Asante Sana the Great Maningo!
Maningo was easy-going and fun to be around. He was skillful at spotting the wildlife, and extremely patient in waiting for certain behaviors (like lions coming together to mate!). He drove us in the various parks for many hours a day (often 10-11!), and worked to try to find cheetahs in particular, driving in remote regions of Tarangire. He drove quite slowly, searching for wildlife, which took some adjusting to, but when we had a long travel day driving from the Serengeti to Ngorongoro, he pushed the pedal to the metal! He’s a skillful driver on those terrible roads! Amongst all the rattling noises of the Land Rover, he distinguished a particular noise that was new, and took it to a mechanic in Karatu to have it checked. It turned out there was a part that had broken and needed welding. Thank goodness he followed his instinct, or we may have gotten stranded! We are very grateful to Maningo for an incredible experience.
“Overall, we had a very good impression of A2T as a company. A2T had been undoubtedly very customer-oriented, which was evident from the very beginning of the tour, that is, booking. The extra mile A2T spent on calls to understand our requirements and then come up with the final itinerary was ver assuring. Later we almost had to backtrack from the trip due to Ebola concerns, and the extra time allowed for us to make the final decision was very helpful.
Later on during the trip, we had a special situation which required overnight usage of electricity. Our guide, Mussa, and Stella from the Arusha office really reached out to resolve that issue by sending a charger from Arusha to Karatu. The solution was impressive (also unexpected), and it became just another good example of A2T’s emphasis on customer services.
Our guide, Mussa, was great. We all liked him very much. I will talk more about him later (assuming there is another column to discuss).”