Experience the Wildlife remains at Mara Masai
Ancient Wild Safaris
- Located In:
-
India
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2000)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $480 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Marina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great trip with Josef and the gang!
We booked 11 days budget safari and the whole experience was just amazing. Great accommodation, great food and experienced guide. Highly recommended.
Everything has to be paid in cash at departure but there is a Barclays bank with security right in front of the office . Mike and Kennedy, who manage the company from Nairobi, walked us there to help us sort everything out. They are honest and caring people, who helped us way more than they were supposed to (for example, they organised dinner for us outside of the tour and gave us tips before and after our trip). If you want to ask more specific questions feel free to contact me at emgei90[at]yahoo[dot]it !
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Email Michael Pare | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The 'Big 5' and More!
I was very impressed with my experience from start to Finish. Mike communicated very well through the planning process and our driver and guide, Joseph took over from there. Joseph was amazing. His knowledge of the Masai Mara is very good and he managed to get us to see the big five on the first day! We were on a five day trip and Joseph gave us different options along the way and let us dictate the flow of the safari. This was the first of four safaris on this trip and they certainly set the tone. Two thumbs up!!
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Email Mary | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome experience! Mike and his crew were wonderful, and go out of their way!
I felt Mike was on top of communication, and we knew what to expect before we even arrived. I would recommend this company to anyone traveling to Africa. We even had a flight delay out of Nairobi, and Mike got us one of his drivers to take us around to different sites.
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Email Don | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Driver for the afternoon.
I was coming into Nairobi in the morning and wanted a driver for the afternoon to visit the Elephant and Giraffe sanctuary parks. The hotel offered a driver but was 3 times the price than was the local going rate was. I contacted Ancient Safaris based on positive reviews from Trip Advisor. I arranged wit Michael to have a driver meet us at 3pm and stay with us for three hours. Michael was great communicating with me ebfore we made final arrangements.
On the day before our trip, I was busy getting ready to travel and didn't confirm the pickup right before we left. However, on the day of our arrival, a driver showed up at 3pm as promised and we had a lovely afternoon at a reasonable price. I would definitely use Ancient Safaris again and highly recommend them if you need a driver in Nairobi.
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Email David | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
great guide
Our guide, Joseph, was incredibly knowledgeable about the wildlife. He was also quite kind and had a good sense of humour. He picked us up from our Nairobi hotel and we went to Amboseli first. There were many elephants and a great view of Kilimanjaro when the weather permitted. Then we went to Nakuru, but for whatever reason, nobody around that time was seeing any rhinos, so it wasn't too worthwhile of a stop - everything we saw there could be seen in other parks. We stopped briefly at Lake Naivasha on the way to Nakuru and took a boat trip, seeing many birds and hippos. That was worth it.
The Kenya portion of our safari ended at Masai Mara which was so majestic. We saw the big 5 all quite close (except for rhino). Joseph was in constant communication with other guides on his radio to take us quickly to any interesting sightings.
He drove us to the Tanzania border to meet our new guide. That worked out smoothly, and was a much better alternative to what had been originally suggested to us by the Tanzanian tour provider - a drive all the way back to Nairobi and then the "tourist shuttle bus" to Arusha.
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Email Veena | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An experience worth lifetime !
Our Kenya tour experience was truly amazing with Ancient wild safari. Mr. Michael is very professional and is prompt in replying to any query put forth. It was a seven day trip which includes masai mara, Lake nakuru, Naivasha and Amboseli. Our driver Mr. Paul, who picked and dropped us from the airport was very friendly. Our guides Mr. Wanjao and Mr.Joseph had amazing knowledge about the parks and animals, and made our experience really great! We learned a lot about Kenya and its people as well. We were on a budget safari. The accommodation in every place we stayed was really nice. We had our own private bathroom with a shower in our room, mosquito nets, power outlets to charge electronics, and we received three hot meals a day. When we were on game drives, we had packed lunch. We are pure vegetarians. Our guides made sure that we received only veg food at all times. Thanks for this. At the end of each day, our guides would brief us about the following day’s plan and let us know what time we need to be ready for the next day.
Thank you Mr. Michael and your team for making this trip truly memorable.
I would also like to thank the website safari bookings.com which helped me find Ancient Wild Safaris.
In our opinion, Ancient Wild Safaris is a reliable company and we highly recommend it.
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Email M Pare | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bucket list adventure
My entire experience was amazing right from the original booking to the actual safari. Mike kept us well informed along the way. For the actual safar, Joseph was our guide and driver and did an amazing job. He gave us some options along the way and let us dictate the flow. Joseph already found us the "big five" on the first day and did his best to give us the best vantage point. By the end of the safari we had seen every animal on my list which was beyond my expectations. I highly recommend Ancient Wild Safaris!!
Email Kamal | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Bespoke tour! Many thanks to Joseph and Mike.
