Wildlife Safari: Nature and Beach Adventure
5.0
8 Ratings

This itinerary is perfect for those who love nature and wildlife. Delight in game drives, witness the migration of wildebeests across the Mara River, and explore the historic island of Zanzibar for a relaxing beach holiday.

Duration: 12 days
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

Kilimanjaro Airport/Arusha. Overnight at Under the Shade Lodge.

Arusha - Upon arrival at the airport, the driver will greet you and transport you to Arusha town, where you will be dropped off at the lodge reserved for your overnight stay.

Arusha/Tarangire National Park.

Tarangire National Park - After breakfast, embark on a morning…

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What's Included
  • binoculars, camping chairs and tables for picnic lunches
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Breakfast
  • All fees and/or taxes
  • use of 4wd drive extended Landcruiser with pop up roof for game viewing.
What's Not Included
  • international flights tickets on your way to Tanzania and back home.
  • Alcoholic and Non alcoholic drinks.
  • Things of personal nature
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(8 Ratings)
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X9872igliza
Nov 1, 2022
Trip of a lifetime in the hands of experts - This was truly the trip of a lifetime, and Bright African Safaris played a huge part in making it just that. Evania, the sales consultant, put us at ease working through the different options available and accommodating all our requests to make sure we got the most out of the trip. All transfers, park passes and accommodation was sorted for us so all we were left to do was sort the flights and visa. Evania was at the end of the phone every step of the way to ensure we had arrived safely through the key parts of the trips. We visited 4 parks over 8 nights: Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the plains of the Serengeti, all in the expert hands of our driver-guide Rajubu. Every day delivered a different gem and a series of jaw dropping ‘wow’s’. We saw everything we hoped to and so much more. The wildebeest migration being a particular highlight. Rajubu was at home in the parks…. He seemed to have a sixth sense of where to look and where the animals were hiding and seemed to gauge brilliantly what we wanted to get from the experience. Like all the Tanzanians we met, he was a relaxed friendly and caring guide, who was clearly well respected by all the other guides we came across. We averaged 10 hours a day safari-ing, but this was at our pace and request and I’m sure we could have done less if we had wished. The days flew by and we were more than happy to have Rajubu’s company for the trip. Be prepared to never be hungry! :D Not only were we well fed in the accommodation, but every day, Rajubu had bottled water, drinks and snacks to hand and treated us to a 3-course, freshly prepared, hot-food picnic every lunchtime. We stayed in a mixture of accommodation in the mid range. Each was comfortable, clean and we were well fed. The highlight was possibly Simba Lodge, Tarangire, where the elephants tried to join us for dinner and a swim in the pool. The accommodation inside the Serengeti National Park was naturally more basic, in some cases with coal heated water showers on request. The staff were always more than happy to go out of their way to look after you and it positively added to the whole experience. We finished the holiday with a trip to Zanzibar which gave us the opportunity to explore Stone Town and spend a few days on the beach, snorkelling and swimming with dolphins. A wonderful way to end the trip. I would highly recommend travelling with Bright African Safaris and hope we get the opportunity to again. Thank you!! Liz
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gareth
Nov 1, 2022
5* Safari Experience!! - Bright African Safari’s exceeded expectations with their 5* experience. Evania’s communication and support in organizing the perfect holiday was second to none. We were teamed up with Rajubu as our driver guide. He had a 6th sense for were the animals would be. He was patient with our needs and very knowledgeable of the area. The accommodation organized was great mix of comfortable living in a safari environment. The food was excellent and we never went hungry. Onto Zanzibar to visit Stone Town and relax on the beach. Here we used Juma for a walking tour and swimming with the dolphins. Both were sorted quickly and easily. I couldn’t recommend Evania and her team enough. It was the holiday of a lifetime!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Crane414
Sep 8, 2022
Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar - Honeymoon Trip - In short, Bright African Safaris are INCREDIBLE, a locally run company in Tanzania who provide well priced and exceptionally organised and run safaris. They will organise a trip across multiple countries (Kenya/Tanzania/Zanzibar) where others don’t (co-ordinating flights isn’t simple!) and their customer service is unbelievable. Please read on for more as I dig into the details I wish I had known before going (you may need a coffee)… My wife and I (we’re Canadian and British respectively and live in New York) had been planning to go on safari in Kenya/Tanzania for our honeymoon for sometime. We originally considered planning it ourselves, but after reading a number of trip advisor reviews we decided to use a safari tour company - we highly recommend doing so - they are able to source better rates, save you a tonne of time and a good guide is what makes your safari. We reached out to a number of tour operators (some in the US) and Bright African Safaris were the most responsive, best value and are well reviewed. They are based in Arusha, Tanzania (we went to visit their office at the end of our trip to thank them) and are Tanzanian owned; we were glad to support a locally run businesses. Salim, our tour co-ordinator, was amazing and played a huge part in us finally booking. FYI we were overwhelmed with