Helam Tours
Helam Tours
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Multi-day ToursSafarisSightseeing ToursNature & Wildlife Tours
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About
We are a Tanzania tour management company with roots deep in the heart of this stunning part of Africa. Take a guided tour with us and immerse yourself in some of the world’s most beautiful and plentiful landscapes. Our home is Arusha, a bustling city in the Great Rift Valley and the ideal starting point for safari enthusiasts and Mount Kilimanjaro climbers. Our years of experience give us valuable insights into what clients want, and we never disappoint. Unmatched personal service, exciting wildlife encounters, enlightening interactions with local people, and professional, knowledgeable local guides are all guaranteed. Your trip will leave you with a lifetime of magical memories. ― Karibu – You’re Welcome ―
Arusha, Tanzania
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
9 reviews
Excellent
7
Very good
2
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Haruna M
3 contributions
Dec 2021
I am a travel freak. I love visiting places which bring unusual feelings. In December 2021, I consulted Helam Tours for a trip to Tanzania.
I was ambivalent about the trip because I felt it would be the usual holidays without many activities.
Helam Tours proved me wrong and made me conclude that Tanzania is underrated.
I received first-class services from Helam Tours. Their depth of experience and knowledge in the tourism industry in Tanzania set them apart from others.
They took me to places that I never thought existed. My favourite among all was at Lushoto, where I looked down from the cliff and saw moving trucks as ants. It was a surreal experience of excitement and fear.
There are three things that can be assured when you visit Lushoto.
1. Your excitement level will be breached
2. Your bravado will be challenged because
3. You will definitely want to visit the place every year
Ooo yeah!! I also visited Tarangire National Park, Lake Nyasa and Zanzibar.
At the Tarangire National Park, I was about 5 meters close to more than 30 elephants.
The services I received from Helam Tours were beyond par.
I am definitely going back to Tanzania in December 2022 to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and Helam Tours has my back covered.
I was ambivalent about the trip because I felt it would be the usual holidays without many activities.
Helam Tours proved me wrong and made me conclude that Tanzania is underrated.
I received first-class services from Helam Tours. Their depth of experience and knowledge in the tourism industry in Tanzania set them apart from others.
They took me to places that I never thought existed. My favourite among all was at Lushoto, where I looked down from the cliff and saw moving trucks as ants. It was a surreal experience of excitement and fear.
There are three things that can be assured when you visit Lushoto.
1. Your excitement level will be breached
2. Your bravado will be challenged because
3. You will definitely want to visit the place every year
Ooo yeah!! I also visited Tarangire National Park, Lake Nyasa and Zanzibar.
At the Tarangire National Park, I was about 5 meters close to more than 30 elephants.
The services I received from Helam Tours were beyond par.
I am definitely going back to Tanzania in December 2022 to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and Helam Tours has my back covered.
Written June 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank Harunam, for your feedback we will definitely have more groups from your university for Kilimanjaro climb this year 2022.
Written June 17, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Nagib Abdulaziz Omar
8 contributions
Aug 2022 • Family
Tanzania is known as one of the best Tourist destinations in The World as it boasts with The Famous Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara & Tarangire National Parks, The Roof of Africa Mt. Kilimanjaro & The One and Only Spice Island of Zanzibar. The Southern Circuit also offers The Ruaha National Park, Kitulo National Park also known as “Garden of God”. This is only some of the attractions Tanzania has to Offer. We had a chance to see The Big Five while doing the Northern Circuit from Tarangire to Serengeti via Manyara & Ngorongoro which was an experience of a life time. The beaches in the East coast of Zanzibar were the best we ever experienced, beautiful & idyllic. We had an unforgettable trip with Helam Tours. The Staff were very friendly, professional & welcoming. We fully recommend Helam Tours
Written August 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
michael kv
3 contributions
Aug 2022 • Family
This was our family plan for a short stay in Arusha for 2022, we real thank helamtours for this experience it was Iconic and awesome we will surely comeback for migration safari and long stay in Serengeti
Written August 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eleanor N
1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Family
Manyara was phemononal, saw elephants taking a bath in one of the rivers. Awesome time,cant wait for a other trip
Written February 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jan Ovecka
7 contributions
Oct 2019
It was our father's idea to climb Kilimanjaro. Doesn't that sound great? The highest mountain in Africa, well-known… There were plenty of people interested to join the expedition. However, day by day the amount was decreasing. It's not just an easy vacation, especially for people not used of alpine hiking. Someone gave up affraid of his physical condition, another guy was fearing malaria, other was not allowed to join by his wife, other was out of money or was affraid to leave his company for a long time. In the end, there were just 3 of us left – me, my brother and our father.
