Reviews of safaris to Serengeti Migration Area
380 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Serengeti.
Mr & Mrs G
Dartmouth
"We experienced far more than expected."
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 28 Aug 2014 and 7 Sep 2014
"Everything organised by Expert Africa went smoothly but for the chaos of Arusha airport! The internal flights were "unpredicatable" in timing and carrier. Some had unexpected stops to pick up other passengers. This did not matter too much.
Unfortunately the flight from Seronera to kilamanjaro entailed a change of planes in Arusha. Our voucher did not tell us this, nor mentioned the carrier and no one seemed to know when the onward flight was expected to leave. As usual in Africa, all worked out well but worrying time wondering if we and our luggage would be reunited and arrive in Kilamanjaro on the same flight!
Nairobi airport is a disaster and I would suggest you warn future clients (even people like us who fixed this aspect of their travel themselves) to avoid Nairobi." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
Unfortunately the flight from Seronera to kilamanjaro entailed a change of planes in Arusha. Our voucher did not tell us this, nor mentioned the carrier and no one seemed to know when the onward flight was expected to leave. As usual in Africa, all worked out well but worrying time wondering if we and our luggage would be reunited and arrive in Kilamanjaro on the same flight!
Nairobi airport is a disaster and I would suggest you warn future clients (even people like us who fixed this aspect of their travel themselves) to avoid Nairobi." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr A
Madison
"My Aug 2014 trip"
I visited Tanzania between 26 Aug 2014 and 7 Sep 2014
"We enjoyed the diversity of the facilities, locations and animal viewing during the trip. Expert Africa was very helpful in the development of the itinerary and choose the camps to suit our interest and budget.
Coordination of our transfers went very well during the trip. We moved from one camp to the next seamlessly.
One point of communications that cause some confusing with our group as the ability to arrange trips to the crater floor from the Crater Lodge. We were told by Expert Africa that the lodge would make only one trip to the crater per day but we later found out the the Crater Lodge would accommodate any request that was made including morning, afternoon or all day trips to the crater floor. This simple clarification would have eliminated some anxiety by people in our group that wanted to maximize their time at the crater floor." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari
Coordination of our transfers went very well during the trip. We moved from one camp to the next seamlessly.
One point of communications that cause some confusing with our group as the ability to arrange trips to the crater floor from the Crater Lodge. We were told by Expert Africa that the lodge would make only one trip to the crater per day but we later found out the the Crater Lodge would accommodate any request that was made including morning, afternoon or all day trips to the crater floor. This simple clarification would have eliminated some anxiety by people in our group that wanted to maximize their time at the crater floor." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Good
Mr & Mrs W
Croydon
"Excellent and enjoyable safari holiday"
I visited Tanzania between 24 Aug 2014 and 6 Sep 2014
"Our holiday as a whole was excellent and extremely enjoyable.
We saw a great variety of wildlife including some particular animals that we had hoped to see. The guides were all excellent and knowledgeable, and were keen to meet our expectations. We never felt rushed and were able to spend plenty of time at different sightings.
Accommodation was generally excellent and well run with good food. The camps were all open so that animals could wander through but we always felt safe with the camps' security arrangements.
The arrangements for travel between airports/airstrips and camps generally worked well. Camp guides were always at airstrips to meet us and took us to meet planes on time. The transfer between two internal flights at Dar was not as smooth as it could have been (see comments) but was sorted out without too much difficulty.
The first part of the holiday at Ngorogoro and Dunia was arranged by Asilia. Overall, we were impressed by what we learnt of the company and its community support, as well as the quality of its safaris.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
This is the second time we have arranged a holiday with Expert Africa and again we have been very impressed from original discussions to the trip itself. Liz was very helpful and knowledgeable in setting up the itinerary. The holiday more than met out expectations.
