50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded all expectations and a fantastic experience.
Excellent communication before the tour about the itinerary, accommodation etc. Liked the fact it could be tailor made and that Matoke Tours seemed to be completely flexible to fit in with what we wanted. All the accommodation was a good standard and liked that it was varied and in stunning locations. Mutanda lake resort was, in our opinion, outstanding for location, service, room and food. Excellent tour guide (Edwin) who was knowledgable, fun to be with and easy company. Although animals maybe not as abundant in Uganda as in other African locations, we were able to see everything we wanted except the ever elusive leopard, which we missed by 5 minutes! However, it was a great advantage to often be the only vehicle viewing the animals and there were never hordes of other tourists. This made the safari more special for us. Tracking chimpanzees and gorillas was an enormous extra bonus to the tour. The whole tour was very varied, and even travel days were fascinating, because it gave us a glimpse of how people lived, worked, different landscapes etc., which made it an excellent 12 days and it far exceeded our expectations. We would be happy to recommend Uganda and Matoke Tours to anyone thinking of visiting Africa.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
vacay came through for me in last minute book in. you can always count on them.Exelent service.
Very friendly staff and keeps clients well updated on the developments of their booking.
DK
Professional and pleasant safari team!
The cooperation with Kilidove Safari was a pleasure right from the first enquiry to the end after four great safari days. The team is service minded, professional and well prepared and the itinerary worked out well and met the standards and qualities, which had been advertised in this "all inclusive, full package tour". The guide was very friendly and attentive to the needs of us as travellers and took good care that all worked out fine. By comparison with other tour operators, we preferred Kilidove exactly because it was an all-inclusive full package tour and very transparent - other companies require you to pay separately and directly daily salary to both the driver, guide and cook and that could easily be an uncomfortable situation. Moreover, we enjoyed not be treated as tourist by Kilidove, but as keen travellers. The settlement of all payments directly to Kilidove went well and was well documented by finance department in Kilidove - however the international bank transfers turned out to be quite expensive especially as we had to cover the bank charges in Tanzania also and not only the bank charges in Denmark. Perhaps alternative methods of payment could be sought in the future. The Kilidove gift to my teenagers - Tanzania football shirts - matching their age - was really a nice gesture showing that Kilidowe pays attention to each customer in a nice manner.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Barafu tours & safaris Awesome...!!!!!!!
i did my climb on 7th February and i Booked with Barafu tours & Safaris, Trust me it was the coolest experience everrrrrrrr......!!!
The Guides Speak perfect English,
Real Local Guides they know what they are doing.
for the mean time am volunteering in some NGO here in Tanzania.
I fully recommend Barafu Tours & Safaris for Trekking and Safari
LK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
unbelievable, I had a great fun with my team. I'll come next time with my family.
Great experience, never had befor.Mr david you and Mr Animal your support is highly appreciated. Good luck.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very professional and dedicated, 21st Century leadership.
Communication was excellent. And very knowledgable.
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience with amazing people
I never usually write reviews as often you think they are created by the people from the company. So I always think it's best to go with your gut instinct! But, this is a company that deserves a review.
Myself and my girlfriend went on a 3 day Safari to Mikumi national park. We had the experience of a lifetime.
We were met at the airport by a representative of the company and taken to a house where we could rest for a few hours after a long flight.
In the morning we were met by Keneth our guide and started our tour.
Keneth was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, affable and very proud of his job and country.
A long the way he not only introduced us to the animals but also his country and it's people.
It was a fascinating experience to learn about Tanzania, Africa and the animals from a local.
Mikumi National park was a wonder and we managed to see all the animals we dreamed of. Even if we hadn't it wouldn't have mattered as it was fantastic just to be in their environment.
Grassroots safaris were amazing from start to finish! Micky handled all of our requests and questions and managed to organise everything in the short time frame I gave him. The food accommodation and hospitality were far above anything we expected in the price
They went above and beyond the call of duty and even looked after us when I contacted them from Zanzibar when Dani broke her leg.
It was always a dream of mine to go on safari and this was a great start and I will be back for more.
I cannot recommend Micky, Keneth and Grass Roots highly enough.
Thanks for making a dream of mine come true.
