Email Jennifer | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing place, amazing animals, amazing people!
We travelled as a party of three, myself with my daughter and mum. We booked our safari through Savannah Explorers whom I can 100% recommend. They created an itinerary based on our interests and even added an extra day to our itinerary when our flight was changed.
We loved everything about Tanzania that we experienced - whilst our initial impression was of a bustling city, but we found that once out of Arusha, Tanzania became so much more. Before I talk about our trip, a couple of things we are glad we had taken with us, because shops are very few and far between and not your usual High Street shops at that! We took plenty of Imodium Instants which we did have to make use of, and also incontinence pants, just for peace of mind as toilet stops were as and when they were available which tended to be 2-3 hour intervals. We were also pleased to have taken travel sickness tablets as the roads, once you get into the National parks, are very bumpy, noisy dirt/gravel tracks and whilst our vehicle was very comfortable, you definitely get shaken about!
Our trip was for 9 days and we stayed in a combination of hotels, lodges and tented camps. We definitely recommend the tented camps in the Serengeti as you are immersed in the wildlife and sounds of the Serengeti. We also visited Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro crater and Lake Manyara National park, where we did a night game drive, which I would not recommend as we saw only a few small animals. I have since heard it is better to do night game drives at Tarangire. Each of the National parks has very different scenery and provides different experiences.
We saw lots and lots of different animals and had seen the Big 5 after our first two days! The lions, leopards and cheetahs were not as prolific as I was expecting, they were quite hard to spot! We only saw one rhino and that was only it's horn!
It was fascinating following the wildebeest migration and we were lucky enough to see herds crossing the Mara river along with some zebra and antelopes.
Another highlight of our time in the Serengeti was our early morning balloon ride - we were above the herds of wildebeest and spotted hippos, antelopes, zebras, hyenas, warthogs and giraffes - the whole flight was magical and we ended with a breakfast together. One thing I would like to mention was the balloon sections were groups of four and we were a three so managed to be together, but there was a larger group who had to be split up and fill in the empty spaces - I would have been very disappointed if this had happened to us, so it may be worth checking this first.
We visited a Maasi village which was really interesting and gave us an insight into how they live, they sell jewellery and wooden items which we ended up buying quite a lot of! US Dollars or Tanzanian schilling are accepted. Another highlight was our visit to Mto Wa Mbu which was a village where 120 tribes live side by side. We visited a market, an artists studio, tried banana beer and enjoyed a local lunch, it was definitely worth visiting. Every person we met during our trip were friendly and welcoming and we really enjoyed learning about the culture.
Our tour was full board, made up of buffet breakfast and evening meals and a packed lunch. We particularly enjoyed the food at the tented camps and tried lots of things we have never come across before!
We felt safe at all times and our driver/guide was very knowledgeable and drove really well, despite the poor road surfaces.
The weather was mainly cloudy/sunny around 27°C but we did have the occasional bit of drizzly weather.
We managed to catch a glimpse of the top of Mount Kilimanjaro on the plane on our way home!
DK
Email Hamish Cook | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding
Fantastic camps, food and wildlife
Superb guides and hosts
CA
Email Anna O'Hara | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing wildlife and people
We went on a short 3-day safari in August 2023 in Nyerere park. We were fortunate to see so many incredible animals including lions, elephants, and giraffes while driving through a diverse and always changing landscape. Our lodge was so warm and welcoming, providing delicious local foods for meals. The weather was perfect with only a short burst of rain one day. We also spent time on Zanzibar, lounging on a beautiful beach that exposed so much wildlife at low tide including seaweed farming. The water was blue, clear, and so so warm! I would go back in a heartbeat!
IT
Email Isabella | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic Tanzania, the right mix between humanity and nature
Tanzania is the perfect country for those who love nature, parks, animals and also people, who are very kind. The natural parks are among the most beautiful I've seen, the sightings of animals guaranteed. And then, if you like, there is a wonderful sea. Food is great too!
Email Lyndsey Deane | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Memories to last a lifetime
What an incredible country, there was so much to be excited about before we travelled but we could never have imagined the experience we had, the people are the friendliest, most welcoming you could wish to meet, the food was incredible, every accommodation tip top with such a warm and hospitable vibe. As we travelled, we got an insight into the daily life in towns and villages, we saw more wildlife than we could have hoped for! We knew this would be an unforgettable trip solely because of the Serengeti but we were lucky enough to discover there is so much more to Tanzania. Every National Park has something different to offer and if you have time, I would recommend driving over flying in to the Serengeti so you can experience more of what Tanzania has to offer.
DE
Email Georg Schulze-Dürr | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect Mix of Safari and Diving
We had some beautiful days booked via Widman Safari in the Nyegere-Park.
Gilbert was our perfect guide for 2,5 days.
Luckily we had been able to fly directly from Nyegere (Seous) to Mafia Island (AirLink - thanks to Yummi), where we felt very comfortable at Peter Byrne's Kinasi Lodge!
He is a perfect old-school host and the lodge is very beautiful.
Danielle (Mafia Diving) & Team did a great job and we had some very nice dives.
On the second-last day we spotted 3 humpback-whales - another highlight!
On the morning on our afternoon-home-flight-day AirLink flew us to DarEsSalaam and Gilbert picked us up for a last rain-forrest trip :)
A perfect, but unfortunatley a bit too short, trip!
