CH
Email Kris | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
incredible and unique adventure
Wildlife was amazing
weather in July / August was perfect to do the safari
accommodation/Food very good (staff was very friendly)
guide was great, has a very good Knowledge about the Wildlife
ES
Email M. | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It could have been better
The most important point when you book a safari is to ensure that it will be reliable. We took a 3 days safari, but it was not as well as it should.
In the description of the safari we could read the that the first day we drive to Mikumi National Park which is approximately 5 hours from Dar es Salaam. False. It was 8 hours and a half. When we arrived there was almost sunset, so we coudn't access to the park the first day. This was because the driver drove at 45 km per hour until the park. What's the catch? The three-days-access to the park was included in the total amount, so the agency (Kiliholidays Tours) saved the first day access.
Also, the car broke down the first day (problems with the refrigeration). The second day occured problems with the battery. The third day finally in Dar Es Salaam the car broke down, and we have to take other car to our hotel with a non-known driver. This driver broke down his car as well (ran out of gas), so we had to wait inside the car in the middle of the night until he came back 30 minutes later.
In summary, we had bad luck choosing the agency: we lost the enter the park the first day, and the third day we spent almost 10 hours to came back to Dar Es Salam because car breakdowns.
As something positive, we loved the park, although we didn't stay there all the time that we paid.
AE
Email Theo Panagopoulos | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exactly as I had expected although naturally much more impressive living it up close, live n direct
First of all we were 100% satisfied with Hello Tanzania Tours service from word go! They were nothing less than perfect right to the end and best priced in the market by a country mile! Tanzania as a country from the moment we landed at the airport and had to line up for visa, baggage collection etc was generally a struggle. The roads the heavy traffic, the culture shock, the poverty needed getting used to over the first few days and then the friendliness and genuine smiles and happiness of the people just captivated you and helped you ease into the vibe of the country. Jumbo and akuna matata two well branded words, went with the territory along with trying to avoid continuous street sellers asking for exorbitant prices for unwanted souvenirs and taxi rides.
A beautiful country in its own right, blessed with a heart throbbing wildlife and beautiful friendly and happy people despite their daily struggles, I felt however disillusioned by the exuberant prices tourists were expected to pay for services that might cost less than half in other more developed tourist destinations. I don't care how high the season is, the prices being asked by hotels, some in Zanzibar were well above $1,000 per night, very nice granted but not any nicer than any hotel you might find in Dubai or Greece at high season.
Personally I was humbled how happy and genuinely positive and cheerful Tanzanians seemed in the face of abject adversity and poverty! That for me was priceless and something everyone in the developed world who correlates happiness with wealth and money should go and experience at least once a year as a reminder to themselves!
I hope to return and see other safari parks one day soon.
Thank you Hello Tanzania Tours for tirelessly bending over backwards to make this trip as memorable and accommodating as possible.
Asante!
DE
Email Kadir | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania was beautiful but the change of our travel plan by Uhuru was not nice
We visited end of February Tanzania. Wildlife, scenery and the weather was perfect. We did camping. So nothing luxury, but the tents and sleeping bags were clean. It was a great experience to hear the wild animals in the night in the near of the tents. The cook prepared amazing food for us. So Tanzania was beautiful and I recommend everyone to go for it. One thing was not nice. It was planned that we visit first Tarangire, then Serengeti and then Ngorongoro. Uhuru changed our travel plan, we visited first Serengeti and then Ngorongoro with two other tourists. In the third day the safari ended at 1 PM for us (half day!). The two other tourists went with the same SUV to Arusha on the same day. We spend the half day at the camping side. Next day another car brought us to Tarangire. This change was not nice. Uhuru informed us about the change at the first day of the safari. So we did not have a chance other than doing the best out of the safari.
CA
Email Nadia Vena | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African experience!
We had a great time in Tanzania! Highlights would definitely be the Safari. It was exhilarating to see the animals in their habitat. This was truly an experience for us, as obviously this is not available to us in Canada. Our guide was excellent - he was knowledgeable and made every effort to make our Safari experience memorable in trying to see as many animals as possible despite the rainy condition of the day. Our trek back from Mikumi was a challenge, due to to the traffic jam we encountered. However, our guide got us back to our hotel safe and sound. We would recommend Selous Explorer to others travelling to Dar Es Salaam. Thank you!
Being immersed in Nature: a surreal experience defying expectations
Stunning scenery, access to all wild nature and an enthusiastic knowledgeable driver / guide made the whole experience unforgettable.
Highlights such as “fights” between teenage elephants, lionesses surveying migrating zebras and crocs submerged in the water lurking for their moment to strike were vintage as was the hospitality offered while glamp-ing in the wild.
Masai villages, probably unchanged in the last 20,000 years were a point of serious reflection as the realisation that Serengeti was once part of the Lake Victoria before it dried up.
