My wife, Jane, and I had an extended safari adventure to Kenya and Tanzania on our personal “Big 5 Travel Bucket List” for OVER 20 years. First, for this trip with a long-time friend, the 3 of us wanted personal guides and a self-curated experience.
Welllll, let me tell you, curating and arranging the logistics behind, and to support, 2 countries and 5 separate conservancies/national reserves, is NOT A DIY PROJECT THAT MOST FOLKS SHOULD UNDERTAKE AND EXPECT A STELLAR OUTCOME.
Initially, we talked with each of the big, well-advertised safari corporate tour operators in E Africa; if you are reading this, you know the ones … A&K, K and T. After a brief bit of wrangling with each of these, sharing the 5 separate places of interest and duration for each, we came to understand that “that is fine BUT here is what WE OFFER” and “small group” to them means cobbling together a group of people that cannot be counted on just two hands. For the 3 of us, for this bucket list trip, the answer amongst ourselves to this approach and surprising price point was a “hard no way”.
Soooo, our next step in trying to get this lifetime adventure organized occurred on 23 April 2024, a FULL 15 months in advance, was to consult with our long-time travel agent, Jan M at Travel Experts. Upon hearing of our proposed itinerary and desire for a private, personal experience, Jan immediately recommended Sandy Salle (African born and a female owner/operator) and her team at NC-based safari tour operator Hills of Africa, supported by Andrea at Travel Experts (a colleague of Jan’s).
PLEASED BE ADVISED, THAT WHILE MANY INTERNATIONAL TRIPS CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY CURATED AND ARRANGED ON A DIY BASIS, an extended safari in 2 countries, 5 separate and geographically dispersed destinations and seeking a private experience is likely NOT one of them.
While I could go on for awhile, and you would lose interest, I will offer two points to consider that were CRITICAL to our superb experience, as follows:
1. The guide for each separate geographic location is KEY to a remarkable experience for your party. Sandy made SPECIFIC requests for a guide at each of 5 safari destinations. We came to find out, in retrospect, that we were paired with the Head Guide for each of our 3 stops on Kenya. Each of Joseph, George and Joel were primo, both as people, companions for 3 days each and as safari guides. The 3 of us were immediately at ease with, and felt safe with, each of them, and
2. Like each of you, the three of us have each traveled a bit. We can get by in certain languages; Swahili is NOT one of these. Each of our passports got stamped 6 times and we utilized 9 separate domestic flights within Kenya and Tanzania. We were involved with over 25 individual “hand-offs”; each went off without any hitch. NO WAY would we have been this successful on our own. Having a hands on team at Hills of Africa to arrange these logistics, by itself, is a reason to visit and meet Sandy IN PERSON to share with her the tenets of your “dream safari”.
Asante sana!
