When people ask us what our favorite part of the safari was, we answer our guide Claude! That is because of his expert knowledge and abilities that truly enhanced our safari and made each and every day as exciting as the first.

But let’s back up and see how we got to this point. We began our search for a safari provider by going on the internet. After a lot of reading we narrowed our search down to three providers, and then two. When we engaged Sharon Lyon on the phone several times with our many questions and she understood our interests, it became clear to us that ADS was going to be our choice. We really liked the straightforward business plan of ADS, with the costs being clear as to what was included and what wasn’t. We were able to make our final decision once we realized that the other option under consideration simply could not match the value we were after.

Just prior to the safari we decided to learn more about birding. Wow, what a treat birding turned out to be and so enriched our safari! Our guide Claude was an extremely capable birder and with his help we identified 186 species. What made it even more fun was the neat adventures that the birding led us to. For example, one day we were going our usual way, on the alert and watching for anything and everything, when we spotted a White-browed Coucal sitting in a tree. We headed for a better look and decided to enjoy the shade of the tree for our picnic lunch. While there, out of the corner of an eye, were a cheetah and her five small cubs passing into the grass.

You know how the literature says you should be the first into the Ngorongoro Crater in the morning? Well, ADS positioned us perfectly, and we actually were the first in. To our delight, our guide took us right to a spot where we enjoyed the next forty minutes of watching two rhinos all by ourselves.

After several days we realized how superior our safari was to others we observed. We had the best vehicle, the most conscientious driver, we were first on lions several times, first on the rhinos, observed four snakes, saw many animal interactions as we were paced just right not to ever be in a hurry.

Every day was new and exciting. With our guide’s knowledge we were able to learn about animal behaviors, how to identify giraffe gender, where to be at what time of day to see the most things, and even could discuss plant life and geology. Thank you ADS for fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Heimke Family
July 7-17, 2012
Anchorage, Alaska