it was a seven days safari tour with friends our safari was adventurous, full of wildlife thrills and experience, our guide Ben, ensured to fill us with every required information about animals , the national parks as well as nature in general, we were provided with amazing services and our safety was ensured for, we travelled and arrived back safely filled with magnificent safari wildlife experience.

We booked a 7-day trip with Polecat Safaris, with 5 of those days being actual safari days. The first and last days were dedicated to arrival, departure, and related logistics. Ibrahim from Polecat Safaris provided us with an offer in no time and was always quick to respond to any questions we had. Together, we were able to tailor the trip exactly to our preferences. On the day we arrived in Arusha, Ibrahim and Alex were punctual, met us at the airport, gave us a brief tour of Arusha, and brought us to our hotel. The real journey began the following day. Our safari guide, Benedict, accompanied us throughout the trip. He was always attentive to our needs and made every effort to fulfil our wishes. Benedict is incredibly friendly and has a great sense of humour. We got along wonderfully with him from day one. His extensive knowledge of wildlife and plants made the experience engaging and enriching—there was never a dull moment. We visited the following national parks: Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara. Thanks to Benedict, we were able to see everything we had hoped for, including rare sightings of leopards, cheetahs, and rhinos. The accommodations and meals were also of good quality. At Moyo Camp in the Serengeti, we experienced the thrill of lions and hyenas roaming in or near the camp at night (it’s strictly prohibited to go out alone after dark). Other animals were also around, and we could spot many of them during the day. Overall, it was an incredible experience with Polecat Safaris, especially thanks to Benedict. A big thank you for making this trip unforgettable!

I love hiking and I just had one day to visit part of the Kilimanjaro National Park. All was perfect from the beginning, the plan worked as it was described at the publicity. I had the luck of meeting a great guide, Zakayo, who demonstrated his experience and knowledge about the Park, the views were impressive and we even had the chance of watching part of the fauna and forest. This tour is suggested for people who loves the nature and do not have enough time to reach the mountain summit.

This is a moderately challenging hike that takes you to the first camp on Kilimanjaro. We saw Colobus and blue monkeys, lots of birds and a glimpse of a Dik-dik and a Suni. My guide, Zakayo was very friendly and enjoyed answering my questions. He was very knowledgeable and an excellent guide. He was very observant and recognized my limitations. Hiking boots are a must! I highly recommend this company.

We went on our honeymoon in October with African Polecats, and the experience was incredible from start to finish. James, who arranged our booking, was exceptionally responsive—often replying even outside of regular hours. The itinerary was fantastic, with a great selection of hotels and camps for our 5-day adventure in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire National Park. We stayed at Moyo Tented Camp, Jungle Pearl, and Embalakai Ngorongoro, and all three were exceptional. The camps had great facilities, and the staff went above and beyond to make our stay special. Everyone was so personable, which added a personal touch to the whole experience. Our guide, Manfred, was absolutely amazing! He truly went above and beyond to ensure we visited the best spots and saw as much wildlife as possible. Thanks to him, we witnessed leopards, cheetahs (with cubs!), and prides of lions—it was truly unforgettable. The jeep was spacious, comfortable, and well-equipped, making our game drives even better. Manfred was knowledgeable, easy to talk to, and full of interesting stories about the area. We can't recommend African Polecats highly enough—they made our honeymoon a dream come true!

My experience with African Pole Safaris was nothing short of spectacular. Visiting the enchanting Materuni Waterfalls and the majestic Kilimanjaro was a dream come true. Our guide, Zakayo, was simply amazing—his knowledge, enthusiasm, and genuine passion made the trip even more special. Each moment was filled with excitement and wonder, and I couldn't have asked for a better adventure. I highly recommend African Pole Safaris for anyone looking to explore the natural beauty and wonders of Tanzania!

