Tracks Safaris

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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Visited: Aug. 2022 Reviewed: Aug. 29, 2022 Submitted in:

We found Sue at Tracks Safaris following a google search and then our holiday of a lifetime in Tanzania was born through several conversations and some emails. Sue expertly tailored our safari adventure to suit our many (!) requests and budget and we really appreciated how available and knowledgeable she was throughout the planning stage and beyond – this was so reassuring.

We stayed at the Siwandu camp on the Sealous game reserve and then moved on to Jongomero camp in the Nyerere game reserve. Both camps exceeded our expectations, and it is difficult to do them justice through a review! The welcome we received and the way we were looked after by the incredibly friendly staff was second to none and in both camps. The game drives did not disappoint – our guides (Mporto in Siwandu and Giovanni in Jongomero) were knowledgeable and friendly, sympathetic and their knowledge of the area and experience meant that we were fully immersed in the whole safari experience. Both camps expertly ‘matched’ us with people for the game drives – we have friends for life in the couple we met at Siwandu! We never felt rushed or bored and saw the most incredible sights from really close vantage points. In both camps the food was outstanding and the accommodation akin to our experience of 5*. With the Masai escorting us and patrolling the camp at night we felt very safe, and a lasting memory will be falling asleep to the sound of hippos guffawing in the lake nearby! We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary whilst at Siwandu camp and the staff went above and beyond to make us feel very special.

We finished our holiday with 5 nights at The Manta Resort on Pemba Island. This was an ideal way to relax and reflect after the safari experience. Again, the staff were really friendly and could not do enough for us, the resort was quiet, the accommodation (beach side villa) superb and the food was outstanding. We saw a pod of dolphins and a humpbacked whale, and my husband went scuba diving under the excellent guidance of Mohammed. I am so glad my husband pushed me out of my comfort zone for this experience of a lifetime. We have both fallen in love with Africa.

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Visited: Jan. 2022 Reviewed: Aug. 08, 2022 Submitted in:

So I contacted Sue in January 2020 with a view to booking a safari trip to Kenya for later in that year, after multiple lockdowns and cancellations finally took off in January 2022!!!

Apart from the flight Sue had booked me into 3 Porini Camps (Lion Camp, Rhino Camp & Mara Camp), these camps were brilliant with wonderful knowledgeable staff who did everything to accommodate you, food was good, tents were clean and the bucket showers were nice and warm. Within the first 2 days I pretty much saw all the big 5 including the Leopard.

Over the 2 years Sue was extremely helpful and did everything to the way I wanted, she knows the country really well, and is well known to the the Game watchers staff. I will always use Sue for any further African adventures , and would highly recommend her (Tracks Safari).

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Visited: May. 2022 Reviewed: Jun. 21, 2022 Submitted in:

We found Sue and Tracks Safaris at the Destinations Travel Show when we visited a few years back, though we were unable to speak to her on the day because the queue of returning customers was too long for a meaningful discussion on the day. However, having made contact later with a vague idea of the type of safari we were looking for and with a budget in mind, Sue was able to propose a three camp safari in Botswana, staying in tented camps, followed by a visit to Victoria Falls across the border in Zimbabwe. She suggested three camps in different habitats and explained what each was able to offer in the way of activities and facilities and together we formed a plan. We did need the guidance of someone with experience in the region and Sue showed herself to be expert with great knowledge of the regions and of how things could be put together. The itinerary needed to be changed several times as several postponements were necessary because of the pandemic but the quality of communications was always excellent and gave us confidence that all would be well. We visited Hyena Pan tented camp on the drier side followed by Kadizora Camp in the delta and Chobe Elephant Camp by the Chobe river. Each camp was quite different and all were excellent choices. Our stay at Victoria Falls needed to be extended slightly and our return journey adjusted when a connecting local airline had some issues, but Sue spent several hours at her desk on the phone to sort out things on our behalf which was very much appreciated and valued. We had a marvellous time and made many new memories and the tansfers between each site all worked as planned. The care we received from Sue and all the staff at the locations she booked us into was beyond our expectations.

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Visited: Mar. 2022 Reviewed: Apr. 15, 2022 Submitted in:

This trip was originally organised for March 2020, reorganised for March 2021, and finally took place this year - without Sue's guidance and support, and Kwando Safari's flexibility, it might never have happened at all, but Sue gave us confidence and guided us through the maze of PCR testing and required documentation to make sure we fulfilled the requirements of all the countries we entered - thank you so much!

We stayed at 4 camps: Elephant Camp in Zimbabwe, and Lagoon, Splash and Nxai Pan in Botswana. Each was lovely in different ways - the range of activities at Elephant Camp and the majesty of Victoria falls, the beautiful outlook across waterlily-studded water full of hippos at Lagoon, cheetah and lion sightings at Splash, and the trip to the salt pans at Nxai Pan have provided great memories to bring home.

The organisation of the trip was faultless, and the accommodation and food at each of the camps was excellent. Having been on tented safaris before, we were impressed at the facilities in all the camps (though perhaps it didn't feel quite such an 'adventure' without bucket showers!). After 2 years of obsession with the news, the lack of internet access at the Kwando camps felt very peaceful and restorative. Staff at every camp were clearly delighted to have visitors back, and did everything possible to ensure we enjoyed our stay.

We saw a good range of game, though sadly no wild dog this time - so I guess we will have to come back again!

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Visited: Mar. 2022 Reviewed: Apr. 01, 2022 Submitted in:

We visited the Destinations Show at Olympia, London in January 2020 with a specific brief to find out more about visiting Africa for our first safari. We chose Tracks Safaris as we were so impressed with Sue’s knowledge and experience on the many areas you can travel to for a safari holiday. Sue spoke to us in depth and then emailed two different, detailed itineraries for us to choose from. Both trips looked amazing. They were in Botswana and everything was included - flights, food, drinks, accommodation, transfers and guided experiences. Sue works with local tour operators and they were also exceptional in their care and service during the trip.

Due to Covid our trip was postponed but Sue kept us up-to-date with any changes and was always available to answer any questions related to our trip.

We had an amazing trip, exceeding all our expectations. We travelled during Green Season and had wonderful wildlife sightings. We saw leopards, cheetah, lion prides, male lions, rhino, water buffalo, giraffes, zebras, wild dogs, elephants and hyenas and so much more. There were too many highlights to list but we witnessed a lion hunting warthogs, a cheetah attacking a wildebeest and found a hyena den and were able to watch the interactions of the family. To experience wild animals in their natural habitat was so special and we were able to go off road enabling a more intimate experience.

The camps were brilliant and so welcoming and comfortable. All the staff were friendly and the whole set up enables great flexibility on meal times depending on what is found when out with the guides. The guides and trackers were wonderful, asking you what you want to see and ensuring you have a great time. Their eyesight is so acute they can spot animals from amazing distances even in dense grass. Their knowledge is phenomenal and there was not an animal they could not name or give a commentary on.

The whole organisation of the trip was fabulous and we felt very looked after. Nothing was too much trouble. A safari holiday is something everyone should experience. I would highly recommend Sue and her expert advice, to anyone wishing to book a safari trip.

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