Baboon Budget Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- KATO, KTB & Ministry Of Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $700 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
NL
Email Mark | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great value for money
We've had a wonderful three day safari in the Maasai Mara, although we ended up with eight people instead of four (which they said before). Also the pickup on our first day was 1,5 hours too late but the group was fun and it all worked out well. Our guide Ambrose worked hard to provide an amazing experience. Accommodation was fine. Not super fancy but hey, it's called Budget Safaris for a reason. Great value for money!
US
Email Katie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The director Dennis Solomon is a incompetent and is only worried about money. No respect.
I was super excited about the safari, and the lady who helped us book was so nice, even our driver to the safari was so nice. The issue was on the second day ( we did only two days one night), logistics was awful. We were told to meet the tour guide at 6 am only to find out, the tour we were suppose to be on left. We spent the next 45 mins in the safari searching for that said group, only to find out they were finished in the park, so we parted the park to return to Nairobi. We were suppose to spend three hours in the safari. All while my husband did not have a seat in the van ( over crowded) so he sat on the floor- literally where you put your feet. When we discussed this with the direct of baboon budget his response was; “ who told you you would have a seat, you can stand”, which was not of course what we paid for. After some time explaining his only response to our cristicms was, “ oh you people- I know people like you- you are just never sastified, you just want to complain and get money”. We were of course only relaying our complaints. We ( my husband and I) spent 520.00 usd ( 240 a person, plus surcharge for using debit machine), and spent less than three hours actually touring the safari. Logistics are awful and the director does not care about the costumer.
PT
Email Mariana Cancela | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best tour, our guide Ambrose is great!
The tour is the best, I enjoyed all. Our guide, Ambrose, did everything for us to make the most of the park and see all the animals, I saw everyone! The food is also good! The hotel and camp accommodation it's confortable and all the staff it's friendly and helpfull. The massai mara Park it's amazing. I really recommend to go with Baboon, they are efficient, fun, and the most important thing is that you are safe with them, definitely going back one day!
AE
Email Empire L | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Budget Tour - Similar to More Expensive Tours for Half the Cost
3.5 Stars
We booked a 9-day tour with Budget Baboon Safari. The process was relatively easy. Emails were responded to quickly. A deposit of 20% was needed through a wire transfer or via African PayPal (forgot what they call it). I did a wire transfer after reading about the possible challenges and pitfalls of African PayPal.
PROS:
Good drivers. We had Mike in Kenya, and he went out of his way to ensure that you saw animals, and that you could see animals up close. The vehicle didn't break down (you'll see or hear stories). We were upgraded to a newer campsite, which was nice. It had running water, albiet no hot water, it had WiFi although spotty (what do you expect in the middle of nature). Food was decent. We went in October and saw many animals in a short period of time.
Tanzania, we were contracted out to 7 Wonders, then to 3 Wonders. Frank was our second driver, he was excellent. Not a lot of info, but good driver, took you to see what you wanted. Set up camps. Food was decent. Fun to camp out in the wilderness with the animals. Serengeti is much larger than Masai Mara in Kenya, and therefore, in October, we spent more time driving to find the animals.
CONS
We were picked up from the airport, but ended up waiting for hours for another couple's delayed flight, who didn't even come on our tour anyway. We were only 20 minutes from our hotel, but the driver said it would take hours "due to traffic," to take us to the hotel. Google Maps did not indicate this. Locals confirmed there is not hours of traffic at night. Furthermore, looking on the other side of the road driving into town, at night, showed no traffic at all.
One more con, has to do with us booking Tanzania through this company. So you understand, they do contract out for Tanzania. We were forgotten at our hotel and had to text, email, then call to get a response.
I will say this, they did correct the mistake by: taking us to the museum and paying for entry. They also upgraded our hotel in Tanzania. The owner, Dennis, also came and apologized personally. You can tell he cares about the business and his reputation and customer experience.
There was poor communication from there-on-out. We were originally told we'd be met at Tanzania-Kenya border heading south. We were not. We were told we'd then be met at bus stop in Arusha. No one was there. We had to text again to tour operator in Tanzania, 7 Wonder Tours, to get picked up. We waited about 20-30 minutes, not too bad.
In Tanzania the vehicle broke down twice, once we waited over two hours for them to "fix," it. It was a broken brake cylinder, but instead the replaced the break drums, which were completely shot.
First driver we had, we only had for part about 4 hours, for a short drive, and he demanded a tip of at least $10/person. When we offered him less, he refused, got angry and walked off.
OVERALL: Remember, you are on a budget tour, and you are in a developing country. Things will not always run on time. If you do Kenya/Tanzania, the company will farm you out to another company to get you into a vehicle and on safari. Don't worry, this is normal. Your vehicle may break down, we heard this from others as well. Makes sense, they drive these vehicles daily over rough terrain, part of the experience. Last, we did ask other tourists how much they paid...we were paying less for the same trip! You can't beat cheaper. In the end we saw what we wanted to see.
Email Steve Jones | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent wildlife adventure
Amazing. Joseph your a star. The experience of seeing African willdlife so close in such iconic surroundings is an experience you can never forget. Given the value for money it’s hard to complain, campsites were of a good standard although the one at Amboseli could have been cleaner. Baboon let us down by not picking me up at hotel to meet my wife at the airport and worse did not pick my wife up at the airport, so she landed at Nairobi early hours of the morning to a strange place without baboon there to meet her. Emails & phone calls went unanswered as to why they failed. Would have been 5* because of this.
Our driver/guide Joseph made the whole experience memeroble with extensive knowledge & good humour. Thank you so much.
ES
Email Luis | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice experience
Good work. All was very good organizated. The guide was very profesional and the places were wonderful
IN
Email Sanu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome!!
The service of all staff was exceptional. Specially the Safari driver /guide Mr Ambrose was an awesome person who made sure all communication was clear, we we're at the right place at the right time ensuring we spot the big 5. Also did Mt Kenya trek with Mr Ken and he was an exceptional good mountain guide. Very happy with Baboon safari giving the best of mountain/safari guides.
BZ
Email Stephanie | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A fantastic and exciting Safari experience
Our experience was beyond expectations from day one! Solomon was an awesome guide who drove us between four different parks over the course of a week. He made sure he knew what we wanted to see and went out of his way to find it! We saw way more wildlife than I could have ever imagined and Solomon knew the parks so well that we always got a great view (and never got stuck!) I always felt safe with him, whether on the insane highways or stuck in animal traffic jams. I thought it was great that we always traveled in groups in case we or another van had problems. The only downside was the food was quite plain, but you're not on safari for the food!
Epic
Our safari guide, Solomon, was truly exceptional. After twelve years of doing these tours, he still treats every cat sighting like it’s a thrill. There was so much more excitement than I anticipated and a lot of that was due to him. He was knowledgeable and passionate and I’d encourage anyone with $742 USD to spend it going to Lake Nakuru (plus boat safari), Masai Mara and Amboseli with Solomon.
SA
Email Shamsudheen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome experience
Valuable for
