ULTIMATE AFRICA SAFARIS
Ultimate Africa Safaris client testimonials 1998 Our African adventure was fantastic. Kibo
Safaris was by far the best tour operator I have ever seen. I would highly recommend them
to any of your clients going to Tanzania. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable - not
only about the animals, their habits and location, but also about the birds and the plants
and Africa in general. We were very impressed by the whole group, and loved every
minute of the trip. We really had an excellent camping
safari - one that I shall never forget! We saw so many animals,in their natural
environment, looking so contented - it sent shivers down my spine to see such wonderful
sights. Drifters - the company who organized the trip were very reliable and efficient, we
had every faith in them. They arranged a very varied and exciting itinerary. We
were living very close to nature - got dirty and smelly! In fact this trip is the
‘roughest’ that Drifters offers. Thank you very much for all your help in
arranging a wonderful trip. What a great trip! Our guide on
the canoe safari went above the call of duty going out of his way time and again to point
out things and afford us the best opportunity of seeing and photographing the wildlife. Along
the way he would discuss trees, flowers, birds, insects, etc that served to round out the
whole nature experience. Hwange was awesome! Game everywhere in all sizes, shapes, colors
and types. I wanted to see giraffe here and two minutes outside the airport there were a
dozen by the side of the road! Our guide made sure we saw as much as possible. He knew
where the animals were and their habits. We sat by a waterhole at 5 PM with nothing in
sight because he said elephant would come down for a mudbath a we just had to see it.
Fifteen minutes later about 50 elephant marched out of the woods and ran into the water.
What a sight! After it got dark and we were due for dinner the guide took a stab at
finding a leopard. We didn't find one this day however the fact that he tried was good
enough. He stopped and pointed out various nocturnal animals such as spring hares and bush
babies. He explained behavior, habits, and all manner of things that brought the
experience to unparalleled levels! This was the Africa I expected to see, including a
pride of lion with cubs! You put many of my pre-trip concerns to rest, and boy did I have
concerns! Each time my inquiries were addressed in less than 24 hours. I never felt
unsupported. It was also a pleasure dealing with someone who had checked out the places
and tours he was sending us to, and who is obviously enthusiastic about Africa! We may
have to stop traveling because I don't know how we are going to top this one! The safari was truly
incredible. Drifters was fun, flexible and they knew their stuff. The safari
(16-day Zimbabwe Explorer) was a bit bigger than I anticipated (17 people plus the guide),
but otherwise was very well-organized...even if customs and immigration formalities at the
borders changed on a daily basis. Africa alone is a bit scary, and i’m glad that our
group got along great—truly an international crowd—people from Germany, Belgium,
the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Australia, and even another American.The "loving it
and roughing it" motto was no joke...it was roughing it....but I heard that the
Botswana tour was even "rougher." The wildlife, the stunning scenery and
the fun people made it a a great trip. How many times does a full grown African elephant
go through your tented camp? Weather was great and Zimbabwe was very inexpensive
once you got there. No bungee at Vic Falls for me, but did the ultralite and white water
rafting down the Zambezi....great thrills! Thanks for all your help. We just wanted to let you know
that we had an incredible time on our trip to Zimbabwe. We did indeed see black
and white rhino as well as numerous other species. We spent the entire day in Harare with
Meg Coates Palgrave and thoroughly enjoyed her company. We have made a friend for life in
her. Her knowledge of trees was very helpful to us throughout the trip. She even met us on
our return to Harare to find out about our trip! Barberton Lodge was phenomenal
and we highly recommend it to anyone in terms of hospitality, knowledge of the staff, fun,
facilities, etc (Guy Barber is great fun to fly with). They set a high standard
for the rest of the trip to live up to. Dave Waddy and Big Cave Camp were also wonderful.
