Beacon Safaris Team in Masai Mara
Beacon Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $120 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
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Email Dan A | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience with a lot of driving
We had an unforgettable experience on safari in Kenya with Beacon Safaris. Beacon Safaris was excellent, and managed to put together a last-minute, partly customized, competitively priced 8-day itinerary for us about a week before we left for our trip. (I would strongly recommend booking much further in advance--we lucked out because it was not the high season.) Everything went smoothly, we saw an incredible amount of game, and the price was a bit lower than a few similar quotes we received. While I'm sure there are many good tour operators, I would strongly recommend Beacon Safaris.
We spent one night at Serena Mountain Lodge at Mt. Kenya NP, two nights at Samburu/Buffalo Springs, one night at Sweetwaters/Ol Pejata, one night at Lake Nakuru, and finally two nights at Masai Mara. It was a very busy itinerary with a lot of driving--sometimes for long stretches on pretty rough dirt roads. Many might prefer to visit only 3 parks and stay for longer at each one, but each park was quite different and unique and we saw animals at each park that we didn't see at other parks.
Our guide, Ken, was friendly and knowledgeable. He was very good at spotting and identifying game. My mother was very interested in birding, and so Ken went out of his way to point out unusual and interesting birds. He seemed to be well connected with other guides, as they would frequently share tips with each other. He was quite assertive about getting our vehicle into the best possible position for photos, particularly of carnivores like leopards, lions, and cheetahs when there was a swarm of other tour vehicles. He was quite patient about stopping for anything we wanted to look at and did not rush us when we were taking photos, etc.
The only real downside was the amount of driving in our very busy itinerary, including some pretty long drives on very bumpy, dusty, unpaved roads going from Ol Pejata to Lake Nakuru and from Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara. The distance between the parks was somewhat further than we realized and several days began with a 4-5 hour drive to get from one park to another. If I had it to do again, and had the budget, I might consider trying to visit fewer parks for longer and/or flying rather than driving.
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Email Mark | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing experience in Kenya!
My wife and I toured the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate in a 4x4 Landcruiser on private safari and had the time of our lives! We saw every animal of our dreams and took in the perfect landscapes in awe. Beacon was a top operator, allowing for full customization and providing great customer support throughout the booking process. The real star, however, was our guide, Antony. Highly professional, knowledgeable and friendly he took the safari to another level. He seemed to know all the other guides, was forever finding a tip for the next animal and put us in perfect spots for great photos. Antony was also knowledgeable and able to explain the names and behaviors of any animal or bird to be seen. Lastly, his attention to detail and client service stands out. Without saying so, we could tell he listened for queues and tailored his guiding to what he observed us most excited to see. I'd recommend Kenya, Beacon and Antony to anyone!
RU
Email Yaroslav | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect budget safaris
That was our very first safari and everything went smoothly. Communications with tour organizer was easy and fast. Our guide was true professional so in three days we covered almost all of Massai Mara and saw everything possible.
Highly reccomended - price to quality ratio is brilliant!
IT
Email Alessandro | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
In Beacon Safari we trust! Unforgettable 5 days safari (with BIG 5)
Duration: 5 days (February 2019)
Private tour (2 person)
Location: Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha (Kenya)
Accomodation: Fisi camp (Budget), Masai Mara - Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge (Mid-range), Lake Nakuru
Vehicle: pop-up roof minivan
Going on a safari in Africa is a new experience for me. I approached it with some trepidation, and chose the safari operator based on reviews on the internet. It worked out perfectly! Communication with Robert (the owner) was courteous and ABSOLUTELY clear. But, the most important part of the safari, in my opinion, is your GUIDE. He is the one that will make or break your trip. Our guide Eric definitely contributed to make this trip unforgettable, thanks to his professionalism, friendliness and great commitment to show the best of this beautiful nature and wildlife in Lake Nakuru and the incredible Masai Mara. Yes, we were able (and lucky) to see all Big Fives! Perfectly organized and conducted Safari. We found the itinerary, camps, food, etc. all to our satisfaction. All the accomodations they recommended were very good (a special mention for Fisi Camp in Masai Mara).
Beacon Safari made our stay in Kenya feel easy, fun and safe. So, based on my experience, I highly recommend this company.
If you have any questions or would like to see some safari pics just message me or visit my website: www.amphotography.it
Good luck!
Alessandro
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Email Kellie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Safari with a great company!
Beacon Safaris organised an amazing tour of Lake Nakuru and Maasai Mara for us. The service was very professional and Anthony our driver was extremely knowledgable about the animals and was able to answer every question we had. We saw all of the big 5 which was brilliant. We stayed in the Mara Sopa lodge and the Lake Nakuru sopa lodge which were both gorgeous hotels. The food provided was delicious. The days are jam packed from morning until night so definitely be prepared for days full of activities.
EG
Email Farah Kassem | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience with amazing operator!
I’m pretty overwhelmed with this experience. It’s one of a kind experience that one wouldn’t want to miss out on.
I’ve dealt with beacon safaris and they were able to get back to all my requests and made sure they did their best. I had Robert (the guy managing the safaris) on WhatsApp and I would bombard him with questions and he would get back to me so quickly regardless of the time.
