Once in a Lifetime Famly Vacay – My wife and I really wanted our adult children to see some of the world that we’ve been fortunate to see, and at the top of that list was a… read more Tanzania safari. Two years in the planning with Zulfikar Mohammed from Skylink, he guided is through many back-and-forths, suggesting some alternative camps to our previous lodging, some different routings, and many suggestions about other activities to enjoy. His communication with us was always prompt, detailed, advisory, and never “pushy”.
We were offered mutliple but never-overwhelming options, well illustrated, and easily checked on Tripadvisor and Google reviews. I handled the arrival and departure airfare arrangements.
Our party of 13 departed from several different locations. We had an unplanned flight delay and missed connection, and while 5 of us arrived as scheduled at Kilimanjaro, 8 of us were delayed a day. Zulfikar’s response to my frantic email was calm and reassuring: “no problem, we will work around the delay”, and with that one sentence, I was able to relax and let our vacation unfold.
We occupied two safari vehicles, and our driver/guides were exceptional – knowledgable, excellent spotters, and competent facilitators. A flight delay late in the trip (Arusha to Zanzibar) required a change in plans, and Skylink – and our drivers/guides – came up with a delightful extra stop (“the glass recycling shop”) that was one of the hits of the tour.
Our itinerary:
two nights at the Kilimanjaro Luxury Tented Lodge -> Tarangire
1x Lake Manyara Serena -> Central Serengeti
3x Kubu Kubu Tented Camp -> Ngorongoro
1x Lion’s Paw Ngorongoro Crater, air to Stone Town
2x Park Hyatt Zanzibar -> back to the US
Our party was delighted with all of the lodging, our guides, the game drives, and the Skylink organization and logistics. We loved all of our accommodations (I’ll review separately), and couldn’t have asked for a better travel planner.
I recommend Skylink and Md. Zulfikar without hesitation or reservation and with every expectation you will enjoy the trip of a lifetime!