We had no experience with alpine hiking, nor with Eastern Africa. However, we would never travel with a travel agency – we prefer freedom and independency while traveling. But where to get the necessary information? We knew we would be obliged to climb the Kilimanjaro with a guide and to get a permission. How long it would take to arrange everything on site? That was a critical information in order the schedule our trip. But we were lucky – my brother got in touch with a local guy – Isaac Amos. And this guy, living in Arusha (quite a big city close to Kilimanjaro) was willing to help us with everything. It means to hire guides, buy food for the trip, get a cook, arrange permission and transportation to our hiking trail, etc.
Sure, there were plenty of travel agencies offering a full service, but it was impossible to make a deal with them. They had the idea they knew better than us what we needed. For example they insisted to take tables and chairs for the hike. Isn't that crazy?!
We had to take 2 guides (it is given by the law), a cook (what should the guides eat?) and porters (someone needs to carry the food). Originally, we wanted to go alone. But since we were obliged to have few people around us anyway, we decided to use the service of the cook also for us and let the porters carry also our bags. That was a good decission, the hike was sometimes very tough and walking without bags was a great advantage. Well, we ended up with 9 people accompanying us!!! Incredible! But we were very greatfull for the help of Isaac Amos and his approach – together we minimalized the amout of people as much as possible. We met other groups while hiking – similar groups but with like 20 or 30 people accompanying them!
Well, I should describe our trip briefly and give some tips. We came to Nairobi (Kenya) and left for Arusha (Tanzania) by bus. This road was quite good. Arusha is quite a big city, but it's very dirty. There is a garbage everywhere, together with a dust. We found an accommodation for 1 US dollar a day, but you really don't want that. It was a single room of poor quality with no bathroom (water available in the yard), etc. We switched for a better one the second day.
All the service arranged by Isaac Amos was perfectly scheduled and prepared for us. It was a big relief for us – in case of delay we would be out of time for a safari trip.
We left for the Kilimanjaro the other day, carrying all the equipment from the Czech Republic in our bags (warm sleeping bags, tents, warm shoes and clothes, etc.). We chose Lemosho route up, which is the long one, and Mweka route down. 8 days up and down together. It gave us more time to get used to higher altitude, though the acclimatization was still not enough. My brother and my father got the altitude sickness, they took some medicine pills. I really recommend to bring the medicine with you, otherwise you will not be able to continue with the hike.
It is not a real climbing, it is just a tough hike because of the altitude. If you are in a good condition, you will make it. It is getting colder when you get higher (like -10°C for the last day hike), so you definitely need a warm clothes. And there is not much air to breathe. So you need to go very very slow, otherwise you will get out of breath within few seconds. But you will make it. And the experience when you get on the very top of Kilimanjaro is worth it.
The Lemosho route is nice and not too crowded, I recommend. The first day you stay in a forrest, the other days you enjoy beautiful views while walking on the mountains. There are plenty of porters waiting at the entrance – in case you are low in the number of porters you can hire them right at the entrance, no problem with that. You reach a camp every day, with a drinking water. And your tents are already built and your dinner is ready. It seems to be too easy for the first few days, but when you are tired and with the altitude sickness, you really appreciate this service.
There are many travel agencies waiting for tourists, you can probably arrange your trip to Kilimanjaro and a safari trip very quickly on site. However, you will not get the freedom which we wanted, you will get a full service with somebody still around you… You can also hire all the equipment needed for the hike on site. We did it the other way – we brought everything from our homes and after the Kilimanjaro hike we sent it in a package back to the Czech Republic, using a post service (winter clothes, etc.). If you want to do the same, reserve some time for the visit of a local post office, it is quite a long procedure to send a package.
There is a large market with local souvenirs in Arusha, I really recommend. You can spend half a day going among the booths, with nice products. Like everybody in Tanzania drinks MountainDew. On the other hand, it is not easy to find a restaurant offering a beer…
After the Kilimanjaro hike we planned a safari trip. We were strict in this part – no guide or driver with us, just by ourselves. The tough part was to get a car. There are several car rentals in Arusha, we managed to hire a casual city car in the end, no 4-wheel drive or jeep or whatever like that. The companies required to provide us a professional driver together with a 4-wheel drive car. That was unacceptable for us so we went for the city car.
