Reviews

I have used Timbuktu twice. They are knowledgable and very responsive

Everybody at Timbuktu and their partner in Kenya, Albatross was spectacular. They planned a great trip for me, listening to what I hoped to experience and tailoring the trip to that. I felt cared for and almost carefree throughout the trip. I had a medical emergency on my trip and Timbuktu and Albatross were amazing in getting me the help I needed so I could finish out my trip. Truly above and beyond what I would have expected. I highly recommend them.

This has been an amazing experience thus far - and we haven't even done the fun part of actually traveling! I was overwhelmed with how to start, but Joanna has been so helpful and accommodating as we navigated this upcoming trip. She has been so patient, thorough, and informative. I can't wait to use this company again!

Everything was perfect

The trip was so much more than we could have ever dreamt of. Joanna was amazing in helping us design the itinerary. She provided thoughtful recommendations and answered all of our questions. She even provided suggestions on utilizing the same resort chain and helped us negotiate discounts. We had an amazing trip and would highly recommend working with Timbuktu again.

Eve was so patient with our ever changing itinerary of wishes and wants and all her recommendations proved to be perfect. We will use the company anytime we go to Africa.

The best camp options , best prices , good help in the visa process .. very kiind

We were very pleased with Timbuktu and in particular Tessa was extremely helpful in what was a challenging time to arrange a holiday. We would definitely recommend them and would use them again. Thank you.

Catherine listened and understood what my wife and I hoped to experience in Africa. She then arranged the trip and finally did the minor details to make it happen

Our trip was amazing. I have no words to describe what a wonderful time we had and it was all because of Timbuktu and specifically, Tessa. I know it sounds cliché, but spending time with the gorillas was literally life changing. They are the most amazing animals I have ever seen in my entire life. We were shocked by how close we were allowed to get to them. We were also blown away by the access we had to the animals in Tanzania. We were significantly closer to almost all the animals than we could ever get in a zoo, but this was far superior as we were able to see them in their natural habitat. I can say without question, this trip has ruined zoos for us! It has also ruined Natural Geographic television as seeing all of these amazing animals on TV is nothing compared to seeing them up close. By the end of the trip, we would drive by a zebra or a giraffe or another animal and pay no more attention to it than we would driving past a dog here in the US. It was amazing. The hotels were all spectacular, starting with the Kigali Serena Hotel. I cannot tell you how thankful we were to finally get there. Despite sleeping on the plane, we were both exhausted and jetlagged and the hotel was like a desert oasis. We were both asleep within 10 minutes of getting to the room. (Granted, we could have probably slept on the sidewalk and not noticed as we were that tired, but the bed was great to wake up in the next morning.) The next day we had the opportunity to explore the hotel and spend some time by the beautiful pool. The Bishop’s House was spectacular and the staff were even more impressive. They took care of us like we were royalty. The second night of our stay, we had the entire house to ourselves. Our first two accommodations in Tanzania were quite different from the Bishop’s House! The Mara River Post was our absolute favorite of all of the places we stayed. The tent provided a bush feel with all of the comforts of home. It also had a view second to none. The first night we were startled by the fact the animals came right up to our tent! The second night, I am not sure either of us slept much as we were both excited to see what animals would visit again. It would have been our favorite accommodation regardless of the staff, but they took it to an entirely different level. They were the most amazing group of people we have ever met and we became particularly close with Willie and Andrew. We both miss them and have talked about them regularly since leaving. I don’t know if we will ever stay anywhere again that will come close to Mara River Post as it is the measurement for all future hotels as far as we are concerned. The Nyikani Central Serengeti Camp was as “roughing” it as I ever want to get! It was completely in the bush. Again, we were met by an amazing group of staff members who went out of their way to take care of us. I took my first (and hopefully) last ever bucket shower. Honestly, it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting and it truly made me feel as though I was in Africa. After five nights in tents, we were ecstatic to arrive at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge! The hotel itself is very nice and the rock exterior and stone walls give it a very unique feel. The views from the balcony were unbelievable! Because of its size, we didn’t have as close of interaction with the staff as we did at The Bishop’s House, Mara River Post and Nyikani Central Serengeti Camp. However, every person with whom we did come in contact with was incredibly kind and willing to do anything possible to be helpful. As amazing as the animals and the hotels were, it was truly the people who made our trip extra special. Our guide in Rwanda was named Fabrice and he was fabulous. He met us on Sunday afternoon and took us on a driving tour of the city. Since it was Sunday, we were limited in what we could see. Prior to him dropping us at the hotel, we went over the plan for the next day. I asked him if there was anything he would recommend we see besides the market and the Genocide Museum prior to going to the volcano area. He said he would think about and let me know the next day. He ended up taking us to one of the most moving stops on the entire trip. We visited the Nyamirambo Women’s Center in Kigali and had an opportunity to talk with the women while they were sewing. Hearing the challenges they had overcome and how they were taking ownership of their future was inspiring and I would highly recommend others visit as well. I really appreciated the fact Fabrice took the time and initiative to think about something I might enjoy and to add it to the plan for the day. On our last day, our flight was moved to two hours earlier. Fabrice did an excellent job in getting us safely and quickly to the airport. We were very sad to leave him. Our Tanzanian guide was a gentleman named Gaudence. We are convinced he knows more about Tanzania, its people, history, animals, plants than even Alexa. He met us at the airport in Tanzania and took great care of us for the entire time we were in Tanzania. Thanks to his expert knowledge, we saw four river crossings, the “Big Five” and more zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos and lions than we could count. It is hard to spend hours and hours in a car with anyone, let alone someone you just met. However, Gaudence could not have been nicer and more considerate. He never rushed us and allowed us to move at our own pace. We could not have had a better guide.