The team
Karibu Safaris In Kenya
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1986)
- Member Of:
- KATO, Tourism Regulatory Authority & Eco Toursm Kenya
- Tour Types:
- Small & medium group tours (Mid-range & luxury)
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $80 to $280 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Alice | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The tour guide is really bad
We did not have a good experience with Karibu Safaris In Kenya since our tour guide Edward was really bad and not engaged at all. He did not communicate anything to us about anything during the transportation. And during the safari he did not tell us anything about any animal or anything. We had to find all the animals ourselves and when we asked him to stop so that we could take photos of the animals we noticed he got annoyed all the time. We expected more from a guide, basically he was just a driver who could not communicate and he slept in the car every chance he got, not professional at all.
IN
Email Surbhi Sud | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional and unreliable
I don't know if the 2000+ positive reviews for Karibu we saw on safaribookings.com were fake or were they just related to mt Kenya climbing. I wouldn't recommend our 7 day safari experience to anyone.
When I was booking the safari, I was a bit hesitant since their package is cheaper than most other operators and therefore I was expecting barebone properties and campsites. Surprisingly, the accommodations were mostly decent and the cost cutting was done at the expense of the safari experience which was really unfortunate.
Robert was quite good with communications before the safari started, afterwards he stopped responding to messages or calls. So no matter what the issue is, if the safari is not happening as per the itinerary, or if the hotel is different than what was specified as part of the quotation, or there's some other issue, don't expect Robert to be available. Instead you are stuck with Edward, the guide + driver who was a moody individual with moments of courteousness sandwiched between rude and abrasive behaviour.
The itinerary promised 1 full day safari and 2 half day safaris at Masai Mara. On the first day of the trip, we reached Masai mara campsite and faced 2 separate issues - first that the evening safari is not going to happen and that the campsite was different (+inferior) than what was promised (I had confirmed the names of the properties that very morning at their office in Nairobi and still they preferred to not disclose the truth). We let go of the campsite issue and focused on the promised evening game drive. Robert obviously did not answer my calls and Edward in a passive aggressive manner threatened to organize a half-assed safari the next day if I continued to find discrepancies in the written itinerary and what was happening in reality. When I pressed further he called Robert, who answered his call(!) and said that the itinerary that I booked does not exist anymore (they took the webpage down from Safari Bookings that very instant)....luckily I had taken screenshots of the itinerary to share with my mates so they had to oblige. But not really in a way that counts. We did do one full day game drive as promised + 1 evening drive near the entry gate that was around 30 minutes + on the 3rd morning of the trip, we drove in from one gate and exited from another gate, a 40 minute ride that doesn't really count as a half day game drive. During the game drives, Edward mostly drove around quietly, sharing very little insight into the national parks or wildlife. If you pointed towards any animal and asked he would accurately name it. Compared to other game drive experiences that I've had, Edward was more like a driver than a safari guide. To be fair though, Karibu arranged a very comfortable 4x4 Land cruiser for us and Edward was a highly skilled driver (the 5 of us slept through bad roads and highways alike).
On the third morning of the trip, we reached the vehicle before our driver and since he was still having breakfast, I started loading everybody's rucksacks in the back of the vehicle. I was half way done when Edward showed up. He looked at me for a minute as a I stood there waiting for him to take over. Instead he told me to hurry and finish the job. I dont mind putting my bags in the car and dont really expect anyone to do it for me but I didn't see any reason why I should load rucksacks of the other group members. I dont see the point in treating your clients like that either, maybe he just got a kick out of it.
The quotation included drinking water but in reality that meant only 5.5 litres per person through 7 days so keep that in mind when choosing your operator.
Regardless of whether you go with Karibu or someone else, if you're keen on making the most out of your itinerary, I would recommend the following -
1. Start with Amboseli or Nakuru instead of Masai Mara
2. Skip Hells Gate if you are short on time. If you're going there for the lava wall, that section is inaccessible to tourists now.
3. Skip Naivasha unless you are into birdwatching. And if you are, spend some time near the lake and find a legit boat tour. The current version of the boat ride is a tourist trap where you'll see 1-2 hippos in the water (that was pretty cool) otherwise it'll be an hour long uneventful boat ride with 3-4 bird sightings that are anyway commonly seen in other parks. Not really worth $30 (additional 30$ to step foot on the island)
4. One full day safari in Amboseli is probably going to be enough. Half day in Nakuru is sufficient. Try to spend some extra time and money for Masai Mara. On day one, let the guide hurriedly take you across the park to tick off all the major sightings. On day 2, you go with a plan to focus on only the things that you missed out on day 1. Finish the itinerary with 2 days in Masai Mara so that you end on a high note.
