Any opinions about using African Dream Safaris? A private safari that looks great...has anyone used them? any opinions about this group? thanks

Here are links to assist you.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34882740

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34882460

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34830877

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34807900

This info is so helpful....i think Safari fans must be particularly interested and interesting travelers

I8Ds
I think you must be very insightful.

Now the rest of the world needs to know just how great we are

I just returned on 01/04/07 from a 10 day safari to Tanzania with my wife and 2 grown daughters. We used Africa Dream Safaris and they were excellent. Michael Wishner is the point man here in the states and he is very helpful and efficient. I found him to be extremely professional, trustworthy, and cordial. Never failed to have a phone call returned or a question answered no matter how lame it might have been. Met sevreal other Africa Dream Safari groups while in country and everyone was more than pleased with their trip, accomodations, etc. Don't know anything about any other outfitters but from my experience I don't think you can go wrong with Africa Dream Safaris and Michael Wishner.

slickpaper-
It sounds like you've just come back at the time of year that I'm going to Africa next year. Can you tell me more about where you went, how long you stayed, and if you have photos posted?
Thanks

I can echo "slickpaper's" sentiments about Africa Dream Safaris. We just returned last week and ADS is above and beyone excellent in their planning and implementation of our safari.
The safari was outstanding! So many animals . . . we were within a few feet of cheetah, lions, zebra, giraffe, impala, gazelles, monkey's, and at one point sitting in the middle of the great wildebeast migration! And we were surrounded by a herd of elephants, 3 times, including a month old baby. The damn cutest durn thing you've EVER seen!!

The Tanzanian people are beautiful, gracious, sweet and soulful. The lodges were outrageous and the food and service were excellent. Like out of this world.
We are all in love with Tanzania!

We can't say enough good things about our tour company, Africa Dream Safaris. They had someone meet us ON THE TARMAC at the Kilimanjaro Airport. Then, as we went thru the sliding doors, there were the OTHER 20 tour companies waiting for their clients. I have no idea how they swung that, but it was impressive right upon arrival! And our driver, Reggie, was so amazing, he could spot a tuft of fur on a lion's ear from about a half a mile away in tall grass. Incredible. We all would very highly reccomend ADS to anyone considering a safari.

You should decide on your intinerary and then shop around. The following have been favorable mentioned in this forum:

for tour operators:
Africa Adventure
Africa Serendipity
Eastern & Southern Safaris
Gamewatchers
Good Earth
Green Footprints
Roys
Southern Cross

Good luck

Kevin

Glad to hear positive feedback on African Dream Safaris as we are in the final stages of booking our safari through them!

Lisa

I am from Spain,you my think i am crazy but i went with my wife and 2 children to Tanzania 10 months ago with ADS.

From the moment we landed everything went fine.ADS reps where waiting for us before customs and we went through as soon as we took our luggage.
I asked for a spanish speaking guide for my children.They told me they will try but couldn't guarantee.
At Serengeti airstrip our guide plus a spanish speaking guide where waiting for us.We had the spanish speaking but at no extra charge and also the original guide because he was much more experienced.
No problems at lodges,itineraries,timing,vehicle....

I am sure more companys are doing a good job in Tanzania but I am glad we went with ADS.

Paco.

cat_lover,

Sorry for my late reply...we booked with Africa Dream Safari in June of 06 for Christmas and New Years in Tanzania. From this site I think you can tell that this is probably very late to book for the holidays as many people book a year in advance for non-holiday periods. We were fortunate to find 4 tickets on KLM during this period and then ADS worked with us to get the best bookings. Not sure if we had exactly the perfect itinerary for this season of the year but due to the extraordinary amount of rain that they had we ended up in fantastic shape to see the max. number of animals, not just the big five which we saw but a wide assortment of smaller animlas and birds as well. We arrived in the evening and stayed the first night at Arumeru River Lodge between Kilimanjaro and the Arusha local airport. Very nice accomodations, grounds, and food. Couldn't get into the airport in central Serengeti due to construction and water so we had to fly to Lobo in the northeastern Serengeti. This was a long drive from where we were staying in the western Serengeti, Mbalageti Tented Lodge, but as it turned out we had an incredible drive seeing over 20 different animals the first day including a leopard. Stayed 2 nights at Mbalageti Tented Lodge and it is like a 5 star lodge in the middle of no where. Truly awesome accomodations and food, with spectacular views. The GM there was very helpful in meeting our daughters dietary needs. The next day we had another great game drive and were almost totally alone. Came across a herd of about 200 elephants and many smaller animals. Did an early morning drive out, 3AM, to make the 6AM meet time for the balloon ride and this was also quite exciting to see many animals not other wise seen during the day, also another leopard. Spent the next 2 nights in our private luxury camp at Naabi Hill and we were right in the middle of the migration, truly awesome. A pride of about 25 lions was 1 mile from our camp. The people at our camp couldn't have been nicer or more accomodating. Following this we went to Ngorongoro Crater and spent one night at the Serena Lodge there, very nice. Then to Lake Manyara and 1 night at Plantation Lodge, extremely lovely grounds and accomodations where we spent New Years Eve. Next off to Tarangire where we spent 2 nights at Swala Tented Lodge whcih was fantastic. The trip in was arduous due to the rain having washed out the bridge and requiring a long detour in but it was worth the effort. The couple that run this lodge are wonderful hosts and we couldn't have been treated any better with meeting our every need. Had a wonderful picnic lunch and spent an entire day watching groups of elephants coming over the horizon and finally congregating into a herd of about 150 which we eventually were in the midst of, babies and all. We loved all our stops but truly Swala Tented Lodge was our favorite. Our guide was John Parmwat and he was awesome. Great English, very knowlegable on all animals and birds, truly a delight to be with and learn from. He was the same age as my daughters and we felt like he was part of our family after 10 days togehter. All in all this was a truly awesome experience which our family will cherish forever. http://www.africadreamsafaris.com/ is a great website for all sorts of general information. Hope this helps in your planning. Slickpaper.....

I've been so impressed with the rsponse to my question, we have booked our trip with African Dream Safaris for next Sept....it sounds like we are in for a great trip..THANKS