Getting muddy in the Serengeti
Kusini Safaris
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- African Travel & Tourism Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $8,673 to $43,363 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email David Griffiths | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Enabled us to have a superlative safari experience in three Tanzania Game Parks, one south two north
Paul was easy to communicate with, and helpful in his advice, which quickly enabled us to agree the plan for our safari (and subsequent beach) holiday, based on choices for which we could subsequently only be very grateful. Our experiences in all four places to stay exceeded any expectations possible. Our experience in Ikuka in Ruaha was really outstanding. In the other locations, his arrangements for our driver/guides were excellent, so that we really felt we were being looked after at every stage in the holiday. An outstanding holiday in every respect.
Email Joe Fontaine | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A professional customized worry free Tanzanian wildlife viewing safaris of a life time.
The best part of the trip was it was customized to our desires and budget making it a very personal and enjoyable wildlife viewing and photographing safaris in a fabulous country teaming with wildlife. Working with Paul and Hannah was an excellent experience from the planning stages thru the monitoring of our travels till the end to provide a worry free adventure. His choice of seasonal timing, use of companies and accommodations was excellent. The staff at each location was friendly and professional often doing the extra effort to make our stay even better. The food, cooked by chefs, and service was very goo. You never left the table hungry and the bag lunches were more than enough and very good. The guides were professional and ethical, leaving a viewing area after an appropriate amount of time to allow others access or to not disturb the animals. Their knowledge about wildlife, history and the people was very good. As a wildlife biologist I can attest to the credibility of their wildlife knowledge. The great handling of the logistics was the worry free part of the trip with a driver or guide always taking you to the appropriate place at the right time. Domestic flights by Coastal Air provided excellent service by skilled pilots.
The cost of our 17 day customized trip was less per day than a canned group trips we investigated. I would highly recommend using Paul Tickner Safaris to guide you or provide an affordable personal adventure of a life time. We will be using Ticket Safaris again.
Email Barbara | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Ultimate Personalized Safari Experience
Paul Tickner helped us plan the perfect safari for us, keeping in mind our interests and abilities. The result was a memorable three week experience that included (at Paul's suggestion) some much appreciated rest and relaxation before the long journey home. This trip of a lifetime far exceeded our expectations - and our expectations were high! We were impressed by Paul's meticulous attention to detail. We were always met as we stepped off our internal flights by a representative ready to whisk us away to our next adventure, our guides were knowledgeable and professional. We were privileged to have Paul himself as our guide in Ruaha, his home turf. His knowledge of the ecosystem and culture truly enhanced our experience. We loved it all so much, we want to return!
SE
Email Gustaf | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari in Selous and Ruaha
The experience Paul provided us was better than expected. We couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.
Email Nadia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
In-depth knowledge, locally based and fantastic guide.
My friend and I had an incredible two week trip to Tanzania this September. The itinerary was perfectly tailored and organised by Paul Tickner Safaris, who use local knowledge to ensure your trip will be a truly enjoyable experience. Highly recommend Paul as a private guide, you will have a lot of fun and I still can't believe his skills at spotting wildlife so well from a distance or through the bush and picking up on tracks! There are a lot of companies and agents in the safari market - Paul Tickner Safaris stands out from the crowd.
Email Ngaire | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I had a wonderful safari.
The safari definitely lived up to my expectations. Ruaha National Park is an outstanding park, easily rivaling any of it's more famous northern counterparts. The accommodation was great - I couldn't recommend Tandala more highly. Paul and Hannah at Paul Tickner Safaris are lovely people, who are passionate about what they do and have fantastic local knowledge. Communication was a little slow at times, and they are probably not the cheapest company, but they are extremely trustworthy, know what they are doing, and will make sure you are well looked after.
Reply from Kusini Safaris
Posted on Oct 21, 2016Our apologies for the slow communication Ngaire and we're glad you enjoyed your safari, hope to see you again in southern Tanzania!
Email Gareth | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an amazing holiday.
I found Paul website on safari bookings and they have received nothing but five star rating. This is deserved rating. Everything was really well organised from start to finish. Gave really good advice on our first trip to Africa. This was our honeymoon and it was a holiday I will never forget. The safari lodge, ikuka was a big part of this (recommend to me by Paul). Ikuka lodge was quite simply the best place I have ever stay. I can't recommend the place enough.
Email Bill | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Always There
When it comes to a personal safari, we could have never asked for more personal service.. Always there, always on time, always great arrangements. Nothing like have somebody excited and enthusiastic to be with you not only on the game drives, but any other arrangement the group wanted.
Email Charlie | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The experience with Paul Tickner Safaris was Awesome
We advised Paul of the region in southern Tanzania in which we were interested. Paul suggested various
Safari lodges and the time to spend at each lodge. Although, we are in Texas and Paul is in Tanzania with an eight hour time difference Paul was excellent in his timely communications back and forth to all of our questions even the silly ones from the ladies about hair dryers!
The lodges that Paul selected were each different in a way, but all of the choices were excellent and we enjoyed every Safari lodge. We got to know Paul so well through all of the emails that we asked if he could join us for the entire journey which he did for a certain fee. Paul joining really added to our trip. Paul was with us when viewing animals and he is so knowledgeble, he should be a Safari guide! We arrived in Tanzania at about 3:30 am and Paul was at the airport to greet us with transportation to the hotel which he had selected for us. Besides making sure every detail was perfect getting from lodge to lodge, Paul scheduled our day trips and animal viewing which was superb. The trip was more than my dreams could imagine...luxurious lodging, delicious food, good wine and wonderful animal viewing. And Paul's fun personality really added a sparkle to the trip of a lifetime!!
Email Garrett | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari, but wish he would give full disclosure of his commission fees
Our safari was excellently organized. We loved the entire experience and our stay at Mwagusi in Ruaha exceeded our expectations. Paul even helped us add another member to the safari 15 minutes before we departed. Our only frustration was that he would not disclose to us his commission fees or break all the costs down for us. He would only give us a total cost for the safari and was unwilling to tell us what percentage of the total cost was commission for him. As far as we know, he could be charging 5% or 50%. He does not publish the information on his website and we asked on 4 different occasions, but each time he refused to tell us. Nevertheless, he planned a great safari for us. If you don't mind not knowing what you are paying him to organize the safari, then I can recommend him. If you need full disclosure of the costs, then you should look for someone else.
Reply from Kusini Safaris
Posted on Aug 9, 2016Hi, Garret, I am very pleased that you chose to visit the southern highlands and Ruaha and doubly that you enjoyed your safari, as a small company promoting southern Tanzania; this is the result we are looking for. We are disappointed that the commission issue has reflected so poorly upon you, despite apparently enjoying the safari so much.
For the benefit of anyone else reading your review I should provide some clarity over commission, which I also did each of those 4 times referred too. As a small company, word of mouth recommendations and our customer service is everything and we take any suspicion of deceptiveness very seriously.
It is not the industry standard, nor are we obliged in any way, to divulge what our commission is. This is our policy for a number of reasons, none of which are designed to mislead our customers. There are a lot of moving parts and complicated pricing involved in designing safaris, which are largely of no relevance to the customer. In the same way as many other businesses, if we were charging 50% commission it would be very difficult for us to compete in the market. For example, if one buys a plane ticket online, one takes the price and times preferred. What the agents' commission is, how much the airline buys it's fuel for or how much the pilots make every month, are matters for the company itself.
We are under no illusion that there are certainly some travel companies out there not delivering on what they promise and with the information available on the internet, customers are more aware of their expectations not being met. However if one tries to plan and organise a safari, particularly to southern Tanzania, using information solely from the internet, things are likely to unravel, and this is where our role comes in. We won't tell a customer how much money we make but we will go well out of our way to make sure they get the best possible safari, something we feel is reflected in the reviews on this page.
Similarly, it is always the customer's prerogative to receive quotes from however many operators they wish, or indeed to organise the safari themselves, and choose the price and itinerary that suits them.