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GMC Guest Reviews & Testimonials

Tourism is about experiences, but sometimes the gap between expectations and experiences can be vastly different.  Tourism is a mixture of subjective elements and objective requirements  – food, lodging and travel services.  At Great Migration Camps we try to manage our guests’ expectations and try and live up to this quote: “Your smile is your logo. Your personality is your business card. And how you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your trademark.” ~Unknown.  

Read on to hear from some of our previous guests about their experiences and we’ll leave the jury out for judgement on our trademark. 

Guest Testimonials

 

“What an incredible experience. Highly highly recommend this camp. Great for kids of all ages too. Lovely food, lovely facilities, top quality guides and drivers. And most importantly the most amazing game drives I’ve ever been on in my 30 plus years on this African continent.”
– Robyn Lee, March 2019
Zimbabwe/USA 

“Rick, Robyn, Lincoln and I all had the most wonderful safari with you!!  Superlatives are few and far between to describe it, you treated us so amazingly and looked after us to such an incredible degree. Lincoln cannot stop asking for “Miss Sally” and Elvis and his “Happy Fri-yay” can be heard often!! We wish you and Carel every success with your endeavours and please say a big thank you again to Elvis, Zebediah and Herman – they were wonderful!! “
-Margaret and Rick Kriel, March 2019 USA 

“Thank you for a remarkable 2 days in the Bush at Kogatende. We had a spectacular time. What a wonderful experience. The game drives were truly spectacular (on the last day, we had a remarkable leopard sighting, cheetah, and a lion!!). But for us, it was the care that Carel and Sally took during our time there that truly stood out. I don’t think any of us will forget the 12 hour true Bush experience we had with Carel. And of course just being able to sit out in the camp around a bonfire, see the stars, and see the sunrise in the morning were truly special moments. You have a terrific camp and created a truly spectacular experience. Many thanks again.” – Vik Malhotra, July 2019 NY, NY, USA 

GMC Guest reviews - Mary Malhotra“Greetings from the wild and crazy east end of Long Island NY. I’ve been home for 5 days but our time with you, is still shining bright. Thank you for an experience of a lifetime (especially for this city girl!). Our time with all of you was a wonderful end to a great two weeks in Rwanda and Tanzania. Despite my initial trepidation about being out in the bush, your welcome and care quickly put me at ease. Our quiet morning time over a cup of tea watching the sunrise, incredible game drives, fabulous coffee (and tea!) stops, lunch watching ostriches courting each other, cocktails around the fire & delicious dinners, all in the bush, left me awestruck. Thank you!” -Mary Malhotra, July 2019 NY, USA 

“Asanteni Sana GMC team for a fabulous week in the bush! Holidays are never long enough but this really was a time to have had extended the trip! The distances to cover may not be huge when seeking out the dawdling plains game – not that it was their fault but the combined abundance of food and water. One forgets that in the bush everything and everyone moves at a different pace… getting up (ha ha!), navigating the road conditions, seeking the illusive spots, stripes and socks or simply getting mesmerised by the smallest to the largest inhabitants of the Serengeti. It takes time and patience with a bagful of humour…you and your staff have it all!” – Pippa Wordie, July 2018 UK

“From someone inside the tourism industry, I was impressed with GMC from the start: they open the Serengti to those who can’t afford the luxuary or fly-in options, their pre-travel documentation and information was detailed and hugely helpful, their camp is so comfortable but lean on excess which makes it mobile, flexible and affordable. Most importantly, they get you into the wild and outside of set lodges and campsites. Their passion for this product drives them and is reflected in their wonderful team of driver-fieldguides (Norton and Armani, take a bow), effective & accomplished camp manager, Zebediah, and ever-eager camp chef.” – Keira Powers, July 2017 South Africa 

“What comes through GMC’s entire operation is a dedication to the wilderness. From their low-impact camp, to their knowledge and partnerships in the region, to their field-guiding, campfire insider-anecdotes and, most of all, their attitude and approach at the Mara River. It was heart-breaking mayhem there amongst the other “jeep jockeys”, but GMC kept their cool and stuck to their principles in respecting the Wildebeest lines and river crossing habits.”
– Gavin Reynolds, July 2017 Cape Town, South Africa

“We spent a memorable 10 days with GMC. Their camp set up was excellent, we slept comfortably, the meals were good and their staffs’ knowledge and experience of the Serengeti was superb, resulting in perfect days and wonderful sightings. Carel and Sally were great hosts.”
– Gail Powers, July 2017 Sedgefield, South Africa 

 

