| |
| Martha Fitisemanu - New Zealanders |
| |
| Hello again Tillya, |
| |
| Sorry I haven`t written earlier, I`ve been catching up with work and clearing my desk and clients emails etc. |
| |
| Don`t worry about the flight, I know mistakes can happen outside of your control and we made our connecting flights so all is ok. |
| |
| Anyway, Tillya thanks so much for organizing a great safari. We had a great time, all the lodges you choose were great. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lodges, but of course our favorite was the farm (just because it was exciting to see a real coffee plantation up close in Africa). |
| |
| Wilson was also a great guide, we learned a lot about the different animals (he`s better than an encyclopedia). |
| |
| And also I want to really thank you for all the extra help you provided in getting our gorilla permits and booking our accommodation in Zanzibar (which was very lovely and relaxing). And, of course always answering my questions promptly. |
| |
| I`ll definitely be recommending you to my friends and family so maybe you`ll get more New Zealanders coming your way. Thanks again Tillya. |
| |
| Martha |
| Top |
| MAJA KUSHNER |
| |
When planning our vacations and rarely post anything, but in this case Calabash Adventures deserves some good publicity.
We went on a 7 day safari with Calabash in June 2008 and can strongly recommend them. |
| |
| Tillya (the owner) was very helpful planning the trip; replied all our emails on the same day we wrote them (unlike other companies) and was also very helpful in booking hotel in Dar, bus tickets, pick up in the airport and flights to Zanzibar - he really made an effort in helping us to plan our first trip to Tanzania. |
| |
| Our Safari was perfect; a combination of the popular parks Manayara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and cultural cycling tour in Mto Wa Mbu, hunting with the bushmen in Lake Eyasi and hiking in Empakaai crater. Our safari was camping, as we thought that this would give us the best experience! But we were very pleased, that Tillya suggested and booked (at no extra cost) a lodge for us in Ngorongoro for 2 nights, as it gets very cold on the crater rim and sleeping there you need very warm clothes, which we hadn`t brought. But we still experienced the rim, as we had dinner there, and an extra bonus was the "night game drive" back to the lodge, where we saw tons of buffalos and some angry elephants.. |
| |
| Our guide was good and we had an excellent cook. We only had minor problems with the car, 2 flat tires - but I think this is quite normal for a seven day Safari. All in all we were very pleased with everything, and couldn`t have wished for a better experience! |
| |
| Before choosing Calabash, I was in contact with several former clients, and they only had positive things to say, and I think that what Grets said, says it all: "Tanzania is a great place for safari and Calabash really know how to make the most of it." |
| |
| Have a wonderful trip! |
| |
| Maja Kushner |
| Top |
| Lori Stene and Bruce from Canada |
| |
| Here is the post - it`s kinda long, but if you want to take parts out for the website, feel free! |
| |
| As I used this forum a lot while I was researching our trip (very last minute), I thought I`d post a report in case it could help anyone out. |
| |
| We booked a last minute trip to Tanzania in February to climb Kili, go on a safari and visit Zanzibar for some diving. Finding a tour operator was challenging as there seem to be so many and we didn`t know exactly what we wanted, but on this and other boards we found recommendations for Calabash Adventures (http://www.calabashadventures.com) so we decided to contact them. |
| |
| Tillya was our contact and he was great about responding to emails and giving us information. He was also the only one we contacted that seemed to understand we wanted to see the Wildebeest migration and specifically altered our itinery so we would be able to see them. Our journey to Tanzania was fraught with difficulties which meant that we couldn`t send a deposit after booking with Calabash, nor could we go to their office when we arrived to give it to them ( we were in Moshi, they are in Arusha) but through it all, Tillya and Calabash were helpful, understanding and booked our safari anyway. Tillya also booked us into a hotel in Arusha (we had no idea where to stay), the Olduvai Inn, centrally located US$25 per night bed and breakfast. He was great and helpful even before our safari started and got even better after. |
| |
| We were supposed to start our safari on February 25th at 7:30 am, but we didn`t get off of Kili until Feb 24, we hadn`t booked a hotel in Arusha and had to leave one of our bags there, had no idea where to stay and hadn`t given Calabash our deposit, and we were unreachable the week prior as we were on the mountain. I had sent TIllya a frantic email before we departed up the mountain wiht all this info. Despite all this, Tillya booked our safari, found us a hotel and said he would meet us there the morning of the 25th to get the deposit and give us our detailed safari info. |
| |
