AMS Directors and Tour Guides
Amazing Memories Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, KATO, AMREF & Eco Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email photoguy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Memories Safaris treated me very well!
I chose Amazing Memories Safaris for my second trip to Kenya. Planning began with Anne in mid-2017 less than a year after I returned from my first Kenya safari which had been arranged with another tour operator. Anne was very helpful and responsive in the planning process and by August I had a contract in hand and had paid a deposit for a safari scheduled for this month, Feb. 2018.
Unfortunately, I encountered serious health complications in the fall of 2017 and eventually had to cancel this trip. I let Anne know of this possibility in Dec. but by this time payments had been made for lodging in Samburu and at Offbeat Mara plus a flight from Nairobi to the Mara. But Anne was able to get a refund from Offbeat Mara, so both are to be commended for their wonderful customer service.
Even though I was unable to make this trip, my financial losses were greatly reduced by the above mentioned refund and redeposit of my airline miles and a refund of airline fees paid to United. I expect an additional small refund from my trip insurance claim.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
DE
Email Tina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
12-Day Safari in Kenia and Tanzania plus 3 Days Zanzibar
The trip was truly amazing and I would recommend AMAZING MEMORIES SAFARIS (AMS) without reservation.
I found the company's name on the website and was intrigued by its strong reviews. I did more research and obtained quotes from 2 other providers, but they could not beat the price offered by AMS.
My husband and I booked a tour that we found on the website of AMS (the "honeymoon" tour), but customised it a bit with Anne's help, covering Amboseli, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Zanzibar. We corresponded with Anne exclusively via email which was easy and productive, because her responses were always prompt and very clear. Anne also picked us up from the airport in Nairobi, and her colleagues delivered two heavy suitcases to us for the return flight, which we didn't need for the safari and were able to store in the office. That was super helpful!!
The tour itself was truly amazing. We saw so many animals and were able to take spectacular pictures thanks mainly to our great guides/drivers, Kennedy in Kenia and Ikamba in Tanzania. They were great in pointing out animals at far distances which we would have never seen without them, and both were very professional and likeable at the same time.
We were also very happy with our itinerary--though if you hate long drives, I would probably stick with either Kenia or Tanzania instead of going to both.
As to the accommodations, most of the hotels and lodges (Eka hotel in Nairobi, Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli, Mara Sopa Lodge in Maasai Mara, and Next Paradise in Zanzibar) were very comfortable with excellent food, and we really liked the experience of the tented camps in the Serengeti (Katikati and Ang'ata). Only the Crescent Camp in Lake Naivasha and (to some extent) the Rhino Lodge in Ngorongoro were a bit in need of repair, but we only spent one night in each--so it was ok.
DE
Email Jenny Davis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastically efficient from the planning right through to the safari experience, highly recommend!
After emailing a few other safari operators, Anne at Amazing Memories impressed me with her efficiency and ability to organise a trip suitable within my specified budget for 2 adults & our two teenage boys. On arrival at Nairobi we were met by Anne & Joseph and met our safari driver/guide Daniel. We had the most fantastic week , early mornings, very long journeys sometimes on very bumpy roads but worth it all to see the wildlife in 5 national parks/reserves, Masai Mara being our favourite followed by 1 night at Lake Navaisha (a unique experience not to be missed) All the lodges/tented camps were of a high quality as was the food! Daniel was an excellent driver/guide and ensured we saw the big 5 which we were lucky to see in the first couple of days! We were sad to leave him in Mombasa after our adventures together. I can highly recommend this company, fantastic from the planning stage, booking process and during our trip!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294207-d10755751-r550873858-Amazing_Memories_Safaris-Nairobi.html#
CA
Email Lauren | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing safari with Amazing Memories
Our family of 4 is recently back from an amazing 11 night safari in Kenya and Tanzania with Amazing Memories. Almost a year before our trip I began emailing safari companies for quotes and Anne was always quick to respond to my seemingly millions of questions. I had a very clear idea of where I wanted to go, stay and do and Anne was very accommodating at making that happen. Also, her quote was very attractive compared to some other companies. Anne was extremely helpful in the planning stages and always took the time to answer all of my questions.
Upon arrival in Kenya we were warmly greeted by Anne, Joseph and our guide/driver Daniel. After a quick nights sleep we were off on our adventure. Our trip of a lifetime included 2 nights at Kibo safari Camp in Amboseli, 1 night at Meru View Lodge in Arusha national park, 2 nights at Maramboi tented camp in Tarangire, 3 nights at KubuKubu tented camp in Serengeti, 2 nights at Rhino lodge in Ngoronogo National park, and 1 night a Rift photographic Lodge in Lake Manyara. Our guide/drivers Daniel and then Donald, were professional, friendly and always working to ensure we were happy. We were very happy with both Daniel and Donald. There were one or 2 small mix ups while on safari but Anne was always just a quick phone call away working hard to make everything right. We were very pleased we chose Amazing Memories for our safari company and would not hesitate to refer them. I realize the process of choosing a safari company can be exhausting, and I can say that you should choose Amazing Memories and be confident you will be getting the best price and the best service. Additionally, everything about our safari was fabulous from the animals we saw (everything and so close and so often) to the accommodations which in most cases exceeded my expectations. Book your safari with Amazing Memories...you will be so happy you did!
