Reliable safari packages for international market
Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2008)
- Member Of:
- KATO, Ecotourism Kenya & Travelife
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Sherrie Cronin | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A well-run and friendly company
We did the six day Maasai Mara-Lake Nakuru-Amboseli safari, and an honest review is complicated. (1) The company itself is five star. They are reliable, honest and easy to deal with and I cannot recommend them more highly. It is a little scary making arrangements with people half-way around the world in a place you've never been, so please let me assure you that if you use Flash McTours you are in good hands. (2) The Guide. He (I think they are all hes) is the most important part of your trip. Ours was top-notch. Leonard was knowledgeable and friendly, and he made our safety and enjoyment his priority, often going out of his way to make things right. He is undoubtedly a five-star guide and is probably a five-star human being as well. (3) The equipment. Here we didn't fare so well as two out of our six days were marred by car trouble. This happens. However, we spent two hours standing by the side of a dirt road on our first day due to electrical problems, and finally had to be sent on to our camp in two other vans kind enough to stop and give us rides. At the end of our game drive the second day, the problems resurfaced and although we wanted to go back to camp, we had to join another group willing to take us and spent hours more crowded in with them before we could get home. Leonard did his best under the circumstances and he deserves to be commended. Owner Peter apologized for the inconveniences, but of course it did detract from the trip. (4) Itinerary. It's hard to hold the tour company accountable for travel difficulties, but not offering more options and information is my one complaint. I do have suggestions to help others. You need to ask a lot more questions than I did! (4a) Travel time. Maps and tour descriptions gave me the idea that driving between game reserves would be a 3 to 4 hour process. This is NOT TRUE. Four out of the six days we spent 8 or more hours just traveling from place to place. Not game viewing. This is the time (not mileage) equivalent of deciding to drive from New York City to Salt Lake during a six day vacation meant for other sight seeing. The time on the road itself is exhausting. (4b) Road conditions are worse than you imagine. In particular going to Maasai Mara involves over four hours BOTH ways on a highly rutted single lane dirt road. I live off of highly rutted single lane dirt road in the mountains of North Carolina, so I'm pretty comfortable with one, and I thought the drive was brutal. (4c) Lodging. We all want to travel cheap but it isn't always wise. We paid $90 apiece to upgrade lodging for our single night in Lake Nakuru after reading reviews about the budget alternative, and we are so glad we did. The standard lodging in Amboseli was wonderful. But for our two nights in a budget camp outside of Maasai Mara, we got a substitute for the Rhino camp called Lenchada and we found it to be awful. (Read my review for the many reasons why.) I don't know what options existed for upgrading there, but I highly encourage prospective travelers to ask about them, or at the least to insist on the Rhino camp ahead of time.
Suggestions. Mitigate the driving situation. I wished we had cut out Lake Nakuru completely. While it was lush and pretty, we saw no flamingos and few rhinos and it had nothing else unique to offer. Cutting it would have eliminated 2 entire long days of driving, and another day in the massive Maasai Mara reserve, and one just relaxing in the beautiful Amboseli resort, would have been so much better. Also, consider flying either into or out of Maasai Mara. We were told it is about $300 per person and it would have eliminated one brutal 8 hour drive. Or consider upgrading to one of the jeeps. We thought about it, but it was about $300 more per person and according to Peter, just provided a little better suspension system. Trust me, a better suspension system would have done us a world of good in retrospect.
In summary, Flash McTours is a highly capable company dedicated to showing you as many animals as possible in a short time at a reasonable cost. You need to take responsibility to turn that into an enjoyable vacation. I found Peter to be quite flexible in making modifications that I asked for. I just didn't know what all I needed to modify. I highly encourage others to work with them to design an itinerary that is right for you.
FR
Email Fabien | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great discovery of the wonders of Kenya in a 6 days / 5 nights budget safari
Reactive and reliable communication with Peter, a great help to organize our safari.
Email Rebekka | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great budget travel with amazing service
I really liked the booking experience with Peter who always available and helpful. Also this safari was the cheapest i could find. The safari was great for a budget experience.
DE
Email Carolin +3 | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome 9-day-safari with Edward & 4 leopards
We did a great 9 day tour with Edward to Massai Mara, Nakuru, Amboseli, Hells Gate and Tsavo East/West. It was booked as a budget tour with tented camps, some lodges (mostly outside parks, two inside) and one night of real camping in hells gate. Most of the accommodations exceeded our budget expectations esp. Oldarpoi Camp and Amboseli AA Lodge were very nice.