“I am a lifelong camper and explorer and GMC was able to build a mobile camp operation that made me smile. Carel’s years of experience camping there has informed the design of his custom- and self-built safari trailer that is your home-on-4×4-wheels. Carel is your Serengeti version of Crocodile Dundee – you can’t be in better hands in the bush!”
Dudley Powers, July 2017 Sedgefield, South Africa

 

“Finally home with Serengeti memories to last us a lifetime. I really want too congratulate you both for organising a trip which showed off your beloved Serengeti to its most ultimate best. You were the perfect hosts, the meals nutritious and delicious, the camping sites superb, magical days filled to capacity with the most amazing sitings and delightful company, which altogether far exceeded all our expectations. So thank you, thank you for all the long and busy hours you put in to make it so wonderfully successful and may your migration trips go from strength to strength, they only will as you offer the truly real experience.  Thank you again” – Cindie Maxwell, July 2017 Elgin, South Africa

Blogger Reviews

Sally and Pete Shaw travelled overland though Africa from Cape Town and detoured from their self-drive adventures to join Great Migration Camps in the Serengeti in August 2018. Sally wrote a delightful blog of all their experiences – here’s what she documented about their Serengeti Excursion. READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE

 

 

The Shaws persuaded fellow overlanders, to join GMC for the Serengeti part of their trip. Thank you Richard and Susan Gie – August 2018 who arrived in “Klippie” – their own fully kitted vehicle, to experience the Serengeti and great migration with GMC.  READ THEIR STORY

 


Client Videos

Thank you Mike Sowerby, Australia (with a little help from your son) for this amazing video created from your extended Serengeti Safari right the way through the park in March 2017 

GMC Live Reviews at Ilboru Safari Lodge

Join us for our next Live Review at Ilboru Safari Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday afternoon through to Thursday morning the 7th and 8th of March 2018. We will show you what this Arusha property, on the slopes of Mt Meru is all about.  Our reviews will cover the lodge, its rooms, activities, meals and what Ilboru has to offer, we will as always also focus on the people behind the scenes and the “Ilboru Safari Lodge story” with owner and hands-on manager Annelies Metili. Ilboru Safari Lodge, Arusha

Ilboru Safari Lodge in Arusha has been welcoming guests to Tanzania for seventeen years. Annelies Metili, current owner, manages the lodge with a hand’s on approach that has been a huge success with guests. Annelies brings her sense of style and many years of experience in the Tanzanian hospitality industry to every aspect of the lodge. 

Born in Holland, Annelies was a successful International entrepreneur when fate stepped in and she was given the opportunity to assist legendary wildlife documentary cinematographers Anton van Munster and Hugo van Lawick in Serengeti National Park in the early years of this century. This serendipitous encounter changed her life forever; Africa became home and she went on to create a life of safari, adventure, wonder and excitement.

After several ventures including helping build one of the most prestigious lodges in Africa, team member for other successful safari lodges, opening a raw food emporium and creating her own fine line of designer bags, she came to roost along with her two children on the slopes of Mt Meru in Arusha, taking over management of Ilboru Safari Lodge in early 2014.

LIVE REVIEW SCHEDULE: ILBORU SAFARI LODGE

Wednesday 7 March 2018

1500 Experience Review – Arrival Ilboru Safari Lodge
1530 Room Review Ilboru – Safari Lodge room review 1
1540 Room Review Ilboru – Safari Lodge room review 2
1630 Sustainability Review – Ilboru environmental worriers – reforestation project
1730 Experience Review – What to do at Ilboru
1800 People Review – Dinner preparation with Chef
1830 Main Lodge Review – Main review of Ilboru with Annelies Metili
1900 People Review- The Ilboru Safari Lodge Story with Annelies Metili
2000 Experience Review –  Dinner at Ilboru Safari Lodge
2100 Experience Review – Soak up the atmosphere at Ilboru – poolside at night

Thursday 8 March 2018

0630 Experience Review – Wake up at Ilboru Safari Lodge
0730 Experience Review – Ilboru Safari Lodge breakfast
0830 People Review  – People behind Ilboru with Annelies Metili
0900 Experience Review  – Thank you and enjoy your safari.

We look forward to sharing this property with you.  Join us on 7 and 8 March 2018.

Click here for more information about live reviews

What is a Live Review?

Imagine a visual online review forum that showcases the very best of your property and location recorded live and broadcast over the Internet for people to watch around the world. That is the essence of our LiveReview platform, a broad-spectrum content sharing website whose central focus is on the camps and lodges located along the path of the great wildebeest migration of east Africa. Through reviewing and showcasing every aspect of coming to visit and witness one of nature’s greatest events we utilise the latest online technology of live streaming in the form of our LiveReviews of lodges, camps and properties, as well as live experience reviews of game drives and sightings direct from remote locations in the bush.