Fair Travel Tanzania

I am a 50yr old, Australian man, solo traveller.... I came across Fair Travel completely by accident after reading a number of reviews about poorly paid wages in Africa (esp' Tanzania). Making a difference starts at the individual and I decided to find and book with a company that paid decent wages and whereby staff were not reliant on tips.

After finding Fair Travel, I made contact with Jorin and initiated attaining 3 seperate quotes for a Mt. Kilimanjaro (8 day Lemosho Route) climb, Safari in NW Tanzania and 5 nights in Zanzibar. I attained several quotes, but was always impressed that Jorin answered emails quickly - normally within 1-2 days. I was also able to have direct contact through WhatsApp and Skype.

After reading multiple reviews (plus searching for any type of fraud), I finally made a deposit and booked around 7 months before my adventure. Time would tell it I was going to be defrauded. Happily, everything went perfectly. Jorin stayed in contact and the company did a great job making a few small modifications.

On the day of arrival, I was met at the airport, taken off to the hotel, had the optional coffee tour and commenced my hike. The tour operator helped me out in Moshi by even organising a local (Halotel) SIM for my iPhone. Later on I met the Lead Guide, he checked my gear, had a beer and lastly met my hiking companions.

The hike left on time. Everything was well organised, even water and food supplied on the bus to the Londorisi Gate. The hike was better than great. Only 3 foreigners (nc' me), around 10 porters, 1 cook, 1 waiter/cook/porter and 2 guides - both in their 30's and well experienced - Baraka and Robert. Baraka spoke very good English and a little German, was fun, but serious when needed. Robert spoke good English, too, and appeared more knowledgeable about the flora and fauna. Both guides worked together well. The hike was difficult but well managed. I had my own 4 person tent - well worth it! The food was plentiful, varied and tasted great. No sick stomach. We had our own toilet - I've recommend this as sometimes the tents can be a 100m away from the public toilets which were very dirty - limited water to clean them. The final night of climbing to the summit was very cold = -13c and windy. Hands and nose were cold. Wear 4-5 layers on top and 3+ on legs. The final ascent is very very very slow walking, with a long line of people. When you stopped, you got cold. Handwarmers a good idea. At the Uhuru Peak, we got some great photos and video - search Youtube for 'markreadau'. After only 20mins at the top, we headed down. From Barafu Camp, 9.5 hours of walking to the summit and back. Add another 3.5 to Mweka Camp and it was a hard day. Overall, a fantastic experience that was well managed. Oxygen was carried, but not needed. Baraka even carried my daypack when it got hard. Back in town, final certificate and a beer - well earned! There was also no expectation of tips too. Ask these guides!

Next was the safari with Edward (guide) and Joesphat (cook). I was the only person. Great experience visiting 4 different conservation areas + national parks: Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Eyasi. Tarangire had the most elephants. Ngorongoro is compact and quick to see everything. Serengeti is huge, but had the most lions, zebra and wildebeest. Lake Eyasi (salty) was quiet and peaceful. Edward was a great guide and lots of fun. Very knowledgeable and easy to have a conversation with. Joesphat cooked great food for us and had a great smile. Both spoke good English and provided a good amount of interaction, without being bossy or imposing. All travel by Land Cruiser. Good vehicle, no issues. Ask for these staff!

Last was Zanzibar. Fair Travel organised a domestic flight and recommended a good hotel with competent staff and food. Foreign owned (Finnish owner), and local staff. Good pool.

Overall, a great trip. I had lots of activities planned and Fair Travel come through great. Locals operate on (Tanzania time) so expect some things to take 2, 3 or 4 times longer than at home, but learn to relax. Finally, I'd like to call of Jorin, Baraka, Robert, Edward and Joesphat for making a memorable trip for my first time to Africa. Life long friends made!

Would I book through them again? Absolutely!!!

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My boyfriend and his friends climbed Kilimanjaro for a week and then joined my sister and I for a safari in Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area as well as a day visiting various tribes. Some internet research showed us that many tourist companies in Tanzania take a lot of money from tourists but terribly exploit their employees, forcing them to work under very inhumane conditions. We found the Fair Travel non-profit tour operator on an NGO website which was started to try and improve the terrible conditions Kili porters are usually working under. As we could not find trip advisor reviews on Fair Travel, we got a Bradt Travel guide that confirmed FairTravel was the only company that paid their employees 2-4 factors more and had them working under way better conditions while charging us the same prices as other companies.

We booked with them and it was amazing! We talked to many of their employees who indeed confirmed Fair Travel pays much better under way better working conditions. Our equipment (truck, tents, dining table, dining chairs, sleeping bags, etc) was new and really good quality. We talked to travelers whose drivers slept in the car and cooks on the kitchen floor, ours had their own tent and were well equipped. Our driver Eli, was very kind and knowledgeable, telling us many facts about the park, the animals, the different tribes and people of Tanzania. Our cook, Paolo was amazing, the food was hotel-quality, the meals were elaborate and delicious. I also have a quite sensitive stomach and Paolo's was the first food I had in Africa/Asia that did not upset my stomach. Their background was also really amazing to hear about, but is theirs to tell so I will leave that for you to ask.

I highly recommend this tour operator! It was started by a guy who climbed Kilimanjaro and started his company to improve working conditions of porters. From what we can tell the quality of our tour surpassed the quality of the tours other travelers we had talked to were on. We also saw many broken trucks along the way, and we had no problems.

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We wanted to have a holiday in Tanzania combining safari and some beach time, but we didn't really know how best to organise it, though we were reticent to go through a 'big' brochure-led operator, partly on cost grounds and partly just because. We contacted a small number of operators about whom we had read in guides or online; the response from Fair Travel impressed us most. One reason we were attracted to Fair Travel is that it is an ethical outfit, which in its own words is "a unique non-profit tour operator. We offer Tanzanian adventures with affordable and transparent pricing, staff who are not dependent on tipping, tours that are CO2 off-set and where 100% of net profits are channeled into conservation."

Fair Travel arranged a time to phone me in the UK to discuss what we wanted and our budget. They then came up with a proposal which suited us perfectly and was very competitive in terms of price. Everything worked perfectly - we had an excellent driver/guide; it was just us in the Landcruiser for the whole of our safari, which took in Tarangire, Ndutu, Serengeti and Ngorongoro, an excellent schedule in January which meant we started quite gently, but saw lots of birds (part of our aim), took us through the amazing migration of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles, gave us two full days in Serengeti with amazing close up encounters with lions, cheetah, leopards, elephants, giraffes and so much else, and we ended up in the extraordinary and unmissable Ngorongoro crater.

Everywhere we stayed was excellent - comfortable, great food, and unique. Our second half, in Zanzibar was just as good in a very different way - a night in a lovely boutique hotel in Stone Town followed by an excellent quiet hotel on the coast with a huge empty white sand beach.

We would therefore heartily recommend Fair Travel and can honestly say that every detail of the arrangements worked perfectly and that, with apologies for the cliche, we really did have the holiday of a lifetime.

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