Duma Explorer

Visited: Mar. 2021 Reviewed: Apr. 09, 2021 Submitted in:

My husband and I booked our Tanzanian safari directly with Stacy, co-owner of Chaka Camps and Duma Explorer, which we highly recommend. You can plan a bespoke safari staying in luxury tented camps for less than you might think. It really gave us peace of mind to know that we would have the same vehicle and guide to ourselves for our six day safari during the pandemic. If you’re considering Tanzania in 2021-GO! This is the time to visit when there are few tourists. There were only 10 vehicles in the Ngorongoro Crater when we visited, often there are 400 vehicles a day during high season, and we had multiple sightings of critically endangered black rhino.

One person made this trip a roaring success and that was our guide Isack. He can spot animals from a kilometer away without binoculars! It is truly incredibly what he could find on our game drives and this skill is only surpassed by his vast knowledge of all the animals, birds and flora in northern Tanzania. I learned so much on this trip and we have been on several safaris before. It was our best safari yet! The custom-fitted Land Cruiser with pop top is incredibly comfortable for hours of road travel and has some fabulous features like a picnic table embedded in the floorboard.

We stayed in luxury tented camps- Chaka Camp in Ndutu and Kiota Camp in the Serengeti. Beautifully decorated and oh so comfortable- glamping at its best with delicious food and welcoming hosts!

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I used Duma for a combo 8-day Lemosho route Kili climb and 5-day safari and cant say enough nice things about my experience. From the get-go Stacy was very responsive to my emails and questions (yes, there were many) and made it super easy to get my trip set up and organized. Stacy had me stay at the Tumaini Cottages for my nights not on the climb or safari and arranged for easy pick up and drop off for all activities. The climb itself was incredible and our guides Mike and Nelson (and Dickson!) took excellent care of us throughout the trek and helped us get to the summit. We spent the 8 days with a group of genuine and fun guys and ended up making some great new friends. As for the safari, I very happy with our driver, Isaac, who was not only an excellent driver, but also knew everything there is to know about the wildlife in the various parks that we visited. We ended up seeing the big five because Isaac somehow spotted a leopard lying on a tree branch ~100 ft away - no idea how he was able to see it, but thankful nonetheless. If you're looking for a smooth and responsible outfitter for either a kili climb or safari, you should look no further than Duma!

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Duma arranged a fabulous trip for us. Stacy was a pleasure to work with, we loved every place that we stayed and our guide--Wilson Shange--was excellent.

All of that was great, but the true test of a tour company is how they respond when the unexpected occurs, and the Duma staff was incredible when we ran into some difficulties during our trip. Right before leaving on our trip, we were apparently bumped from the lodge where we were supposed to stay while in Ngorongoro due to a government meeting filling up another lodge. We remained blissfully unaware of that difficulty, only receiving a lovely email telling us that we had been upgraded to an incredible retreat for the 2 days at the Crater. Then, on our flight to Africa, my husband broke a tooth. We emailed Milcah, our Duma contact in Arusha, during a layover and when we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport our driver was aware of the tooth situation and took us directly to a dental clinic in Arusha.
A few days later, while at the retreat center at Ngorongoro, my husband fell ill and we could not travel to the Central Serengeti as planned. One call to Milcah, and we were booked at a lovely hotel nearby where my husband could recuperate before moving on the next day. Not only was that change made smoothly, but we received an email from Stacy checking in on how my husband was feeling.
We are so thankful to Stacy, Milcah, and the entire Duma team for an amazing trip and would recommend Duma to anyone looking for an adventure in Tanzania!

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My daughter and I took a three day safari with Duma Explorer in January. We were in northern Tanzania for other reasons and wanted something we could fit in our schedule. I contacted a few companies looking for a moderately priced private safari. I chose Duma because Stacey was responsive, discussed options, and answered all my questions. Additionally, I liked that they employed their own guides and owned and maintained their own vehicles (many companies hire guides and rent the vehicles by the trip). Even though we weren’t hiking, their membership in the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (https://kiliporters.org/what-we-do/) told me they treated their employees well, which was important to me. (They were founding members.)

We went to Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. Our guide-driver, Sifuni, was excellent. He was so passionate (in his quiet way) and so knowledgeable about the animals. We were amazed at his skill finding distant animals we could only see with binoculars. He provided so much information about the animals and knew when to stay put because he thought the animal we were watching would move. He was determined to help me get photos of distant rhinos, using my phone and binoculars, which was successful. He was also a skilled and very safe driver both on the highways and on the muddy park roads. He paid attention to our comfort and interests. He didn’t make us stop at any souvenir shops, which we were not interested in and which I’ve heard many drivers do. My daughter and I really felt his goal was for us to see as many animals as we could. The Land Cruiser was not brand new but solid and comfortable. We were provided plenty of bottled water, binoculars, and guide books (although after an initial look at the books, we found Sifuni could answer all our questions).

I also chose Duma because we stayed in the Tarangire Park one night and in the crater rim another, which meant less driving and more viewing time. Both lodgings were very nice. In Tarangire we stayed at Kichuguu Camp, a beautiful and luxurious tented camp that was much more of a high end accommodation than we expected. The second night we stayed at the Rhino Lodge, a comfortable and friendly mid-range accommodation. (While we wanted a mid-range price, I think Duma will also arrange higher end lodging.) The food was great at both places. We were provided with large bag lunches each day that included a variety of foods. Additionally, Duma arranged for our guide to pick us up at our out of the way location between Arusha and Moshi. Finally, we stopped by the Duma office the first day and saw their vehicles and facilities.

I was pretty anxious about finding a safari company, especially because I was not looking for a high end company that had offices in the US. (Duma does have staff in the US, which makes payment easier.) Even doing a lot of research, it is a leap of faith to send money off, but the Duma safari turned out to be so much better than my daughter and I expected. I highly recommend them and am happy to answer any questions.

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My wife and I visited Tanzania for the first week of 2018, and we could not have found a better way to see Tanzania than with Duma Explorer. The owners were very accommodating and helped us with our itinerary, even as our plans changed somewhat close to our arrival date, and provided us with an amazing opportunity to visit four of the parks/conservation areas in northern Tanzania.

From Arusha we visited Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Oldupai Gorge, Serengeti and Tarangire, in five days filled with animals. One special highlight was seeing a mother leopard and her cub playing on a fallen branch, very near the road.

Our trip would not have been nearly as memorable without our guide, Alex. I am a professional archaeologist in the US and as a result I have known a lot of guides, scientists and rangers, but I have never once met someone as accomplished as Alex. His eye for animals was the most impressive skill I've ever seen in anyone working in the wilderness. He could spot and identify things a mile away, even if they were as small as a jackal or a mongoose or a bird. But what was even more incredible was his alertness, no matter the time of day or the conditions. Not only was his skill unparalleled in my experience, but he never missed a beat over the course of five days of game drives. It was truly a privilege to ride with him, and without his expertise we would never have had the experience that we did. On top of all of that, he was very interesting, and great to talk with on the game drives and at the end of every day.

We cannot recommend Duma Explorer, and Alex, highly enough. We count ourselves incredibly lucky to have had the safari that we did, and it was all thanks to them.

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