Duma Explorer - Piedmont, California

Nicole Mattia

Get ready because this is going to be a long review! When looking to book an african safari there are LOTS of choices. We reached out to multiple companies and found Duma to have everything we needed! Stacy worked so diligently for us, helping to customize our trip to EXACTLY what we wanted. I made multiple changes to the itinerary to fit our wants and our budget and she was so great in helping the entire time! As the trip got closer I had so many questions that she graciously answered and never seemed bothered! From the second we landed to the second we left, Duma Explorer was with us every step of the way to guide us and keep us safe. Now, when I tell you we had the BEST guide I do not say that lightly. Ibrahim is the absolute best of the best!!! You must request him because he is that good! In fact, in my opinion the company you pick is not as important as the guide you end up with. You spend all your days with your guide so you want someone you can be comfortable with, you feel safe with, and who is knowledgeable about safari! Ibrahim checks all the boxes. He is soooooo knowledgeable I was in awe of how much I learned. He was very good at tracking animals and knowing where to be at the right time. We are big into photography and he always knew the correct angles and lighting to position us in too! We had so much fun during our trip and it truly would not have been the same without him. Whoever runs the company should definitely give him a raise hahaha we visited Tarangire national park, serengeti, ngorongoro, and zanzibar across two weeks and really could have stayed forever. We will 100% be back! It was the trip of a lifetime!

Jodi Morgan-Peters

This was my third safari with Duma Explorer/Alika Africa. Stacy at Duma Explorer/Alika Africa planned a memory-packed, fantastic experience of a lifetime for my family (6 of us) and friends (8 more)!
Stacy arranged all of our pre- post- and on-tour accommodations, and they were second to none! Every staff provided service that was over-the-top! They made us feel like family everywhere we stayed. Tumbili Lodge and Rivertrees Lodge were fabulous pre- and post-tour places to stay – gorgeous suites, delicious meals and beautiful grounds! While on safari, the Tarangire Safari Lodge provided spectacular views, Sound of Silence Camp had incredible, cozy tents that felt like we were living on a Hollywood set, and Lion’s Paw Lodge provided glamping at its best! All had in-tent hot showers, flushing toilets, sinks and vanities, comfortable beds and attentive staff members. We snuggled into our professionally turned-down beds, after 5-star meals, and listened to the animals sing us to sleep every night.
And then, of course, there was the actual safari! Most of the people with us were experiencing safari for the first time. They were all hoping to see A zebra, A giraffe, AN elephant, and A lion. Their first-timer wow-moments, gasps, awe-inspired expressions, and daily most-memorable moments were so fun to experience with them! Our guides, Joseph and Ebenezer were so knowledgeable and patient with all of our black-rock rhino, dirt-mound lion, lumpy-tree leopard, wart-hog cheetah sightings:) I’m sure we wore them out with our questions, but they never quit answering them or educating us with their knowledge from their years in the bush.
What an adventure we had - we will be talking about it for the rest of our lives. While I thought this might be my third and final trip to Tanzania, I find myself already yearning for my return to the most amazing place on Earth. And, of course, I will be contacting Stacy at Duma Explorer/Alika Africa to help me plan my next Tanzanian expedition!

Graham Pettigrew

Visiting the National Parks of Tanzania
We had been to Tanzania once before with Duma Explorer. This time our 10 day trip included Tarangiri, Ndutu, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara and was expertly planned by Stacy Readal. We intentionally chose the wet season (although it was particularly wet this year) in order to better see the birdlife. Birdlife is a particular interest of ours but is also an enjoyable way to fill in the spaces between mammal sightings.
Our guide, Isack Msuya, has a gift for finding animals and birds that are not readily visible to the normal human being. And he always gave time to thoroughly appreciate what we were seeing. He was also very knowledgeable about animal behaviour. Our favoured routes were often blocked by the heavy rainfall but Isack always found a safe way round. We felt very safe throughout. Isack played a huge part in making our trip a success.
Particular highlights were our two walking safaris at Ndutu and the Rift valley escarpment. We also observed lions mating and a large elephant troupe on a mission to reach the river. We were lucky to see the beginnings of wildebeest and zebra migration at Ndutu. And we were fascinated by the intricate building process of the weaver bird nests.
Our accommodation was a mixture of safari lodges and tented camps with the latter having the frisson of excitement of the unexpected animal passing by. The staff were unfailingly friendly and courteous and many showed impressive commitment to nature conservation.
Graham and Maxine