Property Review -
1. Mara Enkajiang - Clean tents but dirty toilets. Bad food. This was given to us instead of Enchoro Wildlife Camp (highly reviewed). If any tent turned on their bathing shower the whole row of tents would lose electricity till a staff member repaired the fuse. This happened 5+ times in one night.
2. Lanet Matfam - Resort property with a nice swimming pool. Best food but very small and weirdly constructed rooms.
3. Leisure Apex - Overall best - new property, clean rooms, good food, no nonsense motel.
4. Nyati Safari Camp - Clean and spacious tents, well maintained, good food. This was given to us instead of Manjaro Campsite but we were happy either way.
Very disappointing
PS: This review was originally written in French and translated to English
I was extremely disappointed with the safari experience provided by Karibu. We had booked a three-day safari, but the title was misleading as we were only given a maximum of 10 hours to look for animals. I suggest that they change the name of the safari to better reflect the actual time spent on the safari.
On the first day, we were only in the park for one hour. On the second day, our driver wanted to return at 3 p.m. even though we still had time to search for animals. The driver was also very unfriendly, which spoiled the fabulous experience for us. Raymond, our driver, did not hesitate to remind us that he had long work days, which he compared to ours. He said this was the reason why he had listened to the research. We reminded him that we had paid $700 to keep him on schedule.
We strongly recommend that you move on and choose another provider!
ORIGINAL REVIEW IN FRENCH
Extrêmement déçus de notre safari avec Karibu. Nous avions réservé 3 jours de safari mais cet intitulé est mensonger, sachez que vous n’aurez que 10h tout au plus de recherche d’animaux ! Il serait donc préférable de changer le nom du safari…
Premier jour 1H dans le parc, 2ème jour notre chauffeur a voulu rentrer à 15h alors qu’il nous restait du temps de recherche.. Chauffeur par ailleurs très antipathique qui nous a gâché cette expérience fabuleuse… En effet « Raymond » n’a pas manqué de nous souligner qu’il avait de longues journées de travail (en osant comparer aux nôtres!!!) c’est pourquoi il avait écouté les recherches.
Nous lui avons rappelé que nous avions payé 700 dollars pour qu’il respecte le programme prévu.
Nous vous recommandons vivement de passer votre chemin et choisir un autre prestataire
ES
Email Lucía | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Did not comply with the reservation
We had hired a guide in Spanish, they guaranteed it and the guide who accompanied us had only done a 6 month course so we had to communicate with him through the phone application, which made it impossible to give us explanations about the safari, sites, animations, etc.. The guide who spoke English did not give any indication or explanation to other travelers who came with us. Horrible treatment of the guides.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
CN
Email jeff | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A terrible company and one that all travelers should beware of
I have always thought that the second-selling travel agency on SafariBooking has basic service guarantees,！
but I am wrong!
The trip was very bad. I changed three cars and three drivers in a row on the road. I didn't have any notices or reminders before, which made me feel at a loss, and there was no apology and explanation afterwards, especially the last driver was not prepared any water for us and we were all thirsty and unbearable, and we couldn't buy any water. The most exaggerated thing was that the driver was unwilling to take me to the airport. The 7-day itinerary included the last delivery to the airport. He asked me to call Uber by myself!
All future travelers！
please don't be blinded by the so-called sales volume and are blinded by more than 1,000 comments, choose this company carefully, and choose a travel agency carefully!
Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Nov 20, 2023Hello Jeff,
We have received your review and we apologize for the experience,
Did you book the safari with (Karibu Safari in Kenya)?? we cant find your data in our systems to find out who is the sales person that booked you and driver guide name started the safari with you and why you were put in 3 vehicles and why the whole service and trip dint make you happy. Because for the 7Days Safari is long to have a bad safari experience and you dont communicate with the office or driver guide.
If you have the details, Kindly reply below or send us a email.
Regards
Lilian
Customer Service
RO
Email Daniel | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uncoordinated, rushed and disappointing experience.