There is just one suggestion relating to internal flights. We had expected that we would find out about any plane changes as we took each internal flights which is what happened. However, you will see that we have commented on a bit of confusion in changing at Dar on our trip from Seronera to Selous. This was essentially because the pilot who took over our incoming plane said he was going to Selous and we did not realise at that time that Coastal planes do not call at all the Selous airstrips. We think it would be worth having a note in your Tanzania guidance notes to warn about this and the need to check-in at Dar (with luggage)." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
We saw a great variety of wildlife including some particular animals that we had hoped to see. The guides were all excellent and knowledgeable, and were keen to meet our expectations. We never felt rushed and were able to spend plenty of time at different sightings.
Accommodation was generally excellent and well run with good food. The camps were all open so that animals could wander through but we always felt safe with the camps' security arrangements.
The arrangements for travel between airports/airstrips and camps generally worked well. Camp guides were always at airstrips to meet us and took us to meet planes on time. The transfer between two internal flights at Dar was not as smooth as it could have been (see comments) but was sorted out without too much difficulty.
The first part of the holiday at Ngorogoro and Dunia was arranged by Asilia. Overall, we were impressed by what we learnt of the company and its community support, as well as the quality of its safaris.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
This is the second time we have arranged a holiday with Expert Africa and again we have been very impressed from original discussions to the trip itself. Liz was very helpful and knowledgeable in setting up the itinerary. The holiday more than met out expectations.
There is just one suggestion relating to internal flights. We had expected that we would find out about any plane changes as we took each internal flights which is what happened. However, you will see that we have commented on a bit of confusion in changing at Dar on our trip from Seronera to Selous. This was essentially because the pilot who took over our incoming plane said he was going to Selous and we did not realise at that time that Coastal planes do not call at all the Selous airstrips. We think it would be worth having a note in your Tanzania guidance notes to warn about this and the need to check-in at Dar (with luggage)." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
A & K
London
"5 National Parks and a Beach - perfection!"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 19 Aug 2014 and 3 Sep 2014
"Overall, our trip was a brilliant experience - getting to see amazing wildlife so close was a truly remarkable experience and one that will never be forgotten.
The highlight was really the private tour through the Central Serengeti were you really do get to see a wider range of landscapes and wildlife - the guide (Elisa Ngonya) and camp (Kati Kati) just acted to amplify this experience.
Our private guide, Elisa Ngonya, was amazing - he was entertaining, knowledgeable and will to tailor each day we spent with him to meet our needs - this included drive over 350km to find Cheetah! He made a massive difference to the experience we had on safari by through the detailed knowledge and understanding he had of the different areas we travelled to. There is no question that without him we would have seen a lot less during our time in the north.
The camps in the south (Lake Manze and Mdonya) were much quieter in terms of jeeps / visitors but still offered great animal viewing as well as different activities (e.g. boat safari / hot springs). The atmosphere in these locations was also more of the old fashioned camps - eating we all the guests, sharing Jeeps which was a nice change from the north.
Pongew was just very peaceful and relaxing and a great way to end our trip.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The only changes to the whole trip that I might have made looking back at it was to maybe to have one less day in either Mdonya or Manze and add that to Zanizbar but that is a very minor change!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari
The highlight was really the private tour through the Central Serengeti were you really do get to see a wider range of landscapes and wildlife - the guide (Elisa Ngonya) and camp (Kati Kati) just acted to amplify this experience.
Our private guide, Elisa Ngonya, was amazing - he was entertaining, knowledgeable and will to tailor each day we spent with him to meet our needs - this included drive over 350km to find Cheetah! He made a massive difference to the experience we had on safari by through the detailed knowledge and understanding he had of the different areas we travelled to. There is no question that without him we would have seen a lot less during our time in the north.
The camps in the south (Lake Manze and Mdonya) were much quieter in terms of jeeps / visitors but still offered great animal viewing as well as different activities (e.g. boat safari / hot springs). The atmosphere in these locations was also more of the old fashioned camps - eating we all the guests, sharing Jeeps which was a nice change from the north.
