Getting muddy in the Serengeti
Kusini Safaris
- Located In:
-
United Kingdom
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Member Of:
- African Travel & Tourism Association
- Tour Types:
- Custom luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $8,679 to $43,397 per person per day (MXN, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Ngaire | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I had a wonderful safari.
The safari definitely lived up to my expectations. Ruaha National Park is an outstanding park, easily rivaling any of it's more famous northern counterparts. The accommodation was great - I couldn't recommend Tandala more highly. Paul and Hannah at Paul Tickner Safaris are lovely people, who are passionate about what they do and have fantastic local knowledge. Communication was a little slow at times, and they are probably not the cheapest company, but they are extremely trustworthy, know what they are doing, and will make sure you are well looked after.
Reply from Kusini Safaris
Posted on Oct 21, 2016Our apologies for the slow communication Ngaire and we're glad you enjoyed your safari, hope to see you again in southern Tanzania!
Email Garrett | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic safari, but wish he would give full disclosure of his commission fees
Our safari was excellently organized. We loved the entire experience and our stay at Mwagusi in Ruaha exceeded our expectations. Paul even helped us add another member to the safari 15 minutes before we departed. Our only frustration was that he would not disclose to us his commission fees or break all the costs down for us. He would only give us a total cost for the safari and was unwilling to tell us what percentage of the total cost was commission for him. As far as we know, he could be charging 5% or 50%. He does not publish the information on his website and we asked on 4 different occasions, but each time he refused to tell us. Nevertheless, he planned a great safari for us. If you don't mind not knowing what you are paying him to organize the safari, then I can recommend him. If you need full disclosure of the costs, then you should look for someone else.
Reply from Kusini Safaris
Posted on Aug 9, 2016Hi, Garret, I am very pleased that you chose to visit the southern highlands and Ruaha and doubly that you enjoyed your safari, as a small company promoting southern Tanzania; this is the result we are looking for. We are disappointed that the commission issue has reflected so poorly upon you, despite apparently enjoying the safari so much.
For the benefit of anyone else reading your review I should provide some clarity over commission, which I also did each of those 4 times referred too. As a small company, word of mouth recommendations and our customer service is everything and we take any suspicion of deceptiveness very seriously.
It is not the industry standard, nor are we obliged in any way, to divulge what our commission is. This is our policy for a number of reasons, none of which are designed to mislead our customers. There are a lot of moving parts and complicated pricing involved in designing safaris, which are largely of no relevance to the customer. In the same way as many other businesses, if we were charging 50% commission it would be very difficult for us to compete in the market. For example, if one buys a plane ticket online, one takes the price and times preferred. What the agents' commission is, how much the airline buys it's fuel for or how much the pilots make every month, are matters for the company itself.
We are under no illusion that there are certainly some travel companies out there not delivering on what they promise and with the information available on the internet, customers are more aware of their expectations not being met. However if one tries to plan and organise a safari, particularly to southern Tanzania, using information solely from the internet, things are likely to unravel, and this is where our role comes in. We won't tell a customer how much money we make but we will go well out of our way to make sure they get the best possible safari, something we feel is reflected in the reviews on this page.
Similarly, it is always the customer's prerogative to receive quotes from however many operators they wish, or indeed to organise the safari themselves, and choose the price and itinerary that suits them.
Email Jan Young | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Our trip was an unforgettable experience.
My family of 11, 6 adults and 5 children ages 6 to 13, recently had an unforgettable experience with Kusini Safaris! We traveled to Tanzania to 3 different camps and one was luxurious and unique. The staffs at each camp were professional and catered to our every need.
Paul Tickner provided us with a perfect itinerary and guided us through an amazing experience. He catered to our every need and was especially wonderful answering all our children’s questions!
I can’t imagine going to an African Safari without Paul Tickner! Everything was perfect and he is the BEST!
Email Jerry P | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding, customized safari trips with a personal touch unmatched by the bigger travel companies!
We just completed our second trip with Kusini Safaris, this time to Uganda and Rwanda for chimpanzee and mountain gorilla trekking. As we experienced the first time with Paul, this trip was outstanding and proceeded flawlessly! I have no reservations about giving this company a 5-star rating and fully recommending them to anyone interested in a customized African safari. We generally start with a basic outline of where we want to go and what we want to see. From there Paul does a super job collaboratively building a fully detailed itinerary based upon his knowledge and experience of African safaris. He is very open about refining the trip based on affordability, timing, personal interests, etc.. The camps/lodges that Paul selected this trip (Papa’s Camp, Primate, Clouds, and Sabyinyo) were first class and we couldn’t have been more satisfied with the level of service, hospitality, food and comfort. Paul appears to be well-connected with the in-country African tour operators and has always selected outstanding companies. There was never a moment where we didn’t have someone ready to meet us the airports, lodges and even at the country borders during segment transitions. It certainly contributes to the stress-free and safe feeling you have while traveling in this part of the world. Paul will also provide a lot of informal tips and recommendations to make sure your trip goes perfectly. And by the way, the actual primate treks were out of this world and have created timeless memories we will never forget! When we go back to Africa some day in the future, there’s no doubt we will be using Kusini Safaris for a third time!
Email Roxanne | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply Perfect!!!
Wow what can I say…
The most wonderful trip from start to finish.
I had dealt with various safari companies but something just didn’t feel right.
Then I found Paul.
Being a qualified guide himself he really gets what you want from your trip.
It was our first safari so throughout the process I asked A LOT of questions but he was always on hand to answer them.
(Thank you Paul my husband says you have the patience of a saint!!!)
We really did fall in love with Ruaha - The people the wildlife & the landscape.
We finished off in Zanzibar which was the perfect way to reflect on everything we had experienced.
The verdict… once isn’t enough!!!
We look forward to using Kusini safaris again in the future 😊
Email Anne & Mike | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kusini Safaris and Tanzania, a perfect combination!
Started 2025 off right with our second Tanzanian safari with Kusini. Had such fun the first time that we had to do it again! And it was even better. This time we went with friends and family. Paul was part of our group and added so much to the experience. He’s truly an expert in addition to being a great friend to have join in the fun. Besides adding to the fun, we so appreciated his attention to all the details. Tanzania doesn’t disappoint. The wildlife and scenery were truly amazing, every day was a new adventure. And the people are so warm and welcoming. Will there be a third safari with Kusini? Wouldn’t be surprised if there is.
Email Liz M | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing first safari
For a first safari I’m not sure you could top it, but I already want to try.
Filled with thrills — a cheetah kill in front of us and a wildebeest getting away from a lion (you’ll see these mentioned in another review), a baby wildebeest being born, wild dogs cavorting, catching a big tiger fish (or catching crocodiles for some), and so much more. Terrific safari camps with great people and way too much good food and drink. Not having to think about anything practical from the time I got off the plane. Paul put together a wonderful trip and was fun and so knowledgeable. (I think he knows everyone everywhere in Tanzania.)
Email AbbyG` | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Most amazing experience!
I don't think I fully understood what a safari entailed or how exciting it might feel to see thousands (I felt like I saw millions) of animals in their natural habitat. Every single day, you don't know what to expect. Every day is a surprise, it's a treasure that you want to store. I've travelled a lot and I've never felt so much joy in a trip. From seeing a cheetah chase down an impala and kill it within 10 feet of where I stood, to seeing a lion chase a wildebeest (wildebeest got away), to fishing while seeing hippos and crocodiles swimming around the lake, to seeing. pack of wild dogs playing around. My favorite animal are giraffes and it was such a joy to see hundreds of giraffes playing, squatting, sitting down, etc. What I loved about Kusini is that he has relationships with each camp site and they made our stays unbelievably special. I highly recommend Kusini to anyone thinking of going on a safari - - you will never regret it.
Email Rev wood | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly unforgettable and am already planning my next escape to get back to Africa
Our trip from start to finish was one of the most amazing and unforgettable experiences of my life and the whole trip was 100% enhanced by our guide Paul who was helpful, gave is loads of amazing info about everything we saw and showed us lots of interesting things about the work that is done by both himself and the locals in the area. I already want to go back
SR
Email Will and Ellie van Beek | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
excellent
my wife and I have been on several safaris (7 or 8) twice with Kusini. Our most recent safari started at Sand River Selous,Tanzania last Febr.
A beautiful location with an abundance of game, hippos, buffalos, wildebeest, giraffe and many with little ones. Our next stop was Ikuka Safari Camp. A completely different environment with the camp at the top of a mountain and great vieuws over the lowlands. Here we encountered more wildlive than we ever could have expected. Two lionesses with a cub, a leopard walking less than two yards past our car and climbing a baobab tree and another pair of lions, male and female, in love, hard to meet in the wild and when we thought we had seen it all we met a pack of perhaps 15 or more wild dogs who had killed an impalla and lets not forget the chitas although the grass was high we still met them.
The last stopwas Pole Pole at Mafia Island. This was a bit disappointing, certainly n t the lodge, service or the food but had hoped for an encounter with a whale-shark but wrong time of the year. In any case,these were two fantastic weeks which we could do again anytime and let's not forget the exellent organization with both the local transportation as well the domestic fights