Having such a beautiful country, this should be such an easy job. Well it was not, it appears that the group I was in was too large for the company so they had to hire an external contractor, 3 busses from the conpany, one outsider. The best experience was the outside contractor. There was no coordination between the drivers, it almost appeared that the 3 drivers from the company had a problem with the outside contractor and did not support him in any way. The 4th driver with the people he had in his care were abandoned 2 times on the safari, one time for 1 hour and a half, when the bus could not move and see anything because the papers for the bus were with the other drivers. So 7 people out of 27 missed a part of the safari, the only encounter with a leopard. After all this, at the end of the safari we were suppose to cross the river and see the big migration, but the car we were in could not cross, luckily we were taken by a total stranger group ... otherwise we would have missed it. Last but not least our driver kept being harrassed by the others to drive faster on public roads, break the speed limit and really put our lives in dager with unsafe driving, I have seen him being called literally every 5 minutes, I felt UNSAFE! So yes ... poor experience in one of the most amazing places in the world!
CH
Email Marco | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Never again
+ The organisation is very well and they‘re very fast in responding
+ They were always on time for the pick up
- The car was in a very bad condition. Also it was not a Land Cruiser. They took us to safari in a very old bus. The seat belt was broken, some electrical cable were falling down and also some parts of the roof were falling down what made it difficult to look for animals while on safari with the open roof. Also we had to be towed two times.
- The driver only spoke limited english
- The driver‘s phone was ringing very loud every 5 Minutes (I‘m not talking about the radio microphone he used to communicate with other guides) and he was answering to private calls
- We paid USD 990.00 for the tour. On the internet I saw that the tour only costs USD 950.00.
- In their 3 days maasai mara tour they advertise that you do 3 game drives (day 1: evening game drive, day 2: fully day game drive, day 3: morning game drive). Once you get there they don‘t want to take you to another game drive on the third day. We had to discuss for hours with the driver and the office until they agreed to bring us to the game drive on the third day. However, they kept the third game drive very short (2 hours), even we had more time because we agreed to drop us off at Nairobi Airport at 6pm. At the end of the game drive we saw cheetahs getting ready to attack wildebeests. There were other 20 cars around to wait until the cheetahs attacked. After 10 minutes our driver said, we got to go back to Nairobi. We didn‘t understand, as we had so much time left until our flight left. On our way back the driver told us, that we will pick up 2 other guests and bring them back to Nairobi (even we booked private safari…). So we had to make space for them. When we got to Nairobi, we first stopped at their apartment to drop off their luggage, then they got back in the car and after we dropped them off in the Nairobi West Hospital for their Covid Test. Traffic in Nairobi is really bad and this stops in Nairobi cost us about 2 hours. Finally we got to the airport and it was clear to us why we made only such a short game drive in the morning: It was because of the 2 People we had to pick up and this wasn‘t told us in advance. Don‘t get me wrong, the 2 people were really nice, but we expected our day to be different.
In general, be carefull with all tours: They advertise all 3 days Maasai Mara Tours with 3 days Safari (Evening game drive the first day, fully day game drive the second day and morning game drive the third day). But most of the cheap tours like this try to skip the last morning tour and tell you „you‘ve already seen everything yesterday bla bla bla“. The reason they do this is, that the Park Fee for Maasai Mara is paid per 24 hours. This means, if you go to the first game drive in the evening from 4pm to 6pm and the next day you do a full day game drive from 7 am to 4 pm they only pay one day park fee. If you do a game drive on the third day, they would have to pay additional USD 80.00 for each guest (hope my explanation makes sence). So always make sure to clarify in advance what you will pay and what you will get. We met spanish people on a similar tour and they had to pay the park fee seperately for 48 hours (USD 160.00 each). They gave the money directly to the guide and I guess he only buyed tickets for 24 hours and told them that they‘re not going to do a third game drive. So he kept 80 USD of each passenger for himself.
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Email Dee Johnson | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!
With this I am expressing my deepest disappointment regarding the 3-Day tour we received from Karibu Safaris in Kenya.
The communication with Robert and the tour planning was ok, I have no complaint about that.
The problem is the way the tour was guided and the attitude from the driver and tour guide HAMISI, it was a very strong disappointment and even humiliation towards us as visitors and customers.
- no drinking water for the guests. When I asked about the water, the tour guide HAMISI said "sorry, I forgot". But at the same time he had drinking water, even several bottles!!!, at the game drive and was drinking himself and keeping them in the cooler box. That was very very much humiliating. Very unprofessional conduct. Phaawww!
- on the 3rd day's morning we were supposed to have a game drive in Amboseli park till 10am in the morning (that was confirmed beforehand by Robert - the organiser), but we left the park at 8:40 already with no reason. So the driver cut us the pleasure of experiencing the park by one half (50%), as we spent there only about one and a half hours (90 minutes). Another hour and 20 minutes were stolen. It's a huge disappointment. Robbery!!!
