Kate Montague

Review of Thomson Safaris

I had booked my trip with Thomson almost a year in...

I had booked my trip with Thomson almost a year in advance, with a photography group. To say that I was looking forward to it would be the understatement of the decade. So you can imagine my disappointment when my airline canceled the flight that would connect me to the flight I had to be on in order to meet the rest of my group to start our tour. Aside from being exhausted (said airline had put us on one plane, deplaned us; put us on another plane, and deplaned us again. We sat in the terminal for 3 hours and only THEN did they cancel the flight at 3AM.) In a scramble from my emergency hotel room and after 4 rebooking situations that didn't work, I finally got myself rebooked but would have to join my tour already in progress. First World problems, of course, but I was crushed.

Thomson Safaris stepped right up. As soon as I had my itinerary set, the Boston team took over and the tracked my progress along the way. As soon as I set foot in Arusha, I had a transfer set up to meet me at the airport to take me to a local hotel for the night. As a single woman traveling alone, I have no idea how I would have handled this on my own. It's a little overwhelming coming out of the Arusha airport to 75 guides with signs. In a foreign place without cell service, frankly, I was unnerved. But my driver was so kind and helpful, he quickly put me at ease. He dropped me at the hotel and picked me up in the morning to take me to the small airstrip to meet my group.

Despite the small size, the airstrip and plane that flew me to meet my group seemed to run like clockwork. Landing on dirt runways was an experience I'll not soon forget. But once I touched down, my guide was right there to greet me as I stepped through the small terminal and drove me to reunite with my tour group.

Once the initial flight plan was reorganized, Thomson "had my back" all the way. I'm so grateful to them for helping me get back on track. Surprisingly, despite missing a few days of my tour, I still had an amazing adventure. I have the people that work with Thomson to thank for that. The guides, the hotels, the camps and all of their staff? TOP NOTCH. All you have to do is ask. They were the most gracious hosts. I'm so confident that I made the right choice in Thomson Safaris. We all know that there are a lot of companies to choose from. Believe me, you want Thomson Safaris. They have the right people, the right vehicles, the right locations. It all matters when you're doing a trip like this. Not if, but WHEN I go back, I'll be calling on Thomson again for sure.