Pongew was just very peaceful and relaxing and a great way to end our trip.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The only changes to the whole trip that I might have made looking back at it was to maybe to have one less day in either Mdonya or Manze and add that to Zanizbar but that is a very minor change!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Family S
Sheffield
"A marvellous trip, superbly managed"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 15 Aug 2014 and 29 Aug 2014
"From the moment of my first contact with Expert Africa (late one night - and I got straight through to Maruska in the New Zealand office!) I had nothing but praise for the friendly professionalism that guided us through the planning of our special family holiday to Tanzania. Expert Africa had been recommended to us by friends who had been on several safaris (the first ones with other companies) and we were delighted with the service provided. Having established the hopes of our group for the trip, Maruska helped me through planning the details with clear explanations about the pros and cons of any choices and the range of options available. Maruska's responsiveness as I articulated various preferences of the group was marvellous and the recommendation, quite late on, of spending our last 3 nights on Chumbe Island was inspired.
The actual trip went like clockwork. Every detail had been planned for and was delivered brilliantly All the fights and transfers worked smoothly and everywhere we went we were expected and welcomed. All the accommodation was just right - and just as we expected. Above all, we had the most brilliant driver/guide on our week-long safari. We were delighted to be with Asilia, a well regarded Tanzanian company with excellent credentials and our assigned guide, Stanford, was absolutely fantastic. He was calm, considerate, efficient and good humoured, but beyond that he was incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, flexible and humourous. And he worked so hard! He undertook the duties of driving, guiding, communicating in excellent English and responding to any requests with a calm composure that ensured we had the most wonderful experience. We would like to put on record our enormous gratitude for this - and to thank Expert Africa and Asilia for assigning him to us!
The safari was very special and we loved the camps. I worried a few times before we left the UK whether 7 days on safari might seem like too much of a good thing but I needn't have worried. Stanford's skill enabled us to learn more and more about animal behaviour as the week went by and we were as interested on the morning of day 8, en route to the airstrip and our flight to Zanzibar, as were were on day 1 when, after a night flight, we set off at lunchtime for Arusha National Park. Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Serengeti built brilliantly on this start
Finishing our holiday in Zanzibar was also wonderful. The tropical beaches were gorgeous and the relaxed vibe was enjoyed by all 7 of us. And the final three days on Chumbe - absolutely magical! The entire trip surpassed our (always high!) expectations and it will remain a very special experience for our family. We just wished we could have spent more time everywhere!
Thank you Expert Africa, with special thanks to Maruska - and to Liz who picked up a few queries right at the end. We have already recommended you to friends and hope one day to travel through Africa under your expert guidance again." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
The actual trip went like clockwork. Every detail had been planned for and was delivered brilliantly All the fights and transfers worked smoothly and everywhere we went we were expected and welcomed. All the accommodation was just right - and just as we expected. Above all, we had the most brilliant driver/guide on our week-long safari. We were delighted to be with Asilia, a well regarded Tanzanian company with excellent credentials and our assigned guide, Stanford, was absolutely fantastic. He was calm, considerate, efficient and good humoured, but beyond that he was incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, flexible and humourous. And he worked so hard! He undertook the duties of driving, guiding, communicating in excellent English and responding to any requests with a calm composure that ensured we had the most wonderful experience. We would like to put on record our enormous gratitude for this - and to thank Expert Africa and Asilia for assigning him to us!
The safari was very special and we loved the camps. I worried a few times before we left the UK whether 7 days on safari might seem like too much of a good thing but I needn't have worried. Stanford's skill enabled us to learn more and more about animal behaviour as the week went by and we were as interested on the morning of day 8, en route to the airstrip and our flight to Zanzibar, as were were on day 1 when, after a night flight, we set off at lunchtime for Arusha National Park. Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Serengeti built brilliantly on this start
Finishing our holiday in Zanzibar was also wonderful. The tropical beaches were gorgeous and the relaxed vibe was enjoyed by all 7 of us. And the final three days on Chumbe - absolutely magical! The entire trip surpassed our (always high!) expectations and it will remain a very special experience for our family. We just wished we could have spent more time everywhere!
