Wonderful trip that far exceeded expectations – thank you Joachim!
Joachim was phenomenal!!! As stated previously, we connected with Joachim from our first brief meeting the day before we began our safari. He was a very effective communicator and was sensitive on picking up on our needs. He could tell when we wanted to stay and observe animals, and knew when to ask if we were ready to move on. We felt comfortable sharing our thoughts and asking him questions.
When we set out on our safari we didn’t have a particular “check-list” of animals we wanted to see. Joachim was great about making terrific suggestions to us. My daughters boyfriend, Dylan, mentioned wanting to see a cheetah. We knew it would be difficult and on day 5 we had still not spotted one. By the end of the day we had seen 9, including a mother and cubs feeding on an antelope. Joachim always quietly delivered.
What I most loved about having Joachim as our guide was his deep knowledge of the animals. One day we watched a group of elephants for hours as he explained their social dynamic and interpreted the sounds they were making. It deepened our safari experience and I came away feeling like I got a wonderful education. He taught us every day and we loved it.
Finally, Joachim is a truly caring person. I saw it in the way he treated the staff at the lodges, they way he spoke to the coffee shop barista in Karatu and the way he treated us. Always professional, always kind, always patient.
“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.”