Reviews of safaris to Ngorongoro Crater

"This was our seventh safari trip to Africa (all arranged by Expert Africa!), but our first trip to Tanzania. We had very much hoped to see a crossing of the Mara river by the herds of migrating of wildebeest, and we were fortunate to do so. A lasting impression is of the huge herds of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes and elephants that we saw both in the Tarangire and the Serengeti.

All the arrangements worked perfectly, and we enjoyed our trip very much indeed.

Two general comments regarding safaris in Tanzanian National Parks:

(a) the need to be back in camp before sunset does not allow for the sundowners in the bush experience that we have enjoyed in other African countries, such as Zambia;

(b) in our view, the open vehicles available at the camps, are essential to enjoy a true safari experience. As Tanzania does not allow open vehicles outside of National Parks, many guests 'safaried' in closed vehicles, having driven from airports / other National Parks." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Thanks Expert Africa for arranging all the logistics - seamless. We didn't have to worry about a thing.

&Beyond group were the best." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"It was fantastic! Everything was handled very competently.

Elizabeth was very professional, knowledgeable, helpful and available.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We would certainly use Expert Africa again in planning future trips to Africa." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"It was everything I expected and more!!

The animal viewing/game drives were incredible and the Gorilla trek , though quite difficult was an amazing experience" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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