- the choice of the roads. In order to maybe make a small fuel economy (6 to 10$), the driver chose rural roads that in parts were hardly passable and full of dust, all our clothes, bags, hair, bodies and electronic equipment was in dirt and dust. The driver, willing to save a few hundreds of shillings, was driving the roads that are no good for safari tours. We did not meet a single other Safari tour operator's vehicle while taking the rural roads, while there were many of them on paved roads. So the point is that the unprofessional driver/tour guide deliberately chose bad roads just to make some "shortcut" meanwhile breaking the company's vehicle and disappointing the customers that were on a private tour. That is soooo STUPID!!!! We made a remark on that before our return on which driver HAMISI only laughed at us - straight into our faces... Very very humiliating!!! Guys avoid this scam of an operator!!!
There are some more problems and negative remarks that I should point out like a lack of explanation about the parks, surroundings, eco-system, animals, history, etc.; - instead the driver is chatting by sending texts on his smartphone...
- the vehicle arrived to pick us up dusty and dirty inside (from outside was ok) - it's just a proof of to what extent this company is unprofessional and do not consider the comfort and needs of their customers. I have experienced over six different tours in Tanzania and Kenya and I can compare the services received by this incompetent company with others.
This operator should be AVOIDED!!!
I need to express that I deeply regret having chosen this company's services and I have to warn other visitors and possible clients to AVOID tours given by Karibu Safaris in Kenya.
AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!
ES
Email Marta | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If problems come up they just ignore you
We booked the 10 day tour that includes safaris at Kenya and Tanzania. The only positive thing that has happened with this agency was that we had Aruni the first three days as a driver (he was 10/10). But, since the beginning, the programme you are supposed to follow is not followed at all, and they skip several game drives during those 10 days. Our big problem with the agency began when we arrived to Tanzania and we tried to contact to the agency because again they were skiping the morning game drive at Manyara Lake. Although at the beginning they answered back, they did not give me any solution, and that same day they did not amswered until now. They were supposed to provide me a transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport the last day (paying 40 dolar). I messeged them by WhatsApp to see if finally they will provide it or not. They did not answered. I asked then the Tanzanian agency with which they cooperate and the said that they will arrange the transfer for the airport for me. Suddenly, when I was expecting to pay for that transfer, our guide and driver at Tanzania, Joseph, said that his boss wanted to talk to me by the mobile. His boss told me that Karibu would aford the payment of the transfer to the airport, although personal of Karibu did not inform me about that by WhatsApp. They were supposed to pick us up at 4:30 am. Noone appeared at the hotel. At 4:45 am we calles for a taxi. I have contacte to the hotel once we have arrived to Zanzibar and they have confirmed that no driver went to the hotel. This agency is no serious, so don't waste your money with them. Some times low proceso become expensive and a headache!
FR
Email Andoni | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Plan not respected, lies, never been to Masai Triangle, not real Masai Mara Park.
Absolute joke:
- We’ve been asked to pay cash.
- The manager asked us to give a good review afterward, before the Safari even started.
- The driver in “Masai Mara” spent his all time on the phone and gave us very very very few information
- He also drove very dangerously because the Rangers were “chasing us”. We were on a restricted area
- We also spent an entire day in the car transferring to Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru (the driver refused to do a morning or evening game drive, and on top of that he dared to say I “asked for more time to sleep in the morning”)
- We discovered during dinner with other tourists that are used to Safaris, that the Masai Mara site we visited was actually a very very small part of the park. We had actually never been inside the Masai Triangle.
I can see that I’m not the only tourist to complain about this agency. Other customers complained on TripAdvisor.
I honestly think that this is a scam.
Thanks to Alex, the “new” guide that we had to make the overall experience slightly better.
Reply from Karibu Safaris In Kenya
Posted on Dec 18, 2018
Hi,
Am so sorry to hear that.....that must have been really frustrating - That was not the plan.
You were booked for the 4Days 3nights Masai Mara and on the 2nd night you choosed to go to lake nakuru with the other group which were leaving masai mara early to lake nakuru, i wish you could have stuck with the old plan of you staying in Masai Mara for 3nights we could not have this problem.
I had of your complain earlier when you reached lake nakuru and offered you boat in lake naivasha which you agreed as compensation for you departing early in Masai Mara.
About the driver talking on phone he has explained that his Radio call was not working hence he had to use his mobile to communicate with the other driver guides in the park in regards to the wild animals locations...but we have fixed in now.
We have learnt from the mistakes and it will not happen again.
Thanks for bringing this to may attention.
Regards
Mary
Safari coodinator