Amazing experience, definitely recommend!948SteveS
Apr 12, 2022, 10:33:12 AM This was an easy 5-star rating and I hope we can return with Suricata Safaris sometime soon.
We originally booked a 6-day safari in fall of 2019, for April of 2020. We identified 6-7 safari companies with high ratings on TripAdvisor, and I emailed each asking for itinerary suggestions for a family of 7, staying at comfortable lodges. Each suggested itinerary was pretty similar, so we put together a single itinerary and emailed again asking for prices. Most of the companies were quick to respond, but we choose Suricata based on the price and helpful email interactions with Hilary.
With about a week to go, COVID delayed our trip until April 2022. Hilary was extremely helpful and rolled forward our deposit, allowing us to make a couple changes to the itinerary based on our updated preferences and flight times.
When we arrived at the airport, our guide Ezekiel met us outside security with a sign. We boarded our vehicle, which seats the guide plus seven others, so it was perfect for us and our three suitcases. In Arusha, we had a quick breakfast with Hilary, where he suggested a couple tweaks to the schedule. Because the migration hadn’t yet reached Ndutu as it usually would have, he suggested we cancel the night in that area and add a third night in central Serengeti. It was a slight lodge upgrade and better chance to see animals at no additional cost, so we agreed. We also switched our first day from Manyara to Tarangire, based on recent reports of wildlife viewing. Both turned out to be great decisions.
We spent our first day in Tarangire, seeing many elephants and other wildlife. It was a great introduction on our way to the Serengeti National Park. We stayed the first night at the Retreat at Ngorongoro, where we slept in three very comfortable rooms—each a separate hut. The room was clean, our king-size bed was very comfortable, the water pressure was strong, plenty of hot water, good wifi, etc.
We spent the next three days touring the Serengeti. We were lucky to have great weather every day even though it was the rainy season. Ezekiel was excellent. He provided information about the land, plant life, and especially animals. He has a lot of experience as a guide and has a great sense for where to find different types of wildlife. We were able to see everything we were looking for—probably over 50 lions, 3 cheetahs, 2 leopards, 4 rhinos, and countless wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, buffalos, antelope, hippos, etc. We were up close to see lions and leopards in trees, lions guarding a wildebeest they had killed and partially eaten (twice), and a fight between vultures and jackals over a carcass. Many of the animals, including lions, leopards, elephants, wildebeest, hyenas, baboons, and zebras, walked right past the vehicle, only a couple feet away.
We stayed at the Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge in the Serengeti, and it was everyone’s favorite lodge. The three rooms inside were large and very comfortable. King-size bed (or separate beds for the kids), desk, comfortable chairs, outside deck overlooking the Serengeti, filtered water, good wifi, modern toilet, two sinks. The private, outdoor shower overlooking the valley was amazing. It got a little cool at night, but the strong stream of hot water from the rainfall shower was plenty warm. It was cool stargazing from the shower at night or watching buffalo and other wildlife in the day. The only thing that made the room “tented” was the canvas exterior and screen windows. Falling asleep to sounds of hyenas and jackals was truly memorable. Plus, the food and service were excellent, including the Maasai men who escorted us to and from our tents in the dark.
We spent the next day in the Ngorongoro Crater, followed by a night at the Serena Safari Lodge. The crater was amazing, and the best thing about the lodge was the view from our room. The lodge was a little more touristy than the others, with nightly performances and gift shops, but we enjoyed our two nights there.
The next day we drove about 3 hours to Empakaai Crater, where we hiked down with a ranger for protection. We saw lots of leopard footprints, but only antelope, baboons, and flamingos in the crater. The hike back up was not too long, but steep especially on a hot and humid day. We’re glad we did the hike, because it was a nice change of pace from sitting in the vehicle each day. But if we had to drop one day from the trip, this would be it. The drive was just a little too long on bumpy, rain-damaged dirt roads. Though it was nice seeing the scenery and Maasai villages along the way.
A little more about our guide. Like I said, Ezekiel was full of helpful information and was adept at finding animals, sometimes in hard-to-spot, out-of-the-way places. He has a good eye for photography, sometimes repositioning the vehicle to get better lighting. Lunch each day was packed by our lodges, and he set it out as we stopped to eat in the parks. Early in the week, conversations usually centered around our questions about the country, people, and wildlife. By the end of the week, we talked more like friends, laughing together and sharing about ourselves, our favorite movies, etc. We will miss him. At the airport, he was so kind to give his own bracelets to our youngest daughter, because we couldn’t find any like them at the shops we stopped at in Arusha on our way back to the airport. If you have a chance to travel with Ezekiel, we highly recommend it.
Finally, a few practical notes. We brought bug spray, sunscreen, and Great Britain power adapters, and used each (by the way, you can charge your phones in the vehicle). Mosquitos and malaria were not a concern in the areas we were in, in part because of the high elevation. We didn’t get any special travel vaccines before arriving. We brought Immodium but didn’t use it. We brought a couple towels and toilet paper but didn’t need them in the lodges. You might want a little toilet paper for random bathroom stops along the way, just in case. We brought lots of snack food (trail mix, granola bars, dried fruit) but barely touched it. Of course, your needs may vary depending on where you stay and which month you visit. Also, our cell phones worked great for anything up close, but you really need a good camera with optical zoom to capture anything further away. Most of our favorite pictures were captured by cell phones (iPhone 13), unless they were distance shots.
