Serengeti Smile Team
Serengeti Smile
- Office In:
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2020)
- Member Of:
- Tanzania Tourist Board & AMREF FLYING DOCTORS INSURANCE
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $2,754 to $20,659 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, responsive, friendly - great for tourists, but may be not for wildlife experts
Just returned from a great holiday with our 3 children with 5 days safari, 1 night in Stone Town and 3 days in Villa Kiva.
From the start Serengeti Smile responded extremely quickly and professionally to our questions, and made tour adjustments to meet our needs, plus were competitively priced. The trip proposal was very similar in layout to other companies and really met our needs well. We saw many more animals than expected, and enjoyed getting to know our friendly guide, visiting a Masai village and having great quality time together. Overall a real 5 star holiday experience.
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the large animals, was enthusiastic and able to tell us many great stories. There seemed to be some knowledge gaps though when it came to birds and trees. When in South Africa previously and particularly when we hadn't seen a large mammal for a while our guide would point out maybe a bird, an insect or trees and plants to tell us more about them and keep us interested. I think this would have been helpful here particularly with the children, but wasn't too critical for us. If you are budding nature experts however, this may feel like a miss.
Email Julien kroll | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience and great guide
Really loved the safari. Our guide ( Ayoub) was super good, he spotted animals that I struggled to see with my super zoom camera ^^
The car is very confortable. Cleaned every day.
Our experience was magical. We saw lions cheetah leopard zebra giraffes buffalo elephants wildebeest antilope impala, monkeys,,…
Only missing the rhino from the big 5. We saw one in Ngorongoro but from very far. Couldn’t get a descent picture.
We stayed at the Serena hotel and it was the best choice we made. It cost more but it is worth it. Really make the full experience magical.no regret.
I compared many options and Serengeti smile was the best for price and options. You can’t beat them on the Serena Hotel price for sure.
KR
Email Daeseung Ko | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience
I took a four-day course consisting of tarangire, serengeti, and Ngorongoro. The program was well organized and the guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Problems always arise, but coping is important. Thank you for the company's efforts to respond to the response despite the early morning
Email James Duggan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Authentic company that combines local expertise with a family welcome.
Our booking experience was simple and straightforward. Albert at Serengeti Smiles was very responsive and helped us tailor our safari experience. Payments were easy to make.
We opted for a five day safari covering Tarangire Safari Park, Ngoro ngoro crater, Northern Serengeti and Central Serengeti. It meant some longer connecting transfers but allowed us to see a wider variety of terrains. We also opted to include a hot air balloon ride.
Our safari guide was Max Ayo. We could not have asked for a better person to share our safari experience. We were collected promptly from our hotel by Max and we instantly felt at ease. Originally from Arusha, Max was able to share both local and safari knowledge.
Within the safari parks, Max was eagle-eyed and spotted things we would have missed. He was able to give us fascinating facts about the animals that we saw. He also seemed to know everyone and used his connections to stay on top of recent sightings.
While there are no guarantees about what you will see on safari, having Max played a huge part in us seeing the Big 5, a cheetah chase a buck, hyenas fighting over scraps and a crocodile take a wildebeast.
All of the accommodation provided was very comfortable, and provided a nice variety with a mix of lodges and camp sites. Dinners were filling and offered good variety. Packed lunches were provided by the previous night’s accommodation. They were simple but tasty.
Overall, we would whole-heartedly recommend Serengeti smiles. They provided excellent value for money and in Max, we made a new friend.
Email Nirali | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Must Choose Safari Team
Serengeti Smile did an awesome job planning out our custom safari. They also helped us with extra accommodations when our flight was delayed. They are your go to team if you ever plan to go to Serengeti. Ayubu and Dominic - our tour guides were very helpful at every stage and shared a lot of insights about the place, people and the awesome animals we saw in the park. They are knowledgable people with extensive experience of the region. I would highly recommend them.
Email Tish and Randy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded my expectations for our safari experience
The accommodations were wonderful during our week-long adventure. Ayubu was an outstanding driver with a knack for squeezing into tight places and lining us up perfectly to view and photograph wildlife. The roads were rough but he navigated them with ease and somehow managed to pick out the animals while simultaneously watching out for the many road hazards. The box lunches were arranged by the places where we stayed and were very basic but had enough variety to make a meal even for a picky eater like myself. (It would have been nice to be able to assemble your own lunches to avoid waste as the Mara Heritage Camp let us do.) Dinners and breakfasts were always buffet style. Plenty of bottled water was available at both the lodging and in the vehicle. We saw over 70 different animal species throughout the week and were fortunate to witness a river crossing of wildebeest during the Great Migration. We also got to see some lionesses hunt a herd of gazelle and vultures picking apart an animal carcass. I saw several folks staying at the Planet Lodge in Arusha and taking day safaris. This is not the way to do it as you spend more time getting back and forth and less time in the parks. A 7 day trip let us see everything we wanted to and not be rushed and we usually got to our lodging an hour or more before dinner to allow us time to get the dirt off. (This is a very dusty experience so be ready for it!) Mara Heritage Camp in the Northern Serengeti had the best food and even had a nightly show of cultural performances.
