---
title: Fantastic East Africa safari experience
date: 2017-09-21T19:21:16Z
modified: 2024-03-25T21:43:02Z
permalink: "https://www.thesafaripartners.com/review/fantastic-east-africa-safari-experience-2/"
type: review
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 250328
travel-style:
  - Wildlife Safaris
---

After looking for reputable safari providers, I found The Safari Partners and contacted Chris about some of my wishes for my first Safari. After discussing the options, I selected the East Africa Express safari, going to 5 different parks in 10 days, making sure I experienced as much of East Africa as I could. I traveled by myself and ended up in a wonderful, small, group of people with whom I spent the next 10 days traveling, eating, and enjoying the experience. After the pick-up in Nairobi, the Boma hotel was a nice place to recover from the long trip and get ready for the start of the park visits. As soon as we entered the Masai Mara, we saw an abundance of wildlife, including 4 of the big 5 within the first 2 hours. The Ashnil camp in the heart of the Mara was a great experience, and ideally situated for the many game drives over the next 2 days. Moving on to Lake Victoria was a quiet and idyllic break from the game drives, I highly recommend visiting the fishing village of Mwabulugu, a short boat ride away from Speke Bay Lodge, a very nice lodge, especially since they are now on the electrical grid. Do try to get a hut near the lake, the ones further away from the lake get unbearably warm during the night, even with a floor or table fan. We were fortunate that our next stop, the Serengeti Sopa lodge was overbooked and we were upgraded to the Pioneer camp, an experience I won’t soon forget. This camp is a treat in every sense, can’t recommend it enough, and the Serengeti game drives were wonderful. Onwards to the Ngorongoro crater, which, while a lot dustier than the previous areas, provides a unique environment well worth exploring. Visiting a Masai village on the outskirts of the crater and jumping with the Masai was a great experience also. The Sopa Lodge at the rim of the crater was enormous, very much a mass-tourist experience, but well-situated, with large rooms and good facilities. The next and final stop was Tarangire national park, home of the Baobab tree and once again an abundance of wildlife. The Sopa lodge here was a much smaller scale than the one by the crater, but otherwise very similar in appearance and facilities. All in all, thank you to Chris, Safari Partners, and the local operators, African Horizons, for making my first safari a fantastic experience. I will undoubtedly return to Africa, see some of the other countries, maybe fly instead of drive between camps, and will select The Safari Partners again as my tour operator. Link to This Review