Tanzania Reviews

'The Nomad Lodge (Lamai) is very well run. Beautiful, fantastic, really really good. The couple who manage it is lovely. The Nairobi hotel near the airport  (Ole Sereni) was very good. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge at PNV is very good. Loved the Gorillas!

We really enjoyed Arusha Coffee Lodge. Greystoke Mahale was great. We loved the pet Pelican! Lamai Serengeti was worth paying for. Top drawer!. I've always wanted to see the migration and we saw a BIG one - a major crossing - some ten thousand Wildebeest crossing, with Crocs taking some of them. Standard of the accommodations and hospitality was fantastic. We will go back!'

John and I just wanted to say a big 'thank you' for arranging the itinerary for our Golden Wedding.  The whole trip was absolutely delightful.  The guide kind, helpful and knowledgeable and the camps and lodges you chose equally interesting.  Also nearly everything worked out to plan, which I know is not always possible in these countries - our only blip being a couple of hours in Arusha airport as they couldn't fit us on the first plane to Zanzibar.  
 
It was great to relax at The Manor.  It was SO beautiful there and the air is perfect.  We just wished we could be there longer as we hardly touched base with all our interesting viewing in the crater.  Somehow they calculated our return home and we came back to a bath already drawn full of rose petals.  Then we were really spoilt with private dining, everything was perfect.  Surely one of the best hotels we have visited.
 
We thought nothing could top that, but on our actual anniversary in Zanzibar, they brought canapés and bucks fizz to our room, which we thought was very nice, but then when we went for a drink before dinner they surprised us further by saying we were off for a 'bush' dinner.  This confused me a bit as we were now on the beach, but it was amazing.  They had built a little room on the beach from palm leaves, interwoven with flowers and put some fairy lights along the bushes.  A big fire burned in a pit (only about 30deg) which was very atmospheric and then we had a special menu, with our own waiter. Various member of staff visited to wish us well, and when we returned to our room we had a bottle of sparkling wine, and some presents too.  We were absolutely bowled over by it all, and had to admit that it was all much better than our actual wedding. Again possibly one of the best hotels we have visited.
 
The game viewing was great - each park having it's own speciality and we saw some amazing things.  Kusini had a pair of lions visiting nightly and a herd of buffalo munching away a couple of feet from our bed.  We loved Suala too, so pretty.  So thank you very much for arranging it all for us.

Thank you so much for all of your help arranging this itinerary to fit our needs – including the needs we were not aware we had! We had a fantastic holiday - all arranged, no details left to chance.

Thank you for providing such a good itinerary, we really enjoyed the experience.  Our driver / guide Hemidi was excellent; very caring, knowledgeable and considerate.

We expected from your brochure to be part of a group, but in fact we were the only two in our Land Cruiser (excellent!). There was a change from staying at the Tloma Lodge to The Farmhouse Ngorogoro (an upgrade to a better property), and on the last night at  Plantation Lodge we were given  the Executive  Suite,  which was very grand and in contrast to the Chaka Camp the night before. The Chaka camp was just so exciting with zebras, wildebeest, buffalo, elephants, and hyenas walking past during the night. On our second night there was a pride of lions not far away and one had to be chased away from behind our tent. All very exciting stuff.

All the night stops were very good and comfortable and we also enjoyed the Maramboi Camp site . The evening dinner was by candle light on the veranda under the stars. The one animal we wanted to see was a Cheetah and we saw three: one on a bank at some distance, one eating a gazelle close by and one with a cub which walked around our vehicle. Just magic. We also saw two Leopards one sleeping up a tree and the second one walked past our vehicle so close. The number of lions must have been between 40 and 50 including 19 lying under a tree and the 4 more asleep up a tree. Some of the lionesses had cubs with them.

There must have tens of thousand wildebeest and hundreds of zebras and many giraffes and lots of gazelles and many other types of animals. Our guide was very good at identifying birds for us.  I could go on for ever and we would like to thank you most sincerely for organising it for us!

