It Started in Africa
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Member Of:
- IATA, TATO & TALA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $2,603 to $9,543 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IT
Email Paolo | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing and safe
A reliable company, good car, kind and prepared guide. We went for a private two people and the mid luxury suggested accomodations; all were well managed, clean and breath taking.
Roads and burocracy in Tanzania don't work well, expect to a not so welcoming experience by governor officiers, but fortunately this Company will take care of everything for you.
Email SJ | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Affordable Option
As a student working in Tanzania, I had very little money to work with, but wanted to have a decent break that was memorable and fun. I'm situated in the south, so I did the Southern Circuit (excluding Ruaha, because I already work there).
This was a fantastic service. The safari was excellent and I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a good value, professional and exciting experience. I am really glad that I chose this company and would happily choose to go on safari with them again in the future, pending a few minor adjustments. Nothing serious, but I would advise anyone going on a safari anywhere, with anyone to make sure that they explicitly tell the company what they do and do not expect of their guide. It is important to remember that you are in another country with different cultural values and norms, so be patient and understanding - realise that your standards and expectations may be different to those of others, and politely discuss them with your organiser/guide to ensure that there are no misunderstandings and everything goes smoothly.
The positives:
1. Food and accommodation was excellent! The guide made every effort to make a long and bumpy journey by road enjoyable. Having a few snacks for the road really made a huge positive difference.
2. Hippo Camp in Selous was beautiful. The staff were really friendly and did all they could to make guests comfortable despite having a few unexpected technical difficulties while I was there. I would highly recommend this camp to anyone.
3. The guide was very knowledgeable and did his best to answer my questions about plants and animals.
4. The vehicle was very comfortable and reliable.
5. The program was excellent, lots of game viewing time and the guide was kind enough to include some short stops in transit between parks for me to be able to talk to local people and learn more culturally when I told him that this was an interest of mine in addition to wildlife. So I really appreciated that.
6. The cost of the safari was very reasonable considering all that was included. I feel that I definitely got what I paid for and would recommend your safari business to others.
Thank you once again for a really enjoyable experience! Highly recommended.
Email Suri | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
10 day safari June 27 thru July 9 2016
We had a wonderful Safari trip arranged via It Started in Africa. Our total trip was for 12 days (9 days of Safari + 3 days in Zanzibar) between June 27th to July 9th, 2016. The Safari included visits to Tarangiri National Park (2 nights in Tarangiri Safari Lodge), Lake Manyara National Park, (hunting) activities with Hadzabe tribe and Toga tribe (1 night in Kisima Ngeda at Lake Eyasi), Ngorongoro Crater (2 nights in Pakulala tented camp), flight to Central Serengeti (1 night in Chaka’s Kyota camp) with a day and half of game drives in Central Serengeti, drive to Northern Serengeti (2 nights in Chaka tented camps), and finally flight from Kotangade (N. Serengeti) to Zanzibar for 3 nights in Pongwe beach hotel).
Overall It Started in Africa had made excellent arrangements for us. As we were planning for the trip – It started in Africa customer happiness team was very responsive and patient answering the myriad of questions I posed – with good suggestions to customize the tour as I wanted. Impressed with their responsiveness to email – I got an email reply within a matter of hours no matter what time I sent them the question. Pricing / payment options and polices were clearly explained and there were no surprises. They provided us with our own safari vehicle with driver/guide (not shared), all the regional air travel were smooth (booked via Coastal Air), and we did not experience any unexpected expenses throughout the trip. Would definitely recommend It Started in Africa without reservations. See below for more details and ask all the questions so you are fully aware of what to expect.
Our driver/guide Erasto was absolutely fantastic – we would highly recommend him to anyone arranging tours with It started in Africa. He was very courteous, all ways on time, efficient as well as proficient in finding all the different animals we wanted to see and fluent in English. He did an excellent job of guiding us and seeking the right locations. E.g., when we wanted to see more lions – he took us deep into their habitats even though it was a longer drive – we were lucky enough to see a pride of male lions and the highlight was a lioness with 2 cubs (that were barely 2 weeks old). We saw all of the big 5 – Elephants, lions, leopards, wild buffaloes and even the very elusive black Rhino (this one alone was from afar – but we still could see it via the scope) and much more (zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, leopard, cheetah (with a cub and eating a kill), giraffes, hippos, Impala, gazelles, dik diks, mongoose, vultures, eagles, ostriches, jackals, hyenas, flamingos – the list is almost endless. Erasto covered the drive from Central to Northern Serengeti in about 5½ hours while still highlighting all the animals along the way (most other tourists mentioned it took them a whole day 8 to 10 hours to cover the same.) At the final stop Erasto was patient in tracking down the right crossing point for the Wildebeest crossing/migration across the Mara river as the final highlight of our Safari. Erasto appeared to be well connected within the driver/guide community across all safari companies and was able to glean a lot of information on animal locations via the radio, his cell phone and in talking to other drivers/guides. He also helped out several times when other safari vehicles were stuck on the roads (without creating any undue burden on us). Ask for Erasto if you are booking a trip with It Started in Africa.