T D

We recently had the pleasure of embarking on an unforgettable journey with Duma Explorer, and I cannot express enough how incredible the experience was. From start to finish, we experienced exceptional service. The attention to detail exceeded all expectations.

From our initial inquiry to the final itinerary, Stacy provided valuable insights and personalized recommendations to ensure our safari adventure would be tailored to our preferences.

Once on our safari, the quality of our experience continued to impress. Our guide Safuni was awesome. His wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm made each excursion an educational adventure for our kids. His expertise and intuition for finding animals never ceased to amaze us. We were able to see the Big-5 and several beautiful birds.

The lodges and camps we stayed at were great for our family and provided an experience we will never forget.

Angela Miller

We chose to travel with Duma for our honeymoon and it was a wonderful choice! We did a one-day hike on Kilimanjaro and then a 9-day safari with Isack as our safari guide. He is incredible - he has 20+ years of experience leading safaris, and made us feel safe the entire time. He is an animal expert, understands how to navigate the parks, and found us thousands of animals and birds to see (the big 5, the wildebeest migration, and much more). We learned so much about Tanzania and about the animals from him. Our car was very reliable which was important given the rugged roads. I highly recommend Isack and Duma for your trip!

Ondine B.

My dad (73yo) and I did a 9-day safari in Tarangire, Manyara Lake, Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti central and North with Duma Explorer/Alika and it was perfect from start to finish.

Stacy was incredibly helpful and available to create our dream trip - one we had wanted to do for years: she had good suggestions, good advice on what to do and avoid because it would have added too much driving, and very nice and adaptable.

Our flight (booked separately on our side) was unfortunately cancelled last minute by Air France but Stacy and her team (Omary and Milcah) were quick to react and reorganize the beginning of our safari so we would miss as little as possible while arriving one day later.

Salim, our French speaking guide, was AMAZING. Very friendly, fun, and knowledgeable - we loved doing this safari with him. He explained so much stuff to us and brought us to the right places to see as much animals as we could (which we did!). Thanks to him, we were lucky enough to see a lot of elephants, lions, cheetahs, and multiple leopards, as well as four crossings of the Mara river, which was the main reason why we wanted to do that trip. He's also a very careful driver, very respectful of the animals (he makes sure he doesn't disturb them) and super aware of the environment, which we greatly appreciated as animal lovers. We had a dream safari.

I can't recommend Duma enough to anyone who wants to have a lifetime experience in Tanzania, while keeping it super human, environment-friendly and custom-made.

Merci Duma 🙂

Joe Coen

We had a group of 14 and our guides were Ebenezer and Joe. They were very good guides with a lot of experience. Ebenezer had around 30 years of knowledge. Stacy was also wonderful helping us organize the trip. We saw so many amazing animals and our guides knew just how to find them and give us insight on the interactions with other animals. They knew the history and also a lot about the birds there. We felt safe and had a lot of fun. Trip of a lifetime!

bill mills

My wife and I did a private tour of Tanzania (7 nights) and Uganda (4 nights). What an incredible experience! Stacy and her team planned a fantastic trip to see the great migration in Tanzania combined with gorilla and chimp tracking in Uganda. Our guide in Tanzania, Msangi, was the best. He was so thoughtful and knowledgeable that he made the trip for us. We were so lucky to have the migration pass right next to our camp in the Serengeti. And having a male lion roaring right outside your tent really gives you a perspective on life. Spending an hour with a chimp company one day and a gorilla family another was amazing. The African massage…bumpy roads…make you earn the experience, but it’s worth it.