citygirl9

We (2 couples) are thinking about booking a safari to northern Tanzania in Jan/Feb. 2011 with Africa Dream Safaris and wondered if anyone has traveled recently with them to this area and can give some feedback on the experience. Thanks.

sandi

No personal experience, but previous threads here do mention that their prices tend to be higher than what other tour operators can offer for the same routing/accommodations.

Do a search on this board (box at top of this page) - input Africa Dream Safaris - for threads containing various info that can help in your decision.

Don't know if you have, but it's a good idea to get prices from a few tour operators/outfitters (4 or 5) for comparison - apples-to-apples.

traveler318

Not really recent, but I used them in July 2008 and thought they were great. I thought there really was value for what we paid, despite the persistent opinion on this forum (mostly from people who have not used them it seems to me) that they are "expensive." I found that they were not more costly than other operators from whom I got quotes, given that we had a long stretch land rover for two persons (having 7 seats besides the driver and ample room to stretch). There were other nice touches such as a comfortable table and chairs for picnics, well stocked "cool box", VIP visa service at JRO (and visas were included in the safari price), binoculars, field guides and maps in the vehicle, etc.

I found them easy to work with to plan our itinerary, knowledgeable and very responsive to questions, with lots of detailed information. They worked with us to pick lodging that worked for the level of comfort we wanted (as well as prime locations for the season) and to keep to our budget. I live in California, and I liked using a company located here for ease of payment, security (Calif. licensed seller of travel), etc.

I would not hesitate to recommend them. If you use them, our guide was Wilfred Fue and I thought we has superb--just an encyclopedia of knowledge about flora, fauna, & geography. We met others who were using ADS during our travels at some of the safari camps, and everyone we talked to had a similarly positive experience.

Best of luck.

TigerPhotog

They were the first to give me a quote for my TZ trip last year. I soon discovered that their price was at least $2k higher(per person) than other in-country operators. Ironically, the guide who I was with (from another company) had worked for ADS and did not have a lot of good things to say. Firstly, they do not own their own vehicles, leopard tours or some1 owns the vehicles,iirc, ADS just puts their stickers on these vehicles. 2ndly, you are not helping the local economy by booking thru a USA third party(and are paying extra), hardly any $ you pay is going to Tanzania, the drivers/guides are paid peanuts, in comparison.
Send me a mail at tigaphotog at yahoo.com if you need further info and need my operator's reference. Save your $$$$.

TP

citygirl9

thanks so much for the feedback. I will be doing more research on this then.