THE guide and Safari operation for Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire for sure
Review (TripAdvisor? Other) of Maape/Allan
Warning – this is going to be LONG because of all the ways it was excellent.
Short version: I can’t imagine any way in which any guide or operation could exceed what we experienced with Allan Mollel and Maape Tanzania Safaris.
Longer version (with the most important stuff at the end!): Allan Mollel gave us the most personalized, professional experience I can imagine. Prior to the trip, we exchanged a couple dozen emails/messages, and we had about 4-5 video conference calls. He listened to us and presented appropriate options for what we were looking for and made great recommendations on timing, altering our itinerary to optimize our experience. All of the upfront stuff was both fun and easy, and we were reliant on him for all that we didn’t know – the end result of which is to say – put yourself in his hands and let him drive the experience – it’ll be great.
My wife is a veterinary specialist, and I’m a biodiversity geneticist and we’ve both lived in exotic tropical locales and have much experience in and with nature, so we’re not rookies by any means, and we can be a bit difficult to impress (and we’re probably not easy “clients” due to all of that!). From the time we got picked up at the airport by Allan– they took care of our needs and seemed to be able to anticipate many things we weren’t – how easy we should go on the first night and day, given our travels – keeping the itinerary reasonable. Not overwhelming or pushing limits on day 1 in the park, knowing we were coming back early in the morning to do it again. In the middle of the trip, on a day we started extra early (which resulted in us having the Ngorongoro Crater to ourselves for several hours!) he knew to wrap up a bit early – and after the drive back – we were definitely exhausted, so it was the right call for sure!
There were several other aspects of logistics and operation that were flawless – his care and feeding of the vehicle, cooler, camps, camp staff, were amazing. And us – letting us know what to anticipate the day prior, checking in on how we were doing – food, energy level, plans – and at every stop – when we’ve had enough, and checking in with us when there were options, etc. I found it amusing towards the end to think back to day one and how patient he’d been at letting us linger on the most common of animals that we were seeing for the first time – him knowing that we would see scores, but that we were still experiencing it with fresh eyes and thinking how cool it was…
By far, from my perspective, one of the reasons I would most recommend Allan (and already have to my friends at my home institution – not an easy crowd to impress) was Allan’s knowledge. It started with animals that we were seeing that were juveniles – and his knowledge about the life histories of each species – so then of course as we saw more, we asked about those – life history, ecology, breeding systems, habits and habitats, - you name it – Allan was a fount of knowledge. Forget about his ability to spot things (and anticipate behaviors!) – which was SICK – when he stopped and backed up and we all grab binocs and stare where he is looking – and off in a tree – he spots an owl – and we still need instructions on where to find it – and it still took some of us minutes to spot it – and he saw it from 125 meters doing 50kph!)
(or when he saw a blurry photo I’d taken and recognized that it MIGHT be a very rare spotting – so we backed up a kilometer and found it – and it was!) or the distance at which he spotted the cheetah – unbelievable!
The other reason to most strongly recommend Allan is that he is genuinely a GREAT PERSON. He had time to interact with us; he patiently answered so many questions, but also took the time to get to know us as a family and to let us get to know him – and it turns out he’d come to the US way back when for a couple years of intensive training in conservation – hence his phenomenal knowledge and ability to communicate it, as well as his appreciation of ecosystems and the need to preserve them. Combined with his anthropological perspective of humans living in and with the environment – it was refreshing to say the least. I usually don’t take the time to write reviews – because typically my experience is not outside the normal distribution of experiences in either direction – but this one was – it was incredible – made all the more so because of Allan, his efforts and professionalism and his genuine nature. We discussed a premature nugget of an idea for a future trip and he’s already investigating potential itineraries and schedules so that we might begin to establish expectations. Trust me – if we go, it WILL be with him, no doubt – if he’s busy – we’ll postpone until he’s available – factor 1 – timing so that we can put ourselves in his hands once again. You can comfortably do the same, you won’t be disappointed.
