Big Five Classic Safari in Tanzania **Sustainable Approach to Travel

Customer Reviews

• SH

  Stephanie

  · November 5th, 2024
  Our Tanzania safari tour exceeded all of our expectations. We had a wonderful guide throughout our safari (Abu) who was exceedingly knowledgeable about the wildlife, history, geology and culture of Tanzania and was a proud ambassador for his country. It was such a privilege to visit, in their habitats, the great cats, elephants, zebras, baboons and other wildlife with the stunning backdrop of the Serengeti plains, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro. The meals were all included and were buffets. The dishes were from locally sourced ingredients and there were many delicious options for vegetarians and vegans. My meat eating companion reported that the meat dishes were very good. Accommodations were comfortable at Springlands in Moshi and at Highview at Ngorongoro, and the views and comforts of the permanent luxury tents at Serengeti Safari Lodge were a highlight of the trip. Most impactful and important to such an amazing experience in Tanzania are the people we met and who guided us through their country - our safari driver and guide,Abu, with other representatives of World Adventure Tours with a thank you to Joyce for keeping our booking organized. I appreciate the employees and especially the chefs and other staff at Spring lands, Highview, and Serengeti Safari Lodge.
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  Trip date: October 2024
• FF

  FRANCESCO

  · October 26th, 2024
  We loved our tour. Everything was well organised and all staff extremely kind. Interactions with Joyce were always effective and all our needs were taken care of, including a last-minute request to organise a day-trip. We could see the Big 5 and many more, taking thousands of pictures. A special word for Zamoyoni, our guide: knowledgeable, smooth driving, great capacity to spot animals, very patient with two demanding photographers, and a nice person overall. Thank you again Zamo. My only suggestion for improving the overall experience is to have more consistency in accommodation levels: Serengeti Safari Lodge was wonderful (even too much) and the second night at Highview was great as well. But we cannot say the same for the first nights at Springlands and Highview (rooms very very small was the biggest concern) To sum up: expectations were high, but this tour went beyond them.
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Francesco. Thank you for your fantastic review! We're delighted to hear that you loved your tour and found everything well organized. We’re glad you had the opportunity to see the Big Five and capture so many great moments. We appreciate... Show more
  
  Trip date: October 2024
• ME

  Marysol

  · October 26th, 2024
  We are choosing to write this review several weeks after our safari with World Adventure Tours has ended, so that we can make as objective and neutral an analysis as possible. Our booking and the communication with our sales agent, Joyce, went very smoothly. Joyce usually responded to our questions very promptly. Our tour guide, Nora, was simply amazing. She drives very well and knows a lot about the animals and the territory. She gave us wonderful insights and we were very happy to have her as a guide! The accomodations were OK. The lodge at the Serengeti Park was wonderful; definitely the best one with super delicious food. In general the food was very good when eating at the hotels. We cannot say the same of the lunch boxes, which were very poor most of the time. There was not enough free water provided in the hotels, and we wound up having to buy a lot ourselves. Since water is a basic need for survival and the water from the taps is undrinkable, more water should be provided to guests free of charge. The reason that we are giving World Adventure Tours only 2 stars is because of the chaos that insued on our final night, which wound up impacting the next four days of our trip. The agree-upon itinerary should have had us spending our last night in Tanzania in the city of Moshi, with an early, half-hour drive to Kilimanjaro airport, which we selected at the recommendation of World Adventure Tours (There were also available flights from Arusha, but since the last night of the tour was in Moshi, I booked our flight from Kilimanjaro). During our safari, our final hotel was changed to the High View Hotel, which is a 5.5-hour drive away from Kilimanjaro Airport. Since we are not from Tanzania and don’t know the country, we trusted that the tour company knew what they were doing when they made this change. However, when we arrived at the High View, it became very clear that a mistake had been made. First of all, the hotel staff had not at all been aware that we were spending an extra night there. At the buffet, almost all of the food was made with carrots; something that the staff at all of the hotels avoided cooking with when we were there since I am very allergic to carrots. Nothing else had been prepared for me, and they basically just gave me a piece of chicken and some rice. Once we had connected to the wifi at the hotel we could research for ourselves how far away we were from the airport: 250 KM, which is very far in Tanzania at night as you must drive slowly and carefully to avoid animals. Only at 8:30 PM were we told that we would need to leave at half past MIDNIGHT to make our flight at 6:45, not at 4 PM as had originally been planned. Since we knew it would be impossible to sleep that night anyway, we insisted on leaving as early as possible, and ended up departing at 9:45 PM. When we got to the airport, we discovered that our flight had been cancelled, and we lost a day waiting for a new airplane to take us, only arriving at our destination on Zanzibar at 11 PM, a full 25 hours after leaving the High View Hotel! Although the cancelled flight is not the fault of World Adventure Tours, the fact that we could not sleep for 41 hours due to the fiasco with the hotels and the long night drive SEVERLY WORSENED the impact of the long delay at the airport. In the end, it took us four days to recover from our exhaustion, and we lost a bag at the airport along the way because we could not think clearly. In accordance with the terms and conditions, the tour company refunded us the equivalent of one day from our safari. We sincerely hope that no other guests have to endure what we went through due to this mistake.
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Dear Marysol, Thank you for your review. We appreciate your thoughtful and detailed feedback about your experience with us. We’re glad to hear that your booking process was smooth and that you enjoyed your time with Nora as your guide. However,... Show more
  