| Our shuttle was almost an hour late, so we didn`t get to the Olduvai Inn until after 8, Tillya was there waiting, and instead of loading us into the jeep and sending us off, when he found out we hadn`t had breakfast, he insisted on buying us breakfast, then took us to the bank to get money (finally got his payment!) and took us to get a card for our cell phone. |
| |
| Then sent us on our way with Joseph who took us to Lake Mayanara. That day was fabulous, we saw so many animals. The next day our other driver and jeep picked us up. Tillya had sent a converter - which was a lifesaver as we could charge the cell phone or camera batteries as we drove (we couldn`t charge everything at night as there is only a small window of electrical power at the camps). He also sent `bean bags` for our cameras which were a great addition. It was little extras like this (along with some major stuff) that really set Calabash apart from other operators for us. Another great thing was the fabulous mix of lodges and tented camps we stayed at (Tillya had to really work to get us into Ndutu safari lodge which was a great place, but he persevered). We were so impressed with all the places. Our favorite was Ikoma Bush Camp. It really exceeded our expectations and Calabash was much cheaper than many operators we had inquired with. |
| |
| We loved the mix of game drives that Tillya arranged, we had the day drives of course, but he also booked us for a night drive that was fabulous, a sunrise drive and a walking safari. |
| |
| Of all the other safari goers we talked to, we were the only ones that had so many different drives and it allowed us to see such a great range of animals. The walking safari with the armed ranger was very cool.I had called Tillya mid way through our safari to ask for his help with the next portion of our trip - Zanzibar. He said he would work on it and have something for us by the time our safari was over. Our safari ended on March 2 and we got back late to the Olduvai Inn. The next morning at breakfast, just as I was going to call Tillya, he came around the corner! He had information on flights to Zanzibar and had been in contact with a dive shop on the island. He was working with Frieda from Tropical Trails Tours on Zanzibar who was also great. He asked our price range for hotels in stone town and as soon as we told him, he called Frieda and booked us into a place. |
| |
Then when we said we wanted to fly out the next day, he drove us to the bank (there was a huge line so we told him he didn`t have to wait) and then went to get our airline tickets after giving us advice on where to shop. He phoned us later in the day to say that he had our tickets and met us downtown so we could pay him for them! The flights had been sold out for the entire day but he somehow managed to work a miracle and get us on a morning flight to Zanzibar.
Then, he had a driver pick us up at our hotel in the morning and take us to the airline office to get the shuttle to JRO. At no charge, nor did he charge us any extra for going and getting our airline tickets or any of the extras he did for us. |
| |
| At the airport in stone town, we were met by someone from Frieda`s office who took us to our hotel to drop off our luggage and then took us to their office where we booked a couple tours. The next day we met Frieda who arranged our hotel in Ngwai, our transportation there and back and our flight back to Dar the following week - great one stop service. I can also highly recommend Tropical Trails. |
| |
| All in all, we had an amazing couple of weeks and in a large part it was due to Tillya and Calabash. The above and beyond service he gave us was great and much appreciated. |
| Top |
| Ken and Sharon Lillis, Kingston, ON Canada |
| |
| I am sorry for taking so long in answering your email with regards to our trip to Africa. The real reason for the delay is to know what to put in the email … how can you actually describe the most fantastic trip of a lifetime in words! I would love to be able to say that “our trip of a lifetime” is the start of our trips to Africa but unfortunately I doubt that. That is why it is/was such a special trip the first time. |
| |
| Tillya, thank you for all your efforts in making our trip so special. I know Andrea and yourself spent many hours and emails putting the trip together. Thank you, thank you. |
| |
| With Scott and Andrea taking pictures I thought I would keep a journal of our travels. When arriving back home and starting to type it up it was great to relive our trip. Hopefully Ken will enjoy reading it as well when I do give it to him to read. I thought it would be a great keepsake for all of us but especially Scott and Andrea for years to come. It was hard to keep up with my journal but I did. |
| |
| My colleagues at work have seen some of the pictures and they are amazed how close we were to the animals and so many animals. We saw all the standard wildlife – elephants, zebras, giraffes, hippos, impalas. Our first glimpse of a lion was not a good one, it was too far away but eventually we got to see one close by. Even to the point that the lion was having it’s lunch, a zebra … we missed the actual kill but I am sure we got there just seconds after it. I would never have thought that I would be interested in seeing one animal devouring another one but we were mesmerized by it. The mother lion actually had two cubs with her and they were enjoying lunch as well. Scott got some fantastic pictures as this was happening and we are still mesmerized when we see them. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The only one of the big five that we missed was, of course, the rhino. Seems a lot of people don’t see that one. We actually did see one but it was too far off in the distance to be able to count it. I guess we just have to come back to Africa for that reason … see the rhino! |
