Kenya & Tanzania Safari Adventure

Our safari in Africa was a trip of a lifetime. It was everything & more than we expected. From our meeting at the Nairobi airport to our delivery back. All ran very smoothly. This tour was one of the best holidays we have had & we have exerienced four continents. I felt we got to taste the African culture, food, music & wildlife. Not only did we see the wild animals, we lived with them. The accommodations ranged from a world class hotel in the middle of the Serengeti to tents with running water & power most of the time. I can't say enough about the experiences we had. Meeting the Maasai was a trip back in time. They refuse to change their lifestyle & live like the lion. Women do all the work for the family & the men are the warriors. Our drivers Julius in Kenya & Edwin in Tanzania went out of their way to show us a wonderful holiday. Thank you Go Ahead.

BE NICE

THE TOUR WAS VERYGOOD, BUT THE PEOPLE THAT YOU TRAVEL WITH CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOUR TOUR, WE HAD ONE THAT WAS LATE FOR EVERYTHING. WE HAD TWO THAT WUNTED TO BE THE " BOSS " THEY NEEDED TO TELL EVERYONE WHAT TO DO.

My Dream Trip

I have made 18 trips abroad, to include Western Europe, Egypt, and China. Without hesitation, the most incredible experience I ever had was the trip to Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Safari. To experience the wildlife, the Great Rift Valley, the people of Kenya...especially the Masai...the food, riding in a hot air balloon over the savannah, and so many other incredible things, was a magical experience and one of the high points of my life. I do not have too many items left in my "bucket list," but a return to Kenya is among them.

African Horizons

We did the Kenyan Safari and can't say enough about the African Horizons tour company Go Ahead contracted. Chris was the leader and he did a great job. Our driver was Soloman who we all just adored. I was amazed at how well rounded he is. Knowing not only about the animals and regions, the social and the political aspects of his country, but of his continent. It was our first organzied tour vacation. We enjoyed most of the other guests quite a bit. ALL the places we stayed were beautiful. Mostly we stayed two nights at each place. Only one night at The Ark. What a amazing place!!!! We would have enjoyed a second night there. Our only complaint was it was a bit too fast paced. Many nights I didn't even have time to shower before dinner. It seemed we were on the go all the time. But the food, hotels, scenery and of course, the animals were INCREDIBLE. As for Go Ahead Tours, I had a different expierence. We needed some some extra nights. When asked I finally got the answer to contact the hotel and arrangement it myself. Upon further persistance, I was then told to contact the tour company on the ground (African Horizons) and they would book the extra nights. The night before I was leaving (I left earlier before the tour started but it was less than a week before the tour) I got a call from Go Ahead asking if they wanted me to book the extra nights. As I said, we have never done a tour before,... but this seemed like a very basic request (adding a night before and a night after) of any travel agency but their response was do it yourself and when I persisted, they only passed the buck. I did have two other requests. One was trying to find out if there would be laundry facilities available at any point on the tour. I was told to call the hotels and find out for myself. (there were 5 hotels involved on this trip in Kenya). Again, I persisted. And again, I was told to contact African Horizons for the information. The last request I had turned out to be unusual. I'm sorry to say. I had read about doing some chairtible things that would be useful for people of Kenya during our travels. The do's and don'ts. One of the best things I read on multiple sites was to deal with the tour company who usually has a school, orphanage, or clinic they sponser so that any contributions we would make would be assured to go to the right people and would be things they specifically need. I tried to get information from Go Ahead regarding this and surprise surprise... they were no help at all. They didn't know what to advise me about things I could donate. Let alone where to donate them. I tried to suggest that they find a place to sponcer for the future so they can 'give back' to a country that they are profiting from. I found it fell on deaf ears. When I persisted for help in doing "something", they again, surprise, surprise, referred me to African Horizons. When I did recieve that call from Go Ahead the day before I left asking if they can book me extra nights.... I explained what my expierence had been. This woman actually sounded interested and assured me she was going to see if she could get something going for the future. Unlike the girl I had previous talked to and emailed with who seemed completely uninterested in this. Nor did she forward my email making the suggestion they start doing something like this as I had asked her to (I requested she reply back to me with the CC to a supervisor but she never did). At any rate, I have to say on the plus side, Go Ahead was quick and easy to make payments and book the tour with. If they are the ones who booked the hotels, they did a good job. They were all very unique and very nice. While some of the rooms were worn and in need of refurbishing, ALL of the grounds and group areas were beautiful. All the staff and food friendly and good. I've already covered the negative side. One last note. A suggestion really. In our group of 32 people, 18 had medical problems. Actually, make that 19 as I just heard someone got sick in transit home. 19 out of 32. All but one was a intestional problem. Cause undetermined. Two of us got sick for aprox. 8 hours one day. A couple days later, people started dropping like flies with SEVERE intestional problems (a hotel dr. was called multiple times). For the next several days, the list kept growing. It lasted 2-3 days before people would start emerging from their rooms on occasion. Obviously, everyone effected missed at least one outting. Most missed a few days of outtings. So, my suggestion is that Go Ahead make a effort to inform people about proper eating when in Kenya. I think they should arrange with hotels that fresh fruit and vegetibles be handled according to the CDC recomendations and minimize uncooked fruits and veggies. Make sure at least everyone is aware of the risk and problems. If they chose to ignore this, so be it. I also suggest that Go Ahead make sure that what ever agency they contract also have a meeting where they go over the food and water percautions. Would I recomend this tour? Absolutely. I think for the most part, I give African Horizons a 9 out of 10... only because for whatever reason... a large amount of people got sick (African Horizons were EXCELLENT in attentiveness to those that were sick though). Go Ahead.... hmmm. Well, for what they did, they did good. But for what they didn't do,... (again, maybe my expectations were out of line). Well, you decide. Final note. A LOT of the people on our tour have done a great many tours. Every single one of them that I talked to said that Go Ahead was the best of all the ones they have used before. So.... again, you decide. If you want nothing at all out of the ordinary then I give them a high rank as well.