What made this experience even more amazing was our guide: Anthony. Anthony is amazing on so many levels. He’s extremely friendly, patient, knowledgeable and has a really good eye to spot animals. He made sure we got to see the big 5 and every single animal that is mentioned in the description. He took us to amazing spots to get amazing pictures. He was in touch with all the other guides to make sure we don’t miss out on anything and would drive quickly whenever any of his colleagues spotted something to make sure we don’t miss it out. It was a four day safari and it was pretty hectic, Anthony drove for Long hours but this did not affect his level of enthusiasm and friendliness. He has been continuously smiling and passing out information for four consecutive days. He made sure he gave us all the information and knowledge he had regarding all the animals we saw. I would definitely recommend beacon safaris and Anthony for anyone going to Kenya for a Safari.
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Email Chelly A. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing 7 days! Highly recommend!
I took my 2 teenage girls and my parents on the 7 day Kenya's Finest Safari. We saw Samburu, Ol Pajeta, Nakuru and the Masai Mara. Every location took our breath away! From the moment we were picked up at the airport by Peter, everything was handled!! Peter was so nice and knowledgeable. He really loves his job and wanted us to have a great time. He was taking pics right along with us, as he loves the animals so much!
Robert was great to work with from the moment I sent the first email.
Highly recommend this company!!!
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Email Nik | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We have seen everything, not only the big fives!!!
We have seen everything, not only the big fives!!!
We miss only the black rhino, that is a good reason to come back in the future !
A great thanks to Eric (the unstoppable Eric) our drive that let's this possible and that was very pleasant and determined to give us the best experience possible.
Also the selection of the camps was very good.
Very recommended
Email Alba&Nicolò | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Kenya!
We did 7 days safari with our fantastic driver Eric.
We had the best time ever! We are so glad we chose Beacon Safaris for our trip, it was incredible, better than we could hoped!
Eric was so knowledge, we learnt a lot, not just about animals but about Kenya as a country. We enjoyed our game drives, every day was different to the next. We saw absolutely all the animals and Eric went out of his way to find our favorite ones.
We started from Nairobi to Amboseli National park, and from the first moment all was incredible (I.e. we saw lions and elephants in the sunset, not bad to start!). We stayed in Kibo safari Camp 2 nights to move later to Nakuru Lake where we saw rhinos, and then 3 nights in Masai Mara (Ashnail Mara camp) to finalized our real film:see cheetah hunting, be present in the meddle of the great migration, see full families of lions, giraffes, elephants, hippos, etc. The last day we came back to Nairobi directly to the airport.
All the accommodations were amazing, full of attention and good food.
Our trip was amazing because of beacon safaris and Eric, we totally recommend them!
Thank you! We will back!
Alba&Nicolò
DK
Email Allan Hyldal | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Kenyan Safari!
Visiting Africa and going on a Safari for the first time, you really don’t know what to expect. Through Safaribookings.com we quickly zoomed in on Beacon Safaris as they offered the locations we were looking for and they had amazing reviews. Robert, the owner of Beacon, was quick to respond and very flexible in accommodating our special requests: we started out with an 8-Day Best of Kenya Safari and ended up with 9 fantastic days through which we feel we got a good understanding of the true Kenya.
In the morning of our first safari day we were picked up at the hotel by our guide Daniel. We were going to spend the majority of the next 9 days with him, so no wonder we were a little anxious to meet him: what if we didn’t get along - that would make it 9 very long days... Now, Daniel turned out to be one of the nicest persons we have ever met; very knowledgeable about his country, it’s parks and animals, and it’s customs and politics (when spending so much time together you do get to speak about topics other than the Big Five). Make no mistake about it, your guide is the most essential part of a successful safari and Daniel is the best ambassador his company and his country could ever ask for.
And how did our safari go? We saw everything we came for - and several times. We saw big families of elephants and giraffes grassing the savannah and crossing rivers. We saw a leopard with her cub chilling in an old tree top. We saw lions hunting and eating a wildebeest. We saw a huge group of hippos hanging out in a mud pool. We saw lots of black and white rhinos (in Ol Pejeta we even got to feed sugar canes to the old and blind black rhino Baraka). We saw thousands and thousands of wildebeest migrating from the Serengeti through the Masai Mara - including their spectacular crossing of the Mara river. And we saw cheetahs, buffalos, gazelles, crocodiles, hyeanas and many, many other animals. Daniel made sure we were always at the right spot at the right time!
Finally, a few pieces of advice:
Make sure you go for the Land Cruiser; is does cost a little extra but it is money well spend (regardless, however, you will be aching all over after the long and bumpy drives).
Make sure you pick a least a few tented camp; it’s a unique experience to hear the sounds of the savannah at night and you feel as if you’re almost sleeping with the wild animals (which is a good thing on a safari...).
Be aware that the roads in Kenya can be as bad as you can possibly imagine. As a consequence, getting from one park to another will be quite time consuming.
And make sure you ask for Daniel to be your guide and everything will be just fine!