wedding planning and booked a month (after a few months of back and forth) before we flew and Bright had everything under control. We safaried in Northern Serengeti (flew from Nairobi > Kilamanjaro > Kogatende, and whilst the flights to Kogatende are relatively expensive it saves you a lot of time driving) Central Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, and Tarangire, having stayed on Lake Manyara, followed by 4 nights in Zanzibar, all arranged by Bright. Our guide, Rajab, was phenomenal, and ultimately helped us see the big five (lions, leopards, elephants, buffalos, rhino). And many more animals (photos attached give a glimpse!) THANK YOU RAJAB! His experience coupled with the fact he’s living his dream of being a safari guide made our trip so special. We did multiple +10 hour safari days and he was always ready to go whenever we needed. A few important points to consider: - use WhatsApp for communication if you can, it’s preferred by tour co-ordinators. Emails can take a while to send and receive - Take note of the time difference, be mindful of when you’re messaging - Payment: this was a big one for us. We paid our deposit using credit card, and it’s v normal for operators to ask for deposits and payment upfront. Tour operators often require a surcharge for credit cards (because they are charged a fee), this varies between provider. And at some safari camps they pass the fees onto you also, so it’s standard practice. It’s normal to pay via direct bank transfer and whilst it felt daunting, we paid the remainder directly as Bright are clearly a reputable company (and saved 100s of $ on additional charges as a result) - USD is widely accepted in Kenya and Tanzania, tips are generally paid in cash, although you can pay in KES/TZS. Tips are well received and it’s recommended to tip $10-$15 per person per night at each safari camp - the tips are evenly distributed between the staff. Tip at the end of your stay in one go and tip discreetly as it’s customary to do so (some places have tip boxes, where there isn’t then tip the main member of staff and ask them to distribute amongst the others). For safari guides $10-15 per person per day is good (don’t forget days where they had to travel considerable distances to meet you e.g. our guide drove 9 hours to meet us in norther Serengeti before we arrived). Although, in all instances, you should feel inclined to tip more where you feel you received a great service. Your tips go a long way and we found everyone to be extremely polite and grateful. Zanzibar tipping is slightly less. - It goes without saying, be polite and respectful to the guides and staff and it’ll be returned to you in droves. Make an effort to learn a few words in the local language; hellos and goodbyes. - Wearing earth tones is recommended but you can wear most colours. Dark colours attract horse flies, and bright colours may be distinct to other animals (the safari trucks tend to be brown/green). Bring warm clothes and trousers/long sleeves - it gets cold at night. Boots are recommended but I didn’t bring them to save on weight and it was fine. - Keep an eye on weight limits on flights, generally 20KG per bag is fine but if you take smaller planes sometimes the limit is less. Sometimes the local airlines don’t allow hard cases so check the small print or ask your tour operator - Kenyan visa applications were quick to be approved (a few days but note we had transit ones so were less arduous). Tanzanian visas give at least a week. You need the details of where you’re staying in each country before applying. Go through the government websites for each. We had a wonderful time and couldn’t recommend Bright enough. Thank you again. Alex & Liz
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T2032lqjanetc
Sep 6, 2022
An amazing Safari trip - We just came back from a 9 days Tanzania Safari/4 days Zanzibar trip. It was amazing! The trip was perfectly planned / arranged by Salim/Bright African Safari, it was beyond our expectations, all lounges and bush tents were very nice, clean and unique! Hamis, our game drive guide, was just incredible, he was very knowledgeable about the culture of different tribes, about Safari animals, birds, and plants, like a passionate educator providing all the facts and stories. He was able to drive and to find all kinds of animals, birds big and small, far and near! His vision is beyond human. Each day no matter how late we arrived at the lounges, the jeep is always nice and clean in the morning. We got to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, leopards, serval cats, snake, porcupines, buffaloes, mongooses and tons of others. We got to see a Cheetah in action (succeeded), lions in 2 failed actions, observed 9 lion cubs’s interaction with mom/aunt, and the thunderous Wildebeest migration! Thank you Hamis, for such an unforgettable Safari experience! For Zanzibar, again Bright African Safari choose the Resort well, a 2 story modern resort room by the ocean is amazing! Brought home memories of once in a lifetime trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kagrrakid
Sep 6, 2022
Exceptional experience - The Bright African team was exceptional to work with! I originally reached out to several companies for itineraries and quotes, and in the end we went with Bright African as having the best of both. Our group did a 9 day safari to multiple parks plus 3 days in Zanzibar. Like many others, we had originally planned to go in 2020, but ended up deferring until 2022 due to COVID. So I worked with Salim in sales/planning for about 3 years!! We went through many changes including changing our group size/members, adding days, locations, and activities, and Salim was so flexible and kind throughout the entire process. He was quick to respond, open to requests, and ready to provide suggestions when asked. Even when I had multiple email issues (check your spam folder!), he was always patient and professional. Our itinerary was excellent and very customizable, and we enjoyed every lodge/hotel/bush camp we stayed at that Bright African