Guest Feedback
Some feedback for you, hopefully it’s helpful:
Our tour guide Kessy was amazing. He was thoughtful, humble, fun and helpful the entire trip. Can’t recommend him enough! He was able to move us around all the parks smoothly and help us see all the animals we could. His knowledge and sharing was great.
Burunge Tented Lodge – beautiful! 1 of our favourites! Eating on the deck, swimming in the pool, whilst seeing animals in the ‘backyard’ was a once in a lifetime experience! The staff were amazing – we had 1 staff member focus on us at meals so that made for a lovely connection. The rooms were great – everything we needed – and the turn down service was lovely. The best lunch set up – ‘make your own’ meant we took what we knew we would eat with little wastage. All food was delicious!
Lake Eyasi – good accommodation and food. Beautiful sunsets. The cultural components were a bit of an eye opener. I don’t think we quite realised we were actually going hunting with the Hadzabe tribe until the briefing the night before (very glad we had that briefing). We were a little ‘caught out’ with the amount of money we needed for these experiences with tipping or purchasing at each experience ‘expected’. Coming from a country that doesn’t tip in general, we were glad to have Kessy guide us, but also glad we had thought to withdraw shillings at the airport before we started the safari – we were lucky we had withdrawn enough given we didn’t realise how much we would use for this purpose across these 2 days especially.
Bougainvillea Lodge – another 1 of our favourites! The grassed lawn around the pool area was a treat. Food was great – good range. Staff were helpful. Rooms were lovely.
Safari View Camp – accommodation was good – we are used to tenting it, so whilst the ‘luxury’ was not as present as the other lodges, we still found it comfortable. The food probably wasn’t quite as good either but again I think that is a reflection of size and location of resort. The smaller size meant the staff were able to engage with us more. Being greeted with a wet towel every day (not just the first day) was perfect and appreciated! Their personal singing/dancing send off was a highlight as was Ben’s birthday celebration! The sunrises and sunsets were amazing. The only thing I noticed about this lodge was that because it is so ‘isolated’ and minimal there wasn’t a lot to do between returning home from the drive and having dinner e.g. no pool to freshen up in, limited wi fi, which just meant the down time was different from the other lodges.
Kirurumu Manyara Lodge – very funky in structure and comfortable. Food and service from staff was also lovely. Given we left so early in the morning we were grateful they had people to help us get our bags up to reception and had our lunch boxes ready.
Selous was another brilliant recommendation: we loved its small scale and the proximity of the river. The boat safari on the day of our arrival really set the scene and plunged us in a different world straight away. Everything was very personal, the staff in general and our guide were just brilliant and warm and keen to make our stay as memorable and comfortable as possible. The food delicious. We saw a lot of game, had a breakfast and a lunch in the bush too which the kids loved.
All in all, we loved our holidays and are very grateful for your help and insights.
Dear Claudia, I just wanted to drop you a line saying how much we enjoyed the safari you arranged for us. Most everything was fantastic and the entire trip and connections went smoothly. Guide and camp staff at all locations (Gibbs Farm, Lemala Kuria Hills, Elewana Sand River Mara) were friendly and attentive making sure we were completely satisfied.
Of course, we saw many animals in a variety of environments and even were provided front row seats to the great migration as several thousand wildebeests and zebras crossed the Mara river right in front of us in the northern Serengeti. Several days later we again saw the migration from the Kenya side of the river.
We will highly recommend your services to friends and family who want to schedule a safari experience.
Thanks again for your help and guidance!
Dear Claudia, I am more than pleased to give you a short feedback.
Accommodation
– Arusha Coffee Lodge is a very nice place. Very good service and lovely surroundings. For the last night we could have sleep a little bit closer to the airport to save the 1h commuting transfer as we have a very early flight
– Acacia Farm Lodge was great and the team really professional and welcoming!
It is nice but you don’t really feel the safari spirit there. It is the only minus though the hotel is well designed!
– Lemala Camp was awesome! Everything was perfect. The tasty food, the team always available to pamper or to support you. Location is fabulous!
Wildlife
-Lake manyara is cute and we could already see a lot there. But I will definitely not put it as the most striking area.
– Ngorongoro crater is amazing from the top view. Inside you feel more like in a big zoo. Accommodation next to the crater would be better to enjoy the sunset and sunrise and to avoid the long drive to access the wildlife reserve.
– north Serengeti was the best of our trip. Beautiful landscape, lot of animals. You really experience the safari spirit there.
Guide
-MP was fantastic! He was really keen on explaining us animal facts and was aware of children’s need. Great!
– the private guide in Lemala was really good too… we were quite amazed how well trained and efficient both guides were!
Airstrip
– a must do! Both flights were well scheduled and offering a different view on the area!
I will definitely recommend your agency for friends planning a trip to Tanzania.
Next time you have to organise our stay in Zanzibar!
