Tanzania Safari Operator

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Eastern Sun Tours & Safaris
  
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 378traveler 
 
 
 
  
Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire national parks safari – amazing 10 day private tour in Tanzania (September 2024)
My wife and I had the trip of a lifetime visiting the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire national parks in Tanzania (September 2024). Seeing wildebeests and zebras crossing the Mara River (and being eaten by crocs), cats living their best life (lions, leopards and cheetah), rhinos, elephants and water buffalo grazing, along with the countless other wildlife (so many cool birds species) were all highlights. Encountering animals just being animals, totally unafraid of humans, and doing their own thing is something to behold. The scale of the landscapes and animal life is unbelievable!Mercy at Eastern Sun Tours did a great job arranging all of the logistical details (working patiently through our several date changes), and our guide Richard was almost clairvoyant in his ability to find viewing opportunities of our favorite animals. Our lodges and tented camps were top notch, as were the meals they provided while out in the bush (a true feat in the wilds of the Tanzanian national parks).A couple of suggestions if you are considering a Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire safari:- Fly to and from the Serengeti. The roads are super washer-board and dangerous in the southern Serengeti, and flying in and out is highly recommended! Also, flying into dirt airstrips in a small plane is fun!. We flew into northern Serengeti and spent a couple of days animal viewing before driving to the central Serengeti and spending another couple of days, before flying down to Ngorongoro. As luck would have it, we were able to see all of the “big 5” on one magic day in the central Serengeti. It's super rare to see rhino there (we saw a pair), and a credit the tracking ability of our guide Richard.- Avoid booking with a service that is web based and not “on the ground” in Tanzania. Arusha is the hub for local tour operators and guides, and as most people fly in/out of JRO airport, a tour operator based out of Arusha is better equipped to make arrangements. Having used Eastern Sun Tours, and working with Mercy, I can't say enough positive things about our experience. She's a pro who has been arranging tours for decades, and her attention to detail shows. The same can be said of our guide Richard. Seek them out, you will be happy you did. We ran into several people at our various lodges and tented camps that had arranged both private and group tours through .com sites (I won't name names), who didn't have the same animal encounters we had (thanks to Richard), and had logistical issues that we avoided (thanks to Mercy at Eastern Sun Tours), that I attribute to North American and European .com agents not being familiar with how things work “on the ground” in Tanzania.I'll leave you with a couple of my photos, and hope you have similar animal encounters should you decide to visit the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire national parks.Safe travels,Jake
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Alyce S 
 
 
 
  
Trip of a Lifetime to Tanzania and the Serengeti
7 day Private Family TourIn July 2024, I traveled with my oldest daughter and my grandsons, ages 19 and 15 to Tarangire National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara National Park and the Serengeti National Park. Mercy worked with me via text, phone calls and email to plan our 7 day trip and it was “over the top.” Mercy is very responsive and knowledgeable about visiting the country. We cannot say enough wonderful things about our guide, Patrick. He was knowledgeable, fun, stayed aware of what other guides were seeing in each area, and was great with the boys and knew the Serengeti. Starting in Tarangire NP, home of the famous Baobab Tree, we saw 30 lions and 5 leopards including little ones, hundreds of elephants, hippos, gazelles, impalas, wildebeests, Cape buffalo, and zebras plus many warthogs, jackals, hyenas, crocodiles, flamingoes, baboons, and monkeys. We even saw a rhino and a cheetah kill a gazelle that was immediately confiscated by a pack of hyenas. Patrick was able to spot the many, many birds and tell us about them.We visited the ancient homeland of the Maasai, where Patrick pointed out the rock paintings, and a Maasai village where we were invited into a home and were able to shop in their craft center. On our return to Arusha, Patrick made sure that we were able to stop at other craft places as much as we wanted.Our trip was totally carefree as Mercy had arranged all of our lodgings which was wonderful and varied. All our great food was included, and we tasted several of the local dishes. We were picked up and returned to the Kilimanjaro Airport so no worries. Our transportation was a well maintained 4-wheel drive jeep/van for 6 passengers with a pop-up top so we could move around freely, take pictures and stay as long as we wanted to view and experience the wildlife and the scenery.We highly recommend Eastern Sun Safari for your unforgettable trip to Tanzania and the Serengeti.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Robert V 
 
 
 