US
Email Mandy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our safari was the trip of a lifetime!
There are no words to describe how absolutely perfect our Amazing Memories safari was! If you are considering planning a trip to Kenya and/or Tanzania, don’t wait any longer and just go!
My husband and I weren’t sure exactly what we wanted from our trip in our first email to Anne, but she responded so quickly and was able to guide us through the planning process seamlessly. Her communications were clear, and she asked all of the right questions to plan the most incredible 12 days in Kenya and Tanzania for us. When we landed in Kenya, we felt as though we had a friend there already.
Anne was also proactive about changing one of our hotels (in Nairobi) because she had been tracking the reviews and saw that they weren’t great. She switched our hotel to the Sarova Panafric, which turned out to be an awesome place. Doing this proactively shows how much the Amazing Memories team truly wants you to have the perfect trip.
Our trip took us to Nairobi, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, Amboseli, and ended with an all inclusive stay in Diani Beach. We even took an impromptu stop at Lake Navaisha for a boat trip to see hippos from the water. Each place was fantastic in its own unique way.
We would be remiss if we didn’t point out our guides, Daniel (in Kenya) and Charles (in Tanzania), who were pivotal in making our safari one to remember. With our trip spent mostly in Kenya, most of our time was with Daniel. He is a true professional and is passionate about the animals. It’s so refreshing to be around someone who loves his job as much as Daniel - the excitement is contagious. He is a wealth of knowledge, and we learned so much from him. Daniel is also friends with many of the other guides and talks to them over the radio to get you to the best animal sightings. On our very first day in the Masai Mara, we saw all of the Big 5... before lunch!
We saw so many animals - hundreds of elephants, giraffes, thousands of wildebeests and zebras, lions (including a sighting of 18 lionesses and cubs at once!), both black and white rhinos, cheetahs, hyenas, vultures, baboons, hundreds of hippos, tons of different kinds of birds, a tortoise, crocodiles, etc! We were even talking to a woman at breakfast who was in another tour group on her fourth safari, and she hadn’t ever seen a leopard on safari - we saw THREE during our trip with Amazing Memories!
I could go on and on about how breathtaking these two countries were and how awesome the people are with Amazing Memories and the camps that they partner with! Amazing Memories isn’t just a catchy name. It’s what you leave Africa with!
CA
Email James and Sheila | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our Tanzanian Safari Exceeded Our Expectations
While we are sure that many companies could have provided us with an excellent safari we feel that we were given the ultimate experience by Amazing Adventures and their knowledgeable driver/guide Charles Edward.
Anne at Amazing Memories gave us exactly what we asked for. We had decided on a specific itinerary and asked for quotes from a number of companies. Only Amazing Memories stuck precisely to our wishes – the others all wanted to add extras and unwanted side trips at additional expense. Not only did Amazing Memories offer us the best price, but even upgraded us at no extra cost. They also absorbed extra costs added by the Tanzanian Government from the time we booked to the time we departed. These were not insignificant. The outstanding level of service and attention to our needs made our safari a true trip of a lifetime. Not only did we get to see all the animals we had hoped to see, but we did it in style. We cannot offer too high a praise for our Amazing Memories safari – it was wonderful. We hope to come back to visit Kenya and we will be highly recommending Amazing Memories Safaris to our friends in Canada.
US
Email Danny | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect 5 Day Kenyan Safari
From the very first communication with Anne, Amazing Memories was very responsive, flexible, and understood exactly what we were looking for. Anne was extremely patient with our numerous requests to modify the itinerary in different ways, our dietary restrictions, and a ton of other questions we had about payment and other things.
Our driver and guide, Kennedy, was super friendly, knowledgeable, and very pleasant to be around (which is crucial if you are going to spend multiple days together like we did). He suggested various tweaks to the schedule as we progressed based on circumstance, and all were on point and appreciated. The lodges where we stayed were excellent - we spent one night in the Flamingo Hill tented camp at Lake Nakuru and then 3 nights at Mara Sopa lodge near Masai Mara. Both were very upscale accommodations, with great food and helpful staff, and well integrated into the surroundings. Our game drives were exciting and we saw an endless stream of wildlife, punctuated by an early morning hot air balloon ride to observe the Great Migration from above. We were completely satisfied by Amazing Memories and would recommend them to anyone visiting East Africa.
Amazing Safari has provided seamless services for our first safari adventure in Kenya and Tanzania,
Amazing Safari has provided seamless services for our first safari adventure in Kenya and Tanzania, and a relaxing holiday in Zanzibar. From quotation throughout the end of the trip, they are responsive and reliable.
We were also happy with the two safari drivers who were both nice and very experienced.
