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
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.
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Email Cole | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
11-Day Kenya/Tanzania Mid-Range Safari - Trip of a lifetime!
My wife and I joined a couple of friends for an extraordinary private 4-person safari with Amazing Memories. Our safari exceeded our wildest expectations in large part due to the tour operators of Amazing Memories. We are extremely satisfied having gone with them after comparing several safari companies over many months.
We had a pop-top van in Kenya and pop-top Toyota LandCruiser in Tanzania. We ended up strongly preferring the LandCruiser for good suspension, comfort, space, ease of drives, and for viewing purposes. Our itinerary included tours of, in order, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, and Amboseli.
We were greeted warmly at the airport and were immediately taken out to Nakuru, which was a pretty lengthy drive. We had had problems with Qatar Airways getting to Nairobi, and Anne of AM was incredibly helpful in adapting our itinerary to fit our late arrival and start to our safari. (as a side note, I highly recommend building in an extra arrival day before your safari begins). Anne was instrumental to the planning and coordination of our trip. She made us feel like we were her most important clients before and during the trip. She was eager to match and beat prices of other safari tour operators for the same itinerary, and made really helpful suggestions to that itinerary. She also upgraded one of our camps a month or two out from our safari, which was fantastic – she moved us to a camp that was probably our favorite place to stay.
Itinerary Comments:
We chose an itinerary that minimized times in major cities – many of the multi-site tours across most safari companies spend time in Nairobi or Arusha prior to border crossings. We wanted to minimize driving time and build the most direct route possible. The direct transfer between Maasai Mara and the Serengeti was in fact the main reason we found and ultimately chose Amazing Memories. This ended up working out really well for the most part (read exception below under “Guides” section). We loved every site we visited, and the order we visited them. The one thing I would say, however, is that transfers between locations were always longer than the itineraries accounted for, especially between the Mara and Serengeti. So we didn’t have quite as much game viewing time as we were led to believe.
It seemed like every day and game drive added a unique experience or sighting to our safari. I’d say the Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorogoro were the highlights, but Nakuru, Naivasha, and Amboseli each added great things. We didn’t see as many rhinos as some others did at Nakuru, and the flamingo population had declined significantly. But it was a great start to the trip. We enjoyed Naivasha, and the optional add-on walking tour of Crescent Island is highly recommended! Maasai Mara was incredible…we saw a huge array of lions, elephants, and giraffes in particular. By the end of the trip we had racked up 68 lions, 2 rhinos, 6 cheetahs, a tree-climbing leopard, hundreds of elephants and giraffes, and thousands of herd animals. Many of the key animals were in the Maasai Mara, highlighted by about half the lions and a group of five cheetahs who made a kill, ate it, sauntered to a drink, and then plopped for a nap. The Serengeti was perhaps our favorite park experience – we had great luck in the Seronera region of the park. The park also has bathroom and picnic locations, which were really helpful on our full-day game drives. Here we saw the full array of high value animals – basically everything but a rhino. Ngorogoro was otherworldly and should not be missed…it’s like being in a fish bowl with almost every safari animal you can imagine, in a place that’s unlike any other. And Amboseli was a fantastic park to finish our trip – so many elephants, birds, and lions. And we had a lucky hour or two on our first day when Kilimanjaro became visible for a brief time. I think if we were to take a second safari, we might minimize the number of sites and stick with Tanzania. We didn’t get to see Manyara, Tarangire, or Zanzibar either (which was our choice). But for our first trip, Anne and AM designed a truly spectacular safari.
Camps/Sites Information:
We were really happy with AM’s choices for our stays. We stayed at Flamingo Hill Tented Camp our first night at Nakuru…it was spectacular. The grounds were gorgeous, the staff incredibly kind and welcoming, and the food exquisite – the best of the whole trip. And they were incredibly gracious in asking park officials to keep the gates open late for our late arrival. At Naivasha we stayed at the Sopa! Property. It was a larger, more hotel-like operation. We appreciated the wifi for photo updates. But the grounds were incredible in that animals wandered through the grounds. Zebras, water bucks, monkeys of various sorts, even hippos late in the evening. Don’t worry – they have security staff to escort people around the grounds. For our first night in Maasai Mara, we stayed at the Sentrim camp. It took a long time to arrive here from Naivasha, and Sentrim was perhaps our least favorite camp. But it was in an excellent location near the park entrance. We had been slated to stay here three nights, but we were upgraded to the Ashnil Luxury Camp within the park the next two nights. We LOVED it here. Its location was ideal for game viewing, situated above a large bend in a river that was populated by lots of hippos, birds, and crocodiles. It had an excellent restaurant and bar, and the tents themselves were really nice. We really enjoyed our evenings at Ashnil. For our Serengeti evenings we were at the Ikoma Tented Camp. It’s near one of the smaller park entrances, but it’s only about an hour’s drive into the Seronera region of the park. It was the closest to feeling like “being in the bush” – it was a comfortable and minimal group of tents that we really enjoyed, wolf spiders notwithstanding. After our visit to Ngorogoro, we stayed at the Crater Forest Tented Camp, which is in the middle of a coffee plantation. It was a really gorgeous location and nice tents and restaurant. Finally, we stayed at the Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli, which gave us prime place to see Kilimanjaro when it came out for a couple hours. Kibo was a lot like Ashnil – really exquisite tents, good restaurant and bar, and beautiful grounds. Overall, AM did a great job of selecting a mix of places to stay – each had their own distinct atmosphere. I think the most important thing in the future is picking places already within the parks – it greatly reduces drive times. But Anne did a great job of mixing location with keeping costs within our budget.
