20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are fantastic in all they do.
In general they provide good services.I love the way they organise their trips,accommodation and their comfortable vehicles.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amboseli National Park Tour
These guys were fantastic. They went above and beyond to ensure we saw the big 5. They were very knowledgable about the area, park, wildlife and fauna.
They provided all accommodation & food and it was all excellent.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari experience was more wonderful than I could have imagined!
Peter did a wonderful job of tailoring our safari to our exact needs and the time we had available. Our driver was determined to make our experience memorable, as was Peter. Kibo Safari Camp was something out of the movies, beautiful accommodations and delicious buffet. We highly recommend Peter as your safari director!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best 60th Birthday trip ever!!
In September, 2016, my wife Joan and I embarked on a bespoke Safari trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana organised and accompanied by John Cooper, Owner and managing Director of the African Adventure Safari Company. After months of research, emails and discussions with John, who remained extremely patient during the whole process, my wife finally confirmed the venues that we wanted to visit and John completed the rest of the planning process, leaving us only flights to book from and back to Perth Australia to Zimbabwe (Bulawayo) and from Botswana (Maun).
John proved to be a rather remarkable guide and travelling companion and we became good friends during the trip. He “sold” our safari to another Australian couple, Karen and Julius from Gosford NSW, who joined us on the trip, in order to keep costs down. They were really lovely and their company really made our holiday something special.
Our trip started with a flight to Johannesburg and then onto Bulawayo where we were met off the plane by John, who had previously picked up Karen and Julius a day earlier in South Africa. At this stage I informed John of my heart problem and from then on nothing, and I mean nothing, was too much trouble for him. I could not have been in better hands! So we started the trip proper with a lovely lunch at the Bulawayo Club that was followed by a few hour’s drive to our first stop, the Big Cave Camp in the Matabo Hills region for 2 nights. From there we drove to a railway station a few hour’s away to catch the Elephant Express to Bomani Camp in the Hwange Game Reserve for 3 nights, leaving by the same means to move onto the Lokathula Lodge in Victoria Falls for 3 nights. From Vic Falls we drove into Botswana to visit the Chobe Game Reserve on the Chobe River for 3 nights, then flew from Kasane to a bush landing strip on the Okovango Delta for a drive to our final destination, Kana Kara Camp for 3 nights. Departing Kana Kara by light plane for Maun, then onto Johannesburg and back to Perth WA, completed the return trip.
John is a really nice guy, garrulous and informed with a great repertoire of stories and jokes! He is very knowledgeable about all things African and calmly negotiated our way through various police checks, roadblocks and customs border crossings with his easy going friendly manner. He also had a great network of contacts at the various lodges and camps and was clearly a well-respected tour operator. We would unequivocally recommend John and his company to anyone wishing to experience a Southern African safari. We intend to return at some stage in the near future and will be using John once again as our guide.
In conclusion, Joan and I differ in our thoughts as to what was the best venue on the trip, Bomani in Hwange or Kana Kara in the Okavango. It is so hard to choose between them. For me the addition of lots of water at Kana Kara and the Lions made it special. For Joan the variety of game and the proximity of the lodge waterhole and all that it brought, as well as the quality of the food and accommodation tilted the balance in favour of Bomani. Needless to say we would return to both tomorrow!!!!
FYI, we thought Chobe came in third and well worth doing, followed by Big Cave (interesting and worth doing for the Rhinos) and then Vic Falls, where two nights would have been sufficient.
John, thanks again for a great time and a fantastic trip. You are a legend, man! Always happy to be contacted by prospective clients.