The rock formations around Matobos are incredible and his staff was also very helpful and
knowledgeable. We particularly enjoyed the guide, John, and his knowledge of trees. Vic
Falls was awesome. Steve, the guide in
Matusadona, was great and we really enjoyed him and the area. He was probably the overall
"best" of the different guides that we experienced. All in all, the trip
was everything we expected and more. We are already talking about our next trip to
Zimbabwe (as soon as we can figure out how to pay for it). Thanks so much for your input
and assistance. It really made the trip a "once in a lifetime" experience that
we intend to repeat. My first week was spent on my own in
Zanzibar, and it was magical. I really loved that island, and particularly enjoyed my last
night when I dined at Emerson’s rooftop restaurant. I will definitely return to
Zanzibar some day. By the way when I got to Arusha, Emmanuel the guide met me at the
airport and took me to Mountain Village Lodge. It was a gorgeous place! It was like all my
images of expat life in Africa, I am sure I got these images from movies I have seen, but
the Mountain Village Lodge met all of them and I was charmed. That night i met Tom and
Eric Kraus (also booked through Ultimate Africa), brothers from Ohio. They ended up being
like big brothers for me, and that was great since I was the only single in the group. I
enjoyed the small size of our group, and we really enjoyed one another’s company. Cheers. Our safari was absolutely
terrific!! We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks so much for organizing such a great trip!
We would definitely recommend you to others. I am so impressed at how well coordinated all
of our transfers were! By the way, we ran into another couple from Seattle who booked
their trip through you and they too were having a splendid time! We have
a lot of awesome pictures and when I get my web page set up I’ll let you know. The trip was - brilliant! We
had such a good time and I can’t believe how well organized everything was. Barberton
was unbelievable! I have never seen such a magnificent place. They even scared up
a rhino for us. We loved it. Our guide there was Liesel Crooks - she’s excellent! The
Vic Falls hotel was an experience I’m glad we paid for. It was just too, too much.
What a hoot. Our tour guide there was Pious and he was very personable, helpful,
articulate and interesting. We had an outstanding time with guide Bryan May and his wife
Tracey who happens to be his learner guide in Matusadona. No lions, but the service was
outstanding and Matusadona is a neat place. Their cook is terrific. You saved the best for
last with the Mana Pools canoe safari. The guide was hilarious and the trip is
magnificent. We absolutely loved it. And everything worked like clockwork. I was a
little apprehensive investing so much money and enthusiasm with a company I knew only from
the internet. Your knowledge of Africa proved to be right on the mark and the organization
was outstanding! I even liked your choice of plane seating. I would have freaked out being
in the 4 across seats. Thanks for everything. It was brilliant. Our safari was fantastic! What can I
say? Your staff and contacts were very attentive, punctual, reliable, knowledgeable,
thorough and friendly. You have truly put together the ‘A’ team and we
recognized and appreciated that fact. Everything went as planned...quite an accomplishment
for such a complex trip. Every single thing we discussed was handled perfectly.
We had the best suite at the Mt. Nelson Hotel and The Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. All of
our private activities, dinners, game drives and accommodations were first class. It
may have been my imagination but it seemed that the staff were very aware of us and
treated us as if we were very special. I cannot possibly thank all of your staff.
However, it seemed as if someone was always checking to make sure everything was going
well and that we were being well cared for. Having traveled to this part of the
world in the past, this type of treatment was very reassuring and, again, appreciated. I
am sure that you and your people had a lot to do with this. Please thank each of the
‘out front’ and ‘behind the scenes’ personnel. It was very obvious
that they were always there...just when we needed them. We really enjoyed all of
our safari activities, especially the private tours and events that you had arranged. The
guides were super, as you had assured me, and very accommodating to our needs. I have
excellent photos as testimony to their ability to get us in the right place at the right
time! There were so many thrills that I cannot possibly take to time to share all
of them with you. I will mention, however, that Phyllis ‘chickened out’ on the
rafting after she saw the promotional video...just not her thing! But, I had a real
thrill, since I survived. Again I appreciate everything you did. We especially were
impressed with our airline seats during our 14 hour flights. It made a big difference! I
cannot say enough about the thoroughness of you and your organization. I realize that I
paid quite a bit for this experience and I expected a lot in return. Well, I am very
satisfied that I received my money’s worth...and then some. It is good to know that
there are people like you who really do care about their clients and their experiences.
