Tanzania, a country with infinite possibilities
When someone thinks of Africa, he will be probably thinking about Tanzania. It is in this beautiful country in east Africa that some of the continent's most vivid images come to life: Snow-capped Kilimanjaro, rhinos standing proud in Ngorongoro Crater and Wildebeests' herds crossing a river full of crocodiles in the Serengeti Plains. Besides allowing you to climb the World tallest free standing mountain without any special equipment, letting you explore the roughness of the best game reserves on Earth, Tanzania is also home of Zanzibar, an island with some, if not the best beaches in the World, along with beautiful and intriguing Swahilli towns and ruins.
A different Safari Agency was born
It Started in Africa was a project dreamed by the minds and hearts of a Tanzanian and a Portuguese. The premises for this project were that everyone must be able to experience the most incredible places in the world and that, regardless of a safari being luxurious or budget, the price must be fair.
Our motto: Every safari is a different one. Be fair, be flexible, be good - Every single time. Every safari is a different experience, for different people, with different needs and expectations and we go the extra mile to make sure everyone has the experience of a lifetime.
Helping local communities
We believe the local communities should be able to benefit from the increasing tourism. Our safaris usually include cultural programs that allow the travelers to visit local Maasai villages (authentic places, not touristic shows), which enables them to get a much more rewarding and richer safari experience while, at the same time, supporting the local community. We also make sure that our guides (which, we believe, are the most important asset in any safari) are paid above what most companies pay. They are our stars, and can transform a great safari in a life changing experience.
Why us?
When someone searches for safaris in Tanzania, the offers will be overwhelming and people usually wonder what each company offers that others don't, or why some are more expensive than others.
So, why choose us? Here's 10 reasons why you should:
1 - Locally based company, with the know how and field experience of the Tanzanian and the western sensibility of an European.
2 - Flexibility: We do our best to bring the prices of private safaris down close to group safaris prices. Having a shared safari is a great way to meet new people and save some money, specially if you are traveling alone. But we believe that people who want to do the safari alone don't have to pay a fortune to do it. When a safari is private, we are completely flexible. We can change any program in any way the customer may want to, accommodate last minute changes, etc.
3 - Dedication: Even though we have grown from a small company to an established one, we still put all our effort and love in each different safari. A safari is a rough experience, sometimes things can break, plans can change. But you will not find a company that will work so hard for you to make sure you have a fabulous and an experience as smooth as possible.
4 - Our guides: Contrarily to most companies, our guides are paid fair salaries and become an active part of our project, always welcome to propose changes and improvements. These makes them work with more joy and pleasure. All our guides have many years of experience, some of them having worked for high-end companies in the past.
5 - Customer Support: When you contact our customer support, you will not be speaking with any office staff who has no idea of who you are, you will be always speaking directly with the directors of the company, who know everything about your safari and are working hard for you making sure your expectations are met and exceeded. We have a responsiveness and attention to your emails that is unrivaled in this industry, and you can expect an email to be answered in just a few hours, sometimes just minutes.
6 - The food! All our cooks attend cooking courses in Tanzania and have a high budget to spend on the safari food. The result? Fantastic food while doing the safari.
7 - Equipment: Only very very few high end companies provide good binoculars to their customers. Most provide none or have just very small and simple ones. With It Started in Africa, you are guaranteed to be provided with high-end, large and expensive binoculars (Nikon and Olympus) which will make a huge difference in the quality of your safari and your overall satisfaction. Luck plays a major part in a safari but there will be several moments when you will only see animals from far away (for example, a leopard eating a gazelle on the top of a tree, far away). With the binoculars we provide, you will be able to bring the animals very close to you, with such a crystal clear image that you just forget you are using them.
8 - Camping conditions: If you are doing a camping safari, you will be happy to know that all our tents are a-class Canvas tents. They are really good, resistant and don't allow any light in. In some national parks (for example, Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park), we don't stay in the same campsites most companies stay. We stay in tented campsites which already have their own tents installed. These tents are huge (you can stand up inside them, and they have real beds (solid, wooden beds) inside them so your comfort is drastically increased). Even in other campsites like the ones in the Serengeti or Ngorongoro, for a small extra fee, we can arrange large tents and foldable beds.
9 - Support to local communities: By enriching our safaris with cultural activities, we are able to give some of the tourism benefits to the local villages. Besides, 5% of our profits go out to help giving an education to many children in a village 40km away from Dar es Salaam. We are also partners with Pack for a Purpose and are responsible for delivering supplies that tourists bring, to the ones who need them.
10 - Our prices: Last but not least, we operate with some of the best prices in the market, specially when it comes to private safaris. It is possible to find cheaper agencies as there are certainly many cut-price companies operating, but we operate a fair-traded policy where we employ only qualified local staff and pay them above average rates and we do not compromise on vehicles, park fees, equipment and services, besides providing above average equipment to our customers.
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You too can live the true African experience and have a life-changing journey with us.