Kenya & Tansania Safari

This was our first trip with go ahead tours,but hopefully not our last. Everything went very smoothly with our tour. Our Kenya driver/guide Daniel was absolutely the best. He was very informative about everything that we did and saw. If there was a question he could not answer he would look it up and tell us the next day. When we went to tansania Kevin was our driver/guide. While he was not as informative as Daniel was, he was friendly and able to find the animals we still wanted to see. If I could only go to one of those countries to view amimals it would be Tansania. Kenya would be my choice to view the differance between city,rural and village life. The local people we met were always very pleasent and eager to talk. Almost everyone speeks english except for some of the rural and village people. We were very fortunate to see all the big 5, at the least 3 times, some many more. January is the off season for tourists, but our guides said it is the best time to do game drives because there are not so many vehicals jockeying for position to see the animals. We were able to see a pride of lions stalk and kill a buffallo just 40 feet from our vehical. Very exciting. We had a small group of 10 people,which gave us the opertunity to get to know everyone. I think normally groups are about twenty,so we considered ourselves lucky. The vehicles (vans)in Kenya were very rattley but that is to be expected considering the very bumpy roads . The good part is they were close to the road so you could get good pictures from ground level. The vehicals in tansania sat higher and the seats were more comfortable,but you were higher in the air and they has more sway to them and not as much room to stand and take pictures.They both do the job though. The food was not always what I like but it was always prepared well and there was always enough variety that I never went hungry. If you love animals and beautiful scenery don't miss this trip.

Kenya Wildlife Safari

An incredible adventure! A once in a lifetime opportunity to see wildlife as they were meant to be, free and roaming the savannahs of Africa.

Trips of a lifetime

I first took this tour in 2003 and was in awe every moment during the tour. Everything was wonderful. I was so impressed that I decided to take the exact same tour again in 2012 with a friend who had this trip on her 'bucket list'. I was awed again but this time I was able to sit back and savor the moments. Again, everything was wonderful and the animal viewing was outstanding. I heartily recommend this trip to anyone - young or old - who is interested in taking a safari.

Kenya/Tanzania Wildlife Tour

I thought the tour was wonderful. The lodging varied from fun and comfortable tents to 5 star luxury Hotels. the schedule was well thought out and the parks and concervancies visited and the amount and variety of animals more than I imagined. The driver/tour guides were knowledgeable. Good job.

Kenya and Tanzania

The most amazing experience, incredible access to beautiful animals. Our driver/guides were top notch, extremely knowledgable, skilled in getting us close to animals, and became a part of our wonderful experience. Great accommodations too, a fantastic value. Best trip of my life.

Kenya Wildlife Adventure

The best part of the trip was travelling with the group of people who took it. Our group leaders were very thorough about providing information before, during and following the trip. They set the tone for the cohesiveness and "looking out for each other" attitude that was evident during every aspect of the trip. The itinerary was well designed and the Camps were all quite comfortable and accomodating. Our Kenyan driver and guide was exceptional in his knowledge, attitude and concern for our safety and comfort at all times. The service at the Camps and the local counterparts with whom we engaged were all very helpful, courteous and willing to share their knowledge and culture. The food was good and plentiful with a wide variety of choices. The game drives were exciting albiet the rough terrain and terrible roads but seeing the animals in the wild was well worth it. Overall, the experience was memorable and very worthwhile, with the tight space on some airlines being the major setback.