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 Ban | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great value safari!
We did the 6-day safari through Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, and Amboseli. Overall the itinerary was good but a little too long. It involves a lot of driving to get to and back from Amboseli. I’d recommend a shorter tour and prioritize Masai Mara. Although getting to see Mt Kilimanjaro from Amboseli was worth the long drive. We didn’t see as many animals in Lake Nukuru. You couldn’t get as close to the animals as in Masai Mara. I was hoping to see more flamingos but it may not have been the season.
Karibu is a solid tour operator. They offered their home stay apartments for our one night in Nairobi before the safari started. They covered the driving from the airport and to/from the start of the safari. Their communication was fine... I found I had to probe and ask a lot for details. It would have been better if they had an itinerary or set expectations the day before the trip. The planning at times felt rushed or last minute with the camp managers.
The safari driver, Edward, was good as well. He showed us a lot in Masai Mara but I think he got tired as the tour went on.
Since we picked the budget option, the accommodations were as expected. Simple tented camps but unreliable hot water. If you want better accommodations I’d sprint for the pricier tours.
For the money, I think the safari was great value! We saw a lot of animals and felt we got the full safari experience from the trip.
9 days safari
We booked last minute a 9 days safari tour. Communications with Sandra were fine and we could find an agreement on pricing. Unfortunately there weren’t any groups interested in the same itinerary and we needed a private one.
Itinerary was the one we propoused but maybe we missed some suggestions and more clarity.
Regarding the driver-guide, Freddy did a good job in general: he always drived in a secure way during transfers. On the other hand, he was often in the telephone and we missed some briefing before the safaris and some further informations.
Overall it was a nice experience and we reccomend Karibu safaris in Kenia!
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!
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!