Meet the Team - eTrip Africa
E-Trip Africa
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ATA, IATAN, IGS, KPAP & CODE
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $3,469 to $26,018 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Nick Smith | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Life-Changing Trek at 50 Years Old
For my 50th birthday, I wanted to do something very special. I had never done anything big and I realized it was now or never. Well there is nothing bigger than Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Little did I imagine how life-changing a trip up Mount Kilimanjaro could be. After tons of research, I cautiously chose E-Trip Africa to run my trek. You are putting your life into someone else’s hands, so this is quite a big decision. I could not have been more pleased with this outfit, from the beginning to end! The staff is unbelievably professional, friendly & knowledgeable. It does not take long to see that they have had very good training from plants on the trail to safety. The crew quickly became family, as these guys are not only professional but honest hard working people that are warm and kind. I was beyond surprised at how good the food was. I mean there are no roads to drive that stuff up the mountain, so everything has been carried by hand. Davis the guide has over 10 years as a guide, not counting when he was a porter and assistant guide. I was told by E-Trip that Davis recently placed first in a Mountain First Aid course, getting the highest marks in the class. There was no doubt in my mind that this was true, as he was even giving medical advice to another company that had a sick person in their group. As a 50 year old, I did not really focus on the summit, but on having a great experience, as I figured there was not much chance I would make it all the way up. I chose the Lemosho route over 9 days, to have plenty of time on this beautiful mountain. In the end, I had a great life-changing journey and also was successful on my summit night, thanks to an exceptional crew. On a side note, I was really touched by the work that E-Trip Africa is doing with the Mailisita Foundation, in providing education to disadvantaged youth in the Moshi area. I am glad to know that they work to give back in a very concrete and measurable way. I plan to return to the school soon, to volunteer to teach computer classes to the kids.
ES
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
On Stop East Africa
Since I was a child, I had dreamt of traveling to Africa. But life passes and those dreams fade. On my 50th birthday, I realized that life was passing quickly and I was missing out, which was my reminder of my dreams of African Elephants and the Snows of Kilimanjaro.
I happened to get the contact of E-Trip Africa by a chance encounter at business dinner. On first contact, they listened to what I had dreamt about. And after a few days they put together some options of tours that could work for me. Aurelie also gave me some other suggestions that I did not even know where possible.
Knowing that I am not getting younger, I also decided that Kilimanjaro was either now or never. So I ended going to East Africa for six weeks. I spent some of my trip with my wife and the trek with two old friends. What really amazed me was the ability for Aurelie to organize and manage our trip in three different countries. She had also visited every hotel and done each of the activities that she proposed to me. Now that is a dream job, if I have ever heard of one.
We started our trip with six days in Kenya. Many people told me to stay away from Kenya due to
terrorism, but I felt completely safe, even in the massive city of Nairobi. The people were very nice and my guide Joseph is now like family. Masai Mara was very nice but crowded and on several occasions Joseph, as an Honorary Park Ranger, intervened to put some very disorderly Chinese in order. He even was picking up trash when he saw it. Joseph is a nice man that cares for the environment and wants to see a better future for his two children. We then went to Lake Nakuru and spent two great nights at Sleeping Warrior Lodge. The night game drives were very cool. And Joseph could always say what the animal was just by the color of it´s eyes in the spot light.
I then headed down to Tanzania and met Jorge and Carlas for our Kilimanjaro Trek. Our guide Casper really gave us a wonderful 8 days on the Lemosho Route. Even though there was some rain, I could not have asked for a better experience and the challenge to get to the top was fantastic. I am not in the best condition physically, but this was endurance and a challenge in your own mind.
After the trek I left my trekking friends to meet my wife in Mafia Island. This untouched island is a perfect place to relax and enjoy fantastic diving. Our hosts at Shamba Kilole were very friendly and prepared perfect food, but that can be expected from Italians. Five days was not enough and I hope to return one day.
