IT
An emotion after the other
We have visited this park in June, at the end of the season of the rains. The animals began the migration and in an instant we have been surrounded by the perfumes and by marvelous panoramas. Endless lowlands and fascinating animals have accompanied us for the whole visit. An experience that we will bring with us for the whole life.
US
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Out of this world experience
My wife and I booked our Safari adventure through Jewel of Africa via Safari Bookings. Right from the beginning Neil was extremely helpful going out of his way to make sure our honeymoon was exactly what we envisioned. He helped with securing the right sleeping quarters for what we wanted during a very busy time ( we went for Christmas) along with the booking of a flight into Hoedspruit from Cape Town. The transportation was arranged from the airport to the lodge as well. We were greeted by Lucky at the airport and he was very professional, friendly and a joy to meet. The safari itself was unbelievable. The scenery is absolutely stunning as I feel South Africa is a gorgeous country. The wildlife was plentiful as we visited Manyeleti Game reserve one day and the second day Kruger National Park. The opportunity to be in close quarters to such majestic creatures really left us with a sense of admiration for them and humbled. My heart breaks to hear such frequent stories of poaching in the region as we discussed this with our guide Simon as I can't fathom how someone could hurt an animal. Simon was fantastic and a wonderful teacher whilst he was our guide. The weather during our visit was incredible. Very warm with a few cool mornings and mostly dry. We did no birding this time around so I haven't much to say there but I would recommend safari to everyone. Dylan, Jeffery, Nat and the rest of the team at Phlewana where we stayed were brilliant, you couldn't find better host. Lastly, the food was extremely good during our stay so my hat is tipped to the kitchen as well! I hope to return some day as I truly loved my safari experience and although I have left Africa, it hasn't left me.
US
Exceeded our expectations
In one word. SUPER!!!!! From hotels..tours, guides and staff to the people of South Africa...
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience !!!
I went on this trip with my friend Olivia and we have been talking about it for years.
We spent 6 days visiting Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater.
It was difficult to make a choice but finally we went with Earthlife and it has been a super positive experience. We were picked up at 3 am at the airport by our driver and guide Daniel and he stayed with us for the entire stay, drove us safely to Tarangire where we spotted our first elephants and Cheetahs. We saw more animals in Lake Manyara and enjoyed our 2 night stay in Tented camps with hot showers twice day.
During the entire trip, we had good meals and did feel completely safe.
Our guide Daniel has been a great 'travel companion' as well. He was great in spotting animals, explain us how they hunt or what they eat. He was patient and very kind and we also got to know how locals live and what life is like in general.
I can only say the very best about our experience and Deo has done a great job organizing all of that for us !!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Meleck provided us with amazing cultural and wildlife viewing experiences! The trip of a lifetime!
We can't say enough wonderful things about our experience with Meleck and Parakuyo Tours! During the planning phase of our trip we received enough information that we arrived in Tanzania well prepared for our safari, and from the moment we landed at Kilimanjaro airport we were made to feel welcome and at ease. The food, lodging, and friendliness of staff exceeded all of our expectations.
Melecks in depth knowledge of the animals and their habitats enabled us to learn about and to see many more animals than we had originally thought. We were amazed by the number animals we did see and how close we were able to get to them. We have some great pictures and videos!
Because we were interested in the local people and culture, Meleck provided us with the opportunity to meet and talk with people and to take part in a number of cultural activities. He was very knowledgeable about the people, history and local culture.
The quality of our trip is a direct result of Melecks attention to detail, his high degree of prepardness, and well as his desire to provide his clients with the very best possible experience.
We will definitely recommend Parakuyo Tours and Safaris to anyone who is interested in experiencing Tanzania!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful adventure for our family!