Overall, we had a really good holiday and were very pleased to hand the organisation of it over to a company we could trust when our other holiday plans fell through. It was fairly last minute (three months before) and we did not have the time to organise this big family trip ourselves but were reassured by your efficiency and flexibility  when we requested alterations to the itinerary  and promptness when we asked for extra information.

Our internal flights were very good and often we were the only passengers. Coastal Aviation were very helpful when we requested flight amendments.

Kirsten was very helpful and always answered questions quickly. Thank you! We will definitely use Rainbow Tours again.

You put together the perfect itinerary for us, thank you! All the guides were excellent but we cannot speak highly enough of our ‘Love Live Africa’ Safari guide Charles.

Generally a pleasant stay.

We planned for this trip to be the best trip of a lifetime (or one of them) and it lived up to our expectations! Tanzania is a truly wonderful country. Our safari was brilliant- over 30 lions, 4 leopards, 2 cheetahs and 5 rhinos (!!!) – Just to name a few.

Everything run like clockwork – it was the best feeling to know you were being well cared for so far away from home.

Grant-Thank you for planning such a wonderful holiday!

Protas was our guide and he was absolutely superb! His knowledge was incredible and his driving was first class. It was a pleasure to share the incredible wildlife experience with him.

We found everyone extremely friendly and welcoming (especially the monkeys!!!)- Very natural environment.

Everything went like clockwork. I must admit, I was apprehensive about the trip as I have never done anything remotely like this. It was a wonderful experience. Even before booking, Leila was very helpful and informative with her emails and telephone calls. From start to finish, I have nothing but praise for Rainbow Tours! I thought this would be my trip of a lifetime but….we are already thinking about the next one. It is not possible to put into words everything we experienced and the photos, although a wonderful reminder cannot emanate the expanse of the landscape. I truly felt in love with Tanzania. Thank you Leila and Rainbow Tours!

Having not been to South Africa and always have travelled independently in the past, we were very impressed with all the arrangements from car hire, choice of accommodation and flights. Also, all travel documents and driving instructions were easy to follow. We will certainly return to South Africa and would use Rainbow Tours again!

Memorable level of service from Hubert and his staff. Ablution facilities OK for a short stay

Just wonderful, hippos just off the doorstep and a swimming pool!

We had a simply wonderful; time and would like to thank you for your help in making it so good. We had many ‘WOW’ moments but we particularly will never forget the whole ‘Siwandu experience’ and being shown into the baobab suite at Fumba. We would not hesitate to recommend your company and the places you sent us – we will be back! 

Totally amazing! The level of service was unbelievable I can not imagine ever staying anywhere else where the staff look after you as well as they do here

Fantastic customer service – thank you! I would defiantly recommend Rainbow Tours to friends and family. 

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your help organising our honeymoon.

Every location was absolutely stunning and perfectly aligned with what we asked of you. You understood us completely, and we had the best time ever. We now have so many fantastic memories – it was sensory overload the whole time we were away!

Please do pass on our thanks to all the teams at Ras Kutani, Lake Manze and Matamwe Beach – the service was fantastic at all the locations.

Ras Kutani was such a beautiful place, and such luxury! We’ve never known service like it – we’re finding it hard to do anything for ourselves since we got home!

We loved being in the reserve at Lake Manze, and our guide and our driver were brilliant.

Matamwe Beach was gorgeous and very relaxing too. The snorkelling trip we did, and swimming with dolphins was a highlight of the trip.

We spoke to a few tour operators when we were starting our search, and we were right to go with you and Rainbow Tours, I would have no hesitation in recommending you to our friends and family.

Thank you again

The team in Tanzania, and in particular, our driver and guide Moody, were absolutely fantastic. He taught us so much and was brilliant at spotting all the animals. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he took great care of us, making sure we were settled into our accommodation before leaving us at the end of each day. 

Highly recommend this camp. Close to Tarangire and views over the lake were beautiful. Game viewing on your doorstep 

Loved location in the bush – saw giraffe, etc from veranda. Tent very comfortable. Best packed lunches

We had a fantastic holiday. Our driver on the safari completely made our safari for us. He was pleasant, helpful and very knowledgeable.