Thank you Expert Africa, with special thanks to Maruska - and to Liz who picked up a few queries right at the end. We have already recommended you to friends and hope one day to travel through Africa under your expert guidance again." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 7 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs J
WMD
"Kenya/Tanzania"
I visited Tanzania and 1 other country between 3 Aug 2014 and 13 Aug 2014
"Expert Africa once again came up trumps to give us a wonderful experience.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No you seem to be doing a very good job" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No you seem to be doing a very good job" Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 5 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Family
London
"Tansania August 2014"
I visited Tanzania between 1 Aug 2014 and 16 Aug 2014
"We loved Africa!
We had an unforgettable time as a family, saw and experienced wildlife, nature and African living, talked to many people, met incredibly knowledgable guides and hosts and will always treasure our two weeks in Tansania.
As it was our first safari, we now know what we like and how we 'work' on such a trip. Thus we would do things slightly differently in the future. The trip was well organised, we never waited anywhere. The transitions from one site to the next were meticulously planned and it was small details in our schedules that we learned to value and that showed us your knowledge and experience of the places we visited.
Well done, Liz!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
We had an unforgettable time as a family, saw and experienced wildlife, nature and African living, talked to many people, met incredibly knowledgable guides and hosts and will always treasure our two weeks in Tansania.
As it was our first safari, we now know what we like and how we 'work' on such a trip. Thus we would do things slightly differently in the future. The trip was well organised, we never waited anywhere. The transitions from one site to the next were meticulously planned and it was small details in our schedules that we learned to value and that showed us your knowledge and experience of the places we visited.
Well done, Liz!" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Good
Dr A, B & B
San Diego
"Tanzania 2014"
I visited Tanzania between 29 Jul 2014 and 12 Aug 2014
"Excellent. Have not written much about the parks. While we are glad we visited Ngorongoro and lake Manyara (one person visited these over 30 years ago and they were much different) we would not not return to either. Tarangire, North Serengeti, and Ruaha were all great in their own ways and very much worth the visit, if we were to return we would explore different parts of the very large, diverse, and less trammeled Ruaha. Even with any minor complaints we would do it all again just as it occurred. We have a short slide show (with small camera) should you want a copy. Although we know people were trying to please and we saw the good side, everyone we met was very friendly and clearly took pride in what their country and people had to offer. NB: With a few exceptions, when you asked, you could get quite good, strong coffee rather than the instant coffee often served. Interesting for a major coffee-producing nation. We would consider Expert Africa for any future Africa travel, perhaps Namibia.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not much to say here. It was really Ellie who walked us through the process. Well done Ellie." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Not much to say here. It was really Ellie who walked us through the process. Well done Ellie." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs G
EastEwell
"My Jul 2014 trip"
I visited Tanzania between 22 Jul 2014 and 7 Aug 2014
"There is no feedback form for the day room at Onsea House. We felt this place was superior to Rivertrees Country Inn and the food is pretty good. We would rather have stayed here for our initial day and rest night as the precursor lodge at the beginning of the holiday.
An excellent trip overall with good quality guiding and a high standard of food and service. The walking availability at Chada could have been limited due to shortage of qualified staff when other clients were involved in fly camping, however, the camp manager made the effort to bring in a ranger to enable us to take part in the walking activities, which we very much appreciated. Similarly, it appeared that the Camp manager at Little Oliver's was the only qualified walking guide. We were fortunated to enjoy his expert guiding on two consecutive days, but if he had been otherwise occupied we would not have been so lucky and the enjoyment of our time there would have been affected. I feel it is important to make sure that if walking is advertised as an option at a particular lodge/camp then it is vital that qualified staff are available at all times so that guests are able to enjoy this. We did enjoy the walking option at 3 out of 4 camps, but our impression was that the camps rather expect that most clients wish to be in the vehicle most/all of the time. Perhaps the walking safari idea is less well developed in Tanzania compared to other countries such as Zambia.