Our family recently returned from our East Africa Wild 15-day adventure to Kenya and Tanzania. Although we had been to Kenya over 30 years ago, we had always wanted to return with our children to have them experience the beauty of East Africa. Our friends recommended East Africa Wild and we are happy they did so. After several conversations with Alym (owner) over FaceTime, he was able to plan the perfect trip/Itinerary for us based on our interests, comfort/activity levels and need for adventure! (Not an easy task given we were 5 adults!) But he did it! The accommodations were fantastic! We mostly stayed at the wonderful Serena Lodges and they were our favourite. The rooms were perfect and the hotel staff were very attentive. Our guides (Newton in Kenya and Saif in Tanzania) were great and worked hard to make sure we saw as much wildlife as possible and answered all our questions, whether they were related to wildlife or local culture. Newton & Saif were always on time and did their best to accommodate any and all requests that were made (we made lots!). We were also very well taken care of by the staff 'on the ground'. En route to Africa, two pieces of luggage were left behind during one of our connecting flights. The tour company staff in Nairobi quickly took care of the problem by tracking our bags, picking them up from the airport and delivering them to our lodge.
There were too many highlights on our trip to list them all but they included a bush breakfast along the Mara River, a private bush dinner accompanied by Masai tribesmen, and of course the many game drives where we saw the 'big five' and so much more! We totally and with confidence recommend East Africa Wild!
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
9 day trip - 5 days in Kenya, 4 in Tanzania
We travelled from Ireland in December 2017.
We would be keen to stress that this is a review of the booking company - African Adventure Safari, not of the safari itself.
The safari was, for the most part, brilliant. It would be hard to travel to the Masai Mara and Serengeti and not be impressed.
It appeared to us (and several others we met) that essentially, for the budget trips you paid a tour company who booked your place on a safari trip. Safari guides/drivers seemed to receive their assigned tourists each trip or each day. So, whilst the drivers (who seemed to work for several various companies) were very good, we couldn't credit this to the tour companies as there seemed to be little relationship between the two.
So, onto reviewing the booking company;
It was arranged and confirmed that they would collect us from the airport in Nairobi around 7pm. Upon arrival, there was no sign of anyone. We waited and eventually opted to use the mobile phone of a taxi driver. We rang Mike, who we had been dealing with us over email. He advised us that he was parking the car and would be with us in five minutes. After ten minutes, the random taxi driver came over and told us that Mike had called back and had asked us to wait by the road. Another twenty minutes passed, with the taxi driver waving to us every so often to indicate that it would be another five minutes.
Nairobi has a reputation and we were growing increasingly uneasy.
Eventually the taxi driver came back with the phone and handed it to me. It was Mike advising us that his driver had gotten stuck in traffic (odd, given that Mike said he was parking the car) and told us the taxi driver would take us. Given that I had just been handed the phone, I made sure to make him confirm a few of our details before we hung up. We were very clear with the taxi driver that we wouldn't be paying him for the journey as the transfer was already paid for. He wasn't very happy about this and made another call to make sure he would get paid.
The taxi driver asked us to wait while he got his car. Two cars pulled up (neither particularly looked like a taxi), he sent the first car away and the driver of the second one got out and our "taxi driver" got in. The route we took (presumably to avoid traffic) went through some very rough areas, with several fires burning by the roadside, through the outskirts of the city. We have travelled a lot (including countries like Venezuela, Colombia and Indonesia) but this was the most uneasy we have ever felt whilst travelling. The combination of being unsure about the taxi driver and the route we had taken had made us feel very apprehensive. This wasn't the start to our trip we had hoped for. As it was our honeymoon, we had booked through a tour company in order to avoid these specific issues.
After 40 minutes we pulled up at our hotel. Mike was there to meet us, with one of the safari guides. He wasn't very apologetic, but seemed friendly enough and gave us his mobile number to contact him through Whatsapp. We had booked the hotel through Mike and he asked for cash to pay for the room. We handed over the cash and it was only when we went up to our room and was able to check my emails that I realised that it was double the price we were expecting to pay. We checked the price on booking.com (which was also cheaper than the price we had been quoted). We texted Mike and he told us that the price he had quoted was per night, so was double what we were expecting and double the cost on booking.com. We were unhappy but there was little we could do.