US
Email Glenn Fisher | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent people, scenery and wildlife
My wife and I visited Tanzania for 10 days in July of 2023 and had the vacation of a lifetime! Tanzania is a beautiful country and its people are friendly (and proud) beyond belief! Then, there's the incredible amounts of wild animals we saw in their natural habitats throughout all the parks we visited. Through Safari Bookings we located the safari company, Soul of Tanzania, and after reading myriad glowing reviews, decided to book our safari through Soul of Tanzania. We couldn't have been happier with our choice. There was an initial snafu when the guide assigned to us went to the wrong location but Soul of Tanzania's local (Arusha) operations manager, Margaret, responded immediately by assigning another guide (Suleimon) to us who had us on our way within two hours of our originally assigned departure time. I'm relating this incident because I was so impressed with Margaret's response to the problem, which showed the value of being with a safari company that stood behind its promotional materials with excellent service, responsiveness and availability when a problem occurred. The rest of the 8 days with Suleimon were wonderful! He had incredible knowledge of all the animals in the parks we visited (Tangeire, Lake Manyara, Serengheti, Ngorogoro) and we saw every imaginable animal (except a rhino) including 54 lions, 4 leopards, a cheetah family and wildebeasts, zebras, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, Thompson gazelles and many other birds and animals beyond counting. Every game "camp" we stayed in was luxurious and all included private (and in many places, gorgeous!) bathrooms and verandas or porches with magnificent views. During our last two days we visited with two 'bush' tribes - the Datoga and Hadzabe - and had very memorable and excellent visits (bring extra money for tips on these type visits. Even though Soul of Tanzania had paid the tribes for the visit, a significant tip is still expected by the tribe, fyi. But I highly recommend doing a tribe visit if possible. The people were very welcoming and everyone had a good time during the visits in addition to my wife and I learning a lot about their customs and lives. All in all, our visit to Tanzania was awesome and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. Many thanks to Safari bookings for helping us find Soul of Tanzania and our deepest gratitude to Margaret, Suliemon and the team at Soul of Tanzania who made our trip such a joy.
AE
Email Dhiman Bhaumik | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A land of Wilderness!
Life is short and this earth we call home is full of wonders. One should explore and enjoy as many such beauties as possible in a lifetime. One such amazing journey is what I took this summer with my family. Tanzania, a land of abundant wilderness. Vastness of the National parks and the freedom of wild beasts fills your heart and mind with such fantastic emotions. It feels as if the world is showing you the mirror and challenging your default but false security. You in a caged corner observing the predators of this wilderness, surely an experience I will never forget. For some strange reason I felt closer to my mother earth after this trip.
Tanzania also offers such amazing opportunity to experience the old traditional Masai habitats and its people. In this ever modernizing and fast paced madness Tanzania was like a breath of fresh air. I felt as if I have come to a land which is still many decades behind the urbanization madness. Where one can easily see Blue sky by the day and a sky full of stars by the night.
On the other hand staying connected to the rest of the world is not a struggle. We were surely not deprived of our essential and habitual dependencies like wifi, power source, comfy bed, hearty vacation breakfast spread etc. Tanzanian hospitality and service if not the best is not far behind.
We also got a chance to experience both Tanganika and Zanzibar - Two seperate states at some point now merged to become Tanzania. Like any other such historical burdens of mergers, Tanzania also has its share of political tussles and ethnicity divides. Zanzibar, colonized by Oman and Tanganika colonized by British, naturally created a religious diversity. We met many Abdullas and Ahmads in Zanzibar on the other hand Tanzania mainland were full of Steves, Rogers and Felixes.
Shopping for local artefacts and souvenirs was another brilliant experience. Smaller road side shops selling bright colorful paintings, wooden crafted statues of Masai warriors, African Big five sculptures, Wooden kitchen utensils etc. was a treat to the eye. But do get prepared to bargain hard. Thumb rule, start with 50% of quoted price and work your way up depending on how badly you want it. Whatever you do, never pay what was asked for at the first instance and most importantly, enjoy the process.
There is much to write but I am short of time now. Anyways, it's not something one should miss, so pack your khakis, hats, sun screens and head out for your own African adventure! Good Luck!
IT
Email Giulia Caserta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A land of beautiful landscapes, interesting cultures and wild animals
We enjoyed very much our trip. I cannot wait for my next safari trip! Tanzania has a very large wildlife, many different parks quite close to each other. Booking with this site was very easy and safe, everything went well.
MY
Email Vanee Sivasamy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nature at its best!!
We had an amazing holiday in Tanzania. Our trip started at Arusha where we were picked up by our safari guide from Nature In Spirit Travels. We did a 10 day safari starting from Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater onto Serengeti with some cultural experiences at Lake Eyasi on the way. It was an amazing experience to see so many wildlife throughout the trip and also we got to experience some cultural experiences with the Hadza and Datoga tribes. Our safari tour also included sponsoring some water filters for 2 Masai families whom we got to meet in person and hand over the water filters - we felt very humbled by this opportunity. We flew back to Arusha from Kogatende and went on to Zanzibar for a few days of scuba diving. Zanzibar is a beautiful island with amazing beaches and nice coral life underwater. We stayed in some very nice lodges and camps in the national parks; and finally a beach villa at Zanzibar. Overall Tanzania is country with really nice people, amazing safaris, good food and beautiful sunsets. We would like to go back there again.
