CN
Good company and contact
Edward is excellent, though we never met. He helped arrange all the safaris in Kenya with reasonable price and recommendations.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic safari adventure that created a lifetime's worth of memories!
My two college-age sons and I selected Gametrackers based on the reviews here and could not have been more pleased with every aspect of our 10-day Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti camping safari. From our first email contact with Stacey Bisley through our final goodbyes to our guide, Rufus Kimani, and our amazing bush chef, Charles, every aspect of Gametrackers' handling of our safari conveyed care and professionalism. If you are reading this and considering whether or not to invest in this trip of a lifetime, just do it! Rufus has an intimate knowledge of each destination and often positioned us to experience the majesty of African wildlife in ways that other guides simply could not match. Charles was a magician with the campfire, cooking delicious hot breakfasts and dinners every day, and providing fresh fruits, vegetables, and sandwiches for lunch. We never went to bed hungry, and always had energy for full days of going face to face with the world's most spectacular wildlife. The highlights of this safari are way too many to remember, but we took over a thousand photos to help spur our memories! Thank you, Gametrackers, for giving us such an intimate look at your beautiful East Africa. By the way, if anybody has questions about our safari, feel free to email me and I will be glad to help you plan your trip.
PE
The whole trip has been incredible.
Besides the places, the operation was impeccable.
It met expectations. The times, coordinations, and attentions were A1.
At all times we felt informed and well taken care of. Very friendly and concerned that the experience was special.
I recommend them for upcoming safaris. I hope to return next year.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was great!
Everything was very good!
The safari was awesome, we've seen a lot of animals.
It was a great journey and i would recommend it to everyone!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience with Experience Uganda Tours
We did a 3-Day, fly-in mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi and Kevin gave us a very good package deal. The communication was perfect, from before leaving home till after we were back in Kampala. It was very nice to meet Kevin and Leslie at their welcoming guest house at the beginning of this wonderful experience. Everything was well organized, the gorilla permits, flights, transfers, accommodation and the service was exceptionally good. We stayed in Karibu Guest house in Entebbe with lovely rooms, swimming pool and garden, the dinner fantastic. We also loved Engagi Lodge in Bwindi with the beautiful views and river walk, great hospitality & friendly staff and delicious food. We couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable and relaxing safari. Thank you!! We highly recommend Experience Uganda Tours.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience
We spent 16 days in Africa, travelling in Kenya and Tanzania.
As first, unforgettable experience, we've done everything we could think of: safaris with the Big 5 spotted, climbing the very top peak of Africa and, in the end, a relaxing conclusion on the coast.
Ancient Wild Safari, thanks to their responsibles and guides, has been a tremendous companion in this adveturous journey, providing all the necessary support to enjoy every single moment spent in these fantastic territories where it all originated.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A once-in-a-lifetime adventure
Firstly in a nutshell:
We have been to safaris in several African countries before, thus our expectations were pretty high. Earthlife expeditions and especially our guide really managed to exceed our expectations by far. A real outstanding once-in-a-lifetime adventure which we will never forget.
Now in detail:
We spent 15 days in Tanzania in January 2017. We found Earthlife expeditions on a website for safari providers and decided to ask for an individual offer for our safari from Earthlife expeditions. The owner, Deo, immediately replied and sent us a taylor-made offer with great value for money.
Our guide and a lady picked us up at the airport and from the first minute we felt very welcome and comfortable. On our way to our first lodge we got some general instructions, hints and even learned a few words in Swahili. This was extremely helpful and opened a lot of doors for our journey.
Our safari included Lake Manyara, Greater Serengeti, Nduto, Ngorogoro and Lake Eyasi and we finished our trip with some relaxing days in Zanzibar. A great selection recommended by Deo. We had a lot of adventure, experienced breathtaking wildlife, met and interacted with local people, had unforgettable nights in tents in the Greater Serengeti and Nduto. We stayed in tented camps and lodges and all accommodation was great. All this was really fantastic, but what really made this experience outstanding was our guide Gilbert. This guy is just fantastic, really well experienced with a great eager to find animals and a passion for his home country. Very soon we became much more than clients, we really became friends and this made the trip so special.