  
The trip of a lifetime
Wow, What a wonderful adventure that Eastern Sun Tours was able to create for us! It was our trusted company during our trip to Tanzania from July 24th to Auguste 7 th last summer. The masterful organization of our ascent to Mount Kilimanjaro in 8 days then our 4-day photo safari. All our gratitude to Mercy, her husband and the whole team for the great welcome and the attentive treatment throughout our wonderful journey.Golden teams accompanied us to the summit, without whom we would never have gotten there!I highly recommend this excellent company which, moreover, treats its employees very well. Adronis and Nicos made us feel completely at ease from the first moment, as did our cook and our 17 porters (for our group of 4 people) which really made a difference. Without forgetting our safari guide Nerick, always very jovial and eager to give us all the information as well as to show us as much as possible! Thank you Eastern Sun Tours, we have wonderful memories now thanks to you, you are an A+++ company!!
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Sebastian 
 
 
 
  
What a great safari trip!
Where to start. What a great safari we had with our 2 kids who are 4 and 9 years old. Everything was well organised and the lodges we stayed in where very nice. Our guide was Jeff and what a great guide he was for us but also for the kids. Always in a good mood and entertaining the whole car! Thanks so mutch for this incredible safari, we will never forget it!
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Rebecca A 
 
 
 
  
Family Trip with with Eastern Sun Safari
Our decision on selecting Eastern Sun Tours is worth every penny. We booked a 6 days tour to Tarangire, Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater, we were pleased with our selection and we had a wonderful time. Everything went so perfectly and we had memorable times. The company is very experienced & trustworthy, they are very punctual In responding to our emails. Our tour guide Jeff was very knowledgeable with amazing eagle eyes. This agency's overall experience is very pleasant and we are happy to recommend it to our family and friends.Great value of money and on our private tour we were very comfortable.We were supplied with drinks all days, thank you so Much All.Visited - October 2023
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Ray B 
 
 
 
  
best safari I've ever done
We did a 5 day safari visiting the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire. Our safari vehicles were mechanically sound, clean and comfortable. Our driver/guides Hassan and Richard, were amazing. Their wildlife knowledge was outstanding and they worked hard to make sure we had a memorable safari. Their driving was safe and their vehicles were always clean and well maintained. Easternsun were very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. They arranged everything; safari lodges, permits, guides and vehicles. We were met and dropped off at the airport before and after our safari. Many thanks to Mercy and the team at Easternsun. We had a wonderful time.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Timo 
 
 
 
  
Reputable Tour Operator
Reputable provider. Everything was super organized. Our guide was very experienced, friendly, helpful and careful. Quite different from many other guides we have experienced on the streets. We were 100% satisfied with him. It was a very great adventure vacation. However, there was a small downer. Shortly after entering the first national park our axle broke. Unfortunately, a car breakdown can always happen. Due to the high season, it was unfortunately impossible to find an equivalent replacement vehicle, so we spent the safari in a vehicle that smelled of fish and was basically ready for scrap. As compensation for this circumstance, we received lunch on two days of our subsequent Zanzibar vacation at the organizer's expense.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Justine 
 
 
 
  
Great days with eastern sun
We had 3 unforgetable 3 days organized buy eastern sun safari. We Visited 3 Nationalparks in 3 days with Our little son (2years) and a guide who really cared about him.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Bettina F 
 
 
 
  
excellent safari experience
We enjoyed the 6-day safari with Eastern Sun Tours & Safaris to the max! Planning proposals, meeting at the airport, hotel accomodation, choice of route to Tarangire and Serengeti National Parks as well as Ngorongoro Crater proved to be excellent, as was Elias the guide and driver who was a true expert and enjoyable travel companion. With him, we gained tremendous insights into the world of the game, the massai culture and political developments in Tanzania. Fair pricing, meet the agency owner twice personally, and pure satisfaction from our side! For all seeking the personal service of one of the smaller tour operators in Tanzania, Eastern Sun Safaris is an excellent choice!February 2023,Bettina F & Thomas K
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Justin L 
 
 
 
  
Crater Highland Experts!
I've used Eastern Sun 3 times to arrange the very specialised Crater Highlands walk. Each trip was with a group of friends (up to 12 on one trip) and each trip was spectacular. They have great local knowledge and their staff go the extra mile.