| |
| Our accommodations … where do I start with them. I thought we were going to be camping in Africa, little did I know different. The accommodations were out of this world. With each new one there was something special about it so it would be hard to say which one was our favourite. Although Ken does say that the treetop was his favourite. The outdoor showers were another highlight for Ken. I was totally amazed at the difference in each place we stayed at during our visit, and how we were treated like royalty upon our arrival. I just enjoyed it all and I have the pictures and booklets on them to remind me of our special time in Africa. |
| |
| I think my favourite part of the trip was Ngorongoro Crater. Just envision this large mass of land that erupted thousands of years ago and now houses so many animals. I think that is where we seen most of the wildlife, along with thousands of flamingos. Just breathtaking. |
| |
| Having just spent close to three weeks in Africa and visiting four countries (Tanzania, Zambabwe, Botswana and Zambia) I need to relive it all again through our journal and pictures. I am sure we will all do that every once in a while. The four of us did our trip over Christmas and New Year’s and we have heard that it is not the best time to go but time wise that was the best time for the four of us to be able to connect. What a special Christmas and New Year’s memories we all have now. |
| |
| Thank you again, Tillya for taking care of us. Hopefully our paths may cross again sometime in the future. |
| |
| Ken and Sharon Lillis, Kingston, ON Canada |
| Top |
| Alena from German |
| |
| Dear Tillya, |
| |
| thank you so much for the great safari that I did with Calabash Adventures. I had been dreaming of going on safari for several years and your company really made this dream come true. This trip was a wonderful experience that I will never forget and I can strongly recommend Calabash Adventures as every aspect of our journey was well organized, our guide Wilson was fantastic and had an answer to all of my questions and also the food we were provided was just excellent. |
| |
| Moreover, thanks for giving me the e-mail of Radeck and Pavlina. I sent a message to them but they haven`t replied yet. But maybe they are still on holiday, so I`ll just have to wait some more days... |
| |
| Greetings from Germany, |
| |
| Alena |
| Top |
| Jürgen and Christine: |
| |
| Hi, |
| |
life back in Canada is cold and we had to go back to work.
How could we forget you and this wonderful trip we have had with all those magnificent memories! Thanks Tillya for organizing this amazing trip and thanks for giving us your best team of driver and cook. Wilson was a terrific guide he was personable, funny and took the best of care for us. He must have a secret way of communicating with animals because whenever we set out to find the rarest of beast, he would find them with ease exactly where he had expected them. Back at the camp Richard attended to us. He made us wonder where he was hiding that 5 star hotel kitchen. |
| |
| We have and still are telling all our friends about our trip and showing them pictures. We tell them to not miss out on the safari definitely book with the best, you! |
| |
| Take care and hopefully till soon |
| |
| Jürgen and Christine |
| Top |
| Grete & David United Kingdom |
| |
| You may wish to check this out: |
| |
| http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/7a8e1/fe7/ |
| |
| I hope all is well with you guys in Tanzania. We are still dreaming about the fantastic time we had with Dickson and Arnaud and all those wonderful animals. I was very pleased with all my photos and have shown them to anyone who is willing to look. I have also been singing your praises on the Virtual Tourist and Thorn Tree forums. |
| |
| David and I are both well and planning our next adventure - we are off to Bangladesh, India, Sikkim and Bhutan next month. |
| |
| Grete & David |
| |
| visit us at: www.grete-david.co.uk |
| Top |
| Lui, Sheila and their family . |
| |
| Hello Tillya. and Arnold. |
| |
| We were pleased to hear from you. Thank you for writing. |
| |
| We have wonderful memories of our holiday with you and are strongly recommending you to all our friends. I will check to see if Dr. Douglas heard from you and what he is planning. |
| |
| We are back to work and the lovely plains of Tanzania seem far away as we look out to rain and dark clouds here. |
| |
| Take care and continued good luck with your business, you deserve it. |
| |
| Warm wishes, and I hope we meet again, |
| Top |
| Bruce and Debbie Turnbull AUSTRALIA |
| |
| Hi Tillya, |
| |
