Shadows of Africa Safari Company Review

Shadows of Africa was the safari company we used for our recent trip to Tanzania.

For the average traveler, going on a safari is a major life trip and choosing the right safari company is very important.  We highly recommend Shadows of Africa and here’s why.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post and we are writing this completely on our own without receiving anything in return from Shadows of Africa.  This is our honest review and we are strictly writing this to share our great experience to help anyone trying to choose a safari company.

When planning our trip to Tanzania, the first thing we did after booking our flights was research safari companies.  We read countless TripAdvisor reviews, blog posts, and guide books to figure out how to choose a safari company.  It was not an easy task and was quite time-consuming!

But when you are spending thousands of dollars for your dream trip to go on safari, you want to be sure you are making a good decision.  Thankfully all our research led us to Shadows of Africa and they did not let us down!  From beginning to end they were fabulous to work with.

Initial Contact

After browsing through their website I sent them an inquiry via their online form.  The form asks basic questions such as your travel dates, length of tour, accommodation preferences (ie budget or ultra luxury), number of children, what you would like to experience (ie safari or trekking), etc.

Jake and Stacy from the Shadows of Africa North American office got back to me super quickly, less than a day later!  Based on the answers I had provided on the form they sent me a super detailed email with all our possible options!  They sent me different itineraries that we could choose from and a whole list of different accommodation options.

Tour Options

Shadows of Africa has a huge range of tour options.  They really have something to match any budget and any time frame.  The ease with which you can customize your safari to match exactly what you want is so desirable!   We were even sent information about the tour guides and you can even request a certain guide as long as they are available! (We recommend our guide, Dickson!)

Since we only had 2 weeks in Tanzania, and wanted to see Zanzibar, Arusha and some of Dar es Salaam as well, we only budgeted for about 5 days on safari.  Shadows of Africa gave us the option of a 4 day express safari which was absolutely perfect for us!  We still got to see 4 major parks and see all the Big 5.

The 4 Day Express Safari brought us to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and 2 days in the Serengeti!  It was four full days of safari with not much relaxation, BUT we got to see everything we wanted to see!  It was the perfect length of time for us.

---

Check out our full 12 day Tanzania Itinerary

---

Price

Jake and Stacy explained that the price of the safari would also depend on the accommodations we chose.  They included links to all the lodges with details of each.  I absolutely loved this!  I normally like to plan every detail of our trips and don’t book package tours, so the fact that they were still allowing us to have some choice was fantastic.

We were allowed to mix and match accommodation types, so we could get one night of luxury and the rest of the nights just mid-range. This allowed us to still stick within our budget but get to experience the one added night of luxury.

As I explained in our post about How to Choose a Safari Company in Tanzania , I contacted about 15 companies for safari quotes and the range of prices was quite vast.  Taking everything into consideration, Shadows of Africa had the best price for what you get.  I was actually surprised when they gave me the quote, since I had received similar quotes but the itineraries and lodges did not seem as great.

For our 4 Day Express Safari with mostly mid-range accommodation the cost came to $1955 USD per person.  Keep in mind that time of year will also affect the cost.  We went in November which is not high season.

What is included

The cost of the safari included:

• all meals
• private 4×4 vehicle (just us two with our driver for the entire trip!)
• transfers to and from the airport (either JRO or ARK, no additional cost!)
• water 24/7 (you get thirsty while driving around all day and having cold bottled water is a bonus 🙂 )
• all entrance fees
• accommodation during safari AND before and after!
• Flying Doctors rescue insurance

What I loved about Shadows of Africa was that they also included one night before the safari and one night afterwards.  This was something most other safari companies I contacted did not offer.  Most of the other companies offered this at an additional cost.

Before we embarked on our 4 day safari, Shadows of Africa booked us into a lovely relaxing lodge for one night in Arusha.  The opportunity to relax and hang out by the pool while mentally preparing ourselves and getting exciting for safari was really nice to have.  It also allowed us to rest and then start early in the morning to get in a full first day of safari!  Trust me, after traveling far and wide to get to Tanzania, you will want to rest for at least a day before embarking on safari.

After the safari, Shadows of Africa again booked us into a lovely relaxing lodge in Karatu, where we got to lounge by the pool and unwind from our exciting safari before heading off to the airport again.

What’s not included

Keep in mind that the cost of the safari does not include:

• tips
• airfare
• alcohol at some lodges

Communication

We spent a month emailing back and forth with Jake and Stacy.  Both were always so quick to reply to our emails and answer our questions thoroughly.  They seemed to really care about creating an itinerary that was perfect for us.  It was apparent they were very knowledgeable about all the options as well.  Anytime I would email, they would usually answer back less than a day later.  I never even had to call them – everything was done seamlessly over email.

I like that Shadows of Africa matches you with the office closest to where you live.  They have 6 offices scattered around the world to cater to people from those areas.  It was nice communicating with Jake and Stacy who were based in California as we were in the same time zone.

After booking our safari, Jake and Stacy sent us tons of helpful information to get us ready for our safari.  They sent over:

• a detailed contract (very important!)
• a very detailed itinerary (loved it!!)
• visa information
• payment authorization form
• animal checklist
• yellow fever vaccination info
• trip insurance info
• packing list
• tipping guidelines
• CDC info (health info)
• electricity and adaptor info
• contact information

In the month before our safari they were also in touch again to make sure we were ready and if we had any questions.  They also kept in touch once the safari started and after it ended, to ensure everything went smoothly.

Booking Process

Booking the safari was pretty easy.  Once we decided on the itinerary, accommodations and dates, we let Jake and Stacy know.  They checked with all the lodges and then got back to us the next day that everything was available and ready to book!

In order to book the safari we had to pay a 30% deposit and then the remainder was due 30 days before arrival.  They made it easy to pay with the following options:

• mail a cheque to their office in California
• wire transfer to their US bank account
• Visa/Mastercard/Amex by filling out a payment authorization form (4% fee added on to credit card transactions)

Experience

We were picked up on time by our guide, Dickson.  He was very professional and spoke English very well.  Dickson has a passion for animals and is very knowledgeable and can spot an animal from so far away!  He would spot a bird in the distance and know exactly what kind it was, when we could barely even see it ourselves.

Dickson was friendly and funny.  It is important to get along with your guide because you will be spending all day, every day with them!  We definitely enjoyed Dickson’s company and still keep in touch with him until now.

Our safari vehicle was an older model Land Cruiser.  It was air-conditioned and comfortable.  It even had a fridge and plug ins so we could charge our cameras and phones if needed!  The pop up roof was nice!

All our lodges were fantastic, as were the meals.  We did not go hungry!  It felt very special to have 3 course dinners every night, with wonderful, attentive service.  Everyone was always trying their hardest to please us.

Shadows of Africa Verdict: 10/10!

You won’t be disappointed if you book with Shadows of Africa!  We highly recommend them.

We’ll be writing detailed posts about each safari day, the food and the lodges.  Make sure to subscribe to our blog so you can be notified of the next post!  Stay tuned!

Click here to read our full Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosure Statement

Going on safari?  You might also like:

How to Choose a Safari Company in Tanzania

What to Wear on a Safari in Tanzania

Hotel Review: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp

Pin this post!