|
Our
clients experiences
Overview
I had an amazing experience
with Tanzania Safari Wonders. The whole
trip was easy to organize, and everyone
from the company, both before and during
our stay, was incredible helpful and informative.
After our safari, they even helped us
with organizing the next stage of our
journey, including giving us a lift to
the station and waiting with us until
our bus arrived – even though this
was really early in the morning. Both
of us had a wonderful time – it
was a great mix of local culture, history
and wildlife, and we went home having
seen everything that we set out to see.
I would recommend this company to anyone
– not only did we receive much more
personalized service than we would have
done with a big package tour, but the
price was much better, and we had much
more flexibility to see what we wanted
to see, and change our plans as we went
along.
Accommodation
We decided to stay in
tents rather than in safari lodges. Tanzania
Safari Wonders supplied the tent, sleeping
bags and sleeping mats, and we stayed
in a number of different campsites as
we travelled from park to park, some of
which had hot water and electricity, and
some of which were more basic –
in particular the campsite we stayed at
inside the Serengeti. We definitely saw
more stars that night than any other though
– so it's a trade-off. We were comfortable
and warm at night, and there was plenty
of room in the tents, both to sleep and
to sit up in. Camping isn't for everyone,
but this was definitely better than all
the times I've done it in England!
Food
We ate really well on
the safari. Our cook conjured up something
new and different for every meal, and
there was great variety – meat,
eggs, vegetables, rice, pasta, potatoes,
even popcorn! It was wonderful to have
a good meal to look forward to at the
end of the day. We would always have a
cooked breakfast and supper, and either
a hot or a packed lunch, depending on
what we were doing that day. There was
also as much tea, coffee, orange squash,
water and cocoa as we wanted.
Animals
It's difficult to get
used to the animals – after only
seeing them in books or on TV the fact
that there is a lion or an elephant five
feet away from you seems incredible. And
there are so many of them! By the end
of our trip we had almost got blasé
about some of the animals we saw more
frequently, especially zebras. We saw
a whole host of birds and animals –
lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, cheetahs,
hippos, giraffes, jackals, hyenas, buffalo
(several different kinds), zebra, wildebeest,
impala, dik-diks, ostriches, flamingos,
wart hogs, monkeys and baboons, as well
as numerous others whose names I don't
remember. The highlights for me were the
baby elephants, the leopard asleep in
the tree right above us, and the male
lion asleep in the middle of the road
who woke up as we tried to carefully drive
around him. He was literally right next
to our car, and he just sat up and looked
at us. Our guide was really helpful in
helping us find the animals we were looking
for, and getting us into exactly the right
position for that perfect photo. He had
also brought binoculars, which was great,
as we had both forgotten to bring ours.
Transport
We travelled everywhere
in a four by four vehicle, which was perfect
for a safari – we could lift the
roof and stand up to get a better view
of the animals, or sit down and roll back
the windows to watch things closer to
the car. We had lots of space, even after
putting all of our stuff into the back,
and the seats were very comfortable. This
is much more important than you might
think, because it does take a while to
get from one park to another, and some
of the roads are really bumpy. Finally,
our car had spare tyres etc etc –
which might seem obvious, but we passed
a lot of groups on the roads that had
broken down or punctured their tyres and
didn't have any spares. That's not a situation
anyone would want to be in, and it made
me appreciate the care Tanzania Safari
Wonders had taken over our car much more.
Guide
Our guide – Mhando
– was excellent. He seemed to know
everything about the local people as well
as the wildlife, and had an uncanny knack
for spotting animals that we would otherwise
never have noticed! His commentary about
the birds and animals we saw, as well
as the local people and culture, made
our experience much richer. Mhando also
helped us communicate with the local people,
which was definitely a bonus when we were
bargaining for souvenirs. Looking back
on it, having a great guide who you get
on with is essential – you spend
a lot of time with them. I feel very lucky
that Mhando was with us – by the
end of the safari we were really sad to
have to say goodbye. So asante sana (thank
you) Mhando!
Route
We decided to make up
our own route so we could see exactly
what we wanted. Tanzania Safari Wonders
made the whole process much easier than
I thought it would be – we talked
to them about what we wanted to do, mentioned
places that we wanted to go, and they
advised us on the best parks to see the
animals we wanted, the best camp sites,
and helped us get a mix of wildlife and
local culture into our trip - even organizing
a hunting trip with a local tribe for
us. This flexibility was completely different
from what we had found with many other
tour groups we looked at, and made such
a difference to our experience. We got
to see some really off-the-beaten track
places that most tourists never get to
and had some unforgettable experiences.
It was so much more than a safari.
I just wanted to add
my thanks to Vicky's. We had an absolutely
amazing time - we saw all the animals
we set out to see and more, and Mhando
and Safari were wonderful. Thanks so much
for everything.
|
