Joachim is the best
We had an amazing experience, and we attribute the joy, success, and adventure of the trip to our guide (and now friend for life), Joachim.
From picking us up at the airport, Joachim was extremely attentive to our needs, telling us “your wish is my command”, and he went above and beyond to deliver on that message. He was consistently checking in to make sure we had everything we needed. He has great communication skills – speaking very clear English, but more importantly, doing an excellent job communicating the agenda, park and animal facts, etc. Joachim would make sure we understood our options and explained the different choices we had throughout our days, but we loved that we ultimately were always in control of our schedule and activities with his sage advice.
Joachim is also extremely knowledgeable about all things Tanzania, African culture, the various parks and reserves, and of course, the animals. He is clearly a student of the trade – often referring to what is stated in guidebooks about animals and also imparting his own experience and knowledge. We learned so much about so many different birds and animals! He was also a master navigator of all the areas/parks we visited. We were often stopped by other drivers to help with directions (to which he always offered help) and always knew we were in good hands when a new exciting sighting came over the radio that he would be able to navigate to it quickly and safely.
We found the big 5 in just two days, and then from there, Joachim helped us tick all our other wishes off – Cheetahs? Check – we saw 6. A huge group of elephants? Check – we saw over 20 cross a river together. An epic river crossing for the great migration? CHECK. We saw a “National Geographic worthy” crossing. He spotted a lioness in a tree from over 50 yards away and the same day also found a sneaky lion on a quick view of his tail! He also was very attentive to making sure we got the best camera angles possible for our photos and suggesting shots for us to take.
Overall, we had the trip of a lifetime and we can’t thank Joachim enough for his part in that. He made us feel safe and cared for.
“Access 2 Tanzania was awesome! Visiting Africa and going on Safari was on my bucket list and A2T fulfilled it completely. My husband likes spontaneity but I insist on long term planning so when my husband told me he wanted to go to Tanzania in just over 3 weeks I laughed. Two days later he came to me with a plan that Casey and he put together. I was dumb-founded. It was not a canned tour planned by A2T for a group. It was a private itinerary planned by my husband and Casey to accommodate exactly what WE wanted to do and where WE wanted to go. We left for Tanzania 3 weeks later! Amazing!
We changed plans many times after the initial plan and Casey was very patient and accommodated us with no resistance. Casey always had answers to our questions and gave us recommendations that we would never had thought of. A2T didn’t just give ‘lip service’ they provided what they said they would and told us what they could not. I questioned this because they offer so many wonderful options and I wondered what we would actually get when we arrived. Another thing I was pleased with is that during our planning Casey did not constantly try to ‘up sell’ us.
‘Wilfred’ was our guide and he was wonderful. He is such a nice, good and fun person. We felt so lucky to have him. That said, we spoke to others from A2T and they also felt the same about their guides so it is clear A2T chooses their guides carefully. (We still feel lucky to have Wilfred throughout our safari!)
I wish I could remember the names of all the others that we met and who helped us from A2T. We didn’t run into one bad seed. It’s been 5 months since we returned from Africa and although the names are not clear in my mind the warm, wonderful and exciting feeling of Africa will never fade.
If you have the opportunity to go to Africa go with Access 2 Tanzania! AMAZING!!”