I had a free day in Arusha and I wanted to see Kilimanjaro so I opted for this day hike. My guides were Zak and a new trainee Diana. Diana was misinformed about the trail we were hiking so she wore inappropriate footwear, which slowed down our hike. The trail itself is beautiful and we had perfect weather. It's entirely covered by canopy so don't expect to see any stunning views or even the peaks of Kilimanjaro, because you won't. The vegetation changes visibly across the various zones of elevation: 1879m to 2720m. I saw all sorts of pretty birds and butterflies, and plenty of blue monkeys, and even a chameleon! This hike is not easy. I'm in good shape but if you are not, you will find this tough. The trail is very well maintained however, and it is never too steep. It is over 20km total distance. Both Zak and Diana were very friendly. Diana provided great company during the hike, but she did play music from her phone a couple of times, when all I wanted to hear was the sound of nature - never for long enough for me to mention it though. Zak was knowledgeable but not overly enthusiastic or forthcoming with information, in that I had to ask questions about everything I saw instead of just being provided with the information. Plenty of water was provided and I found the lunch tasty and substantial with plenty of variety. There was no Kilimanjaro beer at the end unfortunately, as promised in the description - I was really looking forward to this! And no hiking poles provided either. Thankfully I didn't need them but the option would have been nice - I actually didn't pack my own poles because they are mentioned as being included. Overall I would recommend this hike if you enjoy hiking and have a day to spare. Just temper your expectations a little bit. I was picked up around 6:30am in Arusha and dropped off again at 7:30pm (13 hrs later instead of 10), pretty exhausted. It is a full day! At the end, I was asked three times to leave a good review (once in person, two reminders by text, including a direct link). For me, even once is too many times. I want to leave a generous review as three people gave up their day for me (two guides plus driver), but I also want to be as honest and informative as possible. Thanks for a great day!

I had an amazing experience with African Polecat Safaris! Our guide, Manfred was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly, making the tour both informative and fun. The itinerary struck a perfect balance between popular sights and hidden gems. I highly recommend them for anyone looking for a memorable adventure!

This was our second safari with African Polecat Safaris. We did a 3 day luxury private safari. The safari itself was 5+++ stars. Our guide Agrey met us at Serengeti airstrip and he was really fantastic! So friendly and really focused on what we wanted to see. He also was incredibly knowledgable (far more so than the guides we had last year). He was amazing. The safari too was of course fantastic. Due to a capacity issue at our first lodge (Kubu Kubu) we spent the second day and night in the much-less-travelled Western Serengeti (staying at Lahia lodge); we only saw two other jeeps the whole day and really felt like we had the place to ourselves which was amazing. I have done separate reviews on here of each of the two lodges but suffice to say here that they were great. Day one in the Central Serengeti was amazing too, and I'm glad we got to see the two locations. I did feel like the organisation/admin side of things was slightly lacking this time, compared to last year. Firstly, our taxi pick up from our hotel did not arrive to take us to the airport on the first day. This was a bit stressful and in the end we had to get a separate taxi from the hotel. Secondly, the itinerary described the food as being "hot lunches" whereas in fact this was only the case for day 1 - the other two days we got packed lunches from the lodges. This was not actually a problem and the packed lunches were fine, but the itinerary content should reflect what actually happens in all respects. Finally, there was a bit of confusion on our third (and final) day. Our guide was saying we needed to leave the lodge at 7am to get to the airport 2 or so hours later. We were not booked to fly out of Serengeti until around 2.30pm - I'd asked for an afternoon flight so that we could have actual safari time on the third day (of our 3 day trip). What we hadn't been made aware of is there are time-limited permits on time in the Serengeti, and that if we stayed there beyond around 11.30am we would have outstayed our permits. In the end, the company extended our permits and we got a decent amount of safari time, but without that, we'd effectively have had only a two day safari, and about 5 hours stuck at Serengeti airstrip where there's literally nothing. So all in all, an amazing trip, but let down a little bit by the issues I have mentioned here.