Email Premlata Shah | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Hotels and luxurious camps were excellent but not happy with the guide provided by Savannah Explorer
We booked our safari with Savannah Explorers whose service was excellent when booking etc. The land cruiser provided could be improved. We saw a lot of wildlife except including gazelles, antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes but the lions, lionesses, leopards, cheetahs were extremely rare. The best wildlife was in North Serengeti and Central Serengeti. Not much wildlife Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara was a waste of time - did not sea any tree lions. We stayed in Wellcome lodges and camps which were excellent, top class. The food was great when in the lodges and camps but unfortunately got fed of up picnic lunches, so carry your own foodstuff as well, as there is very limited stuff they can offer for picnic lunch boxes. Make sure when you book, you mention to the company to give you a knowledgeable guide who is familiar with the surroundings, knowledgeable of the wildlife, and all the roads in the park as unfortunately our guard was not up the standard and hence were disappointed somewhat regarding e service we got from him. Overall we were happy with the company but there is room for improvement in certain areas. I am happy to recommend this company provided an excellent guide/driver is provided. Make sure you have a good camera with excellent zoom to take good pictures.
PT
Email Nuno Pinto | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What could have been a dream trip, ended a disaster
The wild life, the sun stets and sun rises, the scenery were spectacular. All this, that could have been the trip of our lives, was immediately reduced to a "not doable again", because of the following history. This was a 2 week trip to Zanzibar with a passage on Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Every days were scheduled, by the minute. The Safari was scheduled for 3 days and 2 nights. We were arriving at Arusha at 9 o'clock, and we were supposed to join a group for the safari. In the day after the safari, the agency called us, saying that we couldn't join the group, because we were arriving at 9 and it was not possible to delay the safari because of us. We were really disappointed because we had the written confirmation by the agency, and now it was not possible... We force them to get a solution for us because everything was planed, and at the time, nothing was possible. So we managed a solution with another jeep just for us, but we had to pay 800 dollars more for this solution. In the day we arrived at the airport, there was the guyed and the agency lady, that in the moment asked us for the money of the safari, and the extra money for the change that it was not our mistake, it was theirs. We pull out a credit card, and we were about to have another problem. The machine wasn't working and we had to go to the near bank, that it was a 50 minutes drive. So if were late at 9 we were late 3 hours more for this trip to the bank. At the bank we couldn't withdraw money in the bank, we had to do it form an ATM machine. we had to use the card 8 times to withdraw money and we paid 12 dollars of taxes more for each withdraw. It was an extra 300 dollars for the safari. After this we were really late to arrive at the park to set up the tent. The trip was a completely adventure, the pour guyed that showed us the park had to drive like mad to get to the park on time, we had to lunch during the drive, we had to stop to pick up our materials for the tent.
So we arrived at the park, and of course it was dark already. For our surprise and one more time the agency lied to us, we had to set up the tent instead of having dinner and have the tent prepared after it. After a dangerous travel by jeep, and a very quick but very taste dinner from our chef, we had to set up a tent. After this we sow that there were no wood beds for us, just like the ones we sow on the picture that the agency sent us before confirming the safari on tents. We sleep on a small mattress in the floor of the tent, that didn't had any time to clear the air inside of it, the smell was really bad. Despite all this in the next day we had to pick up and disassemble the tent for the 1st day in the safari, we were more tired than the day before. We visit Serengeti, and we enjoyed it very much, but of course we arrived at another park, where we saw all tourists with their tents set up, and we had to set up our tent once again and in the next day to disassemble it once again.
What could have been a dream trip ended up like a tiring one.
CH
Email Urs | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania would be nice - with good roads and less dust.
Hello.
I was surprised that 2019 Dar Es Salaam still has bad roads, almost no modern supermarket and some people living in a box of the size 2x1x1 meter (next to the bus station at the fish market)!!
Arusha has some good roads - from the Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha and from Arusha in the direction of Tarangire and Ngorongoro - and some bad roads. But WHY are there NO paved roads from Ngorongoro to the Serengeti?? Now in July the dust on the road was so massiv, that you COULDN'T see the cars crossing your way - and that IS VERY DANGEROUS! My driver was caughing every few minutes. He had a chronic caugh, because he was inhaling this dust since months - or even years (he is doing this job since 15 years). For him it's like working in a mine!
Please pave those roads!!
I might visit the Serengeti again - but I will NEVER EVER drive in to the Serengeti again! Next time I will take the plane from the Arusha Airport to the Seronera Airstrip.
The wildlife inside the Serengeti and in the Ngorongoro Crater is fantastic. You can see a lot of animals. Ok, sometimes you feel a bit like in a "drive in zoo".
The accomodation was superb - better than I ever expected, even in the tents. Hot shower, very nice furniture, great food and so on.
Food: Well, I am NOT a vegeterian, but in Tanzania i didn't eat meet anymore. The quality of the meet is not like in Europe. But that's ok - the rest of the food, the dinners e.g. were fantastic. I just had more potatoes, rice and mash potatoes... :-) and vegetables.
My driver was a very good driver and his English was fantastic. I'm glad, in Tanzania English is important too :-)
So - all in all - I have a bit mixed feelings. The Serengeti is very nice, but the distances to get there are too long. On a nice road - like they have to the National Parks in the USA - it would be much more comfortable. The reason why the USA has nice roads in to the parks is that older people, retired people with a lot of free time, can drive in to those parks as well and be close to the fantastic nature.
Best Regards
Urs
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NO
Email Knut Ole Myrberg | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We got to see almost all possible animals. Accomodation was ok. The safari guide was not very good in english, and he did not know how to drive a car with manuel gearing
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