We look forward to coming back for more.
Many many thanks!!
CN
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgetable Tour
We enjoyed a 7 days safari in Rubondo Island , Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
All of the lodges and camps were special and amazing.
The knowledge of our guide Sule was excellent, therefore we learned
a lot about animals, culture and history from him. Although he had the
eyes of an eagle, so we saw many animals, which we did not
expect.
Thank you Sule and thank you Brian for the outstanding organisation
of the excellent safari!
I will highly recommend Friends of Africa Family Safaris to our friends and to everybody else.
Thank you Brian Matechi for organizing our trip !
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Wild Wind Safaris
We had a wonderful experience on our Etosha three day Safari. The weather cooperated, the animals were plentiful, way more than I ever anticipated, based on the reviews that I had read for this time of year, March 2015.
The pickup and return were very smooth to and from the airport and well paced. Everything is included except the purchase of water and alcoholic beverages at meal time. Even the lunches en route and on the return to your pickup point, in our case, the airport, were included as it is almost a 5 hours drive to the reserve from the airport.
The accommodation was superb and well worth spending the extra. We selected the premier waterhole bungalow (Okaukuejo rest camp), stunning accommodation and location. It was hard to decide between eating dinner and breakfast or just watching the animals as they came down to the waterhole at night and in the morning. On our last night it was fascinating to watch the rhinos come at their "slotted" time. We counted 9 that night. We had to force ourselves to go to bed. And the giraffes, 17 at the waterhole the morning of departure.
We saw a pride of 13 lions just off the road side and several elephants, a couple gigantic ones, one in particular, minutes after starting our safari upon arrival. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the springboks boing along and all of the babies at this time of year. Even saw the elusive honey badger. I kept count of our sightings, 37 different animals, very impressive.
Our guide was very accommodating. He backtracked en route, ensuring us views of our sightings, which we spotted along the way. He shared his knowledge of the animals with us and actively sought them out for us.
The food was excellent at the camp. The lunch at one of the camps though on our full day safari was very limited, but, on our return to the airport, the restaurant offerings and quality and quantity of food was fantastic.
Can't fault Martha's and Philip’s hospitality, advice and efficiency prior to our arrival. Offering payment via a credit card would certainly make it easier for travellers and insurance purposes if need be. They accommodated our 3 day safari during the week which from what I read is usually only offered on the weekend. This was an incredible bonus as we ended up having our own personal guide for our stay. I can't imagine though being in a vehicle with 4-6 other people (even saw a couple buses, egads!) and trying to take pictures along the way especially since you are not allowed to exit the vehicle at any point during the game drives. At first I was anticipating an open-jeep, but in retrospect we had an SUV/van, which I feel was better as we were so up close and personal with the animals as it was. It was common place to have an elephant walk 30 feet in front of you or come out unexpectedly from the brush or have lions within 20 feet of your car, so just as well, we were enclosed, as they are “wild”. During the high season, when the area is extremely dry and if it was windy, I would think that you would be covered in dust, in particular when passing or being passed by other vehicles. The best thing about going at this time of year was that oftentimes we were the only car on the road which allowed us to back up or turn around quickly to see the animals. I would think during high season, there would be considerable jockeying around to gain the best viewpoint at the waterholes where the vehicles and animals would congregate.
Overall it was an extremely exciting time for us, a once in a lifetime experience and almost surreal to see National Geographic come to life before your very eyes. Maybe we were just lucky to see what we did, at this time of year, but in the end, Wild Wind made this happen for us and within our budget.
More than expected!
We enjoyed our Safari with It Started in Africa. Planning from Canada a couple of months in advance the team took care of flights getting us from South Africa to Kilmanjaro and onward to our final destination. Being met at the airport and taken to our hotel was the opening level of service and care we enjoyed throughout. The expert driver always made us feel safe and took time to show us parts of the city and viewpoints that were a joy to experience. Our patient guide was very observant and as a team with the driver ensured we were given ample opportunity to take pictures and observe the vast amount of wildlife. Our guide was very knowledgeable of the customs, plants and animals of the region, making it a great time of learning. Lake Manyara and Ngorangoro crater were absolutely beautiful. The accommodations and food were exceptional and we felt like it was first class all the way.