Ker & Downey® Africa staff
Ker & Downey Africa
- Located In:
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United Kingdom
- Size:
- 50-100 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- APTA, SATSA, CTT & Safe Travels
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $500 to $950 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email William G | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
East Africa Epic Excellence
This review may be as long as the wait for our pandemic postponed trip to East Africa, but I want to acknowledge everyone that made it so special. Ker Downey Africa team lead by Sarah Morris and Peter Pittendirgh took every request, wish and desire and designed and delivered the most wonderful luxury adventure, exceeding our every expectations.
Our driver greeted us upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro Airport and escorted us to Elewana's Arusha Coffee Plantation Lodge for a good night's rest after the long flights from the US. The next morning, we met Charmy, our Ker Downey driver and guide, who was with us for two days. He took care of our every need from shopping to guiding our game drives through Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. The two nights at Gibbs Farm were made special by the comfortable furnishings and nightly fires in the fireplace of our cozy cottage. The well prepared meals were fresh farm to table. A private dinner was prepared for us in celebration of our 45th wedding anniversary.
The flights to the Serengeti were flawless. Octavian, our Asilia Sayari Camp guide, met us upon arrival. He took us immediately on a personalized game drive before checking us in at the camp. Sayari Camp is a luxury tented safari lodging. Eric and the rest of the staff were friendly and attentive. We witnessed two wildebeest crossings of the Mara River, a true highlight.
Travel from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya is a little complicated. A small plane flight to motor coach. A drive to two immigration offices, followed by a motor coach ride to another small plane flight to Elewana's Sand River Camp.
Sand River Camp is on the banks of the peaceful and tranquil Sand River. Outstanding game drives with our Masai guide, Alex. World class cuisine prepared by the kitchen staff for ever meal. Hot Air Balloon Safari delivered a awesome balloon ride over the Masai Mara. True highlight.
After leaving the Masai Mara, we overnighted at the Hemingway Nairobi, an outstanding property and Ker Downey Africa arranged a visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Elephant Orphanage. If you are in Nairobi, this is a must see. An incredible conservation effort to rescue and care for the elephants orphaned by human wildlife conflict and drought.
We flew to Rwanda and were met by Eric, our driver and guide for our last three days of our trip. After a night's stay in Kigali Serena Hotel, Eric drove us to Volcanoes National Park and The Singita Kwitonda Lodge. Kwitonda Lodge is probably the finest accommodations we have ever stayed. Rob and his staff provide a level of service second to none. Jonas, our personal attendant, took care of us 24 hours a day.
The Gorilla trek was beyond words. We spent an hour plus with the "Igisha" family of over thirty gorillas, including five silverbacks.
The next day we trekked the Golden Monkeys. Again, a lifetime experience. The only regret was we only stay two nights at Singita Kwitonda Lodge.
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Email Tom and Kim | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Africa Changed Our Lives
We booked our Travel through Ker & Downey and they handled everything perfectly. We had never been on a Safari and we left our itinerary up to Ker & Downey. Sarah was our primary contact and she booked us at 3 different safari lodges to give us a sample of 3 different game reserves. Then we spent 4 days in Cape Town which was also magnificent. Rather than write all the details of the trip I will just leave you with two major thoughts that will hopefully address any concerns you might have about traveling to South Africa.
1. Don't hesitate to use Ker & Downey. Their service was absolutely perfect and we had no delays. They had someone meet us at the end of each flight and we had the best tour guide that one could have for Cape Town. We had a party of 5 people and everything went like clock work!
2. If you have ever considered a Safari but for what ever reason have not taken the step, DO IT!!! It truly changed our perceptions of South Africa and wildlife. The people were incredible and we had the opportunity to get up close to some amazing animals. Every scene had a story for example; watching a leopard guard it's kill while also guarding it's cub as a hyena circled the tree. Lions on a hunt for Impala. They were so close we could touch them. Elephants drinking out of our pool at one lodge. They were so close you could have touched them. On and On!! Just GO and let Ker Downey take care of the details. As they say, You Only Live Once so do a trip of a lifetime. We are already working on our next trip to beautiful Africa!!
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Email Susan and Bill | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ker & Downey was reliable, knowledgeable, responsive making our legacy trip spectacular
The trip was really great and one of the biggest reasons from my perspective was that the logistics were executed perfectly by K&D taking an enormous load off my shoulders and allowing me to enjoy the vacation as much as the rest of my family.
We arrived in J'burg at night, left the next morning for our first game resort (Rock Fig), travelled to Rhino Post, then Cape Town, and finally Mosaic Lagoon. Every transfer was spot on, our tour guide in Cape Town was excellent, and having WhatsApp as a fallback every step of the way was reassuring - although largely unnecessary given how well you did your job.
Our flight to J'burg was delayed but that was a non-issue since K&D were on top of the arrivals. I left something on the plane (my own stupidity) and K&D helped immediately when we used WhatsApp to get some assistance. Other than those very small wrinkles, the trip went off beautifully.
Rock Fig was probably the highlight. It was small, exquisitely run, and gave us the perfect introduction to game drives. Rhino Post was less luxe and our guide more green but we still valued the chance to be in Kruger Park proper and we saw different wildlife and flora. We really valued our guide in Cape Town and probably should have spent another day in the city. Our final stop, Mosaic Lagoon, was in a spectacular setting and was a relaxing vacation from our vacation but we couldn't take full advantage of its offerings because the weather was a bit iffy limiting our chance to get on the water to whale watch.