After our safari we flew to Zanzibar which was also organised by Earthlife. We expected a nice hotel at a nice beach but also here our expectations had been exceeded. Our hotel "Next paradise" was really worth its name, it was an amazing hotel at a great beach. Much, much more than anything we could have expected for the total price we paid.
Initially, we had a problem in transferring the money from Germany to Tanzania before we travelled to Tanzania, so we were a little nervous about this. However, Deo helped us to solve this problem and everything turned out very well.
For a better impression, please find some photos attached. Thank you Gilbert, Deo and the team, for this memorable tour:-)
Manuel & Stefanie
US
Great Experience with 4-Day Safari
I just returned from a 4-day safari with Viva Safaris, spending time at the Tremisana and Katekani Lodges. Overall, Viva did a great job. There were lots of drive and walk opportunities and I was always busy. Meals were great and staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The Katekani Lodge is especially wonderful and I highly recommend it.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing emotions
I agreed all details about my trip with Mike, which have been recommended me by my friend. It included 4 days safari in Ngorongoro (Wildlife lodge, 1 night) and Serengeti (Serena camp and lodges, 2 nights). We started our adventure in Kili aeroport without luggage :) Agency did their best to take luggage day after from aeroport and take care about it till our return to Arusha. It is absolutely "must" to have some clothes in hand luggage)))
Safari was organised excellent, guid was outstanding, his name was Kosmos and we liked him! We saw Big 5, of course, and very close to the car)
Then we came back to Arusha, spent 1 night in very simple Grace Hotel and next day began our climbing to Meru Mountain (height is 4600m). It is not easy but absolutely worth to! Third day we had flight to Zanzibar at 5 pm, it was really a risk. However our guid Ali agreed for us a car from first camp, without the car it would had not been possible to catch the flight.
For climbing we rent sleeping bags and walking sticks. Paid 120$ for 2pax, the quality is not good, honestly.
I want to say great "thank you" to Mike, who made our dreams true. Moreover I couldn't imagine so incredible hospitality, quality, speed of reaction and care about us. It was really amazing and unforgetable!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
8 Day Safari to Northern Kenya - highly unprofessional management
Itinerary: Nairobi – Maralal – Loyiangalani (Lake Turkana) – Kalacha – Marsabit – Samburu
First of all, this itinerary is really worth following, especially if you don’t want to just follow the usual touristic path.
Unfortunately, during those 8 days we encountered several grave problems with the tour operator and the manager Mr. Dickson Wambugu. The organization and also the handling of occurring problems was highly unprofessional and therefore we do not advise future clients to book tours through this tour operator!
We booked the tour well in advance, and about a month before departure we transferred the total amount (about 4800$) to the tour operators bank account as requested. Apparently the money was needed in advance to book rooms and organize car, driver and cook.
Several problems occured during the journey :
-Money: The driver and guide were not provided with enough money for the package we had booked. So at some point we had to lend them money in order to proceed with our journey, because the tour manager Dickson Wambugu was not to be reached. Highly unprofessional handling of the whole situation and we had to fight really hard to get that money back! Voluntarily almost no communication with the client throughout this whole situation.
-No accommodation was booked in advance even though the tour operator clearly indicates that in the program. That always made us loose precious time.Some of the campsites do not even exist anymore.
-We booked fullboard. Apparently the driver and cook had not been informed and we had to fight to get it. The food cooked the cook was good, whereas the restaurants offered were very basic and sometimes not very proper.
-Old car with many security issues: no seatbelts, no equipment (e.g. shovel), broken battery (with no money left to fix it)
Overall, the organization and also the handling of occurring problems was highly unprofessional and therefore we do not advise future clients to book tours through this tour operator! Back in Nairobi we reached out to the tour operator to discuss all problems in person. It remained really unsatisfying, because nothing was really explained and no real apology was presented.
We had a good time during this safari because we tried to concentrate on the positive things, have a good time as family and learn about the beauty of this country. However, having chosen a different tour operator surely could have improved the experience and saved us a lot of stress!