Awesome guide provides 10/10 safari experience
Joachim was a fantastic guide. This was my third safari (first was in Uganda in 2013, second in Kenya 2015, with other companies). My prior two safaris had fine guides, we saw all the animals we wanted to see, but it was more a punch the clock attitude, not much chatting, and no “extra” info. Joachim, in contrast, was very friendly, always present with us — answering questions, adding information about animals we were seeing or the parks and their history, and also giving us quiet time when we were tired. He never took personal calls in front of us or otherwise seemed distracted.
Joachim was also very knowledgeable about the parks, animals, and Tanzanian history. We enjoyed learning from him. He was attentive to when we wanted to spend more time observing animals and when we were ready to move on. He was also a very safe and good driver!
Most of all, Joachim was friendly, genuine, and really looked out for us. For instance, when we flew out of Manyara, Joachim waited at the airport until our flight departed.
“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.”