chose! Bright African also had nice eco friendly touches on safari, such as refillable (clean) water canteens and reusable metal lunch sets with plates and silverware; most other companies used paper lunch boxes (provided by the lodges which will prep the lunches for safari goers) that generate lots of waste. On safari, our guide was Hamis. He was absolutely amazing! He was very skilled and safe behind the wheel of the Land Cruiser we were in, especially on the rough and bumpy game drive roads. He also knew everything about every animal, bird, plant, tribe, everything!!! You can tell he has so much experience as a guide, navigating the vast game roads for the best spots, chatting with other drivers to tell them what we found and vice versa to make sure nobody missed out, and of course spotting animals - one time he caught the ears of a red buck poking out of the grass!! We learned and saw so much thanks to him!! I also feel very grateful that Hamis was our guide for his personality. He was so friendly and open, always had a smile on, and was quick to laugh and eager to chat. Our whole group felt very comfortable with him. This matters a lot; you are with your guide pretty much whenever you're not sleeping, and sometimes even then even you doze off in the car! In Zanzibar, Juma was our contact and he arranged the activities we did with local guides along with transportation. This was a completely different vacation compared to safari so we spent more time at the excellent hotel that Bright African arranged, but all activities and taxi rides we did went very smoothly. This was also very flexible; we were able to customize activities and change around what day we did them. If I could do the vacation over though, I would not have booked activities and just relaxed at the hotel the entire time! I'm very happy we went with Bright African Safaris. Throughout my research, I saw they were very highly regarded especially in the forums here on Trip Advisor, and now having worked with them for this trip, the reputation is justified!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kathygf8240if
Sep 5, 2022
Memories to treasure for a life time The great reviews each client gave to the Bright African Safari speak the truth. - A pleasant and knowledgeable Safari guide. Go with friends. Spend enough time in the park. The great reviews each client gave to the Bright African Safari speak the truth of what I experienced. I had some doubt in the beginning of our 8 days in the parks. At the end we learned so much about animals in Tanzania from Hamis’ knowledge and his experiences from being a Safari guide for 10+ years. Remarkable thing is the patience he displayed even after we had been driving for long period of time looking for something unknown ahead of us. And each time the rewards of this patience were amazingly, seeing the lions chasing water buffalos, 4 lionesses with 9 cubs, leopard catching wildebeest and the finale of migration of the largest herd of wildebeests crossing Mara River with crocodiles and hippos nearby. Alas, this Safari in Tanzania national parks proved itself to be once in a life time experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
G9853xcandrewt
Nov 12, 2019
It Could Not Have Been Better!!! - So...I was the organizer for a party of 6 friends who wanted to take an African safari. After researching the where (Tanzania seemed to offer the best combination of safety and interest, I researched many safari companies...Bright stood out in all of the reviews that I read. It seemed to offer the best combination of flexibility and value. Let me say first that Msangi and Salim (in the office) were very good to work with. This is not new to anyone who has read other reviews. They were very responsive to my queries, Msangi offered us a wonderful 10 day package, based upon all of the things we wanted to see and do, and all of our accommodations worked out perfectly for us. It was his creativity and understanding of our desires that set Bright apart from other trips we could have taken. Every representative of Bright African Safari that we interacted with was articulate, knowledgeable, and friendly. But I must make a special mention of our guide, Salim. What a wonderful man this is! Salim understood all of our needs, and wants, perfectly. He was engaging, and brilliant in knowing birds, animals, flowers, trees, etc. He was fun to be with and seemed to enjoy our company as well. He knew all of the parks like I know my city...maybe better. He found us multiples of every species we wanted to see...even a dung beetle! He was so flexible...adjusting our route and activities to certain of our whims. He was well-known and respected by other drivers...and especially by workers at the lodges and camps. He was so well-known and so well-respected that we took to calling him "The Mayor of the Serengeti". If you are thinking of taking an African safari...go to Bright...they will not let you down...and ask for Salim. Tell him Kaka sent you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paul
Aug 30, 2019
Great treatment - Everything went as planned by Great African Safari. The manager made perfect choices, especially of our guide Selim. Selim understood our middle-class personalities perfectly. Guides from every safari company paid him a lot of respect. He knew the routes everywhere: Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti -- every where. He was familiar with the call and nest of just about every bird (I am a bird lover), and he guided us to every animal species that exists at each site. His lunches were superb; rather than grab boxes from the camps he obtained dinner food from the kitchens and kept it warm for serving with tasty juice and sauces. Rather than spending evenings in camp with other guides or staff members he spent it with us. The choice of camps was superb. It is difficult to say enough about the quality of this experience. Anyone seeking the services of Bright African Safaris is advised to specify Selim as their guide.
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