| Just a short note to thank you for arranging a wonderful experience for us. Our tailor-made trip from Mwanza through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro to Arusha in July was amazing. Dickson is a very knowledgeable guide and great company. We were very fortunate to have seen such a variety of wildlife including "the big five". Our lodge accommodation was first rate and the July weather was very comfortable. |
| |
| It was great to meet you on our arrival at the New Arusha Hotel. We would have no hesitation in recommending Calabash Adventures to others. |
| |
| Debbie loved her first trip to Tanzania. We wish we could have stayed longer. Thank you once again. |
| |
| Kind regards, |
| |
| Bruce and Debbie Turnbull |
| Top |
| Stefan and Sheedeh New York - |
| |
| Jambo! |
| |
| We have just returned from a week-long trip in the Northern Safari Circuit of Tanzania with Calabash Adventures in November 2005. We had a wonderful time and recommend Calabash to the super adventure traveler to the more relaxed traveler. |
| |
| No doubt the most central ingredient to a successful safari is the experience in your vehicle. In this regard, we really hit the jackpot with Calabash. We loved our driver, Dickson. He was incredible at spotting the hard-to-find animals and always went the extra mile (literally) to find us what we had not yet seen. More than that, he has an endearing and special personality. We miss him! Our friend who had recommended Calabash Adventures to us likewise spoke highly of his driver, Emmanuel. |
| |
| More generally, Calabash gave us lots of personal attention and last minute adjusting and fine-tuning of our trip. For example, when we met with Tillya on our first day in Arusha, Tillya sensed that we had a strong interest in Masai culture and recommended that, since we were also visiting Tarangire National Park, we skip Lake Manyara and instead spent a day in the Crater Highlands and hike down the Empakai Crater. As it turned out, the day we visited the Crater Highlands was one of the most special of the safari, and we never would have even considered had it not been for Tillya. We also visited the Northern Lobo region of the Serengeti on Tillya`s recommendation since he knew that I wanted to see masses of wildebeest. Speaking of Tillya, nothing beats his amazing Stories & News involving wild animals and wild tourists! Dickson`s too! Ask him how he saved a young black rhino from being devoured by a hungry lion. |
| |
| November is not a popular time to visit Tanzania due to the "short rainy season", which we did not understand since the weather was absolutely fine (certainly warm, but tolerable; occasional, but always short, rains; no impediments to traveling, all roads passable, etc.). While the environs were much greener than photographs I`ve seen from the peak of the dry season, animals were easy to spot. Most importantly, the best part of going in November is that there are significantly less tourists than during the peak months. |
| |
| One final observation for those who might read this letter in preparation for their own safari: Foreign travel agents typically act as middlemen--dealing with money matters and booking hotels, but leaving the tour to local Arushan operators. Calabash is an Arusha-based tour operator, and dealing with them means dealing with the very people that will organize and conduct your safari. We went to Arusha with a feeling of comfort and certainty that was truly priceless. |
| |
| Thank you for everything, Calabash!! Asante Sana! |
| |
| Best wishes, |
| |
| Stefan and Sheedeh New York - USA |
| Top |
| |
| |
| Ciao Tillya! |
| |
| We just got back home ten days ago, and these have been days full of things to do (start again the work, meet many friends and parents, etc), and moreover me, and after some days Elena, got a cold for 2-3 days. |
| |
So it has been hard to come back!
|
| |
| We are telling to many people how well we stayed in Tanzania, in Zanzibar as well as in Arusha. We really found your company very good, you were so kind with you and we have a great remember of you and your company! |
| |
| We want to tell your name and the name of your company to as more people as possible (even if for the moment nobody is planning to go to Tanzania!), really thank you very much for all the things you did for us! |
| |
| The travel to Zanzibar was good, we met the European couple, we enjoy ourselves and we spent six days together in Kendwa! At the end we didn`t phon to your friend in Zanzibar, because we were able to arrange by ourselves. Anyway, thank you also for this suggestion: we felt more secure having a person (you in Arusha, your friend in Zanzibar) that we knew he could help us if we found in troubles! |
| |
| Thank you very much, |
| |
| CIAO! |
| |
| Elena e Carlo - ITALY |
| Top |
| Bruno and Virginia Santoro - |
| |
| Forse una delle settimane piu` belle della mia vita....natura paradisiaca, una compagnia dolcissima e simpatica, notti all`aperto a scoprire nuove costellazioni e due guide preparate e piene di sorrisi e poi Tilya che è semplicemente un grande. Ancora uno dei pochi safari che non è "il solito safari" perchè le persone che l`organizzano sono ancora veri africani. |
| |
| Buon divertimento!!! |
| |
| Virginia Santoro - |
| |
| Top |
