Reviews of safaris to Ngorongoro Crater

"This was the trip of a lifetime. We wanted something really special and unique, as it was my 10 year work anniversary and sabbatical, and the team at Expert Africa delivered in a big way. Thank you Lyndsey!

The lodge recommendations were 100% on point; we knew it was going to be great, but we were still blown away by the places and the unique experiences Expert Africa lined up for this trip. It's rare that you do a 2.5 week holiday and everything just works, but in this case it's true. And the logistics could have been a nightmare, as we didn't spend more than 3 nights in any one location, but every transfer, every flight all went smoothly!

I think the real difference-maker was in how seamless the experience was. From the moment we flew into Nairobi until our quite literally boarding for departure back to the US the team at Expert Africa and their partners in Kenya and Tanzania made sure everything went without any trouble. Even a short delay at a local airstrip was met with surprise and delight as instead of being picked up by car for a 2-hour drive a private plane showed up and we had our own 15 min flight to the lodge - very cool!

In hindsight would we have done anything differently? Maybe, starting with just doing more of what Lyndsey said to do. :)

In all seriousness she guided us towards an amazingly unconstrained experience and we are tremendously grateful. If you are willing to commit the resources it is amazing what is possible when working with Expert Africa.

We have already referred multiple friends and colleagues to the Expert Africa website and to her directly, it will be fun to see if or when anyone else gets inspired to pick up the phone and book their adventure.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

In terms of improvements it's hard to say; your website is 1st class, Lynsey provided great advise, and payment and such were easy. I think the guides for obtaining visas and such were also easy to follow and made the process simple. The price of the holiday we booked was staggering, but I suppose that was a feature not a bug and mostly our fault. :)

In a perfect world more guidance on where to see villages (Sarara was great for this!) and where to avoid (At Entamanu the Masai are a bit "Disneyland" about it - hard to describe) would have been nice as instead we found ourselves a bit at the mercy of the local lodge managers. "Do you think it's worth visiting a village here?" is a bit of an unfair question, although credit to the team at Serian for the honest answer "no not really, there's better places for that if you want authenticity". We figured it out and are very happy with the results but we should have asked more questions in advance about where to lean into cultural experiences and where to say forget it, just stick to wildlife.

A few thoughts on the trip we booked that I didn't want to drop in reviews as they're somewhat unfair or too individual.

Sarara, Serian and Chem Chem were incredible. Continue to recommend them without hesitation.
-John at Sarara was one of the best drivers and provided an authenticity we found nowhere else, and I wish I lived in Sarara house. It's that nice and we regretted having to leave, even if the wildlife in Samburu isn't as abundant.
-Grace (sp) at Serian was simply talented beyond belief, her and Gisoi (sp) were one of the best guide/ranger duos anywhere. We would go back simply to have her guide us again she's that good!
-Isaac at Chem Chem had 20+ years of experience and it showed, he was such a pro and made the Chem Chem experience complete.

Those three properties are worth the expenditure without any qualifiers or concerns. Lyndsey was 100% right to recommend them and we hope to return to them in 2025.

Entamanu was also so good. I'm torn; we did one day in the crater, and it was so special. Would a second day have made sense? Who knows. Maybe it's too much, maybe not, but it's a lot of coming and going for what is essentially one long day of game drive. So glad we went, so that's a win! I think it just comes down to not having the time and budget to do it all, and this was the right place to shave a day. But we found ourselves thinking now that they have really nice structures to stay in a 2nd day could be worthwhile? Very subjective.

Nimali Mara is a tale of two cities. I left them a great review, and they deserve it! Really special place and the staff, including our butler Bethod (sp) were simply the best! But also worth noting our guided experience there with Moses was just so different lol! I'm talking tie-die sweatshirt, car falling apart (driver had to literally hold his door shut as it wouldn't latch while driving), cooler full of waters and sodas but no bottle opener, etc. it was just such a contrast with how over the top luxury the place itself is. The guy had a heart of gold and tried so hard, so nothing but respect there, but it's worth thinking about given the price point and contrast with the other guided experiences. We are travel veterans so it didn't phase us but I can imagine others really being shaken.

White Sands was also great but there is an element of the hussle in Zanzibar. It reminds me more of visiting the national parks vs. conservancies, they monetize differently (on the go vs. pay up front but then feel insulated from it all). That's ok! I think it was just so different to go from the Chem Chem experience into White Sands and Zanzibar. We wanted Zanzibar so that's on us, but in hindsight Chem Chem should have been the capstone experience, nothing was going to top that. We also didn't quite understand if we were supposed to book our experiences with the local team you sent our way or via the hotel property, but in the end it all worked out so no worries.

Our last day in Nairobi was long but that isn't your fault, the flight was set to depart late (we booked it) and was then delayed further. The guide was so nice and did his best to keep us entertained but by that point it was the end of a long trip and we were cooked. The Karen district is nice but after a few hours there just isn't much to do, but again, not the fault of the team at Expert Africa.

