Tracks Safaris

Visited: Jun. 2023 Reviewed: Sep. 08, 2023 Submitted in:

As a solo female traveller, it is vital that my tour operator listens and that we work collaboratively. I went to the Destinations Travel Show in London specifically looking for a new tour operator and as soon as I met Sue, I was taken with her knowledge, passion and generosity in the time that she afforded me. She listened to my thoughts on Ruaha and the type of camps that I prefer (no swimming pools, no spas !) and promised to come back to me with costings. She cut no corners with her proposals and gave me several options, all of which perfectly met the brief and between us we decided on an Asilia Africa package of Usangu Expeditions and Kwihala. After the booking was made, Sue updated me every time there were changes to flight schedules etc. and again, was never lazy in the work that she did for me. I never felt that corners were being cut. There were always options, even when I hadn't asked for them. Being in a service profession myself, the highest compliment that I can pay Sue is that she made me feel like I was the most valued client in the world. If you are looking for a personal service from an incredibly knowledgeable, generous and professional tour operator then I really cannot recommend Tracks Safaris highly enough.

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Visited: May. 2023 Reviewed: Aug. 15, 2023 Submitted in:

My 12 day trip was perfect. I made a wish list of what I like in terms of habitat and animal and what I want to visit in Zambia and my wishes were heard loud and clear and they went the extra mile to make it much better for me as a single person travelling.

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Visited: Jun. 2023 Reviewed: Jul. 18, 2023 Submitted in:

I cannot say enough great things about Sue and Tracks Safaris. We used them on a seven day safari to Kenya and a few days in the Seychelles. She was amazing in helping us plan the perfect safari. She was referred to us by a friend and we were so pleased with her expertise. We live in the US and wanted to use Sue for her wealth of safari knowledge. We would definitely recommend to use Sue and Tracks Safari and we can’t wait to use them again.

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Visited: May. 2023 Reviewed: Jul. 06, 2023 Submitted in:

Have used Tracks Safaris since 2016 for safaris to Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, NE India and NW India. All have been well organised with good local contacts, camps and guides. Sue has taken care and time to meet the briefs given. Wildlife sightings have been amazing, including being present at the births of a Giraffe and a Hippo, a Leopard mother with cub, two Striped Hyena, a Jungle Cat and, and, and........ How lucky we have been! Looking forward to our next ' Trip with Tracks'.
Thank you, Sue.

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Visited: May. 2023 Reviewed: Jun. 05, 2023 Submitted in:

Truly outstanding trip.
We waited 3 years for this, but wow! it was well worth waiting for, Tracks Safaris put together a fabulous package.
All the lodges were of a very high standard of accommodation with friendly well trained staff and excellent guides. Victoria Falls is magnificent, and Chobe National Park is wonderful, so sad when we had to leave.
How can you improve on this? Thank you Tracks Safaris for your knowledge and experience in making this a trip to remember.

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Visited: Feb. 2023 Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2023 Submitted in:

8 Days Safari Nomad Tanzania Camps – February 2023
This was the 5th Safari I have taken booked via Tracks Safari so that in itself tells you that I have had good experiences with Sue Preater of the Company. The organisation was good, and all pick-up arrangements worked well.
This was my first trip to Tanzania and the first safari “in the green”. What I would say is that of all my trips (previously Zambia, Botswana & Kenya), this was the most tricky in seeing ‘cats’ and it was surprising to have had 8 nights on safari and only seen 8 Lions in total.
Due to travel times, I had a night in Dar Es Salam pre-safari flight & on return. Very long transfer back to Dar on the way back – the given schedule was for about an hour but ended up taking three hours and going via Zanzibar. Those internal planes are a bit like buses. Nice hotel all be it chaotic on the way back as a popular Congo football team was staying and the hotel was full of fans!
My first camp Nomad Kigelia Ruha was a ‘typical’ tented bush camp. Comfortable tent with flushing toilet & bucket showers, plenty of space and a nice touch of a swinging seat outside. Really nice set-up.
Loads of elephants were about and they were the most commonest animal seen along with impala.
On the whole, the roads were reasonable, but some of the river crossings need repair. Well looked after by my guide and driver. Having the vehicle to myself we were able to take the time to stop and I was able to photograph ‘at will’.
I had 4 nights in the camp, 3 of which I was the only guest. I could not have been made more welcome and the food was always delicious. During my time I only saw two individual lions but had great views of 2 cheaters. Two wild dogs for about 60 seconds. There were leopards about but no luck for me. A honey badger was seen for again about 60 seconds. Plenty of Jackel about. Good variety of birds. I’d not done enough research as I thought this may be feeding of young time – but it was not.
The second camp was Nomad Sand Rivers Selous. This is a bit more upmarket with it having a small swimming pool and being run on a more ‘hotel’ feel. Guests are seated for meals in the parties they booked, so dinner for 1 for me. The food here was good but beaten into second place by my first camp.
The thatched open rooms have very large beds and mosquito nets for the night. It was very hot when I was there and I was glad that it had its power and a fan.
The camp is situated in a large area and again cats were scarce for me, 1 leopard for about 5 minutes and 6 lions seen one day only. It was fortunate that 4 wild dogs were close to camp and I saw these several times. Again, good bird life. A wider variety of animals here and some good lakes for viewing birds. There are more activities to try here – I really enjoyed the boat trip all be it not much seen.
The positive is there is lots of different scenery here – but the roads need attention. They are very rough, and some crossings are impossible due to erosion. The park needs to sort this out as it would not be the place to visit at the moment if you had any back problems. It was definitely hold on tight for a lot of the time to my camera. I know people joke about an African massage, but this was often an African pummel.
Here your guide is your driver as well. Mine Pay was excellent, very knowledgeable and tried to give you the best views of what was about whilst respecting the wildlife.
Both camps had electricity in the accommodation which was nice and Wi-Fi in the communal area (a first for me)
Definitely, good camps to visit but I think you need to like birds as well to keep your interest levels up as in the green as spotting wildlife can be tricky. I had contacted Nomad itself in advance saying I was interested in serval, caracal, and the more unusual cats. I was emailed that my request would be passed on. The reality was, neither of the camps would be great for these whatever time you visited, so a little disappointed.
It would be good if camps not only had lists of what is theoretically possible but more so what is likely to be seen. Nature is nature and there are never guarantees but realistic information would be better to help you choose where to go and when.
But overall saw some great things, particularly the dogs & birds. The bird count was 184 species between the 2 camps with several firsts for me – got to love a long-crested eagle.
Would I recommend Nomad camps – yes and Tracks Safari. However for my next trip more questions in advance to help manage expectations.