Tanzania does seem an American destination so it is sometimes a lttle pertinent for the staff at the camp, or the guides, to ensure they manage the groups of guests accordingly (particularly when children are involved).
Also we were encouraged to confirm our holiday registration as parts of it were getting booked up (particularly Greystoke Mahale) only for us to find out when we got there that this was because a group of 9 (Americans) has a block booking which made the ambience of this lodge as little imbalanced for us and the other couple staying there as the maximum it could take is only 12 or so persons.
Also, given the amount of flying and some of the distances between destinations we were finding this did eat into our time on safari. Between Serengeti and Little Oliver's camp we flew Serengeti - Arusha - Little Oliver's for some reason. Thus with this itinerary the travel distance & thus time does add up compared to other safaris we have been on and slightly ditracted from the safari.
With ref to the above comment about a large block booking at a small lodge we'd have liked a little bit more checking on these issues as we booked our trip, as this did distract a little bit from the select nature of the trip. Especially considering the amount we had paid for the holiday each." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari
An excellent trip overall with good quality guiding and a high standard of food and service. The walking availability at Chada could have been limited due to shortage of qualified staff when other clients were involved in fly camping, however, the camp manager made the effort to bring in a ranger to enable us to take part in the walking activities, which we very much appreciated. Similarly, it appeared that the Camp manager at Little Oliver's was the only qualified walking guide. We were fortunated to enjoy his expert guiding on two consecutive days, but if he had been otherwise occupied we would not have been so lucky and the enjoyment of our time there would have been affected. I feel it is important to make sure that if walking is advertised as an option at a particular lodge/camp then it is vital that qualified staff are available at all times so that guests are able to enjoy this. We did enjoy the walking option at 3 out of 4 camps, but our impression was that the camps rather expect that most clients wish to be in the vehicle most/all of the time. Perhaps the walking safari idea is less well developed in Tanzania compared to other countries such as Zambia.
Tanzania does seem an American destination so it is sometimes a lttle pertinent for the staff at the camp, or the guides, to ensure they manage the groups of guests accordingly (particularly when children are involved).
Also we were encouraged to confirm our holiday registration as parts of it were getting booked up (particularly Greystoke Mahale) only for us to find out when we got there that this was because a group of 9 (Americans) has a block booking which made the ambience of this lodge as little imbalanced for us and the other couple staying there as the maximum it could take is only 12 or so persons.
Also, given the amount of flying and some of the distances between destinations we were finding this did eat into our time on safari. Between Serengeti and Little Oliver's camp we flew Serengeti - Arusha - Little Oliver's for some reason. Thus with this itinerary the travel distance & thus time does add up compared to other safaris we have been on and slightly ditracted from the safari.
With ref to the above comment about a large block booking at a small lodge we'd have liked a little bit more checking on these issues as we booked our trip, as this did distract a little bit from the select nature of the trip. Especially considering the amount we had paid for the holiday each." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 15 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr & Mrs S
Cheshire
"Northern Tanzania July/August 2014"
I visited Tanzania between 20 Jul 2014 and 3 Aug 2014
"The good parts of the trip were the lodges (with the exception of Lemala) and the logistics which all worked extremely well.
We found the game viewing rather disappointing compared with Zambia and Botswana, with which we are more familiar, in that the wildlife was often very distant from the roads and made photography and observing behaviours less satisfactory.
Although we had to actually book the flights ourselves, the suggested routing of Manchester/Amsterdam/Kilimanjaro worked very well." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari
We found the game viewing rather disappointing compared with Zambia and Botswana, with which we are more familiar, in that the wildlife was often very distant from the roads and made photography and observing behaviours less satisfactory.
Although we had to actually book the flights ourselves, the suggested routing of Manchester/Amsterdam/Kilimanjaro worked very well." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari
Overall trip
Good
380
reviews of Serengeti by travellers since August 2007
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