African Sky

Traveler Reviews

• 

  T4.0•February 2026
  Had a great time on the overland safari, making new and lasting friends with like-minded people. Absolute Africa is...
  Had a great time on the overland safari, making new and lasting friends with like-minded people. Absolute Africa is certainly recommended for value-for-money trip of a lifetime!Show more
  Traveled in January 2026
  

  Reply from: Absolute Africa

  Thank you for leaving your comments Tye and glad to hear you enjoyed your African Sky tour with us!

  Show more
• P

  PaulDunmore5.0•October 2019
  I am an older person(60) and I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. I was worried about the camping as I did not want to...
  I am an older person(60) and I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. I was worried about the camping as I did not want to share a tent. I had my own tent for the entire trip and the assembly and tear down was not an issue. Most of the people were younger as expected but I fit in well and the age diversity actually added to the experience. This trip allows you to experience the local culture more so than an upscale trip without sacrificing animal viewing capability. In fact I think we were advantaged in our ability to view animals in the Serengeti. The truck is slower than 4 wheel vehicles but more comfortable due to the ability to stand and move around. Our group was small so our leader did most of the cooking. Thanks !! We participated in the meals by way of cleanup and vegetable chopping. I am very grateful that the leader did most of this work. Check that your tour included admission to the gorillas and Serengeti and transpiration. The African Ski trip did include this cost but others had to pay extra. You will be visiting 5 countries. Convert only as much money as you think you will need in each country as the money changers take advantage of inter country conversions. US to local currency seems fair. Take advantage of local visits such as schools and towns. Buy something from the locals. It’s usually the lowest cost and they are very grateful for the support. The animal viewing, culture opportunities and group fun exceeded my expectations. Great life experience.Show more
  • 
  • 
  Traveled in September 2019
  

  Reply from: Absolute Africa

  Thank you for your review, Paul, and great to hear that you have come away with great memories and experiences from your time in Africa. Some great tips there too! As we always say, age is just a number and if you are happy with the style of trip and the fact there will generally be more passengers in their twenties and thirties (as you were), then this trip can cater for any age. We look forward to welcoming you back on the truck in the future, should you wish to see some more of this great continent!

  Show more
• MM

  Margaret3.0•January 2019
  For the price, the trip was amazing. We saw tons of wildlife, which was my main goal. Campsites were generally good...
  For the price, the trip was amazing. We saw tons of wildlife, which was my main goal. Campsites were generally good although, as advertised, hot water was not always available. There was one hostel we stayed at that did not have showers and at times the guides did not speak English so it was hard to communicate. Also, the 4x4 we were put on for the Ngorongoro Crater tour was in disrepair — windows did not roll up and the guide was on the phone way too much with personal calls. Breakfast was toast and fruit about half the time and dinner was generally just okay. It would have been nice if the truck had a larger cooler for food. All in all, a great experience but definitely room for improvement.Show more
  Traveled in December 2018
  

  Reply from: Absolute Africa

  Thank you for taking the time to leave your review, Margaret. We are glad to hear that you had a great time and saw all the wildlife you came to Africa to see on your trip. Our tours are affordable, camping safaris. Basic facilities are often the norm, as you mention. Rougher conditions are generally short-lived, with facilities then available the next day when we move to the next campsite. On the African Sky particularly we travel through some very remote areas though, such as in rural Tanzania, and the area by the gorilla parks. Amenities such as power and water (for washing) can become an issue on occasion. Our travellers usually appreciate time on the road less travelled, rather than solely sticking to the main tourist routes. We will though keep searching out for the best facilities we can, and ways to ensure all is as comfortable as possible including ensuring the best meals available and adequate measures to keep food fresh. With regard to food, it is not as easy to source a large range of foods. Fresh fruit and toast is a regular on tour, as well as cereals,whilst we do also endeavour to mix things up where we can by doing cooked breakfasts etc at times. Eggs particularly are a popular option for those days we have more time particularly. Again, with evening meals we tend to stick to stews with rice or potatoes, or pasta dishes, that are filling and tasty. We generally find that clients are happy with the food on offer and are very sorry to hear you did not enjoy it so much. We are concerned to hear your comment regarding the guides’ language skills, and particularly your comments on the vehicle and guide for the Crater. We will follow up with our different operators to see where there can be improvements. Especially good performance standards for the Crater safari are critical, and your comments will be addressed at the earliest. Thanks again for your review. We appreciate your feedback.