The selection of hotels was perfect. Each of the hotels was unique and with characteristics.
We would recommend Amazing Safari to everyone who is planning for their Safari trip!
JP
Email Al S | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic Kenya safari
My girlfriend and I had an amazing experience with Amazing Memories.
We went for an 8-day safari in Kenya, staying in upper range camps and hotels.
From the beginning, our contact Anne was very responsive, tailoring our trip according to our requests. She was waiting at Nairobi airport when we arrived, and gave us a good welcome to Kenya.
The price was reasonable considering the quality of the accommodation, and we stayed in a mix of camps and hotels. Every place we stayed was excellent, going from Amboseli to The Ark in Aberdares, then Lake Nakuru, then the Masai Mara.
Each place was very good, but The Ark was interesting - a hotel right in front of a water hole where you can watch the animals come in style - and Mara Serena in Masai Mara was truly excellent, with breathtaking views.
Our driver Joseph was great, very knowledgeable about the wildlife and friendly and talkative. Thanks to him we knew all the best places to see the animals, and we saw the big 5 and cheetahs and everything else!
We highly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris.
Email Mel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We had a fantastic safari!
All in all I'm really pleased with the service provided by Amazing Memories Safaris, with only a couple of minor issues encountered (hence why I felt I couldn't honestly give the full 5 stars).
Right from the beginning in the planning stage, Anne was super helpful, replying to all my emails and giving plenty of information. We ended up doing a 12 day tour of Kenya and Tanzania. When we arrived at the airport the driver's were already waiting for us and were very friendly and welcoming.
Our driver for the Kenyan part of our trip (9 days) was Joseph, and I cannot speak more highly of him! He was incredible! He was so friendly, always chatted to myself and my partner on the long drives between national parks, was extremely knowledgeable and very good at spotting wildlife. He was very patient and worked hard to spot the wildlife we wanted to see, and as such Kenya (the Masaai Mara in particular) was the most successful part of our trip, providing sightings we will never forget.
Our driver for the short Tanzanian part (3 days) was still very good, a nice guy who did his job just fine, but we felt he lacked the passion and enthusiasm of Joseph so that part was not quite as enjoyable for that reason.
All the accommodation (except one night) exceeded my expectations as we had just booked a mid-range tour. The lodge/permanent tents were very clean and comfortable and some in particular were in such beautiful locations, with the food always amazing and all the staff extremely well trained with brilliant customer service. The only night we had an issue was our third night near Lake Naivasha/Hell's Gate. We were only told that morning that our accommodation had changed from the original plan as Anne had wanted to give us an "upgrade". Obviously after hearing this we were quite excited and expecting something lovely. On arrival at the hotel, we found it lacked that "African bush" feel all the other lodges had as it was part of a small but busy town and was set up as a normal hotel with rooms in buildings rather than separate permanent tents. We were greeted by the only other tourist in sight (it seemed to cater more to locals) coming up to me and warning us to be careful as she had her wallet, phone and passport stolen the previous night, which instantly made us uneasy and worried about this leg of our trip. Our room was clean and comfortable enough, but the food was absolutely shocking, almost inedible! Furthermore, whereas all the other lodges welcome tour guides and accommodate and feed them, this place would not take our guide Joseph who then was forced to leave and find his own accommodation elsewhere, which we felt was very unfair. Upon further investigation we learnt the lodge we were supposed to be booked at was currently under renovation, so we would have much preferred the honesty of being told this rather than being told we'd been "upgraded". In the end it was only one night of the trip and not a huge deal, but it perhaps would have been nicer to have been told more in advance and offered to upgrade to one of the nicer lodges in the area (of which there were a few), even if that meant we paid a bit more.
The only other issue we faced was when we left the Serengeti we questioned whether a single day there was really enough. When we later looked at our itinerary we discovered we were supposed to receive an additional evening drive (usually 4pm-6:30pmish) on our first evening there, which was never given as an option. We also were never given the optional activity of a night drive, which the camp offered, and were not told the camp had no ATM facilities which meant we weren't able to book this ourselves as we didn't have enough cash.
I will counter these small complaints with a couple of ways in which Anne did go out of her way to provide us with good service, though. Our last day I asked to visit the Giraffe Center and the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, which was not included in the original itinerary of the trip. She provided these extras to us with not additional charge, even though it meant a whole extra day on the tour, with us just paying for the additional nights accommodation.
On our final night we were supposed to stay at the Hilton, however due to the controversy with the Kenyan elections Anne thought it was unsafe for us to stay directly in the city with all the protests happening, so last minute she managed to change our accommodation to somewhere equally as nice, but further out from the city so much safer. We really did appreciate this.
Besides the couple of small issues, our safari really was amazing and myself and my partner are extremely grateful and generally very happy with the experience. Thank you very much, we definitely would consider booking through Amazing Memories Safari's again, especially if the itinerary is able to be followed more closely!
Thanks again,
Mel and Jared