It’s hard to put an experience like this into words. Everyone I spoke to about going to Africa said it was a life changing experience, and although I knew it would be great, I didn’t expect it to be all that. One of my friends said to me before I left to ‘be prepared that Africa has a tendency to keep a piece of your heart’. Now I understand what she meant!

The trip came out of an ad hoc conversation with my sister and my best friend when we realized that we each had a trip to Africa on our bucket lists. Each of us knew people who had been on safaris who recommended tour companies, but our research led us to African Dream Safaris, so we packed up our stuff and grabbed our husbands and headed off on our adventure.

What really impressed us about ADS was the gracious, friendly and professional way they handled absolutely every detail of our trip, from the moment we stepped off the plane in Kilimanjaro until the moment we were back at the airport for flight back home to Canada. The staff were top notch and our whole group fell in love with Roman, our guide extraordinaire.

There were so many special moments on our trip. The tented lodges were surprisingly well appointed and luxurious. The staff were incredibly attentive and genuinely interested in making sure our experience exceeded expectations: Waking up at 5:00 am to a hot coffee brought to our tent by Jonas at the Seronera Sametu Camp before heading out on our early morning game drive; being greeted by smiling faces and warm towels at each of our lodges; enjoying delicious meals; and generally enjoying 5 star treatment all the way.

And then there were the animals! You really can’t prepare yourself for the experience of seeing the animals in their natural habitats. The first male lion we encountered blocking the path of our land cruiser took our breath away. All the animals were fantastic and just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we’d run into another amazing scene from the hippos playing in the hippo pool to the lions attacking an intruding lion to the female lion nursing her cubs to the feeding frenzy at the wildebeest kill…nature in all it’s glory!

It was an experience that will be with us all forever. Thanks for the memories!

Laurie and Lawrence O.
Ottawa, Canada
Safari Dates: January 19, 2018 – January 28, 2018