they paid close attention to some dietary restrictions (allergies) one of us had.
One huge advantage of the location of this camp is that it borders a lake that is inhabited by about 500 hippos. During the day they mostly come up and grunt, but at night they come out of the water and even walk in between the cabins to feed.
The cabins were luxurious and of course very clean and well kept. Because we traveled in the emerald season (low season), we had a safari vehicle that could seat 7 or 8 people easily all to ourselves. We also were able to have the same excellent guide for our entire stay. He knew that we were very interested in birds and geared his game drives towards that as well. We had a fantastic time observing not only lots of different species of birds, but also the big mammals like lions, giraffes, elephants, cape buffalos, hippos, zebras and of course lots of gazelles. Our guide drove us into the area where the Eastern Black Rhino Conservation program is enacted. It was wonderful to see those animals getting re-introduced into the wild.
What made Magashi camp really special for us was the fact that they also did safaris on the lake from one of their small boats. Again, we were just the three of us and the guide in the boat and drifted along the shores of the lake. We had really close views of lions, buffalos and Crocodiles that did not even seem to notice our boat drifting by. And then of course there were the hippos in the water and the birds flying in and out of the reeds. So, Magashi was definitely a place we would recommend for safaris.
After our stay in Akagera we travelled back to Kigali and then on to the North-western corner of Rwanda, to Volcanoes National Park. We stayed at Virunga Lodge, a very nice "old-school" lodge with very friendly staff. The morning wake up call and delivery of tea or coffee to the cabin was done by a staff person singing in front of the cabin door until we opened up to take possession of the goods delivered. We had a lovely young woman with an angelic voice and we loved being woken up by her. Though the lodge was about a 45 minute drive from the meeting point for the gorilla expedition, it was well worth the drive.
Volcanoes National Park is a high elevation mountain range, where 60% of all mountain gorillas live. Dian Fossey made the area famous when she did her studies there. Because of successful conservation programs the population of these primates is actually increasing. One of the driving engines of this conservation program is the large financial input of a tightly controlled visitation program. For a pretty steep price ($1000 per person), eight people can trek into the mountains with trackers, guides and porters to spend one hour observing a family of gorillas up close and personal. Depending on where the gorilla families are on a given day, the trekking can take anywhere from a couple of hours in the morning to a whole day. It can be a very easy excursion of the toughest thing you have aver done. It all depends on where the gorilla families are and whether they stay put.
Our gorilla family called Amahoro group had 22 members with two silverbacks present. When we reached them they were still warming up in the morning sun and munching on the local plants for breakfast. There was a tranquility and serenity emanating from them as they slowly stripped plants of their leaves. They were fully aware of our presence as we were standing in the open just a few feet away, but they seemed undisturbed by us. We watched them for a full hour, and that included not only their eating sessions, but also mothers moving past us with their babies on the back, or youngsters playing chasing games over our feet. It was an experience like not other.
The next day we ventured into the same region, but this time to see another primate species, the golden monkeys. This is an old world monkey species endemic to the high altitude forest of Volcanoes National Park. Our trackers and guides found a family of them within an hour walk up the forest. They feed largely on bamboo leaves and fruit. Unlike with he gorillas there was no tranquility at all with these creatures. They were a lively bunch leaping from bamboo branches, frolicking on the floor and munching incessantly on bamboo leaves and other plants. The young were very playful and inquisitive, often jumping around our feet. It was pure joy to observe them while being completely ignored.
So, to wrap it all up. We can definitely recommend Rwanda as a great place to travel and explore wildlife and culture. It feels good to support a country that has its priorities right and has so much to offer.