AMS Directors and Tour Guides
Amazing Memories Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2012)
- Member Of:
- ASTA, KATO, AMREF & Eco Tourism
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $130 to $500 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
AE
Email Melanie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best time in Masai Mara with such friendly people along the way
We couldn't have asked for a better safari. And we also couldn't have asked for a nicer tour guide than James. He went to such efforts to ensure we got the most out of our time on the safari. Couldn't recommend Amazing Memories enough!!! Thank you.
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Email Nancy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Saw Big Five and More! Best priced Safari with nice accommodations
I researched many tour companies and many different safaris (and prices) and chose Amazing Memories. My husband and I took the private 5 day Amazing Safari and visited Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara, staying at the Flamingo Tented Camp and Sentrim Mara Lodge, both of which were nice. Anne responded quickly to my emails and answered all of my questions. She quickly sent me the itinerary and the quote, and gave me options to make it less expensive when I asked, even though it was an awesome deal for a 5 day safari staying in lodges. James, our tour guide, was great at getting us to the best spot to see the animals, even if there was a jam of multiple safari company vans around us. He was determined to make it a wonderful safari and it was! He stopped as long as we wanted to, got as close to the animals as he could (with awesome driving skills) and drove to see the animals that were on the top of our list. We saw southern White Rhinos, which are greatly endangered, Black Rhinos, Cheetahs, Lions, elephants, wildebeest, African Buffalo, hyenas, Hippos, Zebras, giraffes, birds, Ostrich, and more-- AND we saw a Leopard up close! James not only talked about the animals,but also talked about Kenyan Culture, which was great! We're very glad we picked Amazing Memories for our safari.
ES
Email Tamar Peters | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Living up to their Amazing Memories name by helping us to create Amazing Memories!
Well what can we say about this AMAZING company Amazing Memories Safaris other than that they definitely live up to their name!!! What a a great trip we had with them. Right from the start they were so wonderful to work with while we created a brilliant experience of all that Kenya has to offer. Any problems we had were quickly and effortlessly dealt with. So impressed with their amazing Nairobi team who looked after us for our first few days and transfers - Joseph specifically! He is amazing and just so full of knowledge about Nairobi and what it has to offer. Then we had the delightful and very talented (at spotting and finding animals) Ronnie who was our guide and driver for our safaris. Just amazing and such a gift to be with on those long journeys. He is an expert in finding animals which was a real bonus. Just loved his laughter and personality as added significantly to the fun of our adventure. But I couldn't have created and enjoyed the adventure as much as I did without the incredible Anne who was truly an Angel to work with. 10 star rating if it was available. I highly recommend this company and its team as been the best experience and I have been doing events for over 27 years so really know what's out there. Asante sana!!!!!! See you in 2019 xxx
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Email Christine | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caution to travelers considering Amazing Memories Safaris
Our 15 day safari tour was met with 3 days of frustration when the upgraded hotel accommodations we had contracted were not paid for in a timely manner. We contracted for all services in January 2018, made the $4K deposit and paid the balance prior to our departure from the USA as the Contract required.
It was not until the night before we were to arrive at the Mara Serena that we were told by AMS that the hotel had over-booked and our reservation was not available. We did find out from the hotel manager that AMS had been contacted for payment due, and when it was not received they released our reservation. The same situation for our reservation at the Ngorongoro Serena.
We feel AMS broke our Contract by not paying for our hotel reservations in a timely manner and not providing the accommodations in our Contract.
FYI - these tour companies must pay upfront for hotel reservations. Our advice if you plan to use this tour group, demand that before you leave home you have Vouchers for all hotels in your possession. This is your guarantee the reservations have been paid for and will be there when you arrive.
We also coordinated a visit to Zanzibar for 3 days to relax at the beach, following the safari. AMS did a good job scheduling the airlines and driver for pick up. AMS recommended The Sands on the east side of the island. There is a floor of coral and sea urchins at the shoreline, so this is not a beach you can run out in bare feet and swim. It is a good choice if you just want to relax at a quiet location with lounge chairs and covers from the sun provided on the beach at no additional cost.
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Email Noah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible Honeymoon in Kenya
My wife and I chose Amazing Memories Safaris for our honeymoon in Kenya. The experience was incredible and far exceeded our expectations. Our trip started with a pickup at our hotel in Nairobi. We were given a quick briefing about the safari as well as safari hats which was a nice touch. Our guide/driver Joseph was very knowledgeable and had a great ability to spot animals in the wild. We first visited Lake Nakuru where we saw many beautiful animals and birds. We stayed a the Lake Nakuru Lodge which was okay but not amazing. We then traveled to the Masaai Mara where we spent the remaining 3 days of our safari. While there we stayed in a beautiful lodge, the Mara Simba. We had the opportunity to see the crossing of the wildebeest thanks to Joseph as well as rare animals such as cheetahs, leopards and lions. Overall, my wife and I were very satisfied with Amazing Memories Safaris including the quoting/booking process, the guide, the vehicle and content of the safari.
