We recently returned home from our safari, having planned for over a year with Casey as our consultant & advisor. He made recommendations, but was always open to our input and requests about possible changes. As icing on the cake, Willy Philemon was our assigned guide and we can’t imagine having this trip of a lifetime with anybody else in the driver’s seat!
We began the adventure in Arusha. The initial plan was to go to Mt Kilimanjaro & view the Materuni Waterfalls. Willy took the initiative to touch base with Casey about altering the itinerary because the weather was unfavorable in that area & instead we went to Arusha National Park for our first game drive!
Willy made this trip of a lifetime even more phenomenal than we could have imagined. His extensive knowledge of nature helped us to better appreciate the environment & wildlife we encountered. From animals to birds to plants and even insects we learned so much! I won’t list the many animals that we saw, but one day we were lucky enough to see a leopard in a tree. With Willy’s patience, we waited quite a while, because as he predicted at sunset the leopard would move (& it did) so we were able to get the ‘money shot’! One day, he pulled over after spotting a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung!
We can’t go on without mentioning his amazing (& safe) driving ability, in the crazy traffic in Arusha to the rutted muddy roads in the Serengeti. Willy’s ability to locate the animals & then position us in the best locations for viewing & photos was more than appreciated. His consideration for our safety, as well as that of the wildlife was commendable.
With four of us traveling together, Willy always made sure that we took everyone’s needs & desires into account!
Thank you to Access2Tanzania, Casey & Willy!
“Outstanding. We have recommended you to all of our traveler friends. We cannot recommend Access 2 Tanzania highly enough. They were referred to us by a friend and we were immediately attracted by the nonprofit component of the company that supports education for Tanzanian children in need. Casey helped us over several phone sessions and email exchanges to put together the perfect trip for our needs. Our guide, Joachim, was a wonderful companion and friend throughout our 12 day safari. He ensured that we saw everything that we could possibly have seen far beyond our best expectations, including lions, cheetahs, and leopards with cubs and with kills, tons of elephants, giraffe, zebras, hippos, antelopes of various kinds, and every other imaginable animal. We were able to witness the migration of the wildebeasts across the Mara River from Kenya and on throughout the Serengeti in their long lines, stretching from one horizon to the other. He was also extremely helpful in aiding us in finding and identifying the many, many birds of Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti, which was of particular interest to us. A2T provided us with an amazing experience and we would definitely use them again and highly recommend them to others.”