Email Olivia | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome Serengeti Safari.
I found Serengeti Smile on SafariBookings.com and I was impressed with their response, pricing and ability to tailor my Safari to our needs. I am a single parent travelling with 2 teenage children and they booked us comfortable and interesting accommodation with 3 beds which was perfect.
Our guide ,Zack, met us at the airport with a great smile and a huge, robust and comfortable Land Cruiser Safari vehicle. I am a vegetarian, and they had organised vegetarian meals and packed lunches for me throughout our trip.
Our first day was in Tangarire where we saw elephant, Giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck and lots of lions. We also saw a leopard in a tree at great distance! We arrived at our accommodation, Marea lodge, quite late but it was comfortable and the food was great.
Our second day we skimmed the rim of the Ngorogoro crater and headed into the Serengeti which was spectacular. Zack knew good remote places to see game, and again, lots of lions and even a cheetah! We spent the night in the brand new Happy Valley tented camp and were treated like kings. We fell asleep to the sound of lions roaring in the distance and were serenaded awake by the Howells of hyena! Very wild but absolutely perfect. After a morning in the Serengeti, we headed to Ngorogoto whee we stayed on the rim of the crater in another tented camp. My son had a great game of football with the Masai security guards and hot water bottles in the beds were a bonus!
Our final day we headed into the crater to meet mating lions, a black rhino in the distance and a bold hyena chasing a zebra as well as hippo and flamingo. Then it was time to head back to the airport.
The Safari was well organised by Albert and Zacks knowledge and amazing driving made it an amazing experience.
LU
Email Sandis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Top tour operator, excellent service.
We had an excellent 8 days of safari with Serengeti Smile. The guys are skilled and knowledgeable. The program was just right. The communication went very smoothly. Very good value for money. I strongly recommend this tour guide. Look no further, you will not be disappointed.
Email Bhupendra | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome Company
Fantastic what’s app communication from the UK with the service provided beyond our expectations for 12 people with various dietary requirements. The tour was truly unforgettable in terms of value for money, reliability and the organisation skills in caring for the varied age group from 11 years to the mid seventies was truly remarkable. My birthday celebration in Serengeti was out of this world!!!
Email Sylvia | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Serengeti Smile is quick, trustworthy and delightful to communicate with
We booked our safari adventure with Serengeti Smile and were extremely pleased with their service. From start to finish, they were quick to respond to any questions we had during the booking process and ahead of travelling. When we arrived at Arusha airport in the morning, we were greeted by our driver and guide Benson, who helped with our luggage and then drove us to our first destination, the Lake Manyara National Park. While we drove there, he told us all sorts of interesting facts about Tanzania, which we really appreciated. We arrived at Lake Manyara for lunch time, and did see elephants and baboons on our way to the lunch spot. We ate a super delicious boxed lunch at a view point, which had benches and tables and overlooked the lake. After, we continued our game drive and ended our day at the Serena Lodge Lake Manyara, where we spent the night (very nice hotel!). The next day, onward to the Serengeti, with a boxed lunch again and a game drive in the afternoon, a night at the Safari View Luxury Camp (an out of this world tented accommodation, very unique, highly recommend!), and another game drive in the morning. The game drives where truly fantastic and we were in constant awe at all the animals we saw! Benson was in touch with his fellow guides via radio and managed to show us also the more elusive animals there (cheetah and leopard). In the afternoon of the second day, we left the Serengeti and headed towards Ngorongoro Crater. We made a stop at the Olduvai Gorge (which Serengeti Smile kindly organized for us upon our request on short notice), which we found rather disappointing. The museum is small (you'e done in 30 mins to max. 1h) but very nice and informative and there is a view point to see the gorge which is a great photo opportunity - but the prices were ridiculously high for what was on offer (50 dollar per person, which is more expensive than the Louvre in Paris!). After the museum visit, we ended up in the Serena Lodge Ngorongoro, where we spent the night. It was really cold (at 2300m altitude) and the hotel staff thoughtfully brought us warm water bottles to take to bed which made the night very cosy. The next and last day, we visited Ngorongoro Crater. Again, hundreds of animals everywhere, it was stunning! Benson tried to show us some of the approx. 30 rhinos living there and we managed to see three of them from a distance, which completed our 'big 5 sightings'. After the crater, Benson drove us back to Arusha airport (with a boxed lunch stop on the way), from where we continued our holiday. All in all, we had an amazing experience provided by the guys at Serengeti Smile - thank you!