Testimonials

STEPHEN DUNHAM

With my seventh safari coming up with the Wildlife Explorer team, I feel like they are family. I always look forward to their kind hospitality, friendship, enriching spirit, and professional skills. Gary and his crew have truly mastered the art of making each and every guest feel special. Combining breathtaking surprises around every corner with a private concession that allows you to view game from as close as you are comfortable makes Wildlife Explorer the leader in this business. Wildlife Explorer is well worth the time and resources -- they provide a complete and personal safari experience.

MIKE & PATTY HATELEY

We are currently planning our 5th safari with Wildlife Explorer.  The lure of Africa is indescribable and the outfitter you choose can definitely make a difference.  The Wildlife Explorer guides have a knowledge of it all.  From the beautiful birds to spotting prey and predator in their most obscure hiding places, they never ceased to amaze us.  We planned our first safari thinking it would be a one time, over the top, experience.  We  were wrong.  Within 48 hours of our first trip we knew we would be coming back.  Not only have we returned many times, but everyone that was with us has returned with other friends and family as well.  Wildlife Explorer knows what they are doing.  From the beautiful tents, gourmet food, knowledgable guides, and all of the accoutrements you would expect on a luxury safari, it is a safari that will leave you longing to return.

BETH DUNBAR a.k.a.
MAMA SAFARI

When I started using Wildlife Explorer, Hannah was a toddler and Gary lead the safari for my group from California Academy of Sciences - it was love at first lion with amber eyes!! I returned twice a year because of amazing guides and campsites in the most wondrous spots that took advantage of glorious migrations. My favourite time of year was our summer months with its Bay Area weather!! Gary and Jill helped us when we started our Rafiki Foundation to help the local schools. We ended up building secondary school classrooms as well as primary facelifts like new blackboards!! My life would not have been so amazing without Wildlife Explorer so Happy 30th Gary and his herd!!

ALAN POLLEY

Parker and I are having a lot of fun reliving our adventure with our friends and family.  Our photos turned out fine (for amateurs!) and the great memories are still in the forefront of our minds.  It was truly a wonderful experience!  Your teams at both camps were very professional, courteous, and service oriented.  We cannot say enough about Mzee.  When a person can spot an animal crouching in the long grass from a mile away, all you can be is impressed.  He made the trip a total success.

KATHRYN & IAN WEST

Without doubt our Tanzanian adventure was THE best family holiday we have ever had. You pulled out all the stops for us and it was made even more special meetings you guys at the beginning of the safari.

RANDY BARTON

I am writing to compliment and congratulate you on the superb quality of your operation and your personnel. Most especially, our driver-guides Mzee and Victor were so wonderful in every way.  They were excellent drivers, phenomenal spotters, incredibly knowledgable, and most of all, truly nice and refined gentlemen.  From the moment they picked us up at Kilimanjaro airport until they left us, eleven days later, at the Kogatende airstrip in northern Serengeti, they were a pleasure to be with.  Our traveling party comprised seven family members spanning three generations:  my wife and myself; our son and his wife and three children, our grandchildren.  The kids' ages are 13, 11, and 7, and Mzee and Victor were so good with them.  They were wonderful with all of us, but their interaction with our grandchildren was extraordinary, and none of us will ever forget these two men.  They really paid attention to the kids and were affectionate with them in the nicest way.  

We learned as we progressed through our trip that your company operates and staffs the camps we enjoyed in Tarangire and Serengeti parks.  Both these camps were terrific and the people working there were, again, wonderful.  Friendly, endlessly attentive.  Finally, back in Arusha, we were taken care of again by your drivers, Arnold and Urasa, and these two are also very fine gentlemen.  Everything we experienced under the aegis of Wildlife Explorer was absolutely first class.  You deserve to be very proud of your people.

DICK & BARBARA SHELTON

In a few weeks we will be returning to Africa for our eighth trip with Wildlife Explorer. All the trips have been in Tanzania with the exception of one safari in Botswana. We often re-visit the same places, but it is always different — wildlife doesn’t follow a script. The knowledgeable guides, food, accommodations, etc. are all top notch. A bonus is learning there is more to Tanzania than their wonderful wildlife.