  Trip date: October 2024
• KR

  Kathleen

  · October 25th, 2024
  This was a GREAT tour. The local company, Zara, has decades of experience in the Tanzania tourism industry. While I would describe only one of the three hotels on the tour as "luxury". The other two were comfortable, clean, and quite beautiful in their own right. Our tour guide/driver, Atanas, was engaging and knowledgeable about all aspects of the three national parks, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Tanzania as a country. He brought us to some truly unique experiences of wildlife and culture. We actually saw all the Big Five and then some, including some quite rare animals.
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Kathleen. Thank you for your wonderful feedback! We're glad to hear you had a great tour with us. It's fantastic that you found our accommodations comfortable and beautiful. We acknowledge that only one met the luxury standards, and we will... Show more
  Trip date: October 2024
• CP

  Cindy

  · October 22nd, 2024
  Should be on everybody’s bucket list.
  

  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Cindy. We're delighted that you found the tour so memorable and worthy of being on everyone's bucket list. It was a pleasure having you, and we look forward to welcoming you on another unforgettable adventure! Best regards, World Adventure... Show more
  
  Trip date: October 2024
• RC

  Robert

  · October 22nd, 2024
  It was very fulfilling tour with partially changed itinerary by me and my wife to make it more interesting for us. WAT didn't mind accepting our changes with extra payment. Please read and do your own research about the places in Tanzania that you would like to visit and then negotiate everything with the tour representative. Ask as much questions as you can to get all needed information to avoid disappointment. I was not told that Lake Manayara's water level increased drastically getting deep into land and killed a lot of trees and get rid of most animals who lived there before. Therefore, park became not interesting for me at all. Even our guide was surprised that we did not know that. If you love animals, Serengeti and Ngorongoro are really spectacular places and try to spend there as many days as you can... you won't regret it! Tanzania is not a rich country and people there are mostly poor but happy and friendly. Hotels where we were placed were clean and served food was very good!
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Robert. Thank you for your thoughtful review and feedback. We sincerely apologize for not informing you about the current situation at Lake Manyara; we’ll make sure to update our information to avoid similar issues in the future. We're... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
• SS

  Susanna

  · October 18th, 2024
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  The guide is just great. Joyce s support very good. Bad 1st lodge. Springlands Hotel, too expensive food: Tummy problems afterwards. Unfriendly. The other lodges very good.
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Susanna. Thank you for your honest feedback. We're sorry to learn that your experience at Springlands Hotel didn't meet expectations, especially regarding the food and service. We will share your comments with the hotel to ensure... Show more
  Trip date: October 2024
• 

  Ursula

  · October 17th, 2024
  The safari was very impressive and exciting. We saw a lot of animals between September 30th and October 5th, 2024. The night safari at Ikoma Wild Camp was also exciting. There we saw lionesses hunting at night. At the Serengeti Lodge, 3 buffalo were standing in front of our balcony at 7 a.m. The day before, elephants 🐘 walked through the camp (at dinner time). Everything was calm and civilized. After the elephants moved on, the guards brought us safely to our lodge. Unfortunately, we didn't see any Big 5 because there are only a few rhinos left in the Ngorongoro Crater.
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Weiler-Prust. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! We're thrilled to hear that your safari was both impressive and exciting. It was a pleasure having you, and we look forward to welcoming you on another unforgettable... Show more
  
  Trip date: September 2024
• VR

  Valentin

  · October 4th, 2024
  Fantastic trip!! The whole organisation has been perfect from the very beginning until the end. As a family of 3 (from 40 to 65 years), we spent one week in Tanzania doing a safari tour which took us to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti. Upon arrival, a transfer was organised to take us from the airport to the hotel where we were welcomed with professionalism and kindness (something we felt throughout the whole trip). We were then briefed and introduced to our driver (Amiri) and French speaking guide (Hassan) who were both simply amazing. From there onwards, it was a perfect combination of stunning views, great food at each meal, comfortable and welcoming hotels/lodges, helpful staff and of course stunning animals everywhere. Amiri and Hassan were a pleasure to be with, funny, kind, understanding and always helpful. It is safe to say they made our trip as enjoyable as it could be. As a vegan, I was also impressed by the choice of food for all meals, it was not only tasty but also varied. Thank you also to Joyce for answering all our questions before the trip and for accommodating our schedule. Overall, it was a great experience, helped with a perfect organisation and I thoroughly recommend World Adventure Tours (and their sister company Zara tour).
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you, Valentin. Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic experience with us! We're delighted that your family had such a memorable week in Tanzania. We take great pride in ensuring all of our guests have a seamless experience, and we’re happy... Show more
  
  Trip date: September 2024
• CG

  Cathy

  · September 30th, 2024
  My safari to Tanzania was fantastic! . My guide Hamisi was incredibly sweet, knowledgeable and all one could ask for. We saw the big 5 and so much more. Every day was an adventure.The hotels we stayed in were beautiful and The Serengeti Lodge was magnificent. People in Tanzania were so welcoming. I went by myself and felt welcomed everywhere. The trip was also extremely well- organized. I would recommend this trip to everyone!!!
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  World Adventure Tours commented on this review

  Thank you. Cathy. Thank you for your wonderful review! We’re happy to hear that your safari to Tanzania was fantastic and that Hamisi made such a positive impact on your experience. We strive for excellent organization to ensure our guests have an... Show more
  
  Trip date: September 2024