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Email Romano | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventure of a lifetime with people who truly are Amazing!
There are TONS of companies running safaris and we did a lot of research looking for just the right one for our honeymoon. We found Amazing Memories after browsing through Trip Advisor and other travel sites and our search was over. We ended up choosing Amazing Memories over our leading company because of Anne's thorough, quick, and helpful responses. She wasn't once pushy or rushing of us, knowing it was a big decision, and helped us design a unique experience in Kenya and Zanzibar, at a very competitive cost.
We were thrilled to be picked up upon arrival (we arrived a night early) by Joseph and another Anne (we called her little Anne) from our hotel promptly and with enthusiasm. They had an amazing day prepared for us. Little Anne updated us on some changes to our travel itinerary for the whole trip which Anne took care of without even asking. She had made our flights more convenient and had even gotten us an extra flight to make traveling easier, without us even thinking about the complications, and didn't add it to our bill- how thoughtful can you get???
We LOVED our time with Joseph touring Nairobi and were lucky enough to get extra time with him when we traveled back through on our way to Zanzibar. In a, yet again, AMAZING feat, Anne got us on an executive class plane for our trip to Zanzibar and we felt like royalty.
All of our accomodations were worked out in advance between Anne and myself. Being my first safari, she was invaluable in consultations for what to expect at each location, the beneifts of tents vs lodges at each stop, and what advantages of each type of lodging were. She was super patient and answered my questions with ease, even though I asked the same thing multiple times! I'm a worrier and she really made me feel at ease for all the preparations.
Everything from our vehicles to our departure were treated with the utmost care and it's clear that Anne and the staff of Amazing Memories value their customers, their work, and that everyone have a safe, fun experience. We were so lucky to get to see the Wildebeest migration in the Mara and our driver got us up close and personal with a myriad of animals. At each stop we knew Anne and her staff had our back and were doing all they could to ensure an amazing adventure.
Anne was easy to reach whenever I needed, and while I had no issues on my trip, I am confident she would have raced to make anything right for us. When our plans for dropping through Nairobi changed, she was already on top of getting us in touch with Joseph and ensuring a fun extra day.
We can't recommend Amazing Memories enough- they go above and beyond the already fantastic Kenyan hospitality. If you are looking for a company who will take care of you, be flexible, and offer an experience of a lifetime and a competitive cost, look no further!
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Email Francisco | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A safari company to goes the extra mile to satisfy its customers
Me and my family just returned from a fantastic 8 day Best of Kenya private safari organized by Amazing Memories. Anne was very helpful from the very beginning answering my questions and she was very flexible accommodating my requests. The lodges and tented camps she selected for this safari were very a good, specially the Serena Tented Camp in Ol Pejeta, and the staff in all of them was very welcoming and friendly. Joseph, the senior guide in our trip, must be one of the best guides in Kenya. He proved to be extremely knowledgeable about wild animals and their behavior, sharing that knowledge in a fun and entertaining way. He was able to safely get us very close to lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, ostriches, impalas, gazelles, etc We were really impressed when other safari vehicles were crowding around two lions, and he took our vehicle to an empty spot were he correctly predicted we would be able get a close look at those lions because they would move away from the other vehicles and come to the place where we were waiting. Joseph was also able to avoid a horrible traffic jam on our last day day on the road back to Nairobi by taking a detour that many other drivers didn't know about, so that we wouldn't miss the activities we had planned for that afternoon. I summary, Joseph went the extra mile to make our safari trip fun, safe and free of any worry. If you book a safari with Amazing Memories, make sure you ask Anne to assign Joseph as your guide.
CA
Email Diane | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The trip was well organized with no surprises.
This was truly the trip of a lifetime! Anne was able to recognize my need for every detail before we left home and was able to provide me with answers to my litany of questions in a clear and concise manner so there were no surprises.
The actual safari was truly amazing. Although we were told to expect some wonderful sights, by Anne, we did not imagine that we would see "daily" lions, the coalition of brothers Cheetahs, and the sheer numbers of Wildebeest and Zebras in the Serengeti. The scenery is unfathomable, even to this Canadian used to the vastness of the Prairies. The balloon ride over the Massai Mara was spectacular and highly recommended.
Prior to and after our 13 day Safari (Kenya and Tanzania) we spent time in Nairobi, both times accompanied by our Amazing Memories guide. Most decidedly this was not as spectacular as the Safari, but I had asked to see the city and our guides were able to respond to my request and also very rapidly understand my aversion to crowds and planned accordingly.
The most amazing feature of the trip were our guides. We felt honoured to have Daniel, Laurence and Moses as our guides. Within a very short period of time they were able to understand our dynamic (family of 3 adults) and tailor the tour to suit us. We would not have enjoyed this trip as much without them.
