Sunny Safaris Limited — Local services in Arusha

We did a 12 night trip booked through Sunny Safaris (6 nights safari, 6 nights Zanzibar) for our honeymoon in May 2018. I was recommended them through a friend who had grown up in Tanzania and used their services regularly on their holidays there. In summary we highly recommend Sunny Safaris as a tour guide to our friends - we found it great value for a private tour, with amazing personalised itinerary and accommodation. We can't wait to come back for another safari!

Below are some of the more detailed feedback areas.

Positive points:

I had been in contact with one of their admin ladies, Jessica, from around a year before. She was always prompt and courteous in her responses. She provided us with an itinerary suggestion which we discussed back and forth, and was very open to changing ideas around to suit our timeframes and budgets.

Our safari guide Hamisi was SUCH a happy, friendly and lovely guy who went out of his way every day to make sure we had the best experience and sightings. He was a careful and great driver. He was happy to work around us with what we wanted to do in terms of pick ups in the morning etc, but always gave us his advice and recommendations too which we valued.

The accommodation was outstanding throughout - we can't fault any of it. We stayed in 5 different lodges over 6 nights for our safari so it's too long to go into them individually, and we honestly cannot name a favourite. They all had either amazing food, views, amenities or wonderful staff. Most of them had all three!

We brought our marriage certificate to prove we were honeymooning for our week in Zanzibar and we got some lovely extras as well from the hotel (Ocean Paradise Resort).

The man (Omar) who picked us up from Zanzibar airport also organised a Blue Safari tour for us while we were there, which was well priced compared to the hotel that offered the same tour.

Challenges and negatives:

Due to language barriers it was sometimes difficult to get more detailed information on local tribes, customs and animals. Due to confusion in our communication with Jessica, we thought there was only a 5% surcharge on CREDIT cards and not on debit/prepaid travel cards. The 5% surcharge actually applies to all card payments, which we discovered when paying our remaining 50% deposit on arrival with a prepaid debit card. We would have happily brought cash if...

JOIN ONLY IF YOU WANT TO WAIT AROUND! 12 of us joined a 10 days trip to Tanzania, we planned to visit Lake Manyara national park on the 9th day. After arriving at the gate our guide went to settle the entrance fee (us$45 each ). He came back to us asking for (us$1300) for this particular entrance fee and fee for subsequent night safari, which we settled in advance on the first day. We called their office and they again they asked us to advance in cash as well. They claimed their debit card in the park has not been working. We didn't have this cash with us in the fist place and we couldn't believe they have no contingency plan. The guide left us on the car for 1.5 hour in the heat and we are still waiting. Totally disappointed on the expirence and a waste on our...

Sunny Safaris acted in cooperation with our safari specialist in Germany. Communication and organization were very pleasant for us. A half Star deducation is given, as one should choose the Lodges perhaps differently in the small rainy season than when the rain is not so heavy. Our driver Dani always drove us very and safely confidently over all roads. Very, very high praise. We really enjoyed our time and trips with him. As a season, we would always choose the short rainy season again. In Zanzibar, the repertoire could perhaps be extended to smaller family hotels. Otherwise, it is absolutely recommended and we would always make it again. Thank...