Little of safari pre-planning makes as much difference in the end as your guide. More than everything else, he determines the quality and character of your experience.
I want to give well earned credit to Willium “Willy” Mollel, our guide throughout our adventure. He is a remarkable young man who earned our respect many times over. He had a genuine concern that our experience be as good as it could be, and that we were comfortable and safe throughout. He really wanted us to see it all, and took great pains to make that happen. When a chance to see something was missed, he was more upset than we were.
His knowledge of the environment is encyclopedic. He could give you the names of any plant you saw. His knowledge of the animals is enormous. For example – and this happened more than once – he pointed out a bird in a tree as being an immature male specimen of some variety. I, having done enough reading to be primarily dangerous, argued the point, insisting that it was a type of eagle. Willy would pull out a book, flip through the pages and point to exactly the specimen we were viewing. He was always right.
And his eyesight! He could spot things that I using binoculars would struggle to find even after he told me where to look. It made all the difference.
He is a man of intelligence, good company, a charming, trustworthy human being, with a clear, ethical sense and concern for his country and its assets. His wife is a teacher specializing in early childhood education, and he is very proud of his 5-year-old son Roy, a budding tennis player.
I give credit to the folks at Access 2 Tanzania for having Willy as one of their representatives. He does them proud.
“It was excellent! The pre-trip planning with Karen was great and she and/or Allison promptly answered my many questions at various points prior to our actual trip. Also, Karen was extremely helpful in making our final day in Tanzania as comfortable as possible – she arranged for us to spend the afternoon in the Arusha Access 2 Tanzania day room. Our transport guide for the day, Haji, brought us a wonderful selection of Tanzanian food for lunch! He as well as Stella and the A2T staff were very nice and welcoming! Our safari guide Noel was such a good man and an excellent guide. He was thrilled to learn that we had requested him at the recommendation of my friend, and he didn’t disappoint. I don’t know how anyone can navigate the unmarked Serengeti roads like he did. He made sure that we were comfortable, safe, and had everything that we needed. During the trip, another A2T guide, David, and his 2 passengers (whom we previously met during the village tour) invited us into their land cruiser to watch the wildebeest crossing because they had a better position. We really appreciated that!”