When we first decided to start planning an Tanzania safari, we quickly found out what so many have before us: there is a huge number of tour companies to choose from, and countless itineraries to explore within them. While interacting with various tour operators to select one, we found James of African Polecat Safaris to consistently demonstrate a clear understanding of what we were looking for and present lodging and activity options that not only appealed the most to us, but that were the most competitively priced. Do not be turned away due to the smaller digital footprint of this company! From our initial inquiries up through settling on an amazing personalized itinerary and through our final trip preparations, James was there for us to answer all questions we had. We changed our itinerary several times due to changes in our availability and what our priorities were while there, and James patiently guided us through it all. On arrival to JKO airport, we were picked up by Brian who handles a lot of their transportation east of Arusha. Brian was exactly where we expected him to be and provided comfortable transportation from JKO to Arusha. Picking us up from Arusha on the first day of our safari was our guide Manfred. Manfred would be staying with us throughout our whole trip, so I really wanted to hit things off with him. Great guy, we liked him immediately. He introduced us to our vehicle where we’d be spending most of the coming week, helped us pack our things into the car, and off we went to enjoy our first day of wildlife viewing. Accompanying us after this first day was Brighton, who came along to get pictures for the company to use on their website and other various media. Brighton was likewise excellent company, and provided his own insights of the local wildlife (we found out later that he helped train others of African Polecat Safaris staff). It is impossible to credit Manfred enough with how fantastic this whole experience was. We booked a private safari for just us two, and Manfred was so kind to make us feel at home in the vehicle and welcome us with water, other drinks, and anything else we needed for the duration of the trip. On a day where we weren’t feeling well, Manfred was happy to alter our daily itinerary slightly (on our request) to return to the hotel sooner than expected. Each evening when having dinner with Manfred, he would ask us what we hoped to see the next day. The first time we had this conversation was after Tarangire (prior to our first day in the Serengeti). I think we said something about seeing a few of the “big five”. The next day, we saw them all (extremely rare), and from then on it became almost a game that we played. We would come up with some requests that were bordering on crazy (“a yawning hippo and more lions” or “two more Mara River crossings”), and every time without fail Manfred would deliver. I can confidently say that Manfred will do the same for you. There’s a lot of time in a car involved in a safari such as ours, and it’s important to expect that going in. These various locations are not very close together (transit ranges from 1.5 to 5 hours), and most of the roads west of Karatu are rough and bumpy. Further, some patience is required to see the sights that you’re looking for. This is why I think that the relationship between guide and client is very important for a trip to be successful. Similar to how James had an excellent feel for what we were looking for in an itinerary, Manfred was easy to talk to and kind, and understood exactly how to make our safari the best it could be. Last point I’ll make about Manfred is that we appreciated the way he shares the road and his knowledge with other guides. His manner of driving is always courteous to others and he frequently speaks to other guides and offers to help them. He’s always positively contributing to radio discussions about wildlife sighting (where others may not be so willing to share that knowledge). We selected a range of activities representative of the northern Tanzania region, including the following: 1 day at Tarangire National Park 2 days at Central Serengeti National Park 2 days at Northern Serengeti National Park 1 day at Ngorongoro Crater National Park 1 day at Lake Manyara/Mto wa Mbu Each park provided exactly what we hoped to see, including the many elephants and baobab trees of Tarangire, the full spectrum of “big five” (even a stray rhino) and a large pride of lions resting near a fresh kill in Central Serengeti, several Mara River crossings (including one where we witnessed no less than six crocodile attacks) at the Northern Serengeti, breathtaking rhino sightings in the Ngorongoro crater, and the wonderful people of Mto wa Mbu just before we had to leave. Manfred and Brighton both were very impressed with how quickly my wife was able to spot hidden animals, and joked that she should come work for the company. For our hotels, we most enjoyed the tented camps (we stayed at Moyo in Central Serengeti, and Baobab and Angata in Northern Serengeti). These offer both comfort and the natural environment we were hoping for, surrounded by wildlife. The food at these camps (and at each of the accommodations we stayed at) was excellent! We loved trying the different local dishes. Though I think the meal I will remember the most is enjoying a boxed lunch gathered around the hood of the jeep, out in the middle of the Serengeti. We would encourage those looking for a great wildlife viewing experience to allow themselves sufficient time to visit each of these parks separately and enjoy their uniqueness. Come visit this beautiful part of the world. But do yourselves a favor and do so with African Polecat Safaris. From start to finish, this experience was unbelievable in every sense and I’m so grateful to James, Brian, Manfred, Brighton, and the whole team for making our safari something that we will never forget.

My wife and I did this tour and our guide was Solomon Godfrey. This was not an easy hike but we had an amazing time. Our guide was outstanding allowing us (me) to take our time (polé-polé) and even carried my backpack for the last portion. Once we reached the Mandara Huts it was all worth the effort. The trail is well maintained and beautiful. Plenty of birds and we also saw Blue and Colobus Monkeys. We strongly recommend this trip and Polecat Safaris for those who are looking for a great day adventure.