The accommodations were very good as was the food. The Staff at the hotels did their best to welcome us and provide for us.
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Email Wendy | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great team that will do their best to make your safari amazing!
If you’re reading this, don’t hesitate, go ahead and book with Amazing Memories. The team did, in fact, help us make some amazing memories.
Throughout booking I dealt with one person, Anne. She answered any and all questions I had and didn’t make me feel like I was asking too many questions (most of my questions were through email, but they can also communicate through WhatsApp (like free text messaging)).
They look to have set safari packages, but I wrote to Anne with particular path and lodges in mind. Anne assisted in making sure we got what we wanted. You can definitely tailor your trip to the things/places you want to stay, do, and see. That being said, two or three of my picks were full (my fault for booking so late), but she suggested other options that ended up being good.
We paid 30% down when booking and paid the rest upon arrival. You can pay by wire transfer, credit card, or cash. Cash was impossible for the down payment because I was in another country. So, I wired money through my bank (no fee on their part, but my bank had a small fee, which was still better than the credit card fee). Credit card came with a 4% transaction fee.
Because of other reviews, I requested Daniel. I’m am a fledgling photographer and I had noticed that another review had mentioned he loved taking photos, which he did and even gave me tips on how to get better photos. He would try to get us in the best possible positions for some fantastic photos - and he was successful many times!
Daniel was super friendly and extremely knowledgeable. At the time of this writing, he told us he had 10 years experience being a safari guide and it really showed because he could tell us about each and every animal we saw and gave facts with what we were seeing. He knew many of the other safari guides and could communicate through radio and just by stopping when they saw each other - this is very important because the parks are so big and unless someone tells you that they just saw XXX animal over by XXX area, we wouldn’t have encountered as much as we actually saw.
Traveling with Daniel felt like you were traveling with a friend. He was very friendly and would welcome any and all questions about Kenya, animals, the different tribe culture, and even about himself. I felt like he looked out for us and felt very safe and taken care of with him. And lastly, his communication skills are great. He would tell us the itinerary was, the time we were going to go here or there, the time he was going to pick us up....and he would repeat it at another time to be sure we were on the same page. Before we visited a village or went into a shop he would let us know what to expect, which was so invaluable. He was great with time management and we were able to see everything we wanted to see and do what we wanted to do.
Our trip was made to go to: Masai Mara, Samburu, Aberdare, Lake Nukuru, Nairobi - I won’t talk about specifics of the places since this review is about the company. I’ll just say that, those are the places I planned out with Anne and since some of the drives between these areas were quite long, Daniel planned, on his own, some things to stop at to break up the drive for us - it was much appreciated because we wouldn’t have known it was something we could have done/fit in to the drive.
We had 9 days with Daniel and we feel confident in our opinion about him. Without a doubt, I would request him when I am back in Kenya and would be super disappointed if he wasn’t available. He went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time.
Some tips: It is dusty! On game drives, the roof is up and windows open so that when you see an animal you can quickly capture the shot. Most of the roads are not paved and when other trucks/vans pass by a whole cloud of dust accompanies them. Bring sunglasses to protect your eyes from dust & I found it helpful to have a handkerchief to cover my mouth. We also brought some wet wipes to use before lunch.
Morning game drives can be chilly, but the afternoons can get a little warm - dress in layers.
PL
Email Paul | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything perfectly organised from start to finish
Thanks to Anne and all the team at Amazing Memories Safaris for making our (my son and I) first trip and safari to Kenya a great experience. All the pre-trip itinerary options and selections were done very well; in fact I had initially booked to travel in March, but managed to break my leg in February, so had to change our travel dates to July. Anne reorganised the trip with no problem, finding us accommodation in what was of course an already mostly fully booked peak safari season. Our trip did not get off to the best start as we missed our connection from Europe to Nairobi due to a late incoming flight. Anne reorganised the team to pick us up at the airport very (very) early the morning after our scheduled arrival no problem. The safari part (6 nights: 1 in Treetops, 1 in Lake Nakuru, 4 in Masai Mara) all ran like clockwork, our driver John was excellent as both our guide and driver. All we had to worry about was getting to the hotel receptions each morning and afternoon, where John was always waiting, ready to go. In terms of game sightings, we saw all the Big Five and many other species, including cheetah. In the Masai Mara, we saw 28 lions, including 18 on one day, in 3 different sightings, all very close up. Of course, sometimes it is the luck of the day, but we were very happy with what we saw. While we joined the sightings where many vehicles had already gathered which is normal (for lions, leopard and cheetah - the drivers / guides keep in touch by radio to see where the action is), John also had the patience to look in many areas on our own, away from the main tracks, and this produced a leopard only a few feet from us, which we were able to enjoy by ourselves. Once again, many thanks to Anne and the team.