My wife and I went for a trip to East Africa and Ancient Safaris organised a tour for us in Kenya. I have been in contact with Mike months before our trip. He was very responsive by email and then WhatsApp. Our plan was to stay in Nairobi for 3 nights before heading to Tanzania and Mike offered us two private tours actually. One to Naivasha and Hell's gate for one day and another to Amboselli for one night (and two half days) + Drop off at Tanzania's border. To be honest we were not expecting such an excellent service for the amount that we paid. Our guide Joseph was very friendly and knowledgeable about wildlife in East Africa. Chatting with him was a real pleasure. We learned a lot about Kenya and its people as well. Accommodation in Amboselli was luxurious! We were offered a spacious and stunning lodge in Kibo Safari Camp. I need to highlight that Mike was very understanding and flexible as we changed dates and plan a couple of times. I think the fact that Ancient Safaris is not one of those massive Safari companies makes them more flexible and able to sort out tours tailored to everyone's budget and plan. Least but not last, Mike was very trustworthy as we paid most of the amount by bank transfer weeks before!
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Email Arjun | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Day Trip to Hell's Gate National Park and the Rift Valley
My wife and I did a day trip with AWS in December 2015. The tour and safari were both spectacular and the overall experience was excellent.
Joseph picked us up from the airport and made great time to the Rift Valley and Hell's Gate National Park. He was very knowledgeable, friendly and a great driver. While enroute we stopped at various picturesque locations and during the safari he not only found a wide variety of animals but also educated us on the flora and fauna of the area. The trip included a walking trip through an ancient riverbed canyon led by a local Masai. It takes a full day and is totally worth it.
Before the trip, the booking process and getting clarifications with Mike were very simple affairs and we would book with this company again, in a heartbeat.
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Email James | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience! Ancient Wild Safaris took amazing care of us!
My wife and I went on a 7-day safari to Samburu, Lake Naivasha, Hell’s Gate, and Maasai Mara through Ancient Wild Safaris for our honeymoon and we couldn’t have possibly been more pleased!! From the very beginning of booking, Michael was very helpful and happy to accommodate a few special requests we had (adding an extra day in Maasai Mara to the itinerary). They offered to pick us up directly from the airport, but we wanted to arrive a day early to help with the time change adjustment. Michael and Joseph (our guide for all seven days) arrived right on time at our hotel the next morning, and Mike went over the entire itinerary in great detail. Joseph was an amazing guide! He listened to what we wanted, kept track of all the animals we’d seen, and would continually find and spot more and more new animals for us.
We could not have asked for a more perfect tour guide than Joseph! He has been working in the safari industry for ten years and is extremely knowledgeable of all locations and animals, including being able to name every bird we spotted. He even keeps a couple books in the care of the animals and birds found in East Africa to share with his passengers. This was great when we wanted to learn a little more about the leopard we were watching sleep in a tree ☺. Everything Joseph does is to ensure that you have an amazing time, always saying that it is important that every client receives excellent attention when they’ve paid so much money and travelled so far. His van (which is four-wheel drive) is exceptionally capable, even pulling out multiple trucks stuck in the mud. The roof rises up about 2-3 feet (and is constantly open during game drives) and the windows slide horizontally so you can always snap great photos. He even has a power outlet installed in the van so you can charge your phone/camera while on game drive should the need arise. You are in excellent hands with Joseph!!!
We were on a budget safari and were very surprised at how nice the accommodation was. We weren’t exactly sure what it meant to be in a “camp”, but it was much more sophisticated than we expected. In every location we had our own private bathroom with a shower in our room, mosquito nets (not that we actually needed them), power outlets to charge electronics, and we received three hot meals a day (except when we were on game drives, in which lunch was packed for us), and plenty of bottled water was always available in the car with Joseph.
Thanks to Joseph we saw every animal we could possibly think of including all of the Big 5!! Elephants, rhinos, giraffes, all types of gazelle and antelope, topi, hippos, zebras, wildebeast, water buffalo, crocodiles, lions, cheetahs, leopard, hyenas, jackals, monkeys, baboons, dozens and dozens of different species of birds. The list simply goes on and on!! And Joseph always knew where to find them! The guides all have CB radios and because Joseph is so knowledgable of all the parks, whenever an animal sighting (e.g. lion or leopard) was reported he always knew exactly where to go.
While in Maasai Mara we toured one of the Maasai villages, getting to go inside their homes and learn about their unique culture and identity. This was a truly humbling experience and a highly recommended part of visiting the Maasai Mara park! The villagers were extremely friendly and welcoming, taking great pride in their home and eager to share with us.
An added bonus that I had not anticipated was the driving between the parks. This allowed us to see the beautiful Kenyan countryside and see what the country holds outside of just tourist attractions. As another added bonus, Joseph knew of and took us to several fun local attractions that fall on the route between parks. We really felt like we got to see Kenya!
An important note:
-The hotel we stayed in the first night didn’t want to exchange a $100USD bill because it was older than 2000, but Michael and Joseph took care of it for us. So be sure all the cash you bring was minted in 2000 or after, as many places won’t accept it due to the ease of counterfeiting.