We then flew to Ruaha National Park to enjoy again an untouched park that has few visitors. This park was very nice and the lions provided us several exciting moments. Unlike Kenya, we did not see another car for several hours and you could really have a nice feel of being in the wild of Africa.
Next we flew to the Northern Circuit. Tarangire, Lake Manyara and then into the Ngorongoro Crater, where the wildlife was only slightly denser than the tourists. This part of the trip was not so great. The crater is a must, but with all of the other tourists and even a few loud rundown vehicles really distracted from the experience. Also, Oldupai Musuem is a complete waste of time and money. Aurelie and our guide both talked it down, but did I listen?? Lesson learned and shared. The Serengeti however, was better as we only spent two days in the Seronera Area before heading to the North. Again, a perfect site at Sayari Camp, where there was the chance to get out and enjoy nature secluded from the masses. Four days here was perfect and we even got some great time close to a Rhino, not to mention some fantastic Wildebeest River Crossings.
Last on the list was Rwanda. Again, this was a welcome surprise. Most people are uneducated about the country. They only remember the war and genocide and assume it is still a war torn place. It is not. It is beautiful and very warm country. The smiling faces and friendly people were unlike the rest of our trip. People were helpful and not aggressive at all. Even in the touristy shops. Gorillas were fantastic and the trek was surprisingly easy both days. Also, the visit to see the rare Golden Monkey was worth the extra day in the area.
Rwanda is another place that I hope to return to one day. The country is booming and the people are quite different from their neighbors. I think that sums it up. A trip this long has so many great stories and not enough place to write them all.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Up close!
I have wanted to see the African wildlife since I was a child and eTrip Africa helped me realize my dream. They took my list of species I wanted to see and designed a trip just for me and my husband. It would have been a nightmare for me to try to do it myself - not like travel in Europe and other places. But they did it painlessly for us and cheaper than I think we could have managed. The wildlife was incredible! We had great drivers/guides who knew so much and managed to find everything I wanted to see and get me close enough to really get a good look. We took 2500 photos and almost all are great. Some may even be National Geographic quality! I can't wait to go back again. We spent about 14 days and it was the most incredible thing I have ever done!
Short Trip to Tarangire and Ngorongoro
My partner and I recently returned from a conference in Arusha and had the opportunity to visit Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro on a short trip organized by E-Trip Africa. Tarangire is a fabulous park - we saw numerous elephant, 5 lions with 3 cubs, several herds of zebra, impala and wildebeest, and even a rare leopard on a "sausage tree"!
We then continued to Ngorongoro where we spent the night on the crater rim, so that we could get down to the floor early in the morning. The views are amazing and we had the most magical sunset. The crater was filled with animals. I wanted to see Rhinoceroses, which we saw 4 in the first few hours. Our driver was fabulous - his knowledge, experience and passion made the trip quite enjoyable!
I would love to return to spend more time here. Not sure if we will focus on the Serengeti or the Southern Parks on our next trip, or maybe both :)
Email Heather Twomey | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing - a holiday of a lifetime
We chose e-trip after a recommendation on tripadvisor and reading their blog. A british couple who have travelled in Tanzania extensively and always used the services of e-trip. I am extremely happy that we made this choice. Communication was extremely quick answering all our queries. We also arranged a whatsapp call to help with the booking. The price point was perfect, the accommodation was great. Our guide and driver was just the best and he really made our trip exceptional (Alladin). How he navigated the dusty roads and managed to spot wildlife at the same time, we have no idea. But he managed to give us the most amazing viewings and experiences - coupled with his great sense of humour, cannot fault him at all.