Plantation lodge is an experience I would recommend everyone who can to enjoy. It truly is an “Out of Africa” experience. 

A truly memorable holiday because of the scenery but mainly the wonderful people we met everywhere, so friendly and welcoming. We can't wait to go back!

Visited Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya.

Thank you for organising such a fantastic trip to Tanzania. It went incredibly smoothly, and the places we staying in were really great. We got to see so many animals and all the Big 5! The driver-guide was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna so that made it even more interesting. I have been recommending your company to everyone I tell about the trip, I felt the organisation of the trip could not have been better. Thank you so much for such a memorable honeymoon.

We never got round to emailing you to thank you for organising such a fantastic trip to Tanzania. It went incredibly smoothly, and the places we staying in were really great. We got to see so many animals and all the big 5! The driver Samuel was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna so that made it even more interesting.
Chapwani Island was so relaxing, and they even organised dinner on the beach, lit by candles in the sand that were arranged in a heart shape around the table!
There was one thing that I just wanted to mention, namely about tipping. The advice, from recollection, was for 5-10 dollars per night. We got the impression that the lower end of the scale was not considered sufficient, we were not sure whether the staff who then accompanied on us an afternoon drive, or who carried our bags, were supposed to be tipped separately given that places specifically stated that all tips were to be shared out amongst staff. In the first place we tipped as per the guidelines, but at the end of the trip we sent some more money back with Samuel as we had not tipped the gentleman who accompanied us on an afternoon drive separately and we were not sure whether we should have done.
Anyhow, maybe we were just finding our way a bit around the tipping etiquette!

I have been recommending your company to everyone I tell about the trip, I felt the organisation of the trip could not have been better. Thank you so much for such a memorable honeymoon,

We had a fantastic time in Tanzania and [would like] to say thank you for coming up with such a great itinerary. It was pretty much the perfect mix of relaxing and getting out and about and all told we had a fantastic time. We saw amazing amounts of wildlife, including cheetahs and a leopard which was more than we had hoped for (plus plenty of hippos)! Everything went without a hitch save a flat tire and getting the 4x4 stuck in the mud briefly… our ever resourceful guide got us out nice and quickly with the aid of an enormous jack so no problems there either. We even got to try out a bit of diving off the coats of Zanzibar which was great fun. … Thanks again for organising a great trip! 

Another excellent facility at Gibbs Farm, superbugh happy to ‘tick it off’

Although very good accommodation it might be an idea to spend the 2nd nigh at the Ngorongoro Sopa or Serena Hotels on the crater rim to reduce travel over the same roads. Our guide was a very pleasant and amicable young man. Over all a very enjoyable holiday

Plantation Lodge – Super, comfortable hotel.  Spent quite a while chatting to the owner and liked her very much.  We felt real thought and effort was being put in.

The bathroom was very basic, a bit shabby but the main area was very social and a nice ambiance.

Thanks for organizing such a brilliant trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar. Our guides were absolutely fabulous. We spotted 2 leopards on the first day and in the days that followed we saw many more predators! The lodges were superb without exception. One should not overlook the essential role that [Rainbow Tours] provided in planning our trip. I have no idea whether other people ask as many questions, but the end result was a trip of a lifetime.

We just wanted to say a massive thank you for arranging our honeymoon. We had an absolutely amazing time and enjoyed some really special moments, especially at the Selous Safari Camp, which was just a wonderful place.

Selous Safari Camp is a great camp. Ras Hutani catered extremly well with my wifes dairy allergy, her Deserts were incredible

We had helpful advise, in particular on transferring luggage at Nairobi Airport. The Gibbs Farm was delightful. 

We enjoyed the floor show at Mbuzi Mawe Camp with acrobats one night and music the next, pity our guide couldn't join us in the restaurant.

Ngorongoro Serena great location but a bit big for our taste. 

The Saadani Lodge is a great beach location. 

We had buffalos right outside the tent, and woke in the morning to monkeys jumping on our tent… Friendly staff and a great location for the Serengeti. Fantastic! Our guide was excellent.

