Reviews of safaris to Tarangire National Park

"The Africa trip made possible by Expert Africa is one we'll remember for the rest of our lives and will be one we'll be talking to friends and family about for years to come. It was a phenomenal trip to say the least.

We spent time with golden monkeys and gorillas where we even got shoved and kicked by the latter which makes for a great story. We witnessed not one but two epic wildebeest river crossings in the Serengeti. We saw all of the big 5 and then some. The staff and service at all the lodges and camps were first-rate. Our guides did a fantastic job of taking care of us and educating us about Rwandan and Tanzanian history, culture, and and wildlife. We must give a special shoutout to Nomad Tanzania though. Their camps were so well-run and well-maintained and we can't stop raving about the food they served.

Expert Africa and Jessica Plumb put together an amazing itinerary for us and the staff was very helpful before and throughout the journey. Our flight out of New York was delayed, causing us to miss our connection and resulted in us having to spend a night in Amsterdam and miss out on our first night in Africa but Jessica and team worked their magic so that we just about kept to our original itinerary and didn't skip a beat. We thought we would have had to miss out on golden monkey trekking but they were able to adjust our itinerary so we were still able to do it.

We also had a scare regarding Tanzanian visas since we didn't apply for them beforehand (we would recommend getting them before your trip if you can!) and thought we wouldn't be able to get them at Kogatende Airstrip. A frantic email to Jessica's team was responded to quickly to reassure us that we'll be OK, putting our minds at ease. Overall, we felt very well taken care of from the time we landed at our first port of entry to Africa in Kigali to the point where we were dropped off at Kilimanjaro Airport to make our way home. Upon arrival in Africa, just about everything was seamless in getting us from place to place, getting COVID tests, etc. so it was nice to not have much to worry about.

And never once did we feel uncomfortable or unsafe due to any reason, including COVID, during our trip.

Though this trip felt like it was once-in-a-lifetime, we do hope that we get the opportunity to go on another trip just like this. When we do, we know Expert Africa will be able to craft something magical. We can't wait :)" Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"This trip was a “bucket list trip” from me to my mom for her 70th birthday. We originally planned to go in June 2020, rescheduled to June 2021, and then finally to Sept 2021. It was worth the wait!

Truly a trip of a lifetime and I don’t think we could have had a better experience. All the properties we stayed at were great and all the staff at all the properties were just so kind, friendly and attentive. Personally I preferred the experience and the guides at the Nomad properties (Kuro and Lamai) just a touch more than at the Asilia property (Highlands), but all were great. I thought Nomad did a little bit better job of seeming more “connected” to the area. Lamai in particular just blew me away - the design, the location, the staff were all impeccable. I can’t wait to go back!

It was also pretty special to be there while the parks and properties were at low capacity - twice we were the only guests at the properties, and having our own vehicle and guide for the entirety of the trip was amazing. I’m already planning to go back with my husband in 2023, but I know it won’t be quite the same.

Things to know:

- definitely bring Dramamine or something for motion sickness - those small planes can be rough and we were with several people who had issues.

- You lose a whole day getting to the crater - the drive from the airstrip to the lodge area is 3 hours, the road is AWFUL (though apparently they’re fixing it), and due to the hours you can’t do a late afternoon/ evening drive at the parks.

- I’m not a photographer and know nothing about cameras but I rented a camera for the trip (Sony RX10) and it was some of the best money I spent." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 11 on a Tanzania safari

"Travelling during Covid is challenging. It therefore felt good to have a knowledgeable and up to date partner like Expert Africa aside to plan and make this trip happen.

Glad we did the Serengeti during Covid as the destination would have certainly felt too busy in a regular year. May is further a lovely time to visit. Nature is lush and green, flowers in bloom, and there are many little ones amongst the herds. Rain was no problem at all as rainfalls did either occur at night or did hardly last for more than half an hour before the sun came through again.

The morning mist and the cloudy skies added a special atmosphere, while the bush babies kept us warm at night.

The itinerary was well balanced and met all our expectations ! Thank you Jessica :)

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, just perfect. Thank you so much again !!!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"An incomparable vacation. Nothing can top it and from now on every safari can only be a downgrade. Why? Because I want to enjoy the animals and nature in peace. This is never possible in normal times because then at every animal observation several vehicles surround the animals. In this vacation I have seen in five different camps a total of fewer vehicles than usual in one day.