Guides:
Each of our three drivers said the same thing: “You are one of the luckiest groups we’ve ever had.” We saw a ton of rare animals. But we grew more convinced that it was driver talent rather than just luck. We had Anthony in our first Kenya leg, Farro (of Migada Adventures) in Tanzania, and Joseph for Amboseli. Simply put our guides were the most important and influential part of our trip. We couldn’t be more thankful for their enthusiasm, knowledge of the animals, skill at getting us in really great viewing spots, and in accommodating our requests.
Anthony was particularly good at wedging us amongst the number of cars at high value areas, and anticipating how animals would move. He was a charming and really effective guide. The one thing I’d say about Anthony, though, is be sure to be very upfront about times. As we learned later, he started our drives much later than other guides, and we didn’t get to do afternoon game drives with him. Moreover, our transfer between Maasai Mara and Serengeti went very poorly. He had picked up a Maasai companion/guide for our days in Maasai Mara, and to return the companion to his home we had to take a 4-hour detour on our way to the border. As a result, we missed our first afternoon/evening game drive in the Serengeti, probably our favorite park. Without the detour, we would have made the drive without a problem. Anne was very responsive to this issue, and even compensated us for the missed game drive. And we were given a different driver upon our return to Kenya for Amboseli, one who was explicitly instructed to maximize our game drives. But this was a little frustrating since this transfer was the reason for going with AM in the first place.
In Tanzania, Anne had arranged for Farro and the Migada Adventures safari company. We couldn’t speak highly enough about Farro (and the LandCruiser…we loved that thing). He really knew the parks well and always seemed to get us to the best animal sightings at just the right times. And he always seemed to guess precisely how the animals would behave, especially the leopard that killed the prey and took it up into the tree. If it had been up to us we’d probably have stayed in the area all day, but he suggested we continue on because the leopard would nap there all day. He was spot on – we returned on our way out of the park, just in time to see the leopard feed on the impala and come down the tree. That sort of thing happened a lot with Farro – he was really eager to stay as long as we wanted, but was equally eager to make really helpful suggestions. He was professional, kind, personable, really knowledgeable – the perfect guide.
Finally, we had Joseph guide us through Amboseli. His knowledge of the animals was unparalleled. We had seen nearly every animal by this time in the trip, but we learned so much about each one we saw. He was especially good with spotting and knowing about birds…he was really excited that our friends were budding birders. He was equally personable and skillful at finding great sightings. I’d say the guides were really the highlight of the trip – they were the main reasons the safari was spectacular as it was.
Conclusion:
The safari truly was the trip of a lifetime, and we have Anne, Anthony, Farro, and Joseph to thank for that. I think we’re a bit more savvy now understanding transfers, and being much clearer with our guides about our desire to maximize game drive times and knowing about transfer times. But the trip exceeded our wildest expectations and we are very thankful of Amazing Memories’ care in planning and executing the trip. We have a number of friends now considering taking safaris, and we are eager to recommend AM to them for their (and our) potential visits in the future. Thanks Amazing Memories!
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Email Tatjana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful and smooth long safari!
We just ended our two-week-long safari through Kenya and Tanzania and, as we are going through our photos it seems hard to believe how much we had experienced and seen in the past two weeks.
From the start, Anne was always promptly communicating and checking for every idea and wish we had, being that this was our first safari trip ever. Ours was a budget safari, which means we chose to stay at tented camps for two weeks, and were only treated to a lodge on our final night (Manyara Serena). The camps were excellent, clean, comfortable and some were even romantic.
