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
US
Email Jimmy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Efficient
Pros: Overall great experience. Saw all the animals on the bucket list. Our guide was great about following any leads from other drivers to make sure we saw the big 5 and more. He was responsive to when we wanted to stop and was genuinely friendly and kind.
Cons: You are on a trip with multiple people on different itineraries, so there is some extra travel between safaris and differing accommodations, which takes up some extra travel time. Also because of this, there is some group decisions that need to be made that may compromise what you want to do. We were also never offered the boat trip the at was supposedly available on my itinerary because others had it scheduled on a different day, which was frustrating. Additionally, this trip is in a van vs jeep/Range Rover so there are limits as to speed and locations where you can drive. It did not seem to affect the total animals we saw but luck may have been on our side.
Overall the trip was awesome, but if you want full control of your itinerary, there may be better options.
BE
Email Xavier | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent quality/price ratio
Really good value for money.
Tour was perfect with Edward, met our expectations and was listening to our requirements.
Communication with office before the tour could be a little bit improved.
Special mention for the last camp in Amboseli, Manjaro ! Excellent place !
AT
Email Sina | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well planned and it was worth the money
First of all, the communication with the agency through the email was flawless and very efficient, the detail of the tour and all the costs were clear. The both drivers Mike and Rymond were very helpful and had quite good knowledge about the visited places and the animals. The accommodations were not the best but ok, foods (3x per day) and water were provided, so I can say it was worth the money. We did a 5-day tour including lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, and lake Naivasha and we enjoyed everyday of the trip. The only thing is the first hotel in hotel Nakuru could be chosen better. In summary, I recommend this Safari, if you don’t spend too much money on the Safari.
DE
Email Matthias | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reliable with some small buts!
We (couple of two) did a 6-day budget tour through Kenya including Massai Mara, Nakuro and Amboseli and as everybody says here, the places are simply amazing and soooo worth a visit. But I'd rather focus on the agency and overall organizeational aspects here.
PROs:
+ agent Robert helped us book train tickets between Nairobi and Mombasa
+ overall the tour was without any problems and everything worked as planned
+ our guide (Simon) was amazing and super helpful with absolutely everything. He really made sure we get the best experience during our 6 days. Even when there was a minor issue with the car, he went on and fixed it himself. Felt safe all the way in the crazy Kenyan traffic.
CONs:
- We were told we could pay in EUR OR KES, which was true, but on location it turned out there would be two conversions of EUR over KES to USD, which would have increased the price by nearly 10 %. Even the payment in local KES then included a small upmark. This was in no way communicated transparently from the start and for sure left a bad first impression.
- The tour was advertized as max. 6 people in a car. For the first two days of the tour, we were 8 pax in our car though, which meant one person had to sit in the front and couldn't enjoy the open roof view.
- For our last stay in Amboseli, our accommodation was changed without us being able to find out if it was an up- or downgrade, but pictures showed that our replacement room at the new camp was rather worse off (the camp itself was great however). After our guide asked us what we think about the new place and we expressed our concerns, we were offered a better room for the second night without us explicitly requesting it, which was far better and more spacious and left us satisfied (thanks again Simon!).
US
Email A... | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great time with Karibu!
We had an excellent trip with Karibu Safaris. Our guide was wonderful and we saw lots of animals. I have rated 4 stars as the van we took was very old and broke down twice in 4 days.
ES
Email Anthony | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
The whole trip was amazing. We really had a very good time with our guide, Castro. He was always the first to be in the right place to see the animals during safaris. And he has very good driving skills!
NL
Email Stan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great and Affordable Safari Tour Operator!
What a great company! I walked into the office to see what they had on offer - the next morning I was on my way joining a 5-day budget Safari to Masai Mara, Nakuru, Naivasha, and Hells Gate led by our amazing guide Dan Castro. His talent and experience really showed as he made sure the whole trip went smoothly - and more importantly that we spotted a wide-range of different animals (incl. The Big Five and the wildebeest migration). Dan really went out of his way to make sure we had a front-row seat to the spectacle of Kenyan safari. To give an example: we had a rare sighting of a leopard, saw two lions successfully hunt a zebra and spotted a lion high up in a tree. I feel very lucky and privileged to have seen such sights.
Dan's ability to drive in difficult circumstance also really stood out during the trip as the park provide some challenging terrain. I personally also very much appreciated the music he would play (Dan has excellent taste) during long hauls between different national parks.
Karibu safaris was also really flexible when I wanted to make a change to my booking. I initially booked a 6-day safari, but asked to switch to 5-days during the safari in order to stay with the group (as the others were staying for only 5-days). Dan contacted the office in Nairobi and ensured this was no problem.
Do make sure to bring enough extra cash during the safari, because there are some hidden costs, such as bike rentals, Masai village entry and of course lots and lots of tipping.
BE
Email Neal | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great deal price/quality
Hi,
-Reliability: they delivered as specified in the tour description.
-Paiment: We didn't bring al the cash on the plane for the payment. Because we thought we could get it from an Atm when we landed in Kenia. This was not the case, but they were flexible and let us pay by transfering the total amount
Car: old van type with roof that opens. Broke down 2 times. Definitely a car that has already done alot of safari's.
-Animals: We saw alot of animals including the "big five
-Stay: Manjaru tented camp:Very nice, intimate place that limited the number of people.
Nguli: Awsome viewing points, with animal drinking pools. The rooms and hotel were a bit old fashioned.
Salt lick:Luxery lodge.
Voi lodge:Awsome viewing points, with animal drinking pools. The rooms and hotel were a bit old fashioned
-Conclusion: Great deal of you compare it to others and price/quality whise.
DE
Email Linda | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I can really recommend it!
I can truly recommend doing a safari with Karibu.
The persons are very friendly and you will have a nice time in the Masai Mara. The Campside at Masai Mara truly was amazing. The food was very nice and you will get to see the Masai and can talk to them, ask questions etc. They made a little campfire for us in the evening, which was very nice. Nevertheless, you should be somehow flexible. We only had warm water, energy and light for a few hours a day.
Thr safaris where truly amazing, even if you spent a lot of your time in thr car. Please note that the tour from Nairobi to MM takes about 6 hours (with having lunch).
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great budget package
Had an amazing time in Kenya with Karibu safari, there was a lot of time spent on the road to get to the various locations but it was all worth it!
During our 7 days Castro was our guide and exceeded our expectations! Castro is an excellent driver and where other tours got stuck in the mud(literally) we would just fly on through! Castro was able to get us closer to the lions and cheetahs than I ever thought possible! (And I’ve been on alot of game drives)
All in all great value for money and would definitely recommend Karibu!