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Visited: May. 2022 Reviewed: Feb. 17, 2023 Submitted in:

We met Tracks Safaris at the Destinations Show in early 2020. They planned an excellent itinerary for a self-drive tour of northern Namibia which should have happened in 2020 but, due to Covid, was postponed until 2021 and again to May 2022. Sue Preater helped us with all the re-arrangements and managed to hold many of the prices to the original levels. The trip was worth the wait. Namibia is a stunning country with so many varied highlights. We visited the Kalahari desert, the dunes of Sossusvlei, Damaraland - where we saw desert-adapted elephants and a rhino, and Etosha, which is so unlike other safari destinations. In terms of lodges, we particularly liked Kulala at Sossusvlei and Ongava Tented Camp at Etosha. The driving was long and quite tiring but perfectly manageable and we felt safe throughout.

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Visited: Oct. 2022 Reviewed: Nov. 09, 2022 Submitted in:

Our family holiday of a lifetime was originally planned for October 2020 but was postponed on several occasions due to the pandemic.
Sue at Tracks Safaris was very efficient at rearranging accommodation, dates and flights and the itinerary was perfect for our first ever safari. This consisted of a 6 night night safari (Masai Mara, Naivasha Lake, Amboseli and Tsavo National Park) followed by 5 nights all inclusive at the Baobab Beach Resort and Spa at Diani Beach near Mombasa.
The safari tour company that looked after us really made the holiday very special. Our safari guide was very friendly, knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour. The company even arranged for us to be collected from the airport, took us to our hotel as well as organising boarding passes for onward flights.
Everything ran very smoothly. Thank you Sue for all you help.
I highly recommend Tracks Safaris.

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Visited: Sep. 2022 Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2022 Submitted in:

What a fantastic experience our long-awaited first safari was and well worth the 3 year wait! Our first animal encounter was with five cheetahs 15 minutes after landing on a dusty grass runway in Amboseli - WOW! what a start to the holiday and it just got better and better.

We stayed at three different Porini camps in Kenya all of which were all outstanding, the staff were very friendly, the food was excellent, and nothing was too much trouble. The guides at all the camps were five-star and helped us tick off the Big 5, the Ugly 5 and pretty much everything in between, we were also treated to a very rare sighting of a serval, 3 honey badgers, bushbabies, and even a black mamba!

Thank you Tracks Safaris for the excellent itinerary and organisation and helping us make great memories on our Kenyan Safari adventure.

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Visited: Aug. 2022 Reviewed: Aug. 31, 2022 Submitted in:

Having originally booked a safari through Tracks Safaris in 2019, it was unfortunately postponed until August 2022 due to Covid. However, Sue at Tracks Safaris was exceptional at negotiating and rebooking the holiday. Sue kept in constant contact regarding the current status of the trip and whether it would go ahead. Communication between Tracks and myself didn't end there. I was constantly emailing Sue with regards to organising the relevant visas and Covid documentation, and Sue was always happy and prompt to respond and make sure the relevant information was passed on. I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and the safari was excellent with lots of wildlife on show throughout Kenya and Tanzania. Will be using Tracks again and would recommend them to family and friends. You are in safe hands.

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1 Person gave this
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