For Those Wondering If A Private Safari Is For You…

Wow! How do you begin to describe the incredible Tanzania safari we made recently with ADS. Everything from the beginning planning stages through to helping us make arrangements to get to Southern Africa for the second part of our Africa experience was handled in the most professional way. We particularly appreciated the patience and timely answers to our many questions.

We did have concerns that we would have some problems because my wife is an above knee amputee and her prosthesis requires several hours of charging each night. We need not have worried because every camp we visited was aware of her needs and arrangements had been made well ahead of time.

We were amazed at the amount of training that the guides have received. Our guide could answer nearly every question we asked from identifying an animal (including even the genus and species) to describing diet preferences and gestation periods. When we arrived we weren’t “birders” but after seeing the hundreds of different birds identified for us we have a whole new appreciation for the diversity of bird life in Tanzania.

For those wondering if a private safari is for you, the answer is a definite YES. It was so nice to be able to stop when we wanted, spend whatever time at a particular viewing we wanted, and never have to struggle to find a good spot to get a photo.

Pokea, our guide was absolutely great. If we told him “let’s go find a lion” (or cheetah, leopard, elephant hippo etc) off we would go and pretty soon we’d find ourselves closer to our animal than we ever dreamed we would be. Even Pokea was excited when we spotted a pack of Africa wild dogs, as he had not seen them in Tanzania for over 3 years. Our pack walked calmly within 5 feet of us.

What else can we say? We thought that this would be a once in a lifetime trip, but after our experience in Tanzania and with ADS, there’s little doubt that we will be making a return trip in a year or two. The pictures say it all. Enjoy!

Bill and Sue D.
Friendswood, Texas
Safari Dates: August 30, 2014 to September 10, 2014

  1. Really, this collection is probably the best photos I have seen. Would like to know the time period they were there in case we ever do it again! Could you let me know, please?

    1. Hi Sandy
      We arrived at Kilamanjaro on Aug. 28, stayed at Mt. Meru Resort for a day to recover from the trip, and started our Safari on Aug 30, ending on Sept. 10 when we left for South Africa and spent two weeks in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Our timing to see the migration was perfect, however, the crocs had been feasting on Wildebeest for several weeks so were to full to care much
      I might also add that having experienced Africa through two different tour companies, ADS was easily the best as far as keeping us informed on what to expect, bring etc.

  2. Your photos are just too beautiful for words. These all look postcard perfect!The mama lion carrying that little adorable lion cub is just out of this world. We traveled with ADS in September 2012 but my pictures are not nearly as amazing. I will have to upgrade my camera equipment for my next safari…we are hopefully going back in March 2016 to see the wet season. What type of camera did you use to take these photos? I would love to know this.

  3. GREAT photos. Brings back memories of our July/August 2013 family trip. Makes us want to return. Africa gets into your soul!

  4. Wonderful pictures, certainly will need to update our photo equipment prior to going. Couple of quick questions: What do you consider the highlight our your trip, and what was your biggest problem or concern that you had? Thank you so much for sharing.