Hi Claudia, Please find below my detailed feedback:
Exclusive Safaris / Zanzibar Retreats:
For my honeymoon, I have always wanted to plan a surprise trip. Claudia was my perfect partner in crime in providing me all the right advice and support for making sure my dream became a reality. For my trip to Tanzania (safari + beach) in June, I started to plan as early as Feb to get the best possible places. I am pretty detailed in my planning and also had no clue about travelling in Africa. Claudia provided me with a few great options to choose from based on my requirements and budget. She answered every question I had (trust me there was a lot of mail exchange) with utmost professionalism and in a very timely manner. Everything from the very first mail till the end of my honeymoon was perfect. She provided the best possible price. I had spoken to a couple other agents as well and the price difference was huge. Through her conversation it was very clear that this was her passion and she wanted to ensure we had an amazing honeymoon no matter what. In fact, to prove this was the fact that our flights got delayed from London and thus could not make it to the local transfer flights she had us booked on. Once I informed her, she had already informed and taken care of alternate arrangements. By the time we landed, all was good and flowed through very smoothly. I cannot thank or appreciate Claudia enough for having made this trip a super memorable one. Thanks again Claudia!
Rufiji River Camp
This was our first stop and due to our delay we missed the evening activity. However, they were on time to pick us up from the local air strip and also had planned a romantic alfresco dinner by the river bank in the company of lots of hippos.It is a very beautifully located camp and also well decorated and built. They had a few options for activities too. The bush lunch and breakfast was amazing too. However, the food was below average. I also believe that the Selous game reserve is probably suited only for those who want to be more private and not for those who actually want to spot herds of animals.
Matemwe Retreat
This literally is paradise on Earth. I have travelled to over 35 countries in Asia, America and Europe and nothing comes close to this. Absolutely picturesque, very well built and maintained property, so very close to the beach, amazing views, and absolutely delicious food. Most important of all though is the whole team of Matemwe right from Ross and Gina (who also was our photographer for a couple of hours) who manage the property, the amazing George -our private butler, our private chef John, the F&B manager Rama (who sings really well too), the head concierge Martin, the sports guide Mubarak and of course the bartender. The team ensured a perfect honeymoon, be it their amazing sand bank tour, snorkelling trips, amazing beach dinners and many more surprises to add to the great service they provided. The team’s reply to anything we asked was ‘Hakuna Matata’ (meaning ‘no problem’ for those who do not know). Truly the spirit of Africa. Undoubtedly the best stay in our lives so far and it is almost impossible to probably think that there could be any place in the future that will match up to this.
Do let me know if you need any specific details. Thanks a ton!
Dear Claudia, Happy new year!
Our vacation in Tansania was absolutely fabulous and went by without any difficulties!
In Short: Both the hotels were what they promised. At Sand River Selous we had very lovely lodge managers which took our well being very seriously. The length of our stay (4 nights) was perfect to see all the different game and as we stayed in one lodge only we did not comprise any time on traveling which all of as appreciated a lot.
The journey to Fundu Lagoon was not the most comfortable one, as it was very long with many changes. However I was worth it. The resort was very nice we had great food lots of fun on our diving/snorkeling/fishing trips and could enjoy the the wonderful spa. Especially the sunsets were beautliful. Due to the time of the year the hotel was only filled with families which made the stay very pleasant.
Our trip was wonderful, we enjoyed everything that you had chosen for us. You provided a good mix with the camps and they were all excellent in their own way. I like the way you mixed it up too. Every camp had wonderful food, service etc. I have been on to trip adviser and written a review for Matemwe Bungalows, it is online now. The whole family loved everything too. At first we thought Serengeti Mara Camp and Entim looked like they were in close proximity, but funny enough the regions were slightly different, we saw very different things in both region. We particularly loved Oliver’s Camp – Jackie and Justine were wonderful hosts and there is a hugh variety of animal in the Tarangire National Park with only being a small swamp area near by, so all the animals hung around that region making it easy to spot.
We only saw 1 Rhino and that was in the Ngorongoro crater and far away. We only missed sighting another at Serengeti Olakira Camp by 1 day, it never appeared again. I guess that was our only disappointment.
Finishing at Matemwe was perfect too, it gave us time to relax before the big journey home. They really need to do something about that road into Matemwe though, it is rough as rough.
Many thanks for organizing a wonderful holiday and helping us get through that difficult time last year of postponing. I will certainly recommend Zanzibar Retreats.
Hi Claudia, we are back home and also back to work! All the drivers were just fine and very kind.
Lake Duluti – was very nice, it was short but nice after a long trip, with nice honeymoon details.
Plantation Lodge was very special and we truly loved it! The food was not so premium as expected, though. Wasn’t bad, but for the money we paid we imagined something more diverse and higher quality ( especially breakfast).
Sayari – was amazing, same comment about the food as for Plantation lodge. Breakfast was so and so, especially for me not eating meat. Other than this was very very special lodge, with great view, with a nice feeling of adventure everywhere, very warm hosts.
The airport in Zanzibar is a mess, but luckily our things were ok. Kilindi was breath-taking, beautiful views and comfort. I would have liked to have more entertainment from the resort itself. No life music at all, no local people involved to create something for the guests, no internet in the room or a TV for movies (just movies, especially when it was raining). VERY good food & drinks at Kilindi!!
It was a very nice adventure for us, amazing nature and great connection with animals, very kind and very relaxed people, good food (overall)!
Thank you again for your help, it was priceless!!
