Spectacular Two-Week Safari and Beach Romantic Escape

Wow.  That's just for starters.  I just returned from Africa with my partner and two of our close friends.  We had a 2 week trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar booked through this African safari tour operator.  It included a day hike on Mt. Kilimanjaro, 7 days of safari, and 3 days at a resort in Zanzibar.

Just as we prepared to leave San Francisco, our flight was delayed, and we had to rebook arrangements, and arrived in Arusha 36 hours later than planned.  That did not phase our travel company.  I sent them an email on Saturday AM with our new flight plans, a representative of was waiting for us as we landed at 3:30AM, and the adventure continued.

Our travel company was able to shuffle our schedule to allow us to fit in our hike on Mt. Kilimanjaro at the end of the safari portion of our trip, and give up one day in Zanzibar.  

All of the accommodations were first class.  We stayed at the Arusha Hotel for just a few hours when we landed, and found it to be a charming colonial style hotel that we wished we could have enjoyed more.

Our driver/guide, Joseph, was with us 7 days.   He was very good at negotiating the rough roads on safari, and we were able to see most of what we wanted over the trip.

We stayed one night at Kirururu Lodge overlooking Lake Manyara.  Be sure to have a drink at the bar - the view down to the lake is breath-taking.

The two nights at Tloma Lodge were also very nice.  The rooms were large and well-appointed, and the meals were wonderful.  It was relaxing to hang around the lobby in the afternoon talking to other travelers, comparing sights on our safari outings.  A special thanks to Martha for her outstanding service.  She was the best.

In the Serengeti, we stayed two nights each in two tent camps.  One in the central part (Kati Kati), and one farther north along the Mara River (Mara Under Canvas Camp).  The Mara camp was very deluxe.  Our tent must have been over 600 square feet, and had plumbed cold water.

The whole trip exceeded our expectations.  Our agent at this travel company was so helpful at every phase of planning and during the trip when our plans changed at the last minute.  Our tour guides were also there every step of the way in Tanzania.  We were never at a loss as to where to go or when, as they had us totally covered.

You could not have planned the trip better. It was fantastic! Our safari driver from Rangers was great - again could not of been better. He pushed every day for us to see everything possible. Hes fun and incredibly knowledgeable and has a great command of the English language.You were right to schedule one day in Nairobi - so glad we did not change it to two days. We saw the last of the Big 5 - the black rhino in Kenya. We loved all of our accommodations and the people are so friendly, polite and helpful.We saw the Great Migration in Tanzania. We would not of changed one thing. People from other tour agencies were dissapointed that when they arrived in Kenya when we did as all of the Wildebeest had already migrated to Tanzania.What you scheduled for us was perfect. I do think that Tanzania is not well known but Kenya is to the average American like us. If it wasn't for you we would of never known about Tanzania. Tanzania has it all - except the black rhino at the Govenor's Camp- no need to even go to Kenya but I did want to go the the Elephant and Giraffe orphanages. We loved Capetown, the shark cage trip and the tour operator was wonderful. The 1/2 day Capetown trip was great. We went on the historic Capetown walking tour at 11:00 after we checked out. We added the Olduvai museum at the crater to our trip.  We had a wonderful time and saw so much in 17 days including traveling from the East Coast;  Arusha, Tarangire National park,  Ngorongoro crater, Central Serengeti - Turner Springs, Norther Serengeti - Kokatonde, Masai - Mara, Nairobi, Victoria Falls and Capetown. A trip of a lifetime.

Zicasso’s travel agency gave us a mind-blowing experience. We've never had a trip where nothing went wrong. Thanks to their hard work and our in-country hosts, our trip was flawless. We had lots of questions and ideas. They worked to incorporate them into the package. This really showed how much they knew about Africa, as well as what works and what might not.

Our driver/guide for Tanzania was great. His encyclopedic knowledge of everything was astounding. From the little beetles and the birds to the Big Five and beyond, he knew it all and knew everyone. This really elevated our trip experience.

We started in Arusha, then set out on our adventure. We stayed in Tarangire National Park, drove through Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater, and then on to the central and northern Serengeti.

Our driver made sure we saw what I think was every animal in Tanzania. Each encounter was an experience and up close! Thanks!

The tented camps in Tarangire and the central and northern Serengeti were wonderful. While a little outdated, the locations were perfect. The staff at each camp were over the top. Awesome job. We planned this trip as my gift for turning 60. Our tour operator made sure everyone knew this, and at each camp, the cooks baked a small cake to recognize this. What an unexpected surprise. I cannot express enough gratitude to everyone for making the camps so special. The food was fabulous.

We also had a morning balloon flight over the northern Serengeti. This too was amazing, watching the sun rise floating silently over the Mara River, listening to the animals.

From the northern Serengeti it was on to Rwanda for gorillas. Again, the travel agency went above and beyond. Our guide in Rwanda was a font of knowledge and knew many of people wherever we went. The hotels in Rwanda were small and exceptional.

We had two days of gorilla treks. We were extremely blessed to have our guide on both days. We saw 35 gorillas in what I call a full 3D, up-close experience. I had wanted to see mountain gorillas ever since I was young and read about Dian Fossey. The gorilla experience really moved us. Such gentle creatures. We will remember this encounter for the rest of our lives.

I highly recommend the travel company. We had a wonderful adventure and want to return.

Our trip to Africa was fantastic, and could barely be improved upon.  My wife and I went to Rwanda and Uganda for mountain gorilla trekking, then to Tanzania for safari game drives in Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro NP, and finished up in Zanzibar for swahili cooking class, snorkeling and a spice plantation tour. The trip was organized by a travel planner at this travel company. After sending our ideas to our travel planner, we worked back and forth for a week or so to fine-tune our trip itinerary to include the things that we wanted to do, which involved seeing as much wildlife as possible. My wife loves monkeys and I am a birdwatcher, so we made sure that there was plenty of both in our itinerary.  Our travel planner was very organized and great to work with. She even met us in Arusha with her husband, to say "Jambo" hello. Our guides were both great guys, very knowledgeable of the birds, wildlife and culture that we saw. This travel company is highly recommended and we would use them again if we traveled to Africa.

My family absolutely adored our trip to Tanzania by this safari travel company!!! There are really no words to fully capture how much fun we had. We are a family of 4 with two parents in their mid-50s and two daughters in their mid-20s. We spent around 10 days on safari in Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and both the central and northern Serengeti. This was followed by a few days of R&R in Zanzibar. The co-owners of the company were super attentive, patient, and informative throughout the entire process from planning to execution. They truly went the extra mile to make our trip perfect for us. I also want to give a shoutout and huge thank you to our amazing Asilia Africa guide! It was an unforgettable and incredible family trip!