Selecting a tour company is a leap of faith: there are hundreds of them offering fairly similar options and the prices range from medium to expensive to exorbitant, how to chose one? Well, we made a list and chose African Polecats on a combination of previous reviews and a competitive offer. James was able to accommodate and provide a series of options in the days we wanted and arranged everything, so we went to Materuni, Safari in the Serengeti, Ngorogoro, trek to the base of the Kilimanjaro, Hunting with the Hadzabe, etc. 11 days in total. The day before the tours, we had a visit from the guides to brief us and recommend clothes or other practicalities (especially important to avoid colours that attract tse-tse flies, do not bring dark blue!). Guides. All our guides were very very good. They were knowledgeable, supportive, funny and very careful with our security. Special shoutout to William, our guide in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro. In some cases, local guides came with us like with the Hazdabe tribe. Mandela was very good and helped us to learn some of the words with clicks and whistles! We did a cycling tour in Mto wa Mbu, which is nice to see different things and an alternative to wildlife. The trek to the basecamp of kilimanjaro was very good, the visit to Materuni waterfalls was good. Wildlife: We managed to see all the animals you can think of (except rhinos or crocs): lions, zebras, hyenas, jackals, giraffes, elephants, wildebeest, gazelles, cheetahs, hippos, vultures and even a leopard (or the spots as it was hidden inside a tree). William knew each and everyone and was very knowledgeable about animal behaviour: he spotted a lion and lioness who were “in honeymoon”, he said, “the moment the female stands, start the video recording” and then, in front of our eyes, the action happened! We saw a pack of lions chasing a gazelle (who escaped) and saw the wildebeest migrating north (not in the Mara river so no crocodiles). Food. The food was amazing! I just do not know how our cook Victor managed to prepare such a high level food as we moved around the campsites. I mean the food was much better than the buffets of our hotel in Zanzibar. And it was always plenty. We saw other groups with lunch boxes with sandwiches. Not us, curries, roast chicken, warm desserts, you name it, delicious. Drinks. We were provided with water bottles, sodas, beer and wine to our hearts’ content along the tours. We were never in want of these. One thing that could be improved is to use re-usable water bottles and a large container to refill these. We saw other tours doing this. Over the 11 days of our tours we must have consumed around 200 water bottles. And whilst all effort is done to recycle them and we did not throw these away, along the roads you can see so many plastic bottles … Tanzania has banned plastic bags, a similar effort could follow to reduce the number of single use plastic water bottles and tour companies can start by using 20 litre containers to refill metal water bottles. Hotels and Campsites. The hotels and campsites were good (Malkia Trees Lodge in Arusha, Fig Tree Lodge, Jungle Pearl, Africa Safari in Mto wa Mbu), and campsites in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro. The campsites are basic, but with showers and toilets that were cleaned mornings and evenings. We have reviewed these separately in case you are interested. One room for improvement would be that for some days the programme was too ambitious, there would be 3 activities and there was no time for all. All our days were packed and there would not have been enough hours to do all the things listed. But small things aside, we had a good time and would recommend African Polecats.

If you are looking to book a safari African Polecat Safaris is the way to go! We had awesome time and we got to see almost everything we wanted to see (animals need to learn too corporate, LOL). African Polecat Safaris customer service is outstanding! We booked the, 5-day safari to Africa leading National Parks. (Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Lake Manyara). Due to fights being late we arrived too late to start the first day of the safari. James of African Polecat Safaris worked hard to ensure we still got the most out of or time there. My wife and I had a great time and we would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend African Polecat Safaris for your next trip.

Amazing experience. Personnel Is young, professional and passionate. Our guide was experienced and we saw wild Animals very close.

My family and I visited Tanzania for the first time and knew we wanted to see all it had to offer on our 6 day safari! The reviews for African Polecat Safaris were great, and we can truly say they live up to the hype. They are an amazing company to work with and we are so grateful for everything they did for us when coming up with our itinerary! They helped book everything we would have needed, from permits for national parks to transfers to and from the airport. James was always very prompt at responding and communicative despite the time difference from the USA. He answered any and all questions, even down to the silly ones. We were very lucky we had Manfred as our driver, he quickly became a part of our family. The accommodations were fabulous throughout our safari. The vehicle was comfortable and had outlets to charge our phones and a cooler with water, sodas, beer, and wine! I would definitely recommend bringing some sort of buff or scarf as it gets very dusty with top and windows open! We will definitely be recommending African Polecat to our friends and family!