People always ask me if I would do it all again whenever I take a trip such as this one. I
can say without hesitation that I would gladly book another Ultimate Africa Safari. I can
think of no better accolade. You and your staff certainly deserve the credit for my being
able to make that statement. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I look forward to doing business with
you again in the near future. Thank you! It was brilliant
from start to finish. The guides, the wildlife, the lodges, the transfers, the food...in
short everything was spectacular and beyond our wildest expectations. We were
also extremely fortunate in our game viewing and had some of the best guides available (we
discovered this subsequently from hearsay and other traveler’s disaster tales!). At
the root of all this success was your itinerary and suggestions and we are both extremely
grateful. A trip like this could easily have been a nightmare if not well planned and
executed (as happened to some of the "unfortunates" we met along the way) and
this is 100% to your credit. Aside from having sung Ultimate Africa’s praises
throughout the trip to fellow travelers and our immediate friends upon our return, we were
also both "hooked" on Africa and do intend to return on a regular basis. Benson
the manager and our guide during the stay at Little Makalolo is a fantastic human being
that we were privileged to get to meet. What a dream that place was not to mention the
game (lions botching up a buffalo kill attempt, cheetahs, 2 leopards in 3 days, the second
sighting of which lasted for between one to one and a half hours creating fantastic photo
opportunities. I shot around 250 rolls of film over the 3 weeks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and
the 1 week in Kenya). Last but not least, in Botswana - Muchenje Lodge was fantastic as
you said. Matt and Lorna are wonderful hosts and the guide Sean Powell was a
vibrant/exciting and more importantly, genuine human being. Again a real privilege to know
as was his assistant Winston. I intend to return to all 3 of these places without fail.
Without wishing to bore you too much, the only negative experience we had, which has
nothing to do with Ultimate Africa’s organization was a Victoria Falls sundowner
cruise. We got to see the worst of human nature. We were put on a boat with 2 busloads of
drunks that had not bathed in days! Horrendous. Anyway it only lasted 1-1/2 hours and
certainly put into sharp focus for us how lucky we had been up to then and how lucky we
were to be subsequently. In summary what a success. Thank you so much.
You were also right about Kenya in terms of value - very expensive though we were
principally there to see old friends. The Masai Mara was beautiful. We stayed at Mara
Intrepids which was OK but not in the same league as any of the other lodges you had set
us up in previously. But again we were with good friends so... You’ll be hearing from
us shortly for further trips and I promise not to be so long winded with endless
questions. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just wanted to write and thank you for
planning such a wonderful trip for us. Africa is truly a magical place and we had
such a good time. We also appreciate the calls made when our return flight from Miami to
Houston was cancelled. Not many people take the time to be so detailed and conscientious.
Despite all our apprehensions, everything worked out great. However, there was
one first which we’d rather not have been. On the lion safari, we were the first
group since they’ve been doing it not to see a single lion! But, Hwange made up for
that and we saw 15-20 lion. I’d have to say Little Mak was probably the highlight of
our trip and we even had the camp to ourselves most of the time. Thanks again for
everything and if you ever need a reference, feel free to give out our email address. Hope
to contact you again one day down the road to plan another one! The trip was amazing.
