US
The safari exceeded our expectations at every level. Everything on our wish list was satisfied.
We started working with Noah to plan our safari about 6 months prior to our departure. He answered almost every email in a very timely manner. He was willing to honor any requests or changes that we wanted. Everything that was promised us was fulfilled exactly as stated in our contract, with the exception of one small incident on the last day which was resolved easily. Our accommodations were all very comfortable, some actually quite plush, and the service in all was exceptional. We cannot say enough about our driver/guide Andrew. He was knowledgeable, congenial, willing to laugh at stupid jokes, and a heck of a good driver. We spent 12 days with him and were very sad to say goodbye. We were fortunate to see the big five plus much much more. We saw leopards, cougars, nursing cubs and multitudes of other beautiful creatures, many up close and personal. The highlight was getting to witness the Wildebeest crossing the Mara River. It was thrilling and alive with excitement. This was the trip of a life time for us. I have no complaints whatsoever and am grateful to Wildebeest Safaris for enabling us to have this wonderful experience.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Safari, Incredible Guide
Our safari was fantastic. Timothy is an incredible guide who we could not reccomend highly enough. He knows the area extremely well and thanks to him we managed to see not only all of the big 5 but also the wildebeest crossing of the Mara. Had a phenomenal time!!
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A well prepared and well communicated safari with a knowledgable, pleasant and careful driver.
Makasa made a trip for us, two not so young ladies. We received good advise on where to go and stay and we discussed the itinerary via email and received quick response from the company. We stayed in a tented lodge, a bush camp and a traditional lodge, all were well functioning and the staff did all they could to make us feel comfortable. The food was such a delight in all three places and the rooms very cosy and pleasant.
The safari included long, unpleasant and dusty drives due to the condition of the roads between Ngorongoro and Serona but the driver did a good job. It is necessary on such a safari to drive long distance on the hunt for the interesting view and the driver made it interesting by sharing knowledge about the landscape and history of the places and people. Very good,
The trip was very interesting even if I have been there before and it was a great trip. I can recommend.
There service was excellent. The hospitality was good. I realy enjoy it am planing to use them soon
The communication is excellent they are quick to answer all quarries and they exceed my expectation
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very nice safari
Very nice safari, lots of animals seen, driver come to pick you up directly at your hotel
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic East Africa safari experience
After looking for reputable safari providers, I found The Safari Partners and contacted Chris about some of my wishes for my first Safari. After discussing the options, I selected the East Africa Express safari, going to 5 different parks in 10 days, making sure I experienced as much of East Africa as I could. I traveled by myself and ended up in a wonderful, small, group of people with whom I spent the next 10 days traveling, eating, and enjoying the experience. After the pick-up in Nairobi, the Boma hotel was a nice place to recover from the long trip and get ready for the start of the park visits. As soon as we entered the Masai Mara, we saw an abundance of wildlife, including 4 of the big 5 within the first 2 hours. The Ashnil camp in the heart of the Mara was a great experience, and ideally situated for the many game drives over the next 2 days. Moving on to Lake Victoria was a quiet and idyllic break from the game drives, I highly recommend visiting the fishing village of Mwabulugu, a short boat ride away from Speke Bay Lodge, a very nice lodge, especially since they are now on the electrical grid. Do try to get a hut near the lake, the ones further away from the lake get unbearably warm during the night, even with a floor or table fan. We were fortunate that our next stop, the Serengeti Sopa lodge was overbooked and we were upgraded to the Pioneer camp, an experience I won't soon forget. This camp is a treat in every sense, can't recommend it enough, and the Serengeti game drives were wonderful. Onwards to the Ngorongoro crater, which, while a lot dustier than the previous areas, provides a unique environment well worth exploring. Visiting a Masai village on the outskirts of the crater and jumping with the Masai was a great experience also. The Sopa Lodge at the rim of the crater was enormous, very much a mass-tourist experience, but well-situated, with large rooms and good facilities. The next and final stop was Tarangire national park, home of the Baobab tree and once again an abundance of wildlife. The Sopa lodge here was a much smaller scale than the one by the crater, but otherwise very similar in appearance and facilities.
All in all, thank you to Chris, Safari Partners, and the local operators, African Horizons, for making my first safari a fantastic experience. I will undoubtedly return to Africa, see some of the other countries, maybe fly instead of drive between camps, and will select The Safari Partners again as my tour operator.
US
Excellent guide
Last year we went on an interesting 5-day trip to Namibia. I am a professor at a US university, and I brought a group of 3 students to Namibia for their capstone project. Our guide was Greg from Lark Journeys (http://www.larkjourneys.com/) -- he was great, and I'm writing to recommend him to others.
Our goal was to spend a couple of days in a village near Ondangwa, and then spend a day in Etosha. I wanted flexibility in the plans, so we could adjust to what we find interesting. As it turned out only 1 of the 4 nights was spent in the location initially planned. The flexibility of course made it harder on Greg, but he did an amazing job making all work out great.