SHERYL STARRY

What do you say about a team that has shown you the time of your life? Thank you seems appropriate. When we first visited Tanzania, Gary met us at the airport to take us overland to the first of our mobile tented spots. We raced the darkness through a thunderstorm. This was pre GPS days and it still amazes me that he found it. We had a not so brief delay due to a deceptive pothole that, filled with rain, appeared deceptively innocent. Gary figured out that burying a spare tire could allow him to use the wench to free us. Of course there was not a tree sturdy enough nearby. This was after Tom, my husband's, idea of burying the jack destroyed said jack. Bent it into an arc. I believe to this day we should have reimbursed him for it. All of this excitement was before one single game drive and I was already totally charmed by his witty banter and "this little problem can't beat me" demeanour. The camp was perfect. It was the rainy season and to this day I don't understand how he was able to drive the vehicle, spot and correctly identify distant game, all the while chatting informatively with a couple of Texans. Every day was like that. Every single day. Of course we returned to do it again and again. If you have never sat alongside a lionesses being courted by a trio of black maned brothers, AND been the only people within kilometres and kilometres of the scene, you haven't really been to Africa. I kind of feel sorry for you. But... You can fix that. Call Gary and ask him to take you on a private mobile tented safari. If he's too busy to accompany you, don't fret. Just ask him if Godfrey is available. He's wonderful too. Then you can post it here because I'm not telling ALL of my secrets. 

DON & JUDY OLIPHANT

I think Don and I couldn’t recommend Wildlife Explorer more highly and after 4 trips with Gary I think our opinion has some value.  Whenever anyone mentions wanting to go to Africa we don’t hesitate sharing our wonderful experiences in that magical part of the world.  The staff is always first rate, the food is wonderful and, wow, it raises camping to a whole new level.  You might be out in the “middle of  nowhere”, but nothing is lacking.  Who knew you could have a warm shower in your tent while watching  gazelles romp outside or giraffe nibbling on an acacia in the distance.  Of course game watching from spacious Land Rovers is a focus so there is no lack of time spent watching all the creatures you read about. My favorite are the elephants or maybe it is the gorillas.  Don loves the big cats.   In the evening it is great fun sharing all the stories about the day’s events while having a nice glass of  wine by a warm fire.  Did you know that there seem to be 10 times more stars in Africa.  It’s true!  Of course, the real star is the owner Gary Strand and his staff who work so hard it seems that the whole wonderful experience happens as if by magic, not time and effort.  They are amazing.  We have had many of our friends travel with Wildlife Explorer and they have all been thrilled with the experience.  We look forward to going again.

MARTIN & CHERYLL BECK

From the moment we stepped off the privately chartered plane from Arusha we knew we were in for a wonderful experience. A peaceful herd of elephants wandered around our tented camp as we arrived and that first early evening we took to the open top jeeps to witness a leopard sleeping in a tree with the sun setting on his full belly. Our 15 year old son was specific on his hopes for our safari, wanting to see a cheetah kill and sure enough that first morning one of Gary's eagle eyed guides spotted a cheetah stalking a gazelle. The chase was spectacular and it resulting in her being able to feed her family right in front of us. Certainly Wildlife Safari achieved the right balance of excitement, drama and beautiful settings to satisfy our family's thirst, be it from beautiful sunset drinks on korpies to driving through the short grass plans and feeling you were the only people amongst the animals. Gary's team were exceptional and it was wonderful to see our boys totally spellbound by what they saw and leant from such knowledgeable guides. We loved every moment of the trip and felt very privileged to experience a safari with Wildlife Explorer.

DIANA & MARTY ULLMAN

We've just finished our 6th safari with Gary and Wildlife-Explorer. 
Returning again & again to the now familiar camps & their crew, wildlife locations and cultural highlights because it is never the same. 
The chill of a rose colored dawn awakes you each morning from the resonating night sounds and each evening the warmth of the camp fire hugs you as you gather round to share the day.
Watching baby Cheetahs learn to hunt...makes us laugh; rounding a bend on the never ending Savannah into a group of giraffe.... takes our breathe away; stopping in a grove of trees for a "pee & tea" when a couple dozen Elephants emerge and pass in front of us.... never making a sound; sitting in our trucks with the early morning light shafting through the trees above a racing stream when a dizzying herd of stripes brings a thundering herd of Zebra down the hillside into the knee deep water. 
Camping was never so cozy as in our tents with fresh sheets and down duvets, hot showers and a real toilet seat! 
Caring attentive staff, uncanny guides, amazing bush food, and you don't have to share it with a dozen other trucks & groups. It is all yours exclusively with Wildlife-Explorer. 
You will tell your friends the stories and share your pictures, but until they experience it with Gary & the Wildlife team.... they really won't have a clue.

RICK & CAROL WATSON

Gary - Thank you for one of the most unforgettable trips of my life

Thank you for the loan of your camera it saved the memories

Thank you for the wonderful staff who treated us like old and loved friends

Thank you for the fun and wonderful stories you brought to each day

Thank you for letting us see first hand the shifting sands a wonder of nature

Thank you for your book it will always be on our coffee table for all to see

Thank you again for all and remember you are always welcome in The Villages near Orlando