Upon our landing in Nairobi, Anne and a couple of guys from the office welcomed us and took us to our hotel. On the first day of safari our Kenyan guide, Daniel, was waiting for us and from that point on it was a smooth breeze of a safari, without a single glitch whatsoever for the entire two weeks! Daniel was AMAZING, just as everyone and everything else about this trip, and on top of being a fenomenal guide and tracker in parks, he is also an interesting interlocutor and discussant. We had a fabulous time with him on the road. At the end of our Kenyan leg Daniel took us to the Tanzanian border and transferred us to the care of our TZ guide, Charles, a great, courteous guy, who managed the African massage roads along our route and managed to find leopard on multiple occasions for us, given that leopard was probably the only animal we did not encounter in Kenya. Charles also patiently helped us ship some of our bulky and excessive souvenirs back home, to make the rest of our trip, well, lighter.
The entire trip was spectacular; the employees at all places were the embodiment of courtesy and kindness; we saw many, many parks, but perhaps a few absolute highlights to help other people in planning their trip:
- Amboseli: Kili + tons of elephants - enough said.
- Naro Moru River Lodge, close to Ol Pajeta Conservancy: an overlooked but spectacular place from colonial times. It is old but is very well kept, clean, and safe from mosquitoes. The cottage we got had a fireplace and a bathtub, both of which we enjoyed very much, beautiful grounds for walking, and a breathtaking view from the swimming pool. The grounds teem with colobus monkeys as well, and give you plenty of opportunities to photograph them. In Ol Pajeta you will see and meet the most endangered rhinos, and we saw a big pack of lions as well.
- Maasai Mara NP - do not miss it even if you are visiting Serengeti! MM teems with animals, and even though the migration seems to be late this summer and we did not see much of it, there are animals in big numbers everywhere, big pack of cats, like the famous group of 5 cheetahs (Tano Bora), families of lions, 15 giraffes at a time, etc, etc. We also took the balloon ride and it was spectacular even though there were no millions of migrating animals underneath. I can only imagine what it is like with them.
- Hell's Gate NP - most likely the only park where you are safe walking or biking and taking selfies with animals, plus at the end of the bike route you get to hike into an exciting gorge. This was one of the very few times we got to use our legs on this trip and it was very much needed.
- Ngorongoro - needless to praise this spectacular place, but just to point out that Anne's choice of a coffee plantation as our accommodation was wonderful, with clean air and another opportunity to walk around coffee and bean-dotted hills.
- Lake Natron- we were lured by the famous photos of red water, only to get disappointed that those photos were taken nowhere near the NP, YET, what we experienced here took the blues away and made it our final highlight. We got to hike into a river canyon to the secret waterfall from which the surrounding Maasai villages and lodges take their clean water; swim and tobogan down the river, and enjoy a really exhilarating and wet hike. The next morning we took another 2-hr walk from the camp to the lake itself through villages and made friends with the local ladies who told us took their goods to the market - only to realize that we were the market itself, as they were trying to sell their good to us for most of the trip. Nevertheless, it was all fun and in good spirit.
Overall, AMAZING indeed and we can only recommend AMAZING to everyone.
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Email Tom | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A well organized safari with many highlights
After an earlier safari trip I wanted to show my daughters (19 and 21) the wild animals of Africa.
Amazing Memories Safaris was an excellent choice for the tour! We have 8 days and 7 nights and Anne put together a good itinerary with advise on parks and lodges. Due to heavy traffic on the roads the transport between parks took longer than expected and was a bit exhausting. But that was soon forgotten when we had a lot of wildlife including all Big 5 close up to our car. We had chosen to have a private Landcruiser to ourselves and that was a well spent luxury.
Favorite park: Amboseli National Park.
Favorite lodge: Naivasha Sopa Lodge.
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Email Zack | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very exciting 12-day, 2-person private safari in Kenya and Tanzania
We booked with Amazing Memories for our trip to east Africa. Our 12-day itinerary was: Nairobi, Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorngoro Crater, then Amboseli. Dennis from the company was waiting for us when we arrived at night in Nairobi and led us to Daniel, who was our driver the whole time we were in Kenya. Daniel was a good driver/guide and had a good eye for photography, which I appreciated since I wanted to take a lot of pictures. Examples would be him positioning us so that we had a good angle on the animals, instead of just getting us as close as possible. Or when there was water, stopping in a place where we could get a cool reflection. In Kenya we were in a large van with a popup roof, which worked well. There was plenty of room for the two of us to stand on the game drives. The van came stocked with a lot of bottled water.
