Safari / Tour Operators in Tanzania
 

Hi all,

I was looking for some advice in regards to tour operators in TZ for a 5-6 day safari. (Northern Circuit) About 5 years ago I used Safarimakers and they were great, but I want to do some shopping. Can anyone provide some recent experiences?

Thanks,

Keith

I used Good Earth tour for a private safari about 2 years ago. Very satisfied!

June 2011 I did 2 weeks (pro photographer) with Maasai Wanderings, I have absolutely no complaints.
http://www.maasaiwanderings.com/

Bushbuck out of Arusha is a big player.

Drunkmuppet,

There are hundreds of safari companies that can get you to the same lodges and have you sitting in the same land rover. The service and advice you receive in the process of booking is what will vary much more than the price.

I assume, based on your question, that you are looking for a tour operator and not a safari lodge “chain”. In my definition, a pure tour operator will be a company that owns no lodges and has no financial interest in any particular on-the-ground product. That way they can advocate for you in the sales process without financial bias. Most tour operators will have contracts with the lodges and buy the nights at a discount so they can make their money buy marking-up and selling to you at a price similar to the same price as booking directly with a lodge. Some tour operators, of course, mark-up much more and few a little less.

A lodge owner or safari lodge operator will own a chain of lodges. There are also many hybrids that are vertically integrated to some extend and, of course, many safari lodge chains that also sell directly to the public. This may also be an option if you know exactly what you want.

There are tour operators located in the Tanzania and also throughout the USA. Sometimes, the ones in Tanzania will have their own guides and vehicles but own no camps or properties. Some of the tour operators in Tanzania may run their own mobile camping programs and own the equipment associated with this. Some of the tour operators in the USA even own product on the ground in Africa. For example, Thompsons in Boston owns Gibbs Farm near the Crater. For another example, Unique Safaris, based right here in Minnesota, has their own mobile operation in Tanzania. Micato Safaris has their own set of tours with pre-contracted space at lodges and hotels. Abercrombie & Kent in Chicago owns the Sanctuary Lodge chain in East Africa, Botswana, and Zambia.

It is important to find out what components of the distribution channel are owned by the company you turn to for advice on a safari. That way, you can filter the advice they give you against any potential bias. Of course, if a company has empty seats on a tour they operate or empty tents in their own lodge there may naturally be a very high financial temptation to oversell their own products.

Given the world may be slipping back into recession; my other advice is to find out what financial protection the company you book with can offer. Are they covered by US travel insurance companies for bankruptcy protection? If not, I HIGHLY recommend you only book with a credit card. If you book with a credit card, find out the fees before you commit.

Hope this helps and does not cause more confusion!

Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond

Thanks
 

Craig,

This is excellent advice. You are correct that we are not looking for a company that owns their own lodges. Ideally we would like a driver/guide that is independent of the lodges and will just ferry us around the parks. This is materially different that South Africa where most lodges offer game drives as part of their occupancy package.

Keith

Keith,

In my observation, the natural career cycle of private driver-guides in Africa seems to be as follows:

1 - Young guy gets hired and trained by big safari outfitter.
2 - Young guy works for 10-15 years as private guide. During this period he makes many contacts with his clients and gains business acumen.
3 - Young guy is now middle-aged and he breaks away from big company and starts his own private guiding business. Now he can book the safari and capture the margin on the booking and the fees from the guiding services. Good for him.

This seems to be the natural progression. I have seen a lot of good guides come-up this way and then break off. Gregg Hughes and Matt Copham used to be the top private guides for Wilderness Safaris. They now work for a private guiding firm in South Africa: http://www.bukela-africa.com/bukela_team.html

Jon Niva used to be a top guide for A&K in Kenya. http://nivasafaris.com/clients.html

Godwin Mbogo used to be a guide for Serengeti Select in Tanzania: http://www.mbogoexpeditions.com/

I have booked clients with all these guys in the past.

The private guiding industry is much more prevalent in East Africa as many of what I consider the best lodges in Southern Africa only allow their camp employed guides to drive on their property so there is no place for private guides unless they sit in the back of the land rover with their clients. Most East Africa camps have game drive packages with camp staff or guests with private guides just pay room and board.

Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond

My film crew drivers (with their own Land - Rovers) also do private safaris when we are not filming. These are the best drivers to have on safaris as normally they are true bush nuts and spend far more time in the bush then the top drivers of companies. If you want I can bring you into contact with them. These drivers also are freelancing for upmarket tour operators in TZ.

I too used Good Earth and had several major problems. Posted complaint on Fodors and was flamed so much, I no longer read or post on Fodor.

I've heard really good things about Access2Tanzania from friends,and am considering booking with them as well.

