Reviews

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.

I had the most amazing safari trip in South Africa! Timbuktu looked after me every step of the way. As a solo traveller that was very comforting! Highly recommend!

Very smooth and straightforward process to booking our trip. The offerings were very impressive and our representative, Jonty Medcalf, did an excellent job conveying the options and working with us to craft the perfect trip.

Wow, wow, wow. My husband and I are blown away by the service Catherine, our honeymoon travel specialist provided. She took the time to get to know us, understand what we were looking for in a honeymoon, and truly personalized the entire experience as if we were her only client. She planned a diverse experience of a lifetime for our honeymoon to South Africa. The attention, responsiveness, personalization, and care went so beyond what we could have expected. Catherine was responsive even during our honeymoon, even helping us with issues we had at the airport upon arriving. It seemed she knew where we were every step of the way and made sure our drivers and hotels were all also aware. Any questions we had, Catherine responded with resolutions or options. I feel like we can never plan another trip without her. Do yourself a favor and book with Timbuktu ASAP!

Friendly, thoughtful advice from real experts.

I enjoyed the trip planning process. And our planner really captured our vision for the trip and connected us with great places to stay and an amazing guide. However, the handoff with the local operating partner was a little clumsy, our itinerary upon arrival was not the same itinerary we agreed to, which was a little frustrating as we ended up with a full day with no activity at all.

Amazing Trip, Timbuktu was fantastic!

Clear communication with understanding what we were looking for. Several options were presented for us to choose.

I really appreciated Kristin's efforts to understand my priorities and help me come up with a trip that met my needs. Her personal on the ground experience gave me confidence in her recommendations. Her replies to my many emails were always fast (usually next day), her attention to detail was excellent, and her patience with my many questions and changes was impressive. The website made everything easy, from first playing around with potential itineraries to tracking all the final details.

We received incredibly patient support in exploring a whole host of options. No request was too onerous and, when I wondered whether I would ever get to the point of making a decision, I was told "Don't worry - we'll get there!"