Forsters Safaris - specialise in tailor-made tours covering safaris, mountain climbs and beach holidays to suit all budgets and group sizes. Our priorities are to offer excellent customer service, to be culturally responsible and as environmentally friendly as possible. We believe in fair treatment for all staff and adhere to all guidelines for safari guides and mountain porters. For open group safaris and Mountain climbing, please visit our web site.
We support two local community projects - a Maasai Primary School in the remote area of Gelai and Good Hope Orphanage in Arusha.
This will be the first time that I have ever bothered to post a review following a Trek but given the fantastic service I and my friends received by Forsters Safaris I felt compelled to do so.
My friends and I booked the Kilimanjaro trek with Forsters Safaris after being recommended to by someone who had used them last year. It was a very good recommendation; from the initial contact enquiring about trips to the final goodbyes we received excellent service from Janet and our team of Porters and Guides.
We chose to do the 6 day Marangu route, during the climb our team went out of their way on a daily basis making sure we had the best chance of reaching the top. They took an active involvement in our trek they didn't just treat it as another job but were keen to get to know us and share our experience.
Because of the brilliant service we received I am more than happy to recommend Forster Safaris to anyone looking to explore more of Tanzania.
Me & my wife decided over a year ago to do Kili at Christmas 2009, rather than take a week for Kili we decided to fund raise and work in the Good Hope Orphange (Arusha) for a few weeks before hand, then do Kili for a week and relax with a Safari. Through people we know we were put in touch with Forsters Safaris and over the last year Janet and Themba planned our trip with us start to finish!
The whole holiday from pickup to drop off was personalised to our needs!
The weeks in the Orphanage were basic living there by comparison to home but a great experience, building a cowshed, buying a cow, teaching the kids and getting them internet access!
Forsters arranged the Tented Lodges we stayed at (mainly Karama Lodge) which were really nice with good food, we stayed a few days to rest before Kili then Janet picked us up with the full party of 16 in a bus and drove us to the Machame Gate(something most operators don't do!), sorted all paperwork and packed lunches. We had cook's, guides, porters galore, again Forsters being ethical and not wanting to scrimp on porters, more porters = less weight for each to carry which makes sense! We had good banter up and down, both of us making it to the top on Boxing day!
After getting back to our lodge in Arusha and resting a day or two we did an excellent, personal 4 day safari to Ngorongoro, Manyara & Tarangire Parks. Ngorongoro was breathtaking, like watching Jurassic Park as you come over the crater rim! We did manage to see the big 5 across the locations, how the guides spot the animals and drive is incredible whilst telling you all about them too.
In summary, it was a 'gap month' us semi-oldies (around 40), the whole trip was very personalised and gave a good flavour for Tanzania, not just the glitzy side. Like any country in Africa you need to be a bit streetwise, all things Forsters will tell you about but armed with the basics it was a great trip which we will remember for a long time.
We've been on a private 7 days safari on the first week of August to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
This has been the most exciting and fantastic experience of our life...breathtaking scenaries, amazing animals (we saw all the big five except for rhino!)and very hospitable and friendly people...
Forsters organization has been just perfect, Janet is a very helpful and kind person and all our requests have been satisfied without any problems.
Jason has been a great guide and driver...we enjoyed driving around Tanzania with him very much! He made all our dreams come true and we will always be thankful to him and Janet for making our holiday one of the best experience ever!
Just thought I would post a recommenadtion for Forsters Safaris, based in Arusha. We used them for a 4-day safari to Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro between 24th and 27th June this year. They are not right at the bottom end of the budget, they started with an offer of $180 per person per day, based on 4 people sharing. We eventually agreed on $150 per day as we provided our own camping equipment, I think they would go to $160 otherwise.
The driver, Roger and the cook, Amani were highly professional and very friendly and helpful and were great at spotting the animals. Whilst we heard of other groups havign trouble getting their drivers up in the morning we had no problems whatsoever. We were asked before leaving what food we wanted and this was provided, which was very good service.
The owners, Janet and Themba were very understanding with problems we had pre-safari, including the inevitable three day tour of Arusha ATM's!!! Also, two of our group did not arrive until 10am on the morning of departure but there was no problem waiting until then for the money and leaving late.
The parks were great - within an hour of entering the Serengeti we had spotted a cheetah with two cubs devouring a recent kill, two lions in a tree and a leopard in a tree,a s well as a herd of elephant! Tarangire is very underrated also. We didnt see any cats but the rest of the wildlife and the setting made up for it. Ngorongoro lives up to its hype, we saw three cheetahs as well as many hippo and other animals.
We researched many companies before choosing and for all the budget operators we heard at least a few complaints - rudeness, poor food, late waking up, drunkeness etc. With Forsters we only found good reviews and were glad to say after parting with such a significant amount of money, that we had no complaints, not one. And I have to admit that most other groups were looking at our meals with envy!
We travelled to Tanzania with Forsters for a weeks safari in June 2009 and we cannot recommend them highly enough. They planned us a perfect trip to Lake Mayara, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Rhotia Valley. Our guide Roger was first class and he went out of his way to help us enjoy our trip and is extremely knowledgeable on game and birdlife. The accommodation Forsters arranged for us was fantastic with a particular highlight being Rhotia Valley. They also went out of their way to help us when we changed our travel plans at short notice, meeting us from the airport and arranging accommodations.
We had an unforgettable time and would recommend Forsters without hesistating.
Lions Waiting for a kill in Serengeti
