Reviews of safaris to Tarangire National Park

"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

"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.

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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

"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

"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 are seasoned safari aficionados, this being our 11th trip but first to Rwanda and then on to the Northern Tanzanian circuit. We enjoyed the whole trip immensely and had many memorable sightings and generally excellent lodges and camps.

Rwanda. Words cannot describe the gorilla treks- we looked forward to them, read as much as we could before going and still the experience was overwhelming. This was a birthday treat for my wife and on her birthday we watched a large family of gorillas going about their business and interacting with us in an absolutely magical way. Expensive but worth every penny- just save and do it.

Rwanda practically. The lodge was great and Primate safaris were efficient, our driver friendly and efficient. The country was fascinating- a modern city in Kigali and so clean but subsistence agriculture elsewhere with not a tractor in sight. Very friendly people.


Northern Tanzania. We saw the migration, half of a Mara river crossing and an abundance of game in the Serengeti. I was dubious about going to such a popular destination but did not feel that there were too many vehicles in the area. A great lodge in Lemai.


Asilia were superb in looking after us from Manyara onwards. Manyara was fine but beware, the open part of the park is only a half day's game drive and although we did meet someone who had seen a lion, the famous tree climbing lions are not often seen nowadays - good bird life though.

Ngorongoro crater. Cold when we were there - heed the warnings and ensure you take something to ward off the morning cold. A magical place though with abundant game. The Lemala camp seemed like a disappointment but we felt that it might not have been if the weather had been better.

Tarangire; an excellent camp in Oliver's and good game in particularly birds

The general organisation of the trip was pretty faultless (until we returned to Heathrow to find the Stansted express we use for the last leg home was not running) Camps and Lodges and all the interconnecting bits and pieces all worked together really well. Each driver who met us had printed name boards to find us with and named folders of permits etc and it all worked really well. They were friendly, bright, witty and informative, full marks to Primate safaris and to Asilia safaris

Elizabeth at Expert Africa made helpful suggestions before we decided on where to go and organised it all quietly in the background, sending their final ticket pack and useful information booklets a week or two before we left. We will undoubtedly use them again" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Amazing time to go to Africa, love the green season and we were lucky with the weather and sightings.

Did see leopard in two areas, cheetah, serval and lots of lion. Wildebeest migration as far as the eye could see was amazing. A great trip not too far distances between the different camps and areas.

Pole Pole was lovely just wished we could have taken longer here." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"Would like to add that the guides were the highlight of our holiday. Ernest and Ayoub became our friends and without them we could not have enjoyed our time in Tanzania as much as we did. They were both incredibly knowledgeable, great fun, and so professional.

Everything from start to finish worked according to plan so many thanks to Expert Africa, and everyone thereafter who gave us a wonderful and memorable experience. We may not be in a position to repeat such a holiday but would recommend it to friends, family and anyone who asks.

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Wish we could but everything worked so well!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"We had an excellent trip and felt we were particularly lucky with sightings at the first three camps/lodges due to the expertise of our Asilia driver, Stanford. We were particularly pleased that once an animal had been spotted we were able to observe at leisure and have wonderful memories of a very restive leopard in a tree. We watched for about half an hour as he tried to find a comfy spot and walked up and down and all around the tree. Having our own vehicle really made a difference.

As I had made our booking some months before the trip I had forgotten that this would not be the case at Lamai. I think that it would be a good idea to make a note of this on the confirmation invoice or in the final letter you send just before departure. We had taken this paperwork with us but had not printed out all the emails leading to the final trip details. The couple we shared with were extremely pleasant but they had just flown in from the UK and were on safari for only 3 nights before going to Zanzibar whilst we had gone to the north more for the wildebeest. Things worked out well but this could so easily not have been the case and I will certainly bear this in mind for a future trip.

We had an excellent guide, Kakae, at Lamai, not only was he very good indeed at spotting game but he had a detailed knowledge of all the animals we saw. He had a great sense of humour and we enjoyed conversations with him on a number of topics." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"The experience was great. We loved the safaris and being in the parks. We also loved Mafia, very peaceful." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"A trip of a life time and it certainly measured up the everything we had hoped and more. Firstly please pass on our huge thanks to both guides. Martin of Asilia was amazing and so professional .We'll for ever be grateful for his patience for our bird watching interests and his expert knowledge. He was so good at finding the quieter places and picking up the signs before others got there!! Please note our grateful thanks to him personally through Asilia.

Also we would like special recommendation for Paulo Siololo of Nomad Tanzania...Arusha. as he was fantastic too. Think he has telescopes for eyes as he picked signs of animals at tremendous distances and had the patience to pursue and wait. We had numerous wonderful experiences just watching cheetahs and Leopards all on our own as well as so much more. He really put himself out to please us and make our experience memorable.

Fishermans tours on Zanzibar not quite so efficient as 3/4 hour late one trip and didn't turn up on last return drive to airport. Neither actually caused us problems as door man at Serens Inn got us a taxi and arranged for paymenbt between driver and F. tours.but thought you may like to know for future.

Well done Expert Africa and especially Ellie ,you judge it perfectly for us....right locations and timings ." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari