"Benson Safaris: Thrilling Adventures Await!"
Benson Safaris Tanzania
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- TATO, TTB & IGS
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $4,325 to $20,761 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very punctial and highly qualified and experienced people
Good communications before the trip started ,god service and accomodation. The Safari tour itself was excellent .
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Safari Njema ! An Adventure we will never forget !
It all started with a dream that my two uncles had been sharing already for a Long time. It was about one of the most outstanding and incredible sights of the world you can visit - Mt. Kilimanjaro. Either one of them had not managed to take this journey on his own but once at Christmas I have brought both of their ideas on one table and made it a deal for the new coming year 2014. As we had set our Goal it was not hard to find the rest of the Group that would join us for the trip. For myself it was like coming home but now with a bunch of Tourists on my heels including me. I had spent 2 years of my life in Tanzania working as a pediatrician in a small Hospital far in a very remote Area of Tanzania and it became my second home...somehow it revealed my hidden African personality. I know Benson already for a Long Long time and he became more than just a friend to me but for our trip I could not have imagine trusting somebody else to organize it all for us. And our expectations for the adventure did not get disappointed. Theresa, uncles and friends as we recalled our Little crazy wazungu German Mountain climbing Group arrived at Kili - Airport in Arusha , like I had done a houndred times before already and spent our first African night at Ilboro Lodge in Arusha, a beautiful and Relaxing place to be. Benson was alreay awaiting us at the Airport personal and I felt like I had never left Africa. Next Morning after a good night sleep and good breakfast we got a brief introduction in the rules and secrets of how to successfully climb the mountain. One guy from the Group was missing one of his suitcases the one with all his moutain gear and Benson, exactly as I know him ;-) , did not stop communicating with the Airport and me to get it in time before leaving the next morning....Unfortunately this time the bag was vanished somewhere on the way. But as I have also learnt during my time in Africa : There is always a plan B. And Benson came up with the rescue plan of providing the Bag-less man some climbing shoes, jacket, sleeping bag and the Basics that were needed to survive the first days of climbing and after he put us on the bus, farwell, and off we went. We had an amazing climb, taking the Coca Cola route, you can´t imagine the Beauty of the fast changing Environment while you are ascending step by step. This place is magical. We were sleeping in Little huts and were provided with delicious Food that non of us had expected all the way up there in the mountain. While we were enjoying the climb, all had forgotten about the suitcase...Benson did not stop to phone and call around and the more surprised we all were when it suddenly appeared on our second camp base in the evening with a big hurray to the porter who had brought it up to us!! We pushed ourselfes to our physical and personal Limits, some of us even crossed it and we all reached the top just in time for an breathtaking sunrise abough the crater rim. I was a Moment nobody of us will Forget when we were Standing there together after we all had gone through the same physical challenges of the last days and we could celebrate our success with this Special Moment. On the way down we have tried to give a Special thanks to all the staff and we practised a Little Performance with Kili-first German wazungu men´s choir performing the "Jambo" song with me leading the singing Group :-) it was hilarious. The second part of our journey after a day of recovery was leading us on a Special Safari to see the big five on the trail of the old German Bernhard Grzimek. This time we were travelling in luxury big Landcruisers. Most of the Group had never seen that kind of wildlife in real so the excitement with the first elephant and Lion was incredible. We were lucky to find all of the big five including the so much endangered rhino. The evening was for the "big Boys" than with a cold "Kilimanjaro Beer" sitting on top of rock behind our Little private guetshouse watching the sunset abough the Serengeti Feeling untamed and free. Myself I preferred a cold Savannah instead :-):-)
In the end it was a journey that in the beginning started out with a Group that had seen each other for the first time for some of us and left us as friends that are still sharing this Special Memory. Thanks to Benson for this wonderful trip. I highly recommend Benson Safaris to everybody planning to come and visit Tanzania and that is looking for an unforgettable experience.
The second
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3-days safari in Tarangire and Ngorongoro. Amazing!
We were 4 families (18 people) on a 3-day safari. Benson picked us up in Arusha. We were in Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We got many great animal experiences in beautiful surroundings. Skilled drivers with much knowledge, no problems with the cars.
Everything worked! We visited the Masai village and visited Hadzabe the Bushmen. First night we stayed at Osupuko Lodge. Wonderful wonderful place, must be experienced! Other night we stayed in a tent at Lake Manayara.
Benson had arranged a great tent camp. Amazingly good food cooked on a single outdoor kitchen. Benson had made an awesome program that was well adapted traveling companion with both adults and children (7-15 years). Benson is fantastic bland and nice person who let everything arranged that we were going on a great safari. Booking and communication happening on Mail in advance. Worked very well! We got an experience of a lifetime! Traveling like on safari with Benson again!
NO
Email Miriam | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic 3 days safari to Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Lake Manyara!
I have fallen in love with Tanzania and this was my 2 time to visit this beautiful country. My brother and my bestfriend joined me this time and ofcourse we had to go on a safari. I was sure about what safari company i would choose since I had a wonderful experience last time - ofcourse Benson Safaris. Benson the manager is responding very quikly and he is really good to make a fantastic safari package. First day we had in Lake Manyara , a beautiful place. Second day we had in Ngorogoro. we were so lucky to whatch a group of lions attacking a group of Pumbas :) it was amazing! And our last day we had in Tarangire. We saw a lot of elephants, giraffes and zebras.... The 2 nights we stayed at the wonderful and beautiful Osupuko Lodge in the middel of Tarangire. I highly recommend Benson Safaris and I would choose this company again:)
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb service throughout fantastic Tarangire/Serengeti/Ngorongoro 4 day safari adventure
Our party of four had never visited Africa before and chose Benson Safaris recommended by friends who resided in Tanzania - and they provided great advice and assistance long before even booking the trip. 4 days is a bit short for all of Tarangire/Serengeti/Ngorongoro, but do not skip any of it, rather add a day or two. We saw all the big five on multiple occassions, masses of wilderbeast and zebras on the plains and many other great animals and each park has its distinct flora and unique splendor. An absolutely overwhelming experience for life! Our guide Issa was extremely knowledgeable and managed to always put us in the right spot at the right time. We highly recommend this operator for safari tours.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect honeymoon in Tanzania!
My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Africa and chose Tanzania because we wanted to see the big 5 and also have a beach holiday.
I have travelled to many countries but never to the African continent so after talking to travel agents here, lots of research online and emailing different tour companies in Tanzania we decided to make our booking directly with Benson Safaris Tanzania because we found they offered great value for money and they really listened to what we wanted to see and experience from our honeymoon and made some great suggestions. We also found that many of the tour companies in Tanzania took a long time to reply to our emails and didn’t answer our questions properly and some didn’t respond at all. We dealt directly with Benson, the owner of Benson Safaris Tanzania and he was always quick to reply to emails and answered all of our questions (and there were a lot!) in great detail.
We went on a 7 day safari to Tarangire, Lake Natron, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. Last year we had read an article about Lake Natron and it was a “must see” destination and when we were initially looking at joining an overland safari company none had Lake Natron on their itineraries. One email to Benson and he worked a 2 night stay into our trip. It is definitely worth the long drive and extra money because it is amazing! He also included a visit to a Maasai village which was a real eye opener – very dusty but the people were so welcoming and danced and sang songs for us. On the last day of our safari we spent half a day in Lake Manyara and then drove to a village where we had lunch with a local family. They didn’t speak English so luckily our Guide Francis was there to translate and tell us what we were eating. It was good fun and we really enjoyed it.
We stayed in tented camps which was a fantastic experience. It was very romantic and even better than we expected. The sounds of the animals at night is something l will never forget and the staff went out of their way to make sure everything was perfect for us and the food was delicious. It is amazing what a chef can prepare in a bush kitchen.
After our safari we had 2 days in Arusha because we wanted to go on a City Tour. Benson personally escorted us and took us to a museum called “Cultural Heritage”. We spent a few hours looking at all the paintings and wood carvings before having lunch at a restaurant called Shanga Riverhouse. We were greeted with champagne in the garden before eating a four-course lunch which was delicious. Shanga Riverhouse is part of the Shanga Shangaa project which employs disabled people and is the only place where glass-blowing is done in Tanzania and I bought some lovely wine glasses from the gift shop.
The next day we flew to Zanzibar where we spent a week relaxing. We had a few days in Stone Town and spent the rest of the time at Nungwi on the northern part of the island. This was also booked through Benson Safaris Tanzania and the accommodation was fantastic. In Stone Town we stayed at Tembo Hotel which is located right on the beach and a few minutes’ walk to the Old Fort. In Nungwi we stayed at Langi Langi which was small and intimate and had the whitest sand I have seen. Benson also booked our day tours and we went on a walking tour of Stone Town, a dhow cruise at sunset, Jozani Forest and had lunch at a spice plantation tour. Everything was organised perfectly and so easy. He also booked our flights from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar and back again.
When we were in the process of booking our honeymoon we asked for advice on international flights. While they don’t book international flights there is an Australian lady in the office (I can’t remember her name) who worked as a travel agent for 6 years and with her guidance we booked our flights online through Expedia. She gave us lots of suggestions and answered all our questions on the best and fastest way to get to Tanzania from our home in Sydney.
Our honeymoon exceeded our expectations and we could not recommend Benson Safaris Tanzania enough. The whole team from Benson, to the lady in the office, to our Guide was professional and gave us a honeymoon experience we will never forget!
NO
Email Sveinung | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Easy to connect, very good service, adaptable to our wishes
Our travel lasted four days and we visited Moshi area and Tarangire national park. We had some specific desires and Benson was very helpful to fulfil these. We appreciated a silent Saturday morning tour in Tarangire from the western entrance (few other visitors that day). The night stays were all perfect, in particular the Burunge lodge where elephants marched close to our cabin early morning. Our driver and guide Liberatus had exceptionally good insight on nature and animal life and made our trip an adventure.
Email Rebecca | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4.5 / 5 A fantastic experience, with a few minor - very minor - glitches
From the beginning, Pendo at Benson did an outstanding job communicating with us to arrange our trip just to our liking. This was not an easy task, as we had 2 families with different needs attempting to create an itinerary that would appeal to everyone. She took all of our changes to the itinerary in stride and arranged everything to our liking. Our guide, Kessy, was amazing - we could not have asked for better. When you spend as much time in a vehicle with someone as you do on safari, it's really important to have a good rapport. The first part of our trip was with my husband and me with his brother and family. Kessy was great with the kids, even when they weren't always the most fun to be around. Kessy was very knowledgeable and friendly, and was always open to our whims when it came to animal-watching and our questions about everything. The second part of our trip it was just my husband and me, and having Kessy all to ourselves was wonderful. He even put up with my obsession with watching dung beetles and my husband's need to get just one more really good picture of that giraffe... one more... (As a bonus, he was also very patient with my unending - and at times pathetic - attempts to learn Swahili.)
We did a side trip to Zanzibar, (midway through for my husband and me, at the end of the trip for my in-laws), which was unfortunately a little disappointing. The hotel we stayed in was great, but it was a very busy area and swimming and playing on the beach was not pleasant because we were constantly being approached by folks trying to sell us tours or boat trips. This is of course not the fault of Benson Safaris, but it would have been nicer to stay somewhere where there was a little less commerce happening at all times of day and night. There was some confusion with Benson when it came to the snorkel outing that had been planned. In our itinerary it stated that we were going to Chumbe Island, but when the guide came to pick us up he said that no, we were going across to Prison Island, a much shorter trip and by all accounts not nearly as interesting for snorkeling. After some back-and-forth telephoning with the tour representative in Zanzibar and with Pendo we figured out that the tour was incorrectly represented on our itinerary. It turned out to be too choppy for snorkeling in the Prison Island area unfortunately, so we missed out completely on that. Obviously the tour company has no control over the ocean conditions, but had we actually gone to Chumbe as we thought we were going to, it would have likely been better due to the location of the snorkel site there.
The other minor hiccup came with meals. My in-laws are vegan and we were assured that accommodating this would be no problem. Somehow, however, it was not communicated to the lodge we stayed in for safari, and lunches were not only not vegan, but there was only one lunch packed as vegetarian at all. Also, there were extremely limited options for vegan for the family at the lodge. Kessy did his best to try to fix this, but I think that communicating what vegan means was difficult. Again, a minor hiccup, but if you have very specific meal needs it would be a good idea to double and triple check on this.
Overall, though, an amazing experience! My recommendation overall is Benson Safaris for safari, and perhaps a different, local Zanzibar tour company for visiting the island.
HK
Email Anna Tsang | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an amazing experience to see the animals
The Benson Safaris provided a good services during our trip. The tour guide - Kessy has good knowledge and experience and he also good at driving. Besides, the accommodation was perfect.
I had a great time with Benson!
I took a lower-budget camping trip with Benson. It was great working with him before the safari. He helped me pick the best palaces to go and the right times. On the day we left his guide, Simba, picked me up at the house I was renting and we were off. From that moment on, Benson took care of the rest. Our tents were set up for us, our meals were prepared, and there was always a nice bottle of wine waiting for us at the end of the day. Even though you are in a truck all day, it's tiring, so the wine was a nice touch.
The campsites he picked were very nice, but one of them had the option of upscale tents with beds. I wish I had know this was an option before hand as one night in a bed would have been good. The tenting area was nice too and there were hot showers.
Our guide did his best to take us to the animals we wanted to see. Most of us in the truck really wanted to see baby elephants and on our second to last day we found them! Being able to see the animals you want is part skill and part luck, but Simba was able to pull it off!