An incredible guide who became a treasured friend
Noel made our experience in Tanzania with Access 2 Tanzania an incredible adventure. He was very patient with all of our questions, knowledgeable about the animals and plants and, because he valued accuracy, thorough in his occasional search for correct identification, open to explaining his culture, able to take friendly ribbing, hospitable, and funny, as well as careful and respectful in his driving habits. We were very comfortable with his following the law about not going off-road through the bush; however, we saw other guides who had no compunction about flaunting the rule: one driver chased a cheetah mother and her cub through the high grass so that his clients could get a better look at them! Noel was also very open to our inquiries about how and why he became a guide, his family, and his daily life. He was certainly someone with whom I was happy to spend 12 hours a day. At the end of the trip we practically viewed him as a son and he addressed me with the same respectful greeting that he would his mother.
“Excellent staff. Casey was extremely responsive in planning the trip. I had certain things I did and didn’t want to do, he tailored our experience accordingly (and with keeping our budget in mind). The trip was perfectly proportioned, mostly because of him. Our guide on the ground, Wilfred, spent 12 days with us. We couldn’t have asked for someone better. We became comfortable companions, easily sitting together in silence over long drives or telling stories during dinner. He didn’t wait for us to ask something, he anticipated our needs. When he saw we didn’t finish our lunch boxes, he asked us what we liked and didn’t like. He made sure to relay the information to the hotels and we finished out lunches going forward. He saw I had an itch to get into the Wildebeest migration. Even though it was far away and our chances of finding it could be small, he made sure it happened. The staff set everything apart, especially when we compared it to our tour companies we saw in the area.”