Excellent, first-rate!
Maningo has a deft touch, both in interpersonal relations (his great sense of humor, and ability to imitate American accents helped) and in sensing the group’s interests and needs. If I had to make a criticism, I’d note our occasional frustration as to where he was taking us on game drives; at times we would have liked to know that, “we’re driving down near the river, hoping to see X or Y,” but I’m pretty sure he was reluctant to spell out his plans because he didn’t want us to get our hopes up.
Talking to travellers we met I felt most of them thought THEIR guide the best in the business; with Maningo, I’m pretty sure he really WAS one such guide!
“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).”