  Show more
• M

  Matt3.5•December 2017
  The two of us (my wife and I age 32) were quite happy with the trip. The wildlife spotting was excellent and the...
  The two of us (my wife and I age 32) were quite happy with the trip. The wildlife spotting was excellent and the people throughout Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda were amazing. As with any tour like this, the people you're with make a huge difference. We were lucky to have a really good group overall, but as always there will be some people you won't enjoy being around. Here are our tips or things we wish we had known ahead of time: 1) There will be very long days in the truck. Even though it's 7 hours to the destination, you might spend 4 hours in the truck leaving the park/wildlife spotting before your journey starts. So you're usually in the truck between 7 - 12 hours each day. 2) Find out what special excursion options are available before you leave as best you can because you'll need to organize it with the driver and guide in advance. Some may be helpful and anticipate it, but make sure they know what you want to do. 3) ATMs are few and far between, so make sure you get enough cash. Tanzania was more expensive than we expected relative to Kenya and Rwanda. 4) Our biggest disappointment in the trip was the gorilla trek from Kisoro. It was our most anticipated part of the trip, but unfortunately our tour guide 'checked out' and let the manager at the accommodation organize everything. We were looking forward to a 3-4 hour hike through the Bwindi forest to locate the gorillas but were never informed about how the day would go, what to expect or asked anything about fitness or expectations prior to getting into the transport at 6am the day of the trek. On the way there, the driver asked if we wanted a long or short trek in a very conversational way and each person in transport responded with their preference (3 long and 1 short). We had no idea how this would affect our day or that our responses were being used to plan our day. We felt it was him simply being curious. When we arrived at the meeting point, the drivers ended up organizing the groups from multiple accommodations and our driver put all 4 of us in the shortest trek of the day. We requested multiple times to join a couple that we had been traveling and planning our gorilla adventure with that was in the other transport vehicle from the accommodation, but they told us that it had all been decided and we could not change. The driver then spoke to the rangers and updated us with information saying that our two groups had about the same distance to walk (1-2 hours). We were satisfied with that and stopped trying to join the other group. After walking down an open dirt path for about 15 minutes outside the boundary of the forest, we found our gorilla group 10 meters into the forest. The gorillas were amazing and we really enjoyed our time with them. But for us, a major part of the adventure involved tracking the gorillas through the Bwindi forest. When we got back to our vehicle, we asked our driver if he could take the 3 of us that wanted a longer walk on a trail in the forest and he requested an additional $125 / person for a 45-minute walk. As it turned out, the other group went on a 4 hours trek. At that point, we realized that our driver simply told us what we wanted to hear so that we would shut up. For the most expensive and for most people the highlight of the trip, I really felt that the guide (and Absolute) did not take any responsibility or make any effort to ensure the Gorilla trek was the highlight most people want it to be.Show more
  Traveled in July 2017
  

  Reply from: Absolute Africa

  Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour overall and particularly the wonderful wildlife for which Africa is so famous. The tips you have given are useful points and these we specifically outline in our pre-departure material to help clients prepare well for their tour. Our tour leaders are on hand throughout the tour to assist with suggestions of how much money will be required through each country and they are also always available to discuss any optional activity on offer en route. Estimated drive times are also detailed in our pre-departure information and we always aim to break up the necessary long drive days to cover the vast distances between the big highlights with shorter drive days and breaks in the itinerary, such as the drives in Rwanda and the few days spent in Kisoro. The African Sky is a concise programme which packs arguably all the key highlights of East Africa - the Masai Mara in Kenya, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and the gorillas in Bwindi, Uganda - into a 15 day itinerary. Whilst this does require long drives, particularly from Tanzania into Rwanda, this does suit the majority of our clients who may often be time-poor and wish to see all these parks in a short space of time and at a very competitive price. We are sorry to hear of your disappointment with how your gorilla trek was organised. We have a partner in Kisoro who does assist in organising the gorilla trekking as this is his particular area of expertise and we haven’t previously had issue with this arrangement. We fully appreciate that the gorilla trek is the top highlight for most of our passengers travelling in this region. We are committed to providing a positive experience on each trek and have very rarely had any negative feedback. Where only 8 people are allowed to trek one gorilla group at a time, it is quite a task for the staff at the park to ensure that everyone is in a group matching their specific expectations and, as the gorilla groups are constantly on the move as they please, trek timing is always variable too and cannot be guaranteed. Usually the main point of concern is that a group may not be found at all after hours of trekking. Where there are any issues though at all on a tour, it is usually best to notify the tour leader as well as the office at the earliest possibility so that we may look into the issue and assist where possible. We appreciate this would have been after the event, as the tour leader will not routinely go on the treks themselves. As a result of your comments though we will talk to our tour leaders to ensure that they are all aware of the need to brief the group prior to the trek day and provide more clarity around the nature of the treks. Thank you again for your review.

  Show more
• 

  Antonio5.0•January 2014
  View in English
  Traveled in December 2013