Absolutely nothing went wrong. Every flight on time, every connection smooth, every hotel,
lodge, tented camp great, every person nice, every meal fine, perfect weather, great
combination of action and relaxation. Thanks so much!!!! We have traveled independently
and extensively around the world and our trip to Africa, by far, ranks number one in terms
of predeparture information, accommodations, foods, and overall experience. Thank
you for creating a such a fantastic trip! It was an absolutely incredible
trip. We had a fabulous time. Everything went smoothly, down to the littlest details. The
variety of experiences among the safari camps was perfect. Each had something unique to
offer. And the order we did them in was the right way to do it...The guides were extremely
knowledgeable about everything, and very courteous and professional. This makes such a
huge difference in the quality of the safari. We met up with other traveler’s who
also booked their trip through Ultimate Africa, and they were having an awesome time too.
We saw them at Ruckomechi, and they had already been to Matusadona. They raved about the
guide they had there, Steve Carey. Well, when we got to Matusadona, we found out that
Steve was not going to be our guide, but we were going to get Brian and Tracy. We were
initially a bit disappointed because we were not getting Steve whom we had heard so much
about. But it turned out great, because Brian was an excellent guide. We tracked a black
rhino for 3 hours and finally caught up with it—very exciting! Our transfer were
great. I have to hand it to you for all the excellent recommendations you made.
And all the pre-trip information you provided was bang-on accurate. Many people arriving
for the air transfer into Hwange were not aware of the 12kg limit and had to repack their
stuff, but we were prepared because of the info you provided. The highlight was
the game viewing. We saw a leopard 10 minutes into our very first game drive. We also had
seven lions walk by, about 3 meters in front of our vehicle, on that very first drive. We
saw over 65 elephants gathered at the water hole in Hwange. One of our favorite activities
was just to sit in the treehouse at Little Mak, overlooking the watering hole, and watch
the elephants. We also saw lions mating, at Hwange. Wow. The food was very good overall.
We really appreciated that all the camps knew about my wife's dietary restrictions, and
accommodated her without making a big deal out of it. I plan to post some photos on our
website. I’ll let you know when they are up there. Of course, I’ll put a link to
ultimateafrica.com there too. Hmmm, what else can I say? You did a fantastic job
with this trip... we’re telling everyone in sight about it. Thanks for everything,
and thanks for pushing us in the direction of Zimbabwe in the first place. Please feel
free to use us as a reference for potential clients. Take care. It was incredible! Everything
went very smoothly. I also wanted to remark on the outstanding guides that we had at all
of the lodges and camps. We had such great fun, and I want to thank you once again for
helping to make our honeymoon so unforgettable. I would highly recommend Ultimate Africa
for anyone looking to go on safari - you were able to perfectly ascertain what we wanted
from our safari. Thank you again and best wishes... Oh, we had an absolutely grand
time. Really. To go half way around the world and have a trip come off with hardly a hitch
is a tremendous feat! We relaxed. We ate too much. We took too many photos! We had too
much fun! You couldn't improve on our experience! `You and all your partners along the way
outdid yourselves. All the lodges were unique and top notch. We had more personalized
service than either one of us could have imagined possible. And the food. I had no idea we
were in for such elegance. I just can’t speak highly enough of the whole experience.
If you’d like to use us as a reference, please don’t hesitate. Thank you, thank
you, thank you. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I just want to let you know
that we really enjoyed our trip to Botswana. It was incredible. Thank you so much for all
your help. We will highly recommend you to everyone. You’re wonderful! Thank
you so much! Thank you for all your hard work. We were charged by a hippo, our
tent blew over at 2am in a torrential downpour, our guide came down with malaria, I was
held underwater by a whirlpool for an uncomfortably long period of time while rafting, and
we had the greatest vacation we have ever had together. Honest. We had a wonderful time.
The walking safari was the highlight of an incredible trip. We were treated to
first class service the entire time. Our guide was very professional, and
everything about the service was "Ritz Carlton in the Bush". Thank you for
arranging such an adventurous trip. I would be happy to serve as a highly laudatory
reference for you. My wife and I are already figuring out our next trip to Africa
(which probably won’t be for a couple of years, but we’ll call you when the time
comes). Thanks again! ...an amazing, enriching
experience. It couldn’t have been any better. Return to Safari Testimonials |