I'm booking a Tanzania safari, and I'm having trouble figuring out what company to trust. I think it's fundamentally important to have an awesome driver who goes the extra mile and really knows what he's doing. Based on reviews/anecdotes, I'm not convinced you're guaranteed to get this (or are at least very likely to) even if you go with a "high end" company. You could end up with a less-than-excellent driver even if the person in the booking office is very professional, writes back quickly, is very knowledgeable, etc. It seems to be that any of the big "high end" companies will be hit-or-miss.

I've traveled to a number of places where I've hired my own local guides directly and talked/emailed with them before I arrived. This doesn't seem feasible in Tanzania. Seems like you have to pick an operator, show up in Arusha and hope they give you a driver who works well with you.

Is there any better way to approach this? Thanks!

Tour operator in Kenya/Tanzania
 

I am looking for recommendations for a tour operator for a trip next year. My husband and plan to do a trip to kenya/ tanzania with about 8 days of safari and a few days in Zanzibar. We have a few specifics that we would like for our activities, locations, and accommodations and I would like to work with someone who will be able to accommodate those.

I contacted an operator that was highly recommended on another forum and found it was very difficult to customize our trip at all. Our itinerary had us spending a large amount of time in transit- which was eliminated by switching to the itinerary I had requested in the first place. Our hotels/camps were all large hotel/lodge types even though I requested tented camps. They would ignore or argue with any request I made. Who should I contact to create a great mid priced 2 week safari trip?

I'd get in contact with Allen Mnyenye, who is a really awesome safari guide. Don't know if he does Kenya, though. Here is my review of him:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...n-mnyenye.html

You seem pretty "active" / sophisticated, so I'd advise you to do the leg work yourself and figure out what itinerary you want (activities each day, specific lodgings). Read reviews. Get advice on Tripadvisor/Fodors about your itinerary; lots of experienced people there will help you out. Then I'd send your preferred itinerary to various tour operators so it's easier to compare prices for the same thing. Also, you'll be able to test how responsive they are to you.

Thanks so much. He looks like a really great option.
The places I've contacted have really packed a lot of locations into the trip and had us having 1 or 2 game drives in a location and then moving on. It seems like quite a bit of time in transit. Is that common for an East african safari? Should I try to spend more time in fewer locations?

I believe that these companies want to jam as much stuff as possible into their advertised itinerary so that you're impressed that you'll "see so much." This applies not only to safari companies or but to companies offering group tours to places like Europe. Allen (as well as some of the less cookie-cutter, personalized companies I spoke with) definitely encourages you to take it slowly.

I think your instinct is right to spend more time in fewer locations. I had five days in Northern Tanzania, and some companies wanted to jam the whole "northern circuit" (Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti) down my throat. I definitely wanted to see the Crater because it's a unique geological site and I wanted to spend as much time in the Serengeti as possible because it's "the best." I didn't really see the point of going to Manyara or Tarangire on such a short itinerary; I'm sure they're nice parks, but I didn't want to cut my time short in the Serengeti to spend half a day getting to a "lesser" park only to drive around it for a couple of hours.

I'm no expert, but the landscape in the parks in Kenya and N Tanzania all seems kind-of the same to me (savannah, Acacia trees, etc.) so I don't really see what one gains by checking as many parks off the list as you can. Seems better to go to fewer parks that have the best animal concentrations at the time of year you're going.

Well, Serengeti is great at times of the year when it is great - otherwise you will see lots of plains, not so much game, as they have headed south or even north to Kenya. At those times of year, Tarangire or other parks like Selous would probably offer a better safari. Or Masai Mara in Kenya, if talking about July - August. The Serengeti - Mara complex animals are largely migratory, so it's best to be where the animals are.

And the areas are different - that's why there are locales with plenty of animals and others where there are not so many, and why some species only occur in certain areas. Ngorongoro Crater is in the highlands and is quite different from lowland short grass plains, for example, and maintains a rich spectrum of game in one place. It's restricted to day ventures these days (some years ago we camped there for some days), but it's still a venue for different and much more concentrated game than some other popular parks. The highlands of Kenya are far different from the southern hills and plains, and they are not different from the northern parks (toward Isiolo).

In Tanzania, I'd recommend Thomson Safaris - Rick and Sally have been on the ground arranging, leading and organizing safaris for thirty+ years and do no cookie cutter safaris.

I'm American but I've spent a ton of time in northern Tanzania, as my son lives there. I know all the guys that own and run Pristine Trails and heartily recommend them. They're honest, won't overcharge you, and will customize the safari however you want.
http://www.pristinetrails.com
https://www.facebook.com/pristinetrails

Take a look at Micato Safaris.

Guess that depends on what part of the Serengeti you visit. It is a pretty large place and lot of it (maybe most) does not consist of plains.