I usually plan our family vacations but I knew I needed help planning such a big trip. I cannot even remember how I landed on K and D but I am so happy I did and I am spoiled now. Not sure I want to go back to being my own travel agent ever again.
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Email Heather | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent company
We booked through Jumbari Family Safaris, which is a subpart of Ker & Downey. I actually planned the trip in early 2020 before COVID became a pandemic and Jenieen worked with me to plan which areas would be best to fit our needs in terms of lodges and the animals we wanted to see. After a couple postponements, Peter took over for Jenieen and answered MANY questions I asked from time to time while we waited to see if the trip would happen or not due to COVID. He was always gracious and fully answered me, which I appreciated. The trip went exactly as they said, in terms of representatives meeting us from planes, tour guides arriving to pick us up, border crossings - it all went smoothly. We saw every animal on our list and some more we didn't even think we would see. All the lodges that were arranged for us were wonderful and fit our needs perfectly. The staff at the lodges were great, the guides were great, the drivers were great. I really appreciate that every last detail was handled and when I had questions along the way on the trip, there was a WhatsApp chat ready for me to ask and I was always answered promptly. I picked this company based on other positive reviews and I'm glad I did. They won't disappoint.
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Email Yifeng Wang | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The entire team is professional and excellent in their work. Very thoughtful, Highly recommend!
Everyone in our family enjoyed this wonderfully planned trip very much. The Victoria Falls were magnificent; the safari was magical; the Capetown was mesmerizing; the Babylonstoren Farm was masterfully built and maintained. We loved the cozy cottage and the food there was incredible. It is truly once in a life time trip. Many thanks to Ker & Downey Africa team and especially Lauren and Gavin. Highly recommend and will talk again for our next Africa trip.
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Email Teri | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
High School Graduation Trip
Our 19 & 19 year old granddaughters chose a trip to Africa as their destination. They graduated June 2022 and we started planning the trip with Sarah a year before our departure. I have been to Africa many times before and really wanted to see the migration of the wildebeests in Tanzania to Kenya. So the trip was designed around that request. The girls wanted to see Giraffes and Hernias. We were successful and saw our requests. My husband is a photographer and he was able to shot wonderful pictures on our 11 day trip.
We were taken care of from the moment we landed to the time we had to say good bye to Africa.
We experienced 5 different camps and each one offered a different look at Africa.
Sarah and Peter were always available before our trip and had everything mapped out for us.
The transfers from camp to camp went very smoothly and we were always with a guide to help us with our luggage and get us to where we were going next.
The camps were able to take care of our dietary needs as one of our granddaughters is a vegetarian .
All in all our trip was a memory our granddaughters will always carry with them
As a side note I have used Ker & Downey 4 times now.
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Email Stephanie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible safari experience!
We absolutely loved working with Ker & Downey who helped us book our travel in Cape Town and our safari in Botswana. They worked with us on our budget and put together the perfect itinerary for what we were looking for. The safari portion was the big highlight! They curated the most unbelievable lodges with amazing wildlife sightings. We were blown away by the staff, food, lodging, and professionalism. We 100% recommend Ker & Downey for your travel needs! They will not disappoint.
CA
Email Suzanne P | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sarah and Peter from Ker & Downey looked after us from start to finish
We were very happy with Ker & Downey and will definitely deal with them again for any future safari adventures. All of our logistical and other worries were speedily dealt with by the Ker & Downey team. They organized a spectacular 12-day safari adventure for the three of us that took us to three different camps. Our safari in Botswana exceeded any and all of our expectations. We were fortunate to be upgraded all the way and enjoyed a very high level of personalized service and attention throughout our holiday. We had no problems travelling despite Covid restrictions and felt very safe and secure at all times.
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Email Katie Jackson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding!
I can’t imagine planning a future trip to Africa without the help of Ker & Downey Africa! They did such a wonderful job arranging my 8-night itinerary in South Africa that included stays at three unique properties (they handpicked for me) and two internal flights. Knowing experts had planned my trip I was able to enjoy it without worrying about what could go wrong. Based on my experience I’m under the impression that they only work with the best properties and tour guides. As a travel journalist I’ve stayed at hundreds of hotels and lodges and have met hundreds of tour guides so I should know. I also appreciated the attention to detail that went into creating my itinerary as well as the constant communication. I even reached out to them one Saturday morning before 8 am and I got a reply within minutes! They also made themselves available to assist me with anything after my itinerary was over and I was enjoying an extra week in Cape Town. It would be an honor to travel with Ker & Downey again. If you have the opportunity to, definitely don’t hesitate!
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Email Amira Berzi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very attentive to our wishes and needs and very personable.
Communication with Sarah Morris at Ker & Downey was extremely comfortable and helpful from the first time she contacted me. She arranged an itinerary for us according to our needs which fit perfectly and she adjusted for our feedback on the first suggested itinerary very well. The whole trip was a wonderful experience and very memorable in large part thanks to the good organisation and perfect choices for accommodation, transport and pace of trip. The whole team was attentive to us before and during the trip and made us feel very well taken care of. I could not recommend anyone better to organise a trip to Namibia.