Your own villa in Zanzibar

We booked our Tanzanian and Kenyan safari through Megan Warrington of Discoverafrica.com. Megan was superb and planned the perfect safari for us. All connections/pickups and accommodations were flawlessly executed.

We started off in Ilkeliani, on the border of the Masai Mara park (you cross a little footbridge next to the tents over the Talek river and you are right in the park) which is professionally managed by Sylvester.

He happily and obligingly dealt with all our requests. We were treated to 3 delicious meals/food boxes per day. The camp prepared food exactly according to our dietary requirements. At night we heard the hippos and hyenas of the park from our perfectly appointed tents.

The highlight of the stay was our safari drives. Our devoted guide Joseph showed us amazing sights ranging from cheetahs marking their territory, a leopard guarding its kill, and lions feasting on zebra. In addition to that, Joseph opened our eyes to the Masai culture.

After that, we flew over to the Serengeti where we spent 5 wonderful days at the Nasikia mobile migration camp in the northern Serengeti national park.

Our game drives by Andrei were an unforgettable experience. Through his patience and insights were experienced several Mara river crossings, one spanning over 15 minutes. We saw all the big 5 including a Leopard stalking gazelles and lions and their pride playing in tree.

The mobile camp is located on the top of a hill, and we were literally surrounded by wildebeest and zebra herds.
The food was deliciously prepared by Martin who took great care of our dietary requirements.

Showers were a little challenge because there is no running water, so they are bucket showers. The tents though were well equipped and very comfortable.

After that we flew over to Karatu where we visited Lake Manyara park (didn’t see flamingoes or tree lions unfortunately, but the park is beautiful) and the Ngorongoro Crater, filled with game.

We would highly recommend Megan and her team at Discover Africa.com.

A Tanzanian Safari had been a bucket list trip and Adelle at Discover Africa and Solly, our guide, made it better than we could have ever imagined! A few highlights

Flexibility: we had to adjust dates and itineraries several times given personal conflicts and Adelle flexed with us at every step, offering thoughtful recommendations to make sure we’d be able to have the best possible experience.

Overall Service: from pre-booking until we were back home, we felt genuinely cared about and like we were in great hands. Solly went out of his way to take routes and find spots off the beaten path to see the hard-to-find animals- answered our endless questions, all while doing some of the most impressive driving we’ve ever seen!

Attention to Detail: Adelle reviewed our all arrangements in detail, catching an error I had made with flights and time zones that could have resulted in missing a full day- but was avoided thanks to her. Every detail was perfect at every step. Food, bed types, custom pieces of the itinerary, etc.

Safety: it was of course a little disconcerting traveling during Covid and with my father who had only been out of the country once before- but the team was excellent and guided us through Covid requirements with ease and made us feel safe at every step, staying in constant contact and being very responsive.

Accommodations: far exceeded expectations and were beyond what we imagined, perfectly capturing the essence of a safari. We lucked out that on several of the nights we were the only guests on property- so had over the top service. A reason to book before tourism comes surging back!

Value: we knew this would be a bit of a pricy trip, but Adelle worked with us to get what we felt was a great overall value within our budget. She helped recommend where to pull back and where to spend more on hotels, activities, etc and her advice was excellent. Worth every penny. We could not say enough to compliment the team or recommend more highly – thanks again for the experience of a lifetime!!

This was my first safari. I didn’t expect to be so pampered. Everything was first class. We had everything provided for us before even asking. We had a dedicated team at our service. Megan was on call whenever we needed something and she would always check on us along the way. We felt very well taken care of on all fronts.

The communication regarding the trip was very smooth , taking care of each details, responding immediately to questions , queries . The safari was fantastic with a very professional guide . Absolutely meeting my expectations , I felt safe ,comfortable , inspired and enjoyed the Tanzanian adventure.

Our trip was arranged by Carel Verhoef at discoverafrica.com and was perfectly organised.

We flew into the Masai Mara from Nairobi and all flight connections and transfers were arranged for us and went like clockwork. Carel was also very generous with his advice having lived in East Africa for some years – he is a mine of useful information.

My wife and I have had this trip to see the wildebeest migration on our bucket list for some time and we decided to go this year to coincide with our wedding anniversary. For that reason we were looking for something special yet reasonably priced and Carel helped us find Mara Ngenche. What a spectacularly good choice that was.

We stayed for 5 nights the camp and were extremely well looked after. The staff are fantastic. Our waiter, Steve, learnt what food we liked and didn’t like and was always on hand with a glass of wine and also taught us some Swahili! The Masai guards who escorted us to & from our tent especially Musanga, Karbolo & Lindeni were always on hand, very polite and interesting. Almost everyone speaks excellent English.

The game drive vehicle that we used was completely open at the top and sides and was very comfortable. We had some fabulous sightings with Joseph, our very experienced driver/guide. He was excellent at anticipating the animal’s movements to ensure good photos. In one afternoon we saw the Big 5 and on another occasion 4½, as we could only see the leopard’s tail that time.

The position of the camp on the confluence of two rivers was so relaxing and we often sat on the deck watching the 30 or so hippos all day, even though they didn’t move very much. Breakfasts and lunches were served under the trees beside the river. Dinner, served in the restaurant, was four courses and was beautifully prepared and presented.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and the staff at Mara Ngenche made it more than special. When it came time to leave, my wife cried because she didn’t want to go. Of all the holidays we’ve had over the years, this has been our most memorable.

We have travelled with Discover Africa during February 2015 and we were looked after by Carel Verhoef, our safari planning was made easy by the wealth of knowledge and wonderful service, care and attention we received from Discover Africa and our safari to Tanzania was as expected, well planned and got us into areas where few others were.

We found the Great Wildebeest migration because of this where many others failed, thanks for a once in a lifetime safari Carel!