US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A truly amazing trip, with no issues just greatness!
Back in January this year our family started planning its biggest (and most costly) trip ever. A safari in Africa has been a dream of mine and we wanted to do it the right way, especially since travelling with our two daughters, aged 8 and 9. We found SafariBookings and contacted few companies, explaining our needs and requirements. Simon from Mwema Africa Safaris was one of them and was really responsive and helpful and we decided to work with them. From the beginning of the planning until the end of the trip, Simon was highly helpful, respective of our needs, questions and fears, and always returned our emails or whatapps messages very swiftly and kindly. He found the right Camps and flights, within budgets and needs, organized our stay there and gave very detailed descriptions and itineraries for our 5 days in Kenya.
At our arrival at Nairobi airport, James from Mwema was waiting for us and gave us information while driving us to our hotel and was there on time the morning after to drive us to the airport for our safari trip. Everything went exactly as planned in Amboseli and Maasai Mara National Parks (so beautiful and beyond any expectations - we even saw all Big 5's in the Maasai Mara) and we were greeted by him again at the end of our trip and driven to the Nairobi airport for our flight back.
I can only strongly recommend Simon and Mwema Africa Safaris for a personalized trip, organized based on your needs and budget. Our family had the time of their life and the fact that we didn't have to care about details, only enjoy our stay, and were in total confidence with the planning made it even more memorable.
Thank you Simon and your team for making this dream a reality with lasting memories!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari
Elias was our guide for 4 days and we couldn't have asked for a more patient, friendly, knowledgable person. He definitely made the experience complete for all of us. We were comfortable, didn't feel rushed and appreciated that Elias really took the time to get to know each of us and learn about what we all really wanted to get out of the safari. Thank you!!
BG
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
The Safari tour was very well organized, the company delivered everything that was promised. We were a group of 9 in two vehicles. Both drivers were very well spoken , they were communicating between themselves all the time ,so we had the chance to see the Big 5 . Accommodation was very good, especially Sopa Lodge . This was once in a life time experience and we were happy to be a part of it. The only set back was that vehicles were quite old ,but luckily we did not have any problems.
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything went awesome!!
I had tons of questions and they answer all of them very fast and clear, on the safari, everything went perfect!!... i totaly recomend this company!
CH
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
extraordinary
Thanks to Francis, our super chauffeur and Gorillas Tours for bringing us to this wonderful country, Uganda, with the perfect climate under the equator, thanks to its altitude.
Beautiful landscapes, abundant wildlife that looks to pass with a curiosity as great as ours.
The population is very friendly, security is everywhere, the use of the English language is recommended
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Had quiet great experience with Bush Baby Calls.
The service was good we had a great experience at Okavango Delta and Moremi, especially the trip to the Delta was more marvelous the Moroko Experience with the polars. The team was friendly and helpful,and their Chef Kilos was the Legend.
The best
I have traveled severally, using different agents, but I have never been handled this professionally with every detail taken care of and the hospitality was out of this world too. I honestly recommend these guys for your travel logistics.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience, Indeed!
Right from day 1, back in January, when we started getting quotes from various tour operators, Anne was very professional. This being our first trip to Kenya, she was responsive to loads of curious questions that I had and she patiently answered them. While we were negotiating for the best price (? ) , she impressed me with the approach and I decided to go with Amazing Memories Safari though I had lesser price from others. I truly appreciate her efforts in organizing a fantastic trip. She and her team were kind enough to pick us up from the airport, in spite of a delayed arrival late in the evening the last week of June.
Since we had kids traveling with us, I had requested an itinerary that was spread over 8 days/7 nights. This ensured that we wouldn’t have to deal with rushing from one park to another and avoid long journeys. We visited Samburu, Sweetwaters, Lake Nakuru & finally the ultimate Mara triangle. The rooms were carefully chosen to accommodate the 4 of us including extra bed. The beauty of all these stays was that the tents/room were right in the middle of the park that gave us the advantage to (i) spot animals closeby & (ii) saved time to start our game drives at convenience. Separate request was made for vegetarian food. This was taken care of to the minute detail and we felt at home, with Indian Cuisine at every restaurant we visited and for every meal.