After our trip to the Masai Mara and Hells Gate, which were both brilliant, we were taken back to Nairobi for a transfer to Arusha (Tanzania). We missed our bus, but that wasn't a problem because we just caught another one. We were met in Arusha by a taxi driver and taken to our hotel, which all went well.
The next morning we were starting a trip to Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. We met the 'boss' and who asked us what our itinerary was (he didn't seem to know what we had planned). He asked about water, we told him it was included in our trip, he asked about our transfer to the airport at the end of our trip, we told him that was also included. We found out later that the 'boss' is the boss of all of the drivers/guides in Arusha, so manages all of the trips that leave from there.
There was clearly very little coordination between the tour companies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The first night of our trip we stayed in a really nice lodge, but one of the other groups (all of the vehicles will stop to eat and sleep in the same places, so you will see a lot of each other) had to stay somewhere else because there had been a mix up and the lodge was overbooked. The next morning, everyone was moved to different vehicles because there had been a mix up with the bookings. This wasn't really a problem for us, but did take a while to be sorted out and a couple of groups had to wait longer than us because people from Arusha were joining them.
Once on the trip, again it was amazing and the driver/guide in Tanzania (Estome) was brilliant. Estome had a couple of different books on the animals and answered every single question we had. He stopped when we wanted to take photos, spotted more animals and birds than you could imagine, and was a really nice guy. Overall we enjoyed the experience in Tanzania more than Kenya, although we saw more animals in Kenya.
Some people from the other groups had problems with their itineraries not being followed and accommodation not being what was expected (this seemed to be people who has asked for an additional stopover or to not be in a tent or a shared tent). When they were booking, they were told it was ok, but once they were on the trip, they were sent along with the rest of us. A vegetarian in our group had to remind them a few times. We hadn't made any special requests, so we didn't have any of these issues.
In Arusha, we had been booked in to the Cloud View Hotel for our last night. Our diver had asked us where we were staying and had been speaking to the 'boss' through the day. When we arrived at the hotel there was no booking for us. Apparently the 'boss' hadn't received the information or money from Mike so no booking was made (this hadn't been mentioned until we were at the hotel's check in desk though). We were taken back to Arusha Tourist Inn and stayed there for the night (this hotel seems to owned by the 'boss' so a booking wasn't needed).
We text Mike about this straight away, but didn't get a response until the following afternoon, by which time we were in Zanzibar. Again, there was no apology and Mike's response was that they are looking for a new partner in Tanzania.
Overall, the trip was amazing and the guides, particularly in Tanzania, were brilliant. The issues we had were with the organisation and, with the exception of the pick up from the airport, were annoying but had no lasting effect on us.
Whichever company you book with, our advice would be to reconfirm everything before you travel (dietary requirements, transfers etc), take printed copies of your itinerary, be prepared to stand your ground on what is already paid for and included as part of your trip, and unless you are booking a bespoke trip, stick to the basic itineraries because people who had special requests didn't seem to get them. And have a great trip.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Somak Driver Offroad and Endangering Lion
I've just come from the Mara where I saw a Somak branded vehicle go off road so that they could get a meter away from a sleeping lion. The driver then got angry when he saw me with my telephoto lens taking his photo. Do not support companies that employ irresponsible drivers.
HR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience!
Everything was just perfect! We were lucky to have the best tour guide ever! Charles thank you for everything, you really made it unforgettable for us! Charles is really well experienced in doing safari in Selous game reserve, he knows every corner of the park and places where animals are usually hiding. Thanks to him, we saw every animal and beast we could have seen! Driving to and from Selous was great, again thanks to our driver! Charles you really made it and thank you so so much!! Greetings from Croatia :)