At the begining we were thinking about famous national parks (such as Serengeti), but there are too many tourists. We decided for Tarangire National Park in the end and it was a great choice. We met so many animals with like no distance! Large herds of all types of species, including elephants (no lions however, or, maybe, we just had no clue how to find them ). Actually, it was strange – one day there were thousands of animals, the other day there were no animals. I'm not able to explain that. Well, the best part was travelling by ourselves, with no restrictions or rules given by a guide. If you are a bit adventurous, go for that! You will witness much better views than tourists with drivers and guides. (But you should be adventurous, for example once we got stuck in a sand, etc. ).
If you are not out of time you may try to go to Mombasa (Kenya). There is a bus from Arusha going there. But the way is very slow. Be aware that most roads are in a poor condition and any trip by bus or car might take ages.
Mombasa is a very nice, old city. You will definitely enjoy it. But what we recommend the most is a train from Mombasa to Nairobi. It is also very slow (it is hard to believe but it is even slower than the bus ). These are still colonial era trains, old-fashion but "must to see and try". Be aware these trains don't go every day and they are not much reliable. It is a great experience.
Well, to give at least few datas – we went for this trip in Semptember 2012. And the complete costs for 3 people to climb the Kilimanjaro were app. US5500 (transportation, entrance fee, camps, cook, guides, porters, food, etc.) – meaning the costs from Arusha to the top of Kilimanjaro and back to Arusha.
If you would like to visit Tanzania with whatever destinations, and you prefer an independent way and travelling, we definitely recommend the service of Isaac Amos. His service is realiable, for a reasonable price and you can negotiate whatever level of service you prefer.
We had no experience with alpine hiking, nor with Eastern Africa. However, we would never travel with a travel agency – we prefer freedom and independency while traveling. But where to get the necessary information? We knew we would be obliged to climb the Kilimanjaro with a guide and to get a permission. How long it would take to arrange everything on site? That was a critical information in order the schedule our trip. But we were lucky – my brother got in touch with a local guy – Isaac Amos. And this guy, living in Arusha (quite a big city close to Kilimanjaro) was willing to help us with everything. It means to hire guides, buy food for the trip, get a cook, arrange permission and transportation to our hiking trail, etc.
Sure, there were plenty of travel agencies offering a full service, but it was impossible to make a deal with them. They had the idea they knew better than us what we needed. For example they insisted to take tables and chairs for the hike. Isn't that crazy?!
We had to take 2 guides (it is given by the law), a cook (what should the guides eat?) and porters (someone needs to carry the food). Originally, we wanted to go alone. But since we were obliged to have few people around us anyway, we decided to use the service of the cook also for us and let the porters carry also our bags. That was a good decission, the hike was sometimes very tough and walking without bags was a great advantage. Well, we ended up with 9 people accompanying us!!! Incredible! But we were very greatfull for the help of Isaac Amos and his approach – together we minimalized the amout of people as much as possible. We met other groups while hiking – similar groups but with like 20 or 30 people accompanying them!
Well, I should describe our trip briefly and give some tips. We came to Nairobi (Kenya) and left for Arusha (Tanzania) by bus. This road was quite good. Arusha is quite a big city, but it's very dirty. There is a garbage everywhere, together with a dust. We found an accommodation for 1 US dollar a day, but you really don't want that. It was a single room of poor quality with no bathroom (water available in the yard), etc. We switched for a better one the second day.
All the service arranged by Isaac Amos was perfectly scheduled and prepared for us. It was a big relief for us – in case of delay we would be out of time for a safari trip.
We left for the Kilimanjaro the other day, carrying all the equipment from the Czech Republic in our bags (warm sleeping bags, tents, warm shoes and clothes, etc.). We chose Lemosho route up, which is the long one, and Mweka route down. 8 days up and down together. It gave us more time to get used to higher altitude, though the acclimatization was still not enough. My brother and my father got the altitude sickness, they took some medicine pills. I really recommend to bring the medicine with you, otherwise you will not be able to continue with the hike.
It is not a real climbing, it is just a tough hike because of the altitude. If you are in a good condition, you will make it. It is getting colder when you get higher (like -10°C for the last day hike), so you definitely need a warm clothes. And there is not much air to breathe. So you need to go very very slow, otherwise you will get out of breath within few seconds. But you will make it. And the experience when you get on the very top of Kilimanjaro is worth it.
The Lemosho route is nice and not too crowded, I recommend. The first day you stay in a forrest, the other days you enjoy beautiful views while walking on the mountains. There are plenty of porters waiting at the entrance – in case you are low in the number of porters you can hire them right at the entrance, no problem with that. You reach a camp every day, with a drinking water. And your tents are already built and your dinner is ready. It seems to be too easy for the first few days, but when you are tired and with the altitude sickness, you really appreciate this service.