We had excellent service at all the lodging options we used. Tarangiri Safari lodge was the largest camp (35+ tents) we used – the rest were all much smaller in size (10+ tents). The service at all the camps was exceptional (yes – we chose mostly the higher end of the luxury offerings). The tents were very well appointed and service staff were willing to cater to every request. Instructions were clear. We are all vegetarians and the chefs in every camp customized the menu to meet our needs – the food was delicious. We would recommend all of the camps without any reservations – without exception every camp went above and beyond to cater to our needs and requests (even doing laundry when the service was not generally offered). We were celebrating a couple of birthdays and our wedding anniversary thought the course of the trip (I had mentioned this in my preferences form to It Started in Africa which they had communicated to all of the camps) and the camp chef and staff at each camp surprised us with a celebration (including a cake, camp staff singing and dancing.)
Zanzibar and the Pongwe beach resort – the beach was definitely nice and interesting how much the water recedes during low tide (almost a mile exposing the sand bar that you can walk out on). We only had breakfast included in the package with Pongwe beach resort – so had to pay for lunch and dinners (and they were pretty expensive – so plan for it). We did not do any local activities in Zanzibar – most activities were a good distance away at other locations that were at least 1 to 2 hour drive – so choose your location wisely if you want to do any activities. We just stayed put and chilled at the beach. Had we planned better – I would have either picked a different location closer to some of the activities or would have skipped (or at least reduced the duration) of our stay in Zanzibar.
Specific things we wished we knew / planned better:
1. While the safari vehicle we had (an older 1990’s land cruiser) was mechanically sound (never broke down or got stuck) – it was still old and rickety. It did not have power windows and even the manual windows and doors were very difficult to operate. Given the dusty road conditions (exacerbated every time you pass a vehicle in either direction) – a good working set of windows that can be easily raised and lowered and doors that can be opened from both the inside and outside would have made the overall experience much more pleasant and easier to manage. It was definitely a difficult chore for us to operate the doors and windows on the vehicle we had. Not sure if we just got unlucky with the vehicle assignment – but most other vehicle we saw during the tour seemed to be in much better working order. I wish It Started in Africa had arranged for a better vehicle for us.
2. The transfer from Ngorongoro to Central Serengeti – we had specifically arranged to fly this sector (35 minute flight) as this was supposed to be the worst sector for road transfer. When we were planning the trip we had assumed that we would have a different car/driver/guide meet us at Central Serengeti for the Serengeti portion of the safari. We only found out after we started the Safari that our car/driver/guide would be the same for the entire safari and that he would drop us at the Lake Manyara airport for the flight and drive by himself (for about 5 hours) and meet us again at Serengeti airport. Unfortunately this meant we had to drive from the crater rim at 6 AM (in a complete fog where we could barely see 15 feet in front of you – needless to say a very scary drive) and a long wait in the Central Serengeti airport while our car/driver/guide covered the distance by road. Even though It Stared I Africa tried to arrange a different car to transfer us from Ngorongoro to the Lake Manyara airport – due to park fees and such – our regular car/driver/guide had to drive us down from the crater to park exit and had to drive back the same route again to get to Central Serengeti. Had we known this we would have definitely planned this portion differently – we would have exited the crater the previous night and stayed at a lodge in Lake Manyara near the airport instaed of a 2nd night at Pakulala tented camp – this could have given our car/driver/guide the extra time needed to get to Central Serengeti on time to pick us up at the airport while we could have had a leisurely morning at Lake Manyara (providing us some much needed rest and avoid the scary early morning drive down the crater) before catching the flight – and most likely would not have increased our overall cost. Wish we had known/planned this transfer better or gotten better advise/clarity from It Stared in Africa
3. Drive from Central to Northern Serengeti – more on this below – but this is another sector worth considering a flight – but not sure how you manage the car/driver/guide situation if you are using the same car/driver/guide for the entire trip. I was told this is where the “game package” option of flying and using different cars/drivers/guides may come in handy – but at a potentially higher overall cost.
