lisa_oftheprairies12
26 Oct 2022
We had an excellent safari experience with Safari Soles and our guide, Simon. The vehicle seemed to be in good condition and it was obvious that Simon took a lot of pride in the upkeep, which we were thankful for after seeing a number of safari vehicles broken down on the road side!
Simon was well connected with rangers and other guides which helped us to see all of the big 5.
Accommodation and food was great at all the places we stayed and excellent hot lunch everyday.
On Safari, we went out with Isaac. Andrew drove us locally, to our hotel, and he was incredibly engaging and sunny. Isaac was dedicated, cheery, and knowledgeable. His dedication to making sure we really saw things, but comfortably was very apparent--he kept in regular contact with other drivers about the status of the great migration and recommended our starting times, on one hand, but if he had to suggest an early time he was almost apologetic.....i felt bad, and told him we were good for it, we had a week in Tanzania to see as much as we could, and months to catch up on our sleep later. Isaac always made us comfortable, and we truly enjoyed his company.
As for Safari Soles, we also had the opportunity to meet Bryson...and I am sure I sent him way more questions than he really needed (he's gotta be a busy guy) but he always answered--from recommending an itinerary when we were just starting to plan to making changes as needed, to answering stupid American questions like "what do we wear?" he was patient, detailed, and excellent.
Safari Soles does multiple tours, multiple places....in discussion w Bryson of what we'd most like to see, how long we had, lodging preferences, and time of year, we did 3 days in the Serengetti and 1 day in Ngorongoro crater, all from Arusha. That wasn't even a direct tour offering, it just matched the places we wanted to see, the animals, and a desire to hit the great migration.
What you see will depend on time of year, luck, etc., but as a running total we saw: Leopard (very far away but you could see the head up in a pile of rocks)
Lions: dozens, including males, females, and even babies
2 cheetahs
1 serval cat
Maribou storks
secretary birds
tons of flamingoes and vultures
various eagles
ostriches
warthogs
wildebeest
zebra
multiple antelope species
crocodiles
hippoes
elephants
cape buffalo
hyena (also heard at night--solitary hyenas make a really cool "awwwww...ooop!" call that was really surprising)
jackals
giraffes
and i am sure I forgot a few, but the safari is really incredible--you'll see more animals than you'd ever guess from being someplace as developed and fragmented as America, and the scale of size is hard to imagine--elephants are big in a circus, but elephants that are clearly taller than your safari jeep are something else entirely.....
Safari Soles seems to be a somewhat mid-sized, mid-priced outfitter, and I have not worked with a bunch of other players, but I really, truly liked working with everyone at Safari Soles, and if I were to get back to Tanzania, I would book them again, in a heartbeat. I honestly couldn't have been happier with them.
We don't review a lot, we're lazy. But we try to believe in Karma, and giving credit where credit is due--we put out feelers with several outfitters and chose Safari Soles for price and reviews, and as I said, I could not be happier with that choice--they totally earned the high marks they have in tripadvisor. And as a side note, Isaac and Bryson both have standing invites if they ever need a place to hang in the US, which we do for even fewer people. Again, they really were the best....
Vous pouvez choisir Safari soles tour les yeux fermés !
Très réactifs pour répondre aux demandes, aux questions… nous avons demandé une modification de logement de dernière minute ils ont fait ça sans soucis.
Vous aurez un chauffeur pour vous récupérer puis
Vous déposer à l’aéroport.
Les logements proposés sont super, nous avons fait 2 nuits en lodge et la dernière en tente et c’était incroyable !
Nous avons eu des super repas préparés par le cuisinier lors du safari.
Et surtout un super guide David (Simba) que nous n’oublierons pas ! Il nous a fait passer un Safari magique. Toujours le sourire, un vrai passionné de son travail, des animaux, une très belle personne ! Grâce à lui on a vu énormément d’animaux on en garde de superbes photos !
Merci encore Safari soles tour et David