We had a very packed 5 days. We arrived in Windhoek on the 7:30 AM flight from Frankfurt. After a brief stop in Windhoek for supplies, we drove up north -- we didn't have lodging set, as we wanted to see how far we'd get driving in one day. We ended up in Tsumeb, and Greg found a nice hotel for us there.
The next morning we got up early and drove to Ondangwa, where we met our contact in the nearby village. We camped out there the second night, which was our original plan.
The plan for the rest of the trip changed when I decided during the trip that we should go to Opuwa, to see the Himba and Herero people. This made things hard for Greg, as he did not have time to prepare, and had to improvise on the spot. But he managed to work things out great. We drove to Opuwa in the afternoon of the third day, and spent the night in a nice hotel in town that Greg found for us. Greg also arranged for a local guide to bring us to a Himba village. The visit to Opuwa was the highlight of the trip for me.
The Opuwa detour changed our Etosha plans ... initially we were going to stay in a lodge near the eastern entrance, but Greg came up with a new Etosha plan to make it work with the Opuwa visit. On our fourth day we drove to the western entrance of Etosha, and had a great game drive through Etosha to the Okaukuejo lodge, where we stayed for the fourth night. Greg drove us on another great game drive the next morning before bringing us to the airport in Windhoek for our evening flight.
We had a jam-packed 5 days, with lots of driving throughout the northern half of Namibia. Days began early in the morning and ended in the evening. I changed our plans throughout the trip. But all worked great, thanks to Greg!
Greg was also great to talk to, and we learned a lot about Namibia from him. He is very educated and knowledgeable (eg, he had a prestigious Young African Leaders Initiative fellowship in the US). We all enjoyed getting to know him.
I highly recommend Lark Journeys to others.
QA
Excellent
I would recommend any one looking for a tour company this the best..can't forget everything they did I had a safari of my life through them..response,hotels,the vehicles name all.thank you once again for making my vacation unforgetable see you next time
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent 3 day Safari to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro crater and Tarangire NP's.
I had a fantastic 3 day safari experience to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro crater and Tarangire national parks.
The driver was very knowledgeable including spotting wildlife and was engaging making the trip more enjoyable. I was a solo traveller and was joined with 2 others which was fun and as a bonus I also had my accommodation upgraded from my initial booking at no extra cost. I highly recommend this safari with World Tours & Safaris Tanzania.
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unique experience and a must do!
My husband and I decided to go on our honeymoon to the 6 days Safari in Tanzania. We had an awesome experience in Tanzania thanks to Lazaros (the guide) and David/Kili Slope Tours and Safaris. We travel in the second half of August and it was the dry season (they only have 2 seasons - dry and rain). Unfortunately, we missed the migration to Kenya (couple of weeks before).
We chose to do safari in the 4 parks (Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area). Each one of them have different characteristics and, in our opinion, it’s worth to do the 4 of them. Even though it was the dry season and after the migration to Kenya, we succeeded to see many many wild animals. And as they say it’s the “game driver”, because of Lazaros eagle eye and his familiarity with the wild life, we saw several wild animals very close to the car. There was a day when a leopard was surrounded by several cars and we could barely see it. Then, he saw that the leopard started to move and he moved the car and asked us to be patient. Boom! We had the best view of the leopard walking away from all those cars.
A few words about the safari guide: if you can, ask for Lazaros. We didn’t meet other guides, but we could see the difference between him and other guides when we sat together to have the lunch box. There are the professionals and the workers. And Lazaros is definitely a professional on his duty! Wise man, knows everything about the animals, their life, the differences in species, the difference in the wild life all year long, he could recognize wild animals far away, including different birds. And also he gave us some words about marriage life, since we are in the beginning of our journey…
Also talking to other people during the lunch box time, we realized that our tented camp in Serengeti was a very good one, so we should state a few words about it. The name is Serengeti Mawe Luxury Camp and we had an amazing room with toilet and shower with running hot water (not only I read, but other mentioned that they had a bucket on their heads with limited amount of water and in limited hours). One night, we had an amazing dinner under the stars, only with candles lights. Remarkable experience!
Last tip: bring your own binocular (there are several cheap ones selling in Aliexpress. We also bought Magnification Zoom Optical Monocular for the mobile phone and it was amazing). Although they say they have available in the car, they have only one. So if anything happens during the 6 days, you’ll be out of options…
As every trip, there were a couple of issues like a mismatch when they were supposed to pick us up in the airport (solved in 10 minutes), the Charity Hotel (issues regarding malfunction in some facilities and long wait for the dinner in an empty restaurant) that was also quickly solved by David (but don’t expect much from the hotels in Arusha, we stayed in the The Jevas Hotel and in the end it was worse than Charity).
Big thanks to David and Lazaros! You made this trip be very unique for both of us!