4. Having said the above – we were very happy we had the same driver/guide Erasto for the entire trip.
A few general things to note:
1. There are almost no paved roads – all of the game drives inside the parks and most of the transfer drives were on rutty, unpaved, rocky and very bumpy roads. So drives are usually slow, long and bumpy requiring a lot of patience. Erasto did a fantastic job for us navigating the very difficult terrain.
2. Animals roam freely – so requires a lot of effort to track and spot them. Some are fairly common (zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, impalas), some are easy to find (elephants, giraffes) – we saw lots of them, but others are hard to track and find (specifically leopards, cheetahs, rhinos). Requires a lot of driving and patience. We had a 16 and 12 year old and there were times when their patience was tested
3. The roughly 1½ hour drive each way to Lake Eyasi/Kisima Ngeda (once you get off the main highway) is horrible – very dusty and bumpy (really no road or path that we could discern) – but is the only way to get in and out and get to the region where you can see the bushman (Hadzabe tribe). While the interaction and hunting expedition with the Hadzabe tribe was interesting – in hind sight not sure if the horrible drive required was worth the experience. But if you are interested in experiencing what you see In the movie “Gods must be Crazy” – then you will want to include this in your trip. The tented camp in Lake Eyasi though is a class apart – this is where we were first surprised by the staff with a cake and celebration – so unforgettable experience for us.
4. The drive from Central Serengeti to Northern Serengeti is long and arduous – again over very bumpy non paved terrain. While our driver covered this in 5½ hours – 8 to 10 hours seems to be the norm – so unless you want to specifically experience the drive (to follow the migration) – would highly recommend taking a flight.
PT
Email José & Adriana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First safari, wounderful experience and the wish to return to Tanzania some day.
It was very easy to communicate with this operator when planning our safari, Mr João Oliveira allways answered our e-mails very promptly and was very helpfull advising us about the safari tour that better met our requirements. We´ve choosen the 4 day safari "endless plains".
Our guide Dickson was very professional, shown a good knowledge about birds and managed that it was possible to see the big five althogh the rhinos were too far, but as they are very rare we can´t ask for better. We visited Tarangire, Serengueti and Ngorongoro and we loved the 2 camps and lodge where we satyed overnight, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge by its landscape view over the crater, Maramboi tented camp because our stay was like a dream, and Robanda by its simplicity and the kindness of the staff.
PT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
amazing service provider for travel photography
20 days traveling through Tanzania with "it started in Africa" allowed me to photograph people, landscapes and wildlife in fantastic environments and with low budget I had.
I recommend this operator to all who seek to know the tanzania, with an optimal price / quality ratio.
I liked very much, and repeat all over again.
IN
Email Rajib Sarma | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful experience. Value for money.
Dear Jaoa,
It was a wonderful experience we had at Tanzania, thanks to you & your wonderful team. We had a great time during the safaries we took. Of course food was a little bit of a problem as we don't take beef & pork. The overall experience was quite good. The driver / guide was very accomodating. We were with three kids, but still the driver had adhered to a flexible timetable which was really appreciated. The stay was quite ok, considering the remotness of the region. The vehicle provided was quite good, except a small hitch one day. Thank you very much for a nice and wonderful family vacation. We will definately recommend you to anyone who wants to go for Tanzanian Safari. I will send a few other snaps.
Rajib Sarma
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
2 days safari in Tanzania
It Started in Africa made me spend a beautiful safari in Tanzania. They just have been honest, flexible and professional, three features that made my time with them unforgettable. They are really dedicating to the customer and for me it has been impressive the starting communication by mail where everything has been with full transparency and open to my desires. They really know how to treat travelers.
ES
Email Carlos | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari, terrible management
Our safari with "It Started in Africa" could not have started in a worst way... We had booked a 5-day safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro (plus 2 nights in Arusha, one before the safari, and one after it). When we arrived at Tanzania we had to pay the remaining 60% of the safari. A driver took us from the airport to our hotel in the outskirts of Arusha and told us that a representative of the company would visit us at the hotel for giving us a briefing and for telling us at what time would the guide pick us the next morning.