All in all we've now recommended Expert Africa and Lyndsey to multiple parties, as we are comfortable having our name attached to the referral.

We started this journey with you probably close to a year before our travels and are so happy we did, thank you for everything!" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Overall experience was outstanding.

Expert Africa (Jessica) was a joy to work with and the trip was put together quickly and executed seamlessly." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari

"Jessica did a wonderful job putting this altogether, She worked effortlessly to book me in the lodges I preffered even though this really was a near last-minute booking.

Everything went smoothly, and most importantly I never had to wait or wonder where my rides were. They were there as promised.

Thank you so much for your work and input.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Nope. As far as I can tell you nailed everything in place." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 16 on a Tanzania safari

"Wonderful." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"This was our second safari with Expert Africa and this company delivers a first class service.

From initial enquiry through to travel we have received nothing but excellent advice, help and information.

Tanzania is a worthy safari experience, luxury camps that still retain an authentic bush experience. Staff at all the Lemala camps we stayed at were so welcoming, attentive and couldn’t do enough for you.

Game viewing was superb, plenty to see including rhino, lions, cheetahs and one leopard! All with the assistance of two very able guides, Victor and Mary. Clearly trained to a very high standard, with knowledge and experience a plenty. At the same time they have the ability to engage with you, make you laugh and just add to the whole experience.

A unique holiday that we thoroughly enjoyed - thank you.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service
None - a very good company." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"We thoroughly enjoyed it. While we loved Mara Mara as a camp, we probably had a day or two too many. That's probably the only part of the trip we would have changed." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything that Maruska organized for us went brilliantly well.

Her help and conversations that led to the ultimate itinerary were right on our wishes - she listened and delivered the ultimately memorable experience of a lifetime; one we will be talking about forever.

All our camps and lodges were brilliant - and Kae Kae absolutely made our daily experience wonderful.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, I think that if anything is asked of Maruska she can deliver!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"A few thoughts I had: I think it would be better to have a minimum of 3 nights at each camp or lodge as I found 2 nights was not enough especially as I lost a day due to a flight cancellation/postponement. If I'd had 3 nights at Plantation Lodge I could have still done the Ngorongoro crater safari. I know there are cost implications but in hindsight it is worth it for a better experience. And Plantation Lodge was my favourite accommodation and I only got one night there!

I would also prefer to stay in camps that are not too long a drive from the airstrips. I found more than one hour quite difficult as you just want to get there and it can also be a long drive back to camp after a safari. I would consider this if I was doing another trip.

Needless to say I preferred the luxury camps in Botswana which had a pool and included drinks and laundry, although I realise they cost more, and I did enjoy the other camps which felt closer to the wildlife etc. as a contrast. Paying for drinks and laundry was not expensive so that did not put me off.

The support and help from my Expert Africa agents with the few challenges I encountered was wonderful and
I can't speak highly enough of the quality of your company. Of course I don't know how you compare with others but having met agents from other companies and having feedback from other guests at the camps I felt very glad that I had chosen EA.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Perhaps to warn travellers about the potential for things to go wrong such as flight cancellations and injuries and talk through what to do in these situations. i know this in included in your written material but it is a lot to take in especially when having to get visas and vaccinations in preparation for the trip. I had read the information but still felt stressed when things happened. However your responses were so helpful and reassuring which helped me to calm down. Big thank you to Chris in this regard - I could only nominate one agent above but it is the sign of a good manager/owner to be prepared to step in out of hours to help a client." Read full review: 36 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip was fantastic and without criticism. The planning and detailed instructions first class. The guides terrific and Maruska Adye Row just so very helpful.
Had a small query at one stage and accessed the emergency email and was answered immediately and the appropriate information supplied.
Expert Africa is just simply the best." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari

"This was the first time in five visits where we got our timing wrong regarding the location of the migrating animals (the start of the migration). The weather pattern was slightly different from normal years in that this year there had been a second "short rains season". However, there were enough animals to provide adequate sightings and so the overall experience was good albeit somewhat different from being surrounded by vast numbers of the migrating animals as we have been on previous visits at the same time.

We were pleased to find that you are still able to traverse "off-road" in the Ngorongoro Conservation area (round the Ndutu area) and this enables you to get closer to some of the sightings and to get optimum camera angles. You are not allowed to go off-road in the Crater itself nor indeed in the Serengeti so with somewhat fewer animals in the Serengeti at this time this year we did not get as many photo opportunities as on previous occasions. The number of animals in the Crater does not vary much from year to year as they tend to remain within the crater.

On a personal note we were very pleased with the way in which my wife was assisted as she is partially disabled and the assistance provided at all locations and by our guide ensured she was able to participate fully in all viewings." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari