Amazing trip despite repeated miscommunications
Tanzania Specialist put together a trip that allowed us to experience very different kinds of Tanzanian nature: rivers, savanna, woodlands, bush, tropical forest, waterfalls, true wilderness. Among the many animals and birds we saw were some endemic species like the Red Colobus monkey. The night game drive in Mikumi allowed us to observe cool animals like Common Genet, Civet and Porcupine. We enjoyed it very much.
However, we were surprised by the poor communication between Tanzania Specialist and the local partner companies they work with. Several times during the trip there was miscommunication that impacted the local guides and lodges negatively. The guide in Ruaha was not informed that we were going to arrive by car and not by plane, so he waited at the airstrip instead of at the park gate. In Nyerere, no one was there to pick us up at first and it took some time to sort it out. At the Dar Es Salaam airport, no one was there to transfer us between terminals (as promised) and the contact person did not answer his phone, so we had to arrange a taxi ourselves. It was clear that the lodges were not thrilled to work with Tanzania Specialist even though they welcomed us as guests with open arms.
During the trip we had 5 different guides. The promise of 1 guide being with you during the whole trip was a bit misleading. We liked all of our guides (Anwar, Moses, Yunis, Zac, Jayfour) very much though, especially the local guide in Ruaha (Zac), for whom Ruaha was "home" and he knew the environment and animals very well.
During the planning phase of the trip, I would have liked Tanzania Specialist to help explaining our different options better. They could for example have explained the option to skip Udzungwa and fly from Mikumi to Ruaha to avoid having to spend a full day on the road. They could also have presented the option to have a Night game drive in Ruaha, which the Asanja camp offered. Just to give us as customers more options.
In summary, I would very much recommend the southern parks of Tanzania to anyone thinking about a safari trip. Especially Ruaha - it is further away but totally worth the effort. But regrettably, I would not recommend Tanzania Specialist. Unfortunately, they became a third-party middleman that made it more difficult to know who is responsible and made miscommunication more likely.
