Animals are amazing but don't use BIGMAC Safaris
Nothing can beat the wildlife of Kenya, however we had the WORST tour guide, John and would not recommend BigMac safaris or John as a guide. He rarely spoke to us and quite honestly barely acknowledged us. He put us in danger by driving insane speeds on the roads and with broken seat belts. He was on his phone ALL of the time, if not talking then texting and looked like we were bothering him anytime we asked a question. He was frequently late for us sometimes at the expense of us missing meals. Go with another company, ANY OTHER company has to be better. He only spoke to us at the end when he wanted to explain to us what a good guide he was and if we didn't believe him we should "check trip advisor".
Email Takis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Crazy wildlife but...
Highly recommended for wildlife and birdwatching. However very expensive accommodation and food
US
Email Bryan Jameson | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Be careful with whom you book
The countryside is fantastic. The wildlife is even better. The people are polite and helpful. However, the traffic is horrible both inside and outside of the the game parks. The company with whom we booked, Bluerange Connect Ltd., did not live up to the proposed/agreed upon itinerary and there is nothing we can do about it.
Be careful.
NL
Email LvdB | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing wildlife, excellent lodges.
The safari with Best Memory Safaris was amazing. We did a 10 day tour visiting Nakuru, Masai Mara, Lake Navaisha, Ambroseli, Tsavo West and Tsavo East (finishing on Mombasa Beach).
All lodges were great and in privileged areas with good food. The drivers/guides were very kind and thoughtful. Real great value for money. Isaac the owner of BMS was great, he helped us fantastically in getting our lost baggage back and also with an other problem we had during the trip. He is great.
Outside the national parks there is not much to do, the roads are realy bad and rubbish and dirt all around, very disappointing.
We will go back to Kenya in the future but only flying directly into the National parks. We will make the reservations with BMS again for sure.
SG
Email Shann Koh | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari experience is good but met an unfortunate scam from a local tour company
Safari experiences on wildlife, scenery and weather are good. Food are generally ok for all meals except for lunch, there is no option for lunch as it is pre-packed by the accommodation and it is always the same food despite from different accommodation. There are many different range of accommodation which I mostly enjoy except for 1 or 2 places that are too small but decent with hot shower.
The only disappointment I have is being scam by the local safari company which I paid 50% deposit (in March 2019) prior my trip (in August 2019) but the company was uncontactable, their website is down and various travel websites alerted about this company scam. I choose this safari company (Kenya Walking Safari Survivors Ltd) based on the good reviews given in your safaribooking website listing. I was pretty affected by this whole incident to be left stranded at the airport for > 6 hours and trying to make a police report and find alternative safari tour so last minute.
AE
Email Ram Kumar Bharadwaj Mantha | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lovely Safari but not very happy with the Right Choice Tours!
Overall, the safari was good. spotted many animals in the wild. Once in a lifetime experience.
Tour Guide
Punctual, enthusiastic to show us animals in the wild but
a) he was almost all the time on his phone
b) he hardly explains anything about the places we are passing by
Tour Operator
he seemed responsive and professional. However, he changed a few things in our itinerary without informing us until we landed in Kenya. The worst was he changed the hotel he promised he would get us a reservation in and the one he booked was horrible. It was a nightmare.
Email Amélie Daubresse | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Alright but too touristic
Our guide did not even introduced himself when we met him. Basically I would say that he was a driver more than a guide. We didn't lean anything about the wildlife of the reserve and the communication was very poor.
the guides went out of the road to see the lions closer, which is forbidden. We didn't appreciate that at all since it was very disrespectful of the wildlife and of the animals.
The food was alright.
A bit disappointed to do the same as all the tourists in the reserve.
PT
Email Geoffrey Black | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
good animal viewing but roads and general environment poor
Wildlife - good viewing but most only visible on the roads, where they are almost "tame"
Guide was great. Indeed all Kenyans were nice to us.
Roads in the parks terrible limiting getting around and detracting from the pleasure of being there. A very rough ride!
Roads to get around also very crowded with terrible traffic jams, mainly due to large trucks.
Due to the inability to cross into Tanzania there were long drives to and from the parks, via Nairobi
Accommodations variable
Nairobi is a polluted crowded city with terrible traffic jams and no redeeming features
in terms of souvenirs, poor quality and very expensive with most not in ebony (although sold as ebony)
NL
Email Carla | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Full of animals
The tour in the masai mara was amazing also the guide was the best but we paid for a luxury camp and it was EMPTY, even though the personal was super kind, the food was reheated and they didn't even have a cold beer when we asked for. the wine was also open for we don't know how many days, and we end up paying for something that was very below our expectations. Fortunately the guide was the best, so that's why I'm putting 3 stars.
NL
Email Marjorie Ginoux | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not my best experience but nice to see big animals in real life
Tsavo east and west + Amboseli / Lansdcapes were nice but very dry in many places so no animals as it was desertic.
Compare to my souvenir 13 years ago, (only 2 nights in Nairobi) this new experience to let my kids discover Kenya was really poor. Only possible to see one lion's family from closeby. A lot of driving with no animals in the parks.
Kenyan people see you as only m a way to make money and give you pay same price as in Europe. They really abuse on the price they want you to pay and when you see the difference in fixed price shops... When I spend a lot of money in my travel all inclusive, I don't expect to spend so much extra money when I go to Africa... 50Ksh a coffee in one place and 250Ksh at the next stop for the same instant coffee. And also, as a single woman, not feeling safe outside the hotels or without the guide in the safari.
+ The tour organizer made a big story and refused to let my 3 days safari continue because 1/3rd of the amount was still to pay after 1 day safari. Like if I will fly away for the safari... We were late starting the safari and he really made me feel like a thief, breaking my holiday feeling.
It could be a beautiful place to visit but I did not like how European are threaten. We are not all stupid tourists full of money...
