DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best safari i ever had
i really enjoyed the safari with namnyak tours,the communication was good between us and the tour guides,the tour guides were very friendly and could always answer our queries whenever we asked.They showed us around the maasai mara national park.The tour was upto our expectation as the climax was sleeping in camping tents.The food and the car we used was also nothing to complain about.me and my husband from Germany realy enjoyed your company and looking back to be with you this year.Danke schon.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing, awesome and totally worth every
Excellent service And Extremely friendly and proffetional staff. More than just a tour and a safari....Totally Exceeded my expectations .... Experience of a lifetime.... Looking forward to my next trip.... And many more
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best experience ever!!!
The Safari was much better then we expected! The accommodations and food surpassed 5* hotels and resteraunts:). All of the employees were amazing and willing to do whatever it took to make you happy. Have traveled the world and this experience was our best so far! Our driver Allen was the best part of our Safari. He could spot out animals in an instant - he had a great personality and was very professional:) I highly recommend this company!!!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A wonderful experience with a fantastic tour guide, Christof
The safari was excellent. We saw many animals, had great accommodations and learned a lot from Christof our tour guide. As a tour guide, he was the best. He taught us a lot & made fantastic meals for us. (Better than we could ever expect)
The prepatory communications were handled in a punctual & professional manner. I would gladly recommend "Detour Africa" & Chameleon Safaris to all.
Joanne Ksicinski
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A dreamlike experience - still can't believe how good it was!!!
The five day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and the Masai village was magical and a lot of the time I thought I must be dreaming. Being in the Serengeti was like being in Jurassic Park with big animals like giraffes and elephants walking alongside us at a leisurely pace as we drove along. Some animals even shared the campsite with us, in particular, a group of giraffes and a cheeky lot of mongooses in the first campsite and a buffalo which went seeking food during the night in the second campsite. We did one night in Lake Manyara Tented Lodge and three nights in public campsites. This was a good combination I think.
Our guide and driver, Baraka, and the cook, Samuel, were marvellous, managing to always be cheery and informative and look after us even in driving rain. On Day 4 Baraka had to put up all the tents while getting completely soaked and Chef managed a three course meal under the most trying of circumstances the same night. At one point the front open hatch in the car roof blew off on the way back and poor Baraka had to stop and deal with that too. The fact that Baraka was Masai was a great asset for the trip too as he was able to stop and chat to passing Masai cattle herders and tell us a lot about them. His knowledge of animals and birds was extensive and he knew how to find animals in the most unlikely terrain especially lions and hippos. He went out of his way to find a good shop to find cheap shukas for us as well.
The safari was also great because we were able to see people and not just animals. It was incredible to see lone Masai herders in their colourful shukas wandering through the first part of the Serengeti. The trip to the Masai village, although set up for tourists, was still very informative and Baraka number 2 (the village chief) gave us a very good historical backdrop to Kenya and the Masai , in particular.
Jackson and Simon also did a great job in getting us to the Tanzanian/Kenyan border, across the border and then on to Tsavo East and the Sheldrick Elephant Trust with a mini safari in between. The road on the Kenyan side was very difficult to drive and Simon managed it expertly, even stopping to change a tyre halfway there.
Overall, a great trip... once in a lifetime ...neither my husband, our two teenage boys, my sister or I will ever forget this experience. Thank you very much It Started in Africa and thank you too Joao, Silvia and team for organising it so well. I was first convinced to go with It Started in Africa because Joao’s responses to emails were lightning fast and he accommodated our every need as soon as the question was asked. The whole price of the trip was also considerably more affordable than other companies we researched. We would definitely book with them again.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A trip of a lifetime through African Ubuntu Safaris
We were a family of four who travelled to concessions in South Africa and Botswana with a stopover in Victoria Falls. A stunning holiday, we saw more animals than we could have imagined, the accomodation was fantastic and all the people we dealt with were lovely. African Ubuntu Safaris nailed every aspect of the trip and we could not recommend them more highly. To much material for one photo book, we will have to do a couple!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Walter was very imformative & helpful & always answered our queries punctually.
Starting from the excellent app which was helpful throughout the trip everything that he organized ran like clockwork.
NL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kruger Still Has It!!
When my girlfriend and I first visited Kruger National Park in October 2010 it was our first visit to Southern Africa as well as our first safari. We had 4 nights in the park splitted between Lowers Sabie and Olifants Camp and we loved every minute of it. On our flight back to The Netherlands we were already making plans to return to Southern Africa and since our first trip we visited some of the best reserves in Southern Africa such as Moremi & Chobe in Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa and Etosha in Namibia.
For 2015 we had decided to revisit South Africa and Kruger National Park was one of the reserves we wanted to explore some more and we were very curious if we would still enjoyit as much as we did in 2010 after visiting those other famous parks in the previous years as some of them are much more adventurous and/or wild than Kruger. We had booked 9 nights in 4 different camps (Lower Sabie, Satara, Shimuwini & Berg-en-Dal) and I can honoustly say we again had an amazing experience and still loved every minute of it!! Of course Kruger can be busy, especially when you come across a big pride of lions on the tar road between Lower Sabie & Satara but if you know where to go and count to 10 sometimes it's still one of the best reserves to see the Big 5. We had 4 leopard sightings, multiple lion sightings, we saw hyena's, wild dogs and even a pangolin!! Some sightings were hectic, those on the tar main roads mostly but we had several amazing sightings with no (with the pangolin) or only a few other people around. We also liked the fact that we could chill in the fenced camps for once as it can be very relaxed and enjoy a good meal at one of the restaurants so we didn't have to cook ourselves. That's something you can't do when your at an unfenced camp in Moremi or Chobe in Botswana or the Kgalagadi. That's awesome as well of course but like I said before, we still loved Kruger!!
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
Overall very good experience with Encounter Africa Safaris. Our driver and guide was nice and took care of us very good. Made the payment in advance from another continent, I was very suspicious to pay such big amount but all went well! Amazing to see the gorillas from such short distance!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic trip!!
My friend and I (2 single females) booked a 7 day gorilla trekking trip with Katona in December 2015. Our guide was Jack and I cannot say enough great things about him! He has worked all over Uganda so everywhere you go, he will know the people working there as he once worked there himself (including Queen Elizabeth, chimp tracking and gorilla trekking). So we were basically extremely well cared for:) On safari in Queen Elizabeth, he was in constant communication with people working there to know where all the lions were hanging out each day. He went above and beyond in making sure we had a great time, felt safe at all times, and were 110% satisfied. I would have no hesitation at all sending anyone to hang out with Jack for a week:)
Jackie was also phenomenal. I've never experienced having emails answered so promptly, she really must be at her computer at all hours of the day! She also called during our week of traveling to make sure that everything was going well with our tour.
The deposit has to be wire transferred, which is a bit different than how companies operate in the U.S. but it is just how things are done in Uganda. Everything was completely on the up and up, Jackie emailed me when she received the funds, and even provided a scanned copy of our gorilla trekking permits as soon as they were processed (the deposit is used primarily to immediately ensure you have permits for the day you are trekking).
In summary, Katona is a really really great company and allowed us to have a phenomenal experience in Uganda!!