Who does not care will certainly have a nice experience otherwise. But then I can also go to a zoo." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 17 on a Tanzania safari

"This 16-night safari was arranged at short notice after we had to defer a planned trip to Zambia. We chose Tanzania for a third visit because there were good flights available and the country has fewest (Covid-19) restrictions for visitors among African countries.

On Olivia's advice we went to Tarangire for the first time: we loved the scenery and were astounded by the numbers of elephants. The prospect of fewer visitors being around also lured us to the Serengeti and we witnessed the mind-blowing spectacle of 10,000 wildebeest galloping majestically across the Mara.

There is normal life out there beyond the Covid black hole known as the UK. In Tanzania day-to-day interactions with other human beings are, well, normal. Simple practical precautions are in place like hand sanitising and masks on the small bush planes.

The welcome we received without exception was tremendous but we were just so pleased to be there and were privileged to have magical wildlife encounters with no-one else around and see a couple of great migration river crossings with a handful of other people present. Truly a once (although it was twice!) in a lifetime experience.

All this added up to a very special adventure tempered somewhat by the fact that many camps remain closed with those still open operating on reduced staff. We only hope common sense prevails over hysteria with so many people's lives in other parts of the world so drastically affected. Not just the humans but the wildlife too.

If anyone out there wants to go on safari there has never been a better time. The people of Tanzania will really appreciate you making the effort." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 16 on a Tanzania safari

"For a long time we thought we wouldn't be able to have our holiday because of the Coronavirus and as it happens, we had to cancel our visit to Botswana. But with the help of Maruska at Expert Africa we were still able to visit Tanzania and Zanzibar. Everything was very fluid with plans changing almost daily right up until the date of departure (and beyond)! due to airline cancellations because of Covid. However, Maruska was incredibly patient and helpful in identifying solutions and alternatives and she also proactively (and mostly successfully) sought refunds for the parts of the holiday that we couldn't undertake (a couple of lodges in Botswana offered to postpone our bookings but were reluctant to give refunds but they succumbed to Maruska's charms eventually). And although I didn't book our international flights through Expert Africa, Maruska kept an eye on all of our travel arrangements, even whilst we were away, and alerted us when our return flight was cancelled.
The holiday itself was way beyond our expectations partly, I suspect, because there were so few other tourists about. In some of the lodges we visited we were the only guests which meant that we were treated like VIPs. And what lodges! The Lemala camps were excellent and Maruska negotiated a very good deal for us by using only Lemala for our safari accommodation and the deal included our own vehicle and guide throughout, which meant that we could go where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go, instead of being tied to a strict timetable for game viewing. As far as the game viewing was concerned, having been told by a couple of friends that their experiences included having to vie for a view of the animals with 100s of other vehicles, we instead found ourselves to be in splendid isolation with almost every animal we saw. The only downside was having to come home." Read full review: 41 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"Everything went according to plan and both my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tanzania.

If anything we stayed too long in Zanzibar but this was dictated by our international flights arranged by us.

We would have no hesitation in recommending Expert Africa to our friends and family who may be considering a similar excursion.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No, none" Read full review: 29 nights in Africa; 12 on a Zanzibar holiday

"Perfect holiday and thanks to expert Africa for the expert knowledge!" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 8 on a Tanzania safari

"A fabulous experience - I was visiting some places again after 46 years away and for my wife this was her first visit to the country. Everywhere the people were friendly and helpful; they really made the trip (together with the marvellous animal sightings!) and it was noticeable how much they appreciated and responded to my rather 'rusty' attempts at Swahili.

We have nothing but praise for Nomad and its staff; everyone was great and it is impossible to single out anyone in particular; without exception they were all extremely friendly and helpful.

The programme put together worked wonderfully- a great start at Machweo and a mid-holiday break at the luxurious Gibbs Farm in between some fabulous safari camps with variety at each of the locations of wildlife and scenery.

Everything worked like clockwork, with one exception. We were unfortunately misinformed about the flight departure from Lake Manyara airstrip meaning we wasted 2 hours hanging about at the airstrip, whilst we could have enjoyed a relaxing and full breakfast back at Gibbs Farm rather than the rushed early morning departure.

One thing we would have liked to see in all Nomad camps was a detailed large-scale map of the NP/NCA (such as produced by Survey of Tanzania, or a google earth print) so as to better understand where we had been!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Tanzania safari

"Great, varied experience.

We’re really pleased we visited Northern Tanzania" Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Tanzania safari