Email Jackie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely sensationally planned trip across a section of East Africa
E-Trip Africa provided exceptional planning and a tour guide (Alladin) who was beyond brilliant. He was very knowledgeable about all the wildlife especially the birds of East Africa. His patience, sense humour and driving skills made the trip outstanding. I have never been on a safari before and this trip was planned to include Tarangire National Park, Ndutu and the Serengeti. The camps we stayed in were 4-5*+ with exceptional service, including hot water, internet and bar services. The inclusion of staying one night in the Lions Paw prior to entering the Ngorongoro Crater was just amazing - although their lunch box was not the greatest one supplied. Alladin was so professional he managed to make sure we saw the Big 5 and much, much more. For me the sight of leopards, servals and lions was the most exciting of the trip. Every aspect of the trip timetable was met on time and with no hiccups or mishaps. The trip was the most expensive I have every been on but it was worth every penny for the 5 star service and experience. There are no pockets in shrouds, if I don't spend it my kids certainly will.
CA
Email Frederic Wu | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very knowledgeable and flawless arrangements
We have been regular customers of E-Trip Africa since 2019 with visits to Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda arranged by Ben and his team. They have excellent knowledge of safari lodges, local tourist services and regional flight availability. Our trips over the past 6 years have always been flawless with bookings made accurately, guidance through local airports by capable professionals and perfect flight arrangements. E-Trip is excellent to work with at the planning stage, patiently answering questions, making great suggestions and keeping us updated. They quickly understood our preferences and what we were interested in doing. Our recent trip was several nights in Zanzibar, followed by safari in the northern Serengeti and another safari in Kenya, staying in excellent accommodations, great ground and air transfers, with our itinerary going without a hitch. We’re already planning our next trip to Africa and, of course, we will be working with E-Trip to get everything in place.
Email Peter Bacon | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fantastic service which made our safari to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary truly special.
We have been on numerous safari's in Tanzania over the years and have used E-Trip Africa to arrange several of these. When we decided that another safari was how we wanted to mark our 40th wedding anniversary we had no hesitation in asking Ben and Aurilie to organise it for us, and for Alladin to be our guide once again. We had some specific requests including visits to Lake Natron and to the Northern Serengeti which we had not been to before. As always communication with Ben was very easy and he provided a variety of accommodation options and budgets together with his own thoughts about them to help us decide on our itinerary. We even added a day in, long after the original booking, and he made all the necessary changes for us.
The actual trip ran very smoothly, we were met at Kilimanjaro Airport by a taxi and taken to Researcher's Rest in Arusha, a very relaxed small guesthouse that was ideal for a day of recovery from the flight before heading off on safari. Alladin picked us up from there and we headed out for 13 nights taking in Tarangire Angata Camp for 3 nights, Africa Safari Lake Natron Lodge for 2 nights, the Tanzania Bush Camp in the Northern Serengeti for 4 nights and Tanzania Bush Camp in the Central Serengeti for 3 nights, with a stop over at Eileen's Trees in Karatu on our last night to break the journey back.
We had an absolutely fantastic trip with our best ever leopard sightings and were lucky enough to see wildebeest crossing the Mara River on both of our first two days in the Northern Serengeti. As other game viewing up there is more limited than in the Central Serengeti, Alladin even managed to arrange the move between the two Tanzania Bush Camps to take place a day earlier than planned so we actually had 4 nights in the Central Serengeti.
The story and photo's of our fantastic trip can be found at shepstravels8.blogspot.com.
We returned to Arusha in time for our actual anniversary date to meet some of our Tanzanian friends and Ben had suggested that Researcher's Rest could host the meal for us. Eddie and Joseph who look after us there did an absolutely first class job of catering for us and our guests and it was a memorable way to round off what was one of the best safari experiences we have enjoyed.
We will definitely be sticking with E Trip and their great team for future trips to Tanzania.
CA
Email Frederic Wu | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Another great experience with E Trip Africa
This was my fourth African adventure with E Trip, and once again, it was exceptional! I booked at the last minute, but everything was seamlessly organized from start to finish. Ben, as always, was incredibly helpful and responsive, making sure every detail was covered. The tour was perfectly planned, and I felt well-cared for throughout the trip. E Trip has consistently provided an outstanding experience, and I couldn't recommend them more for anyone looking for a hassle-free and memorable journey in Africa. Looking forward to my next trip with them!
Good enough
It was a great experience; my favorite place was the crater.