GLADIOLA ADVENTURE

Great safari experience with Gladiola. Before arriving in Arusha we exchanged several emails with Didas who was very helpful on answering all our questions and assisting on designing our safari itinerary. We finally decided to do self driving for Tarangire and Manyara and hire a guide/driver for Ngorongoro (mandatory for the crater), Serengeti and Natron which at the end we really appreciated as driving in Northen Serengeti and Natron is quite challenging due to the bad condition of the roads and the lack of directions. When we arrived to Arusha we met with a member of the Gladiola team to pick up the car and book and pay for the entrance to the different parks. The Land Cruiser we got was old and lacked AC/stereo but strong and robust for the tough roads. It included pop-up roof for game viewing and a fridge. We had a couple of problems with the car at the beginning of the trip but Didas and the team did everything possible to fix them. After that everything worked fine for the rest of the trip. Our driver Stanley was very knowledgeable of the animals (especially birds!) and the different areas of the parks. He provided us with a great service. Overall it was a great value experience when comparing to other companies that offer closed packages and with the freedom of being able to choose your own itinerary and either self-drive or hire a guide/driver.

In February 2019, we rented a Rav 4 from Gladiola. We went on a road trip to Lushoto in the Usambara mountains, we visited Mkomazi park and drove all the way to Saadani park just the 2 of us without guide and it all went very well. The Rav4 was in perfect order and we had no issue at all. I had to contact Dimas a few times for some info about the area we were in and he was very helpful, returning the calls very quickly. We are planning a return trip in November 2021 and will rent a Land Cruiser from them for our excursion in the Serengeti. I can only recommend them.

We've had a fascinating 8-days trip with Gladiola!
We really liked the hotels that were booked for us, they were even better than ones I had in mind.
Elia, our driver and guide, was really, really good, excellent! To me, he is a definition of a guide: always ready to spot animals, tell us interesting facts, answer tons of our questions, and tirelessly drive big distances when needed, staying positive all the time. He was always attentive to our needs, he helped us with the doctor when we had encountered a minor problem etc.
The jeep was in good condition, we had a 4-seat for the two of us. The opening roof was really cool compared to usual cars - we could see a lot with comfort.
At first we didn't know what to choose - self-driving or a guided tour, and Gladiola shared their clients' contacts so we could talk to them, and we did. We think we did the right choice because it's great to spend all the time watching instead of driving, but also because the roads in the parks become really messy after rains, and I don't think it's possible to compete with guides in animal-spotting:) plus they have radios to exchange info on animals spotting.

Sergey and Ekaterina.