At dinner time no one had appeared, so we sent an email to the company using the WiFi of the hotel. They apologized and told us that there was a problem with the person that had to visit us, but that the next morning at 8 a.m. the guide and a representative of the campany would appear at the hotel so we could pay the remaining amount directly to him/her and start our safari right at that moment.
The next morning only the guide appeared. No apology and no explanation given. He took us to the office in the center of Arusha and we payed the remaining amount. While we were at the office, I saw by chance that the accommodation that we had chosen for the Serengeti was not the same that was written on the paper that was given to our guide. We had chosen Serengeti Heritage Migration Camp (not the Serengeti Heritage Seronera Camp), but they had changed it for Ndutu Savannah Camp. When we asked why, the office employee just told us that "it was better". As Ndutu Savannah Camp was not even an option for accommodation when we booked the safari, we had no idea if this was true, so we had to accept it and continue the trip.
Based on our stay and the internet reviews, now I can say that Ndutu Savannah Camp was of similar category that the one we had chosen, and that the location was probably better. But we spent the whole first day thinking that we were being scammed, because no one had tolds us that our accommodation had been changed, and we only learned it by chance.
Our guide (Elia) was good but maybe not great. He is a polite and nice person, a careful driver and a very experienced guide. He always found the perfect spots for wildlife watching and he was probably more experienced than most of the other guides. Also, one day, while we were returning to our accommodation, he saw some lions and we stopped to watch them. After some waiting, we watched a hunting scene while he patiently waited. Finally, we arrived at our accommodation almost 2 hours later than the agreed time, and he never complained.
On the negative side, he is not the most talkative person. When he sees an animal, he usually just points at it and says one or two phrases. If you want to know some details, you always has to ask. Not a big deal for us, but may be for others. Also, on the Ngorongoro day, when we asked him about the lunch inside the crater (as was clearly written in the contract). He said that it was not possible because of the 6-hour permit (we have passed the entrance gate at 7:15 a.m. approximately, so we had to leave before 1:15 p.m.). We asked him to have our lunch in the viewpoint outside the crater instead, but he said that it was not possible either, because we had to leave earlier. After finishing watching the wildlife of the crater, we passed the exit gates at 11:50 a.m., with more than hour left before the permit expired, and we had lunch on our way back to Arusha. Again, not a big deal, but then, why does the company write it in the contract if there is no easy way for the guide to comply with it?
Before returning to the hotel in Arusha, we were taken to the office to fill a customer survey about the guide and the jeep, while the guide and one office employee looked over our shoulders. Not the most comfortable moment of our safari. Also, as we were in the office, we asked at what time would the driver pick us the next morning to take us to the airport. No one knew that we had already booked the transfer, even as it was written in the contract, so they arranged the transfer at that moment.
While we were accommodated at Ngorongoro, a manager (Silvia) called me by phone to tell us that he wanted to meet us in Arusha. We thought that maybe she wanted to explain to us the problems previously described. After arriving at the hotel in Arusha, our guide told us that she would visit us at the hotel. Again, at dinner time no one had appeared, so we sent an email to the company. They apologized again but no explanation was given. We left Tanzania the next morning but she did not appear.
ES
Email AGUSTIN | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Danger of robbery, low reliability
We made a one week safari in December 2019 with this agency, 2 adults and 4 children. The quality of the different services was acceptable except for the age of the vehicle and the poor reliability of the information offered by e-mail when making the reservation. In our case, the "peculiarity" of the trip with 4 children and the need to ensure their well-being and safety was emphasized. Although we were repeatedly confirmed that everything was safe and according to the needs of children, the result was that what had to have been a dream trip became a nightmare. This agency does not care or take responsibility for the safety of its clients during the trip and as a result of this lack of responsibility they attacked us at knife point when we were with 4 children. The feeling of insecurity in areas outside the national parks resulted in the fact that we could not enjoy the hired trip. From what we have been able to find out, it is an agency that strives to provide rapid responses in the bidding phase with competitive prices, but once you are on the trip completely neglect the clients and their needs, being the most serious and dangerous the fact that they cannot ensure their safety. I would recommend being very careful with this agency, especially if you intend to make a trip with children. In case you have the trip hired, I would recommend having emergency telephone numbers for the Spanish consulate, as well as contracting private insurance with good coverage.
PE
Email Edith, Jorge, Denise and Heldy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It Started in Africa ¿An Option?