Special word of mention to our guide & new friend Daniel. He was very friendly, soft spoken and quickly adapted to our expectations. He was very experienced in spotting animals & feathered species alike. One of the biggest advantage was the operators being connected via radio to pass on message of games being spotted. This helped us to get to the location quickly and enjoy the moment. On one occasion, Daniel drove almost 70km past the Mara bridge to spot a Cheetah, which was on top of my list, resting behind a bush. He was persistent in his quest to spot the cat despite his peers advising him against. A similar incident while spotting a leopard, that helped us complete viewing the Big Five in first 2 days. Being an avid naturalist, he provided information on all animals based on different locations across Kenya.
I strongly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris to anyone looking for a good tour operator in the Kenya region. The staff is very thorough in their job, professional in handling their commitments and will go the extra mile to bring cheers to their customers. In my case, the kids were ecstatic on their surprise dream vacation. My family and I felt confident we were in safe hands. Please feel free to email me for any specific questions/information on our experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari!
My wife and I chose to celebrate our honeymoon in Tanzania and decided to work with It Start in Africa.
We had such a wonderful time on our safari. Our driver was Tommy. He was a great guy and we had a lot of fun with him! We recommend Tommy to anybody that does a tour with ISIA. The entire trip was so exciting and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Some highlights:
- The views from our tent at Mawe Ninga Tented Camp
- Hunting with the Hadzabe tribe - We highly recommend this to anyone that comes to Tanzania. It is a little bit out of the way (not a lot in the scheme of things). For me personally, it was the most interesting thing we did!
- Seeing the Zebra migration
- Watching lion eating a zebra that they had killed that morning
- Watching several prides of lion hunt. Unfortunately, no kill, but still really great!
- The camp site and location of Pumzika - the best!
- Seeing the big five. Tommy was so great. We hadn't seen the black rhino until we got to Ngorongoro on our second last day and he made it his mission to find one for us. He found two! :)
- Seeing the flamingo at Ngorongoro
- The accommodation at Neptune Ngoronogoro - amazing!
- The coffee plantation tour in Arusha
It would be remiss of us to not note several items, which we felt could have been done better. Please note, this is feedback from our perspective and we relayed this to the ISIA team while we were on tour and they were dealt with and addressed these concerns at the time. For items we raised retrospectively, they have advised that they will work through these things.
For anybody that travels on safari, please remember that this is Africa. While we all spend a lot of money to do these tours, it is important to remember where you are.
- We both felt that the car could have been presented better on arrival. It was rather dirty and was quite an old vehicle. I spoke to the sales team about this on our first night and then to Tommy the next morning. How it was handled by both the sales team and Tommy was such great customer service. While things can go wrong, it's how they are handled that makes the big difference.
- Make sure you bring a pair of your own binoculars. The pair provided were not suitable. Again, we have raised this with the team and hopefully in future this isn't an issue. But if you are going on safari, your own pair of binoculars is a minor investment in the scheme of things.
- Bring plenty of US dollars to tip. Being Aussies, we suck at this at the best of times, and really didn't bring enough. Everywhere we stayed and anybody we dealt with provided fantastic service and they do deserve to be tipped.
- We didn't find this too much of a problem but reading the reviews below, it does appear to happen every-now-and-then. Bring a backup credit card to pay for the Ngorongoro entry fee (when leaving the Serengeti NP). As mentioned in reviews below, we had issues with the ISIA bank card. We could have waited to resolve the situation, which would have happened, but it may have taken a long time. We just paid for it on my own card and when we returned to Arusha, the funds were reimbursed. No time lost and no big deal. Obviously, this a personal preference but just a heads up.
All in all, the experience from when we first enquired nearly two years ago to the delivery of the product by Tommy was so amazing. Obviously, it's a very expensive trip for us to do, so we are not sure when we would visit again but there is no doubt that we would love to and we would have no hesitation is doing so with ISIA.
Thank you to the entire team. You are all such wonderful people and we are so happy that you were part of our honeymoon experience :)
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fabulous adventure to Southern Africa for a Big 5 Safari and holiday
Everything went like clockwork from my first dealing for a quote and advice down to the welcome home email. The private game park and lodge near Kruger was sensational as was the National Park and lodge in Botswana. They are different in many respects except the fabulous service they provide their guests. My time in Cape Town was enjoyable albeit I was mostly left on my own (my request) given it was my second visit there. I was really looked after in Johannesburg. The Cape Town and Johannesburg could not be faulted. I also visited Victoria falls, the only complaint there was I probably did not stay long enough. There appeared to be so much to do. Everything was exceptionally well organised (Flights, Safari's, Hotels, Transfers and Activities) which made for a great holiday. I would recommend African Ubuntu and Cuan without hesitation (in fact I have already recommended him to some friends.