There are many travel agencies waiting for tourists, you can probably arrange your trip to Kilimanjaro and a safari trip very quickly on site. However, you will not get the freedom which we wanted, you will get a full service with somebody still around you… You can also hire all the equipment needed for the hike on site. We did it the other way – we brought everything from our homes and after the Kilimanjaro hike we sent it in a package back to the Czech Republic, using a post service (winter clothes, etc.). If you want to do the same, reserve some time for the visit of a local post office, it is quite a long procedure to send a package.
There is a large market with local souvenirs in Arusha, I really recommend. You can spend half a day going among the booths, with nice products. Like everybody in Tanzania drinks MountainDew. On the other hand, it is not easy to find a restaurant offering a beer…
After the Kilimanjaro hike we planned a safari trip. We were strict in this part – no guide or driver with us, just by ourselves. The tough part was to get a car. There are several car rentals in Arusha, we managed to hire a casual city car in the end, no 4-wheel drive or jeep or whatever like that. The companies required to provide us a professional driver together with a 4-wheel drive car. That was unacceptable for us so we went for the city car.
At the begining we were thinking about famous national parks (such as Serengeti), but there are too many tourists. We decided for Tarangire National Park in the end and it was a great choice. We met so many animals with like no distance! Large herds of all types of species, including elephants (no lions however, or, maybe, we just had no clue how to find them ). Actually, it was strange – one day there were thousands of animals, the other day there were no animals. I'm not able to explain that. Well, the best part was travelling by ourselves, with no restrictions or rules given by a guide. If you are a bit adventurous, go for that! You will witness much better views than tourists with drivers and guides. (But you should be adventurous, for example once we got stuck in a sand, etc. ).
If you are not out of time you may try to go to Mombasa (Kenya). There is a bus from Arusha going there. But the way is very slow. Be aware that most roads are in a poor condition and any trip by bus or car might take ages.
Mombasa is a very nice, old city. You will definitely enjoy it. But what we recommend the most is a train from Mombasa to Nairobi. It is also very slow (it is hard to believe but it is even slower than the bus ). These are still colonial era trains, old-fashion but "must to see and try". Be aware these trains don't go every day and they are not much reliable. It is a great experience.
Well, to give at least few datas – we went for this trip in Semptember 2012. And the complete costs for 3 people to climb the Kilimanjaro were app. US5500 (transportation, entrance fee, camps, cook, guides, porters, food, etc.) – meaning the costs from Arusha to the top of Kilimanjaro and back to Arusha.
If you would like to visit Tanzania with whatever destinations, and you prefer an independent way and travelling, we definitely recommend the service of Isaac Amos. His service is realiable, for a reasonable price and you can negotiate whatever level of service you prefer.
Written January 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your kindly recommendation surely Helam Tours (Mr Isacc Amos) we are delighted for your review and recommendation.
Written January 27, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
elizabeth m
1 contribution
Dec 2019 • Family
The scenery and the experience was one in a lifetime.
The guide (driver) was very nice, took us to the good spots and we managed to see amazing wildlife. It was an amazing trip😻
The guide (driver) was very nice, took us to the good spots and we managed to see amazing wildlife. It was an amazing trip😻
Written January 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks, Elizabeth,
We will be happy to have you next time.
Thanks
Written January 3, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Alfred K
1 contribution
Dec 2019 • Friends
I would like to recommend other people to use this tour company. I have vey good experience with this company. Their hospitality and good customer care made my horiday very enjoyable. I visited various sites in Tanzania using this company. I visited Sersnheti, Ngorongoro and also I went to Zanzibar. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the company for their guidance and direction.
Written December 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for taking your time and choosing Helam Tours, we are looking forward to working with you in the near future Thanks
Written December 25, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Peter
2 contributions
Sep 2019
The day started in the green and hilly side of Arusha visiting a farmer's village, a hidden waterfall, whilst we followed the traditional process of making coffee. Swahili-food in a very nice environment for lunch and a visit to an authentic Massai-village in the dusty and dry flat lands.
Combined with the warm welcome Hillary and Obeid gave me, this turned out into a magnificent day.
Combined with the warm welcome Hillary and Obeid gave me, this turned out into a magnificent day.
Written September 30, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you Peter
Written January 3, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Trevor Moore
2 contributions
Dec 2018 • Couples
It was spectacular – We cant ask for more The food was delicious and we really enjoyed the island, snorkel island hopping, charming guide, comfortable safari vehicles and local food. The brief was nice and the you exceeded our expectation we will surely plan for next family and frend trip with Helam tours
We started in Zanzibar and end in Selous game reserve all places were amazing!!!
We started in Zanzibar and end in Selous game reserve all places were amazing!!!
Written July 23, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.