I write these commentaries because I believe that we have a responsability with other tourists who, as we did, organize their trips taking into consideration the opinions and commentaries of people in Tripadvisor and Safaribooking.com
I will try to be objective in my commentaries most of all because the experience we lived surpasses all inconveniences and obliges us to put things in their true dimension.
All coordinations were wonderful, Luis Gama as well as Joao Oliveira replied and answered all our questions promptly and clearly.
What did they offer us:
1 "Pickup/dropoff from Kilimanjaro airport":
We arrived to Kilimanjaro¨'s Airport on time, the van that was supposed to pick us up was not there, although we must state that they had arranged for someone to have a poster and explain to us that they were on their way to pick us up.
2. "All our vehicles are extremely well maintained 4x4 Land Cruisers with pop-up open roof":
It called our attention that the van was not as modern as others we had seen picking up groups of turists. The handles of the windows did not work and it was very difficult to open the windows. The door on the right side did not have an internal handle to open it so we always had to ask the guides to open and close the door for us.
The seat on the second row, on the left, was totally broken so it was imposible to go through a long journey without causing back pain. Because of our complains they changed the vehicle. This was worse because the transmition, the springs, the shock absorber and the two back tires broke. It was a miracle that it just added up to a big fright. I want to take this opportunity to thank the African Scenic and the group of young doctors of Hong Kong who so kindly helped us and transported us to our camp. Finally we went back to our first vehicle. They had fixed the seat but, apparently, the steer started to fail and we wondered if we would get to the airport in time for our flight
3 "You will have at your disposal, a pair of High End Large Binoculars (Nixon, Olympus of Bushnell) that will dramatically enhance your safari experience when compared to standard binoculars":
This made us think that each member of the group would have a pair of binoculars. It finally happened but only one pair could be considered "high end", the others were broken or you could not see clearly.
4. "All our safaris have unlimited mileage which means you will be able to do game drives for as long and far as you¨[would like within the parks operational hours": Complied
5. "All National Park entrance and camp site fees": Complied
6. "Accommodation as detailed": Complied to our total satisfaction
7. "All food-breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals":
The lodges were responsable for our food and the chefs were very kind and prepared special meals according to our alimentary restrictions, if somebody could not eat from the buffet. We were surprised, however, to learn that they did not have our meal restrctions registered, This situation delayed our trip to the Tarangire National Park because we had to look for a restaurant where they could cook special meals.
8 "Bottled wáter and soft drinks": We could always find bottles of water but never soft drinks.
9. "Lonely Planet about Tanzania": In January they offered us that they could buy three of these books in spanish. We paid for them in advance. When we arrived, four months after, they had only two books in english. We understand that it may be dificult to find spanish version but they had four months to do it or warn us that they failed finding them. Finally we got a third book in spanish.
10. "Our guides, which are our real stars and the ones who can make the difference between a nice trip and a once in a lifetime journey that you will never forget for decades to come":
We had Frederick Isangya (Alfred) as our guide in spanish as well as Estomi as our driver. This was a plus as we were told that the presentations were in english and we observed that the driver was the guide in other safaris.
Frederick answered with certitude all our questions relative to the animals, their habitat and behavior. He complimented this information with literature that was in the vehicle and thus allowed us to learn more about this fascinating continent. He always fullfilled our expectations. Estomi is an excellent driver and thanks to his skills the accident we had had no mayor consecuences.
Frederick and Estomi, as the visible face of the Company, had at all times the best disposition to face and solve, in the best way, all the problems and inconveniences during the safari.
When they realized that an adequate lunch pack for one of the members of the group was missing they bought a box and searched for the special meal in a restaurant. They made the necessary coordinations with the Arusha office in order to find a solution to all the inconveniences that arose during the trip and never avoided the reponsability that "It Started in Africa" had towards us.
Conclusion
It Started in Africa did not comply with two fundamental things in order to make a safari successfull : i ) The maintenance of their vehicles and ii) the care of the special food we required.
¿Would we hire "It Started in Africa" again? We dont think so, although we must aknowledge that at all times, through their team, they faced all inconveniences. ¿Would we hire Frederick (Alfred) and Estomi? Yes with no doubt, they were extraordinary.
To finish I would like to state that the group had decided from the very start that nothing would ruin this marvellous adventure and that our motto, in spite of the problems, always was "Hakuna Matata"
I hope our commentaries may be of help to you