We were also extremely lucky with animals as we saw 4 leopards altogether, many many lions, 2 cheetahs, several rhino (I don't count elephants, zebras and giraffes anymore) . Saw the big five actually in the 1st two days at Massai Mara. Every park has its highlights and differences. It was wonderful. You need to know that roads to and in the parks can be very rough, though. Journeys to and from the parks were very exhausting, esp.the one to Massai Mara. And good roads in Kenia are generally full of overloaded and very slow lorries. Nothing much FlashMC can do about that, maybe improvement of suspension on the safari bus. ;)
Our guide and driver Edward managed all those things most greatly though. He is a well organized, very responsible und very lovable guy and a skilled driver too. We had a lot of fun together and he even taught us a Kenian card game (so bring a pack of cards). ;) Peter, the tour manager, is also a very nice guy, working hard to please every customer. He even met us persoally just to say hello. I am a very controlling person, so I asked a lot of questions beforehand which Peter answered all duly. Thus nearly everything went as planned. Upon request Peter also organized a day in Hells Gate incl. pitching tents inside the park with an extra guide who did a bicycle and canyon tour with us and also a cook for evening dinner. This was extremely cool and very adventurous. Merely the tents (brought by the extra guide) were in pretty chaotic and bad condition. Luckily our own camping experience made it all work out that night (of course we feedbacked all this to Peter). ;) Thank you, Edward and Peter!! We won't forget this great holiday!
Email Veronica | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Super organisation and service
Peter had organised a 2 nights and 3 days safari in Lake Naivasha & Nakuru, with a stopover on Hells Gate + Crescent Island for us. We had a great organisation and everything was ready for us.
Good cars / guides / service at the hotels or restaurants he had booked for us.
We were two women travelling by ourselves and we felt very well taken care of. Safari for princesses :)
Email Reggie | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Once we were on the safari, it was excellent!
Pros
+ Safari vehicle
+ Safari camp - Kibo Safari Camp: Beat expectations for accommodations, service and food.
+ Safari: Amboseli NP - great variety of animals to be seen. Great long weekend get-a-way!
+ Hotel pickup & airport dropoff.
+ Staff: driver was safe and courteous.
Cons:
- Traffic to and from Nairobi was absolutely horrible.
- Third person added to safari which was unannounced by tour operator. Caused 1 1/2 hour delay.
FR
Email Aurore | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great time around lakes and volcano
We had a great time on this three days trip. James our guide was amazing and Edward half guide half driver friendly. Lake Nakuru is incredibly beautiful. We saw rhinos and a lion on a tree. Peter was always answering and trying to do his best to make our trip memorable. Once we had a problem with the hotel. He solved it quickly. Always with smile and with respect and sympathy.
QA
Email Riddhi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience. Knowledgeable tour guide and decent stays
Everything was great.. only stay at masai mara could have been better. Tour guide Edward was good.
Reply from Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel
Posted on Aug 21, 2019Jambo Riddhi,
Thank you for travelling with us on our 6 days Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru & Amboseli Economy Safari, and taking time to provide a feedback on your safari experience.
We appreciate your positive feedback on the guide and the tour.
As for the Masai Mara accommodations, we offered you different accommodation options to choose from, and based on your budget, you chose that one you stayed at in Masai Mara, however I had given an option to upgrade the accommodation at a fee, but that was not possible due to budget constraint.
We shall however keep you observation in mind and advise, future safari prospects on the same.
Hopefully this shall not be your last Africa holiday safari in Kenya. From us to you we say, "Asante & Welcome Again!"
AR
Email Mel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari Holiday
We recently returned from an incredible honeymoon safari with Africa Flash, and despite some initial hiccups, we can't praise them enough!
The team tailored our trip to perfection, notifying hotels of our special occasion and ensuring a warm welcome. The carefully curated itinerary took us to stunning hotels and national parks, exceeding our expectations.
Our exceptional guide, Simon, was the true highlight. His expertise and passion for wildlife shone through as he skillfully maneuvered us into prime viewing positions, often mere feet from the animals. Simon's constant communication with other guides ensured we were always in the right place at the right time.
However, there were some areas for improvement:
• Africa Flash forgot to inform us that we needed a visa for Kenya, which caused unnecessary stress upon arrival. Thankfully, they expedited the visa process at the airport.
• On the first day, there was a miscommunication, and our guide wasn't aware of our arrival, leaving us waiting at the airport for over 3 hours.
• Communication regarding our lost luggage issue could have been better. While they ultimately resolved the issue, it took over a week, and we would have appreciated more frequent updates.
Despite these issues, we wholeheartedly recommend Africa Flash, particularly Simon, for an unforgettable safari experience. Their attention to detail, flexibility, and dedication to customer satisfaction make them truly exceptional.
HK
Email Wai | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
All arranged but slow to respond.
We shortlisted FlashMc and another operator because they were the only two out of ten that reached us after the Gen Z protest. We chose FlashMc because it was flexible with our request of not staying in Nairobi. As other posts were saying, Peter is great in planning and replying to the customers, but once selected, the communication is gone.
Don't get me wrong, the trip was fantastic. Simon the guide was funny, knowledgeable and loves his job. The lodges arranged were great. But customers need the usual communication like what is the progress, when payment should be made, who would be picking up at the airport etc. Customers pay thousands of dollars and fly thousands of miles, and may have planned this trip for months. A bit of reassure from time to time would be nice.
There are a lot more than what cameras can capture. Seeing with your own eyes is more enjoyable than making your own Planet Earth channel.
