We’ve been home for a month now and we are still basking in the afterglow of our wonderful Tanzanian safari. My Mom & I had a such a great trip! From the time that we touched down in Arusha to the time that we departed 10 days later, we were treated like family by all of the ADS staff and especially by our guide, ‘kaka’ Godson.

All of the pre-safari information that you provided made our trip so easy where we could really just sit back and let it all happen to us. All of the lodges & tent cabins were fantastic – I knew that they would be nice but I wasn’t expecting such lavish accommodations and the level of service to be so top-notch. We really felt at home at the Mbuzi Mawe Tent lodges – the people there were particularly kind, warm & fun to talk to.

A safari has been on both of our Bucket Lists for quite some time & we really didn’t know what at expect when we booked it. Neither of us, despite being relatively seasoned travelers, had been to Africa before – would it be too hot? Would we really see that many animals? Would we have to use a ‘bush bathroom’ (not being camper-types, this was a real concern for us!)?

After the first day, we realized that these ‘fears’ were non-issues. Although the equatorial sun is quite warm in the afternoons out on the Serengeti in May, the cool breeze & ability to pop your head out of the top of our rover made for comfortable touring days. Since it was just me & Mom, we could move seats at will to find the best game viewing opportunities.

We saw so many animals of all kinds – many we knew: elephants, hippos, lions, impalas, baboons, wildebeest, zebras & giraffes and some we were introduced to: dik diks, klipspringers, and my new favorite animal, the hyrax (aka pimbi) – soooo cute! Not to mention, the many species of birds that our guide was able to identify by barely looking at them – the ones that he didn’t know by heart, he was able to look up in his bird book that he had handy in the rover.

Probably the animal highlight for me, was getting to be within a few feet of a cheetah with her recent gazelle kill. She was so tired and so didn’t care that we were watching her eat! I was also impressed by the CB communications that go on between the guides – they all share their animal find information, alerting their comrades so that others’ trips can be enriched too. Very classy.

A few words about our guide, Godson – he was kind, knowledgeable, professional and tenacious. He kept us rolling along each day, taking care of the details, letting us just take it all in. He has the remarkable ability to drive the rover, always scanning for far-off wildlife on the horizon, in trees, on/in kopjes for us so that we wouldn’t miss anything. He would stay as long or as little in one place for us to take pictures. It was really great to have a personal guide and not be a part of a group of strangers – having the flexibility to do things as we wanted really made this trip exceptional.

Thank you again for all of your help in designing & coordinating our safari. Your attention to detail & keeping us informed along the way was very much appreciated. We would have been lost trying to do all of this on our own. We will definitely recommend you & Africa Dream Safaris to anyone in our circle of friends & family who desire to take safari in the future.

I have attached several of my favorite photos from our trip here.

Angela & Diane Rydelius
Moraga, California
Safari Dates: May 21, 2013 to May 29, 2013