Johan

I used Suntrek Safaris, based on a reco from here in FT. I was extremely pleased and found them to be very reasonably priced. Www.suntreksafaris.com

We did an 10 day safari and visited 5 parks in Kenya. They customized based on our needs. I would totally use them again

I lived in Tanzania for 18 years of my life. I am not going to recommend any operators, but I will suggest that you check out the non-traditional places too. My favorite is Mount Mihali National Park near Gombe and Kigoma, but it is a strenuous undertaking.

On my one and only trip there, we did not see any chimpanzees for the first 2.5 days, then saw a ton when we hiked up the mountain with machetes. We only got to the island itself after an arduous train (from Dar) and boat (over Lake Tanganyika) journey. So probably not recommended if you are only in Tanzania for two weeks. Stay longer!

I liked Manyara more than most people, even though we saw no tree climbing lions there (they might be extinct).

Tourists typically go to Ngorongoro-Serengeti-Kilimanjaro-Manyara in the North since there are all close to each other, so Selous in the South gets far fewer visitors. However, the latter was spectacular when I went there many years ago. They have had lots of elephant poaching problems lately:-(

Kenya has become too tourist oriented and Nairobi is a violent place. Spend more time in Tanzania.

Advice
 

I just got back from a great trip to Tanzania and Kenya. I saw your post and maybe you have already gone on your trip. I was also not sure who to look at when booking. It seemed like there are a million tour operators out there. I contacted about 30 to get suggestions and then I decided on what places I wanted to see and the hotels that sounded right.

I sent the itinerary to about 50 companies. Some did not even respond and the difference in price for my 10 days was shocking. From $3,460 per person all the way up to almost $10,000. Crazy because the trip was the same. Anyway, I was not sure about going with a Tanzania/Kenyan company because I did not want to get to the airport and find that I had been taken.

Not many US companies also run their own tours. It seemed like the choices were Abercrombie & Kent, Thomsons, or E-Trip Africa. At first I thought it would be a difficult choice. But A&K did not seem very interested in making the custom safari that I wanted. Thomsons was very helpful but nearly double the price of E-Trip. E-Trip is new and did not have many reviews about them.

After lots of emails and phone calls we finally decided to take our chances and travel with E-Trip Africa. The trip was perfect, we had very good guides and they booked the exact hotels that I had requested. I really don't know what I would have gotten extra with Thomsons, maybe a better guide (but Joseph was awesome) and we saw one of their cars, it looked older than our Land Cruiser.

I am a seasoned traveler and it took a lot of research to organize my trip. But I found that by figuring out what tour I wanted (hotels and all) then it was much easier to compare all these guys.

Safe Travels

Warrior Trails
 

Your trip is probably already planned, but in case there are others out there looking for recommendations I thought I would post.

My wife and I just returned from Tanzania on a 5 night / 6 day safari visiting Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Ndutu in the Southern Serengeti. It was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend the tour operator we used, Warrior Trails.

http://www.warriortrails.com/

Prior to booking, I e-mailed about 8-10 different operators to get information and prices and Warrior Trails was always prompt and helpful with their replies. Their pricing was very competitive and in line with or lower than the pricing we received from other operators.

Our driver/guide's name was Nicholas and he was excellent about giving us information about the wildlife and culture of the region. He also has excellent knowledge of local bird species and he helped us spot and identify 100 different species of birds in the 6 days we were there. So if you are interested in birding, I would doubly recommend Nicholas as your safari guide.

The trip and game drives moved at a perfect pace - not rushed, nor painfully slow.

We were shocked by the number of tour operators based on the various company names on other vehicles that we saw. There must be at least 100-150 choices for Tanzanian safari companies. I am sure most of them offer very good safari experiences as well. However as this was our first trip to Africa, we felt very fortunate that we chose Warrior Trails and that we had such a fantastic experience with no glitches or concerns.

That's for sure!

There are some brilliant places - but they can vary a lot at different times of year or the migration, such as Lake Ndutu. I think one could easily spend 8 - 10 days here, including the Ngorongoro highlands to wherever the game is (Naabi, Seronera, Lobo, etc.) and I'd never attempt 8 days in Kenya and Tanzania.

I had a good experience recently with BaseCamp Tanzania. They are based in Arusha, but the owner is from the UK.

Tanzania Tour Operators
 

We are also considering a trip to Tanzania--but, we are older and hiking long distances is not an option. We also don't want to be stranded on the Serengetti in a parking lot full ob tour buses. Information about tour operators in this area will be most welcome. We will be coming down from LHR and thinking about doing a RTW with a stop in PEK (City code?)

alpenrose, re your Q. about Tanzania tour operators, I'll move this to the dedicated forum on travel to Africa. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

A great website to check out when getting ready for a trip to Tanzania is www.africa.com/tanzania
This site has always helped me out.
Have a great trip!