Mountain guides and porters very helpful and knowledgeable.  Met and exceeded our expectations!

Rainbow tours were very responsive, great communications, all arrangements (worked) like clockwork. The documentation was very informative, clear documents. Air Travel went very well, and the itinerary easily accommodated the occasional slight delay. Can’t wait to do it all over again. Thank you so much for putting together an excellent trip.

Our holiday could not have been better.

Absolutely perfect – we would give Selous Safari Camp a higher than “excellent” rating if we could.

All guides [in Tanzania and Zanzibar] were excellent, particularly at Selous Safari Camp, (the Rainbow Tours representative in Zanzibar) were also very helpful.

A good experience and base for safaris at Ndutu Lodge.

This must be the best place to stay in the Ngorongoro Crater area. It's excellent!

A fantastic welcome – really friendly staff and managers. I cannot think of anything that could be improved at Selous Safari Camp, I would definitely like to visit again. The game viewing was wonderful.

We met the owner and it was great to see how he was with his staff . The camp is away from it all but the food was the best we had all holiday. The camp is great for birding. Again I would definitely like to visit again.

Our guide had outstanding knowledge. He was always willing and courteous. A real gem. Rainbow Tour’s experience made all the difference - the right choices, after emailing or phoning us, every time. (Our ground handler in Tanzania) were really good - the guide was outstanding.

Thanks for all your help - Fab holiday. Everyone who drove us in Tanzania and Zanzibar were charming.

We expected high standard standards from Rainbow Tours which were achieved. We are glad we changed the schedule to spend two nights in Nairobi; only one night would have been very tiring.

Plantation Lodge is a place with lots of atmosphere, in a wonderful setting. Staff were all helpful.

Good service, meals, comfort and facilities at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. Excellent location on crater rim, enabling early and extensive game drives.

Location by river and lake enabled excellent boat trips for game viewing and fishing. Arguably the best camp.

Excellent comfort and location. Great fun - lovely people.

Awesome ground handlers used, [they were] helpful and professional. Amazing hotels, superb service - we can’t fault them.

Attentive staff, the manager quite generously lent us his room fan which was much appreciated.

Excellent service from Rainbow Tours. Documentation was very thorough. Outstanding guide… hardworking, knowledgeable and trustworthy and happy to work as long as required. Overall satisfaction excellent.

Delicious lunch boxes provided by lodge! Beautiful gardens and settings. Much attention paid to requirements.

Would have loved to stay longer! Amazing views of wildlife. Very helpful staff.

Selous Safari camp is a great place with friendly, helpful staff and excellent meals and accommodation.

We gave Rob a brief which he fulfilled completely. We wanted the real Africa (in comfort) and his choices of Hotels/route flavour were PERFECT. He hit the nail right on the head in everything, charming chap too. Rob was fantastic from start to finish. Our guide was the best we could have wished for. [The team on the ground] were charming, helpful and prompt.

Our guide was absolutely expert in his knowledge of wildlife in four national parks. Trip of a lifetime. We’ll never forget it! Thanks for fabulous organisational skills of Rob who arranged our trip and Honeymiles list. Really good service from Rainbow Tours.

Samira the manager is a huge asset. Very good, great customer service. Lovely to find lodge run by an independent bold woman! A wonderful break. All the staff were great.

Full marks!

Many thanks to our consultant for tailoring this trip to suit our needs. We will recommend Rainbow Tours to others as our neightbours did for us.

It was a superb choice for a relaxing time after safari – plenty to do for all the family. The sea and food were particularly good.

This is the second time that I have used Rainbow Tours and once again I have been very happy with both the services received and the properties chosen for me. I would be pleased to recommend the company... Thank you for a great holiday.

I must admit that we have rarely, if ever, had such a successful holiday! Thank you for all your professional expertise which made all of it possible. I think we cannot find one single complaint about the whole holiday. 

The [Tanzania and Madagascar] itinerary was to our taste and all the information given was accurate and easy to follow. On the whole it was most enjoyable trip and we would do it again!

A lovely camp at Jongomero Tented Camp. Happy staff and good service at all times.