PH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An experience I won't ever forget
Last 2012, my family decide to go to South Africa for a vacation. I consulted with a local agency, they were not able to give us an itinerary since it was too early (March 2013, intended date of our vacation). So I went online to see if I could just book a tour or look for other agencies, the 1st website I checked was African Welcome Safari, I answered some questions on their website. I wasn't sure if they would reply since I have experienced with other agency who didn't. When Kathi Simon replied, she gave us an idea of what to expect, places to visit, what clothes to wear, what kind of luggage to bring and etc. She took care of everything. Fast forward to 2016, we decided to go to East Africa this time and I inquired if I she can give us an itinerary and she did. She took care of everything again. My sister asked me why do we have to go to 3 different camps or lodges if we can just stay in 1 place and experience it all, like we did in South Africa. We only appreciated it all when we were there and experienced all different places that we went to. In short, I have no regrets whatsoever of booking with African Welcome Safari. If we ever decide to go back to Africa, we will definitely book again with them.
US
most fun i had in a long time
Everything was just simply so perfect :)Our trip was at the end of the wet season, and was with Emmanuel.
We saw everything that we could think of and more! including Albino Baboons and the big 5 all with young!
Emmanuel our driver was very knowledegable and very intune to us and what we wanted/needed (like an afternoon nap, or patience sitting waiting for the cheeta to hunt!)
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A breathtaking experience, where wo got more than we ever could have wished for
We are a family of four (My parents, boyfriend and me) and we booked the tour online from Germany.
The booking process went smooth and easy and Norah from EasyTravel helped us every step along the way.
When we arrived at Arusha airport we got picked up by our personal guide Ombeni. From there we where taken straight to the EasyTravel office in Arusha where we got a very detailed briefing by two staff members of EasyTravel. They made sure that we felt comfortable and that there where no questions open on our side.
My Dad wasn't so good on foot at that time, so we were a bit concerned on how comfortable he would be during the safari. As it turned out it wasn't a problem at all. The small walking tour we did was arranged to be a little less demanding so that we all could enjoy it together and the rest of the safari was mostly done by car (a spacious Toyota with sunroof and coolbox!). From the office our guide took us to our first beautiful hotel (all the hotels we stayed in where quaint, with perfect service and friendly staff). The next day our long expected Safari (btw. Safari means journey in Suaheli) started. Our first destination was Lake Manyara National park, the home of the famous tree climbing lions. Our wonderful guide Ombeni did not only manage to show us all of the big five but kept us entertained on the long drives between Parks. We could ask him anything about everything. Not only did he know all there was to know about animals, but he also about Tanzanian history, politics and culture. He taught us some words in Suaheli and in return we thought him some german. When we left Serengeti National Park on day 3 we had already seen 4 of the big five and had a very close encounter with a cheetah on the back of our car. Ombeni always seemed to know exactly where to find certain animals. He was never satisfied until he had taken us at arm's length with lions, Buffalos, Giraffes and many more. Still we felt safe at every moment. This holiday my Family and I, surely will never forget!
SA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3 days’ short trip to Masai Mara was really so great that paid me back in terms of full enjoyment.
It was a great pleasure to have safari in Masai Mara National Park. The camp, food and game drive services were very good and were really up to the mark. Peter managed all the services in time and there was very calculated and reasonable program for my 3 days’ trip.
Thank you Peter.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A Great Safari!
Had a great safari!
Was easy to organize, food was nice and the guides were great!
Saw a lot of wildlife, elephants, rhinos, buffalo, lion, leopards, giraffes, zebras, hyenas and wild dogs.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent service and great value
We got a recommendation from a friend who had previously used Kathi at African Welcome Safaris, and I'm so glad we did! We had the best experience from beginning to end. Kathi was incredibly responsive and made sure we stuck to our budget. Then, when we decided we wanted to upgrade, she went back and provided even more options. She provided excellent options and included lodges that we hadn't heard of in our own basic research. We went back and forth until we found just the right lodge, then she magically planned everything else around it: airfare, transfers, payment with the lodge.
On the ground, everything ran so smoothly. Our flights were lovely and perfectly scheduled to ensure we would come in and leave at just the right times: to get there for lunch and the evening game drive on the first day then time to do the morning game drive and pack on our last day. Those were details I didn't think about, but Kathi did. Our ground transfers were on-time or early, so we were never worried about being late.
I would absolutely recommend using African Welcome Safaris -- and plan to use them again in the future!