Our driver in Tanzania was Donald, who was also very nice and did a great job of finding a lot of animals in Serengeti. We were in a pop-top Land Cruiser, which was more comfortable to sit in and drive around in, but not as good to stand in while moving because the top opening was narrower than the van. The seats were also higher, so it was harder to look out the windows. But the vehicle was still perfectly good for game drives; we'd just sit until we got to the animals instead of standing the whole time.
Communication was all via email with Anne and was a little delayed at times, but overall was fine. She did a good job answering all my emails and sent an informative PDF with details about east Africa, like the money and climate and things like that.
One (very minor) negative from the trip was that the border crossings were confused. They still worked out fine and ended up being quick (30 mins for one and maybe 60 for the other), but especially when we went from Tanzania back into Kenya through Namanga no one seemed to know what the process was or where we should go. But they got it figured out in 30 minutes or so and then it all worked out fine. It sounds like the process is ever-changing, so some of this is to be expected, but it was still a little weird to just sit in the car while our driver tracked someone down to figure out where we needed to go.
One other general comment: The roads in east Africa are not good. A lot of them are dirt and very bumpy (especially the drive into Maasai Mara, which is at least in the process of getting paved), so if you get carsick, you might want to take some medicine. It's also very dusty, so everything you take will get covered in a layer of dirt.
The parks:
We're glad we went to all the parks that we did. At Nakuru we saw 9 rhinos and only saw 1 the rest of the trip, and from far away. We also stopped by Lake Naivasha on the drive to Maasai Mara to go on a boat ride, which was pretty cool since it was different than the drives. In the Mara we didn't see much one day, but the other day, saw at cheetah and least a dozen lion, four of them in a tree. Serengeti was the best park for us. We saw multiple trees with lions in them, including one tree with seven. We also saw a few huge herds (1000+) of zebras and wildebeest and a couple cheetahs. The landscape was huge, wide, and open, which was good to see large groups of animals. In Ngorongoro there were lots of animals everywhere and we saw a few lions as well as a black rhino. We didn't see many animals in Amboseli (though still did see a family of lions), but did have a good (but brief) view of Kilimanjaro, which was only out of the clouds for about 45 minutes right after sunrise.
The camps:
We enjoyed all the camps in which we stayed. Nairobi: Sarova Stanley, very nice hotel and room and very good breakfast. Nakuru: Flamingo Hill, nice tent room, could walk along the fence and see zebra, baboons, and buffalo. Maasai Mara: Ashnil Mara, very big grounds, but really nice tent room with a nice shower and toilet, room was right by the river so we could hear the hippos, buffet-style meals; also had a great souvenir shop with great prices. Serengeti: Kati Kati, small tented camp right in the Serengeti (no fences) which was really cool to be so close to the animals and nature, saw some giraffes and heard hyenas at night, very nice staff. Ngorongoro: Serena Ngorongoro, nice hotel with great views of the crater, very refreshing to have an actual hotel instead of a tented camp for a night, good food. Amboseli: Ol Tukai Lodge, great location right in the middle of the park, nice bungalows with good bathroom, fun to watch animals just outside the fence; would recommend the elephant view rooms because Kilimanjaro was in the clouds 23 out of 24 hours of the day, but mountain rooms could be good if you know it will be clear; also had a very good gift shop.
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Email Alice | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Amazing Memorable Safari
Our safari was organized by Anne of Amazing Safaris. this company lived up to it's name. The booking process was smooth and easy. Days 28th February to 8th March were full of adventure. The drives were long and some very bumpy especially to the Mara but remember its a wildlife safari. This didn't stop us from having fun, there is a lot to see on these drives. Beauty of nature in Kenya is unmatched.It's surprises everywhere one goes. Our driver and guide John was extremely knowledgeable about animals and their behaviour. He had a good sense of humour and we laughed a lot.
For a pleasurable, smooth and truly memorable experience, I highly recommend Amazing Memories Safari to you. They will not let you down.
AE
Email Mike | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ultimate bucket list trip - Amazing Safari with Amazing Memories
After receiving quotes from other safari operators, We decided to choose Amazing Memories Safari's and I am happy to say we wasn't disappointed. We did a 2 night/3 day safari staying at the Keekorok Lodge which was a fantastic Hotel inside the Mara. We were picked up from our hotel in Nairobi by our driver/guide Dan who was very knowledgable and knew the best places to spot the big 5. We were also lucky enough to see a Cheetah hunt and kill an Impala right in front of our eyes. We also decided to include an early morning Hot Air Ballon ride over the park which was incredible. We even managed to fit in a trip to Lake Navaisha on the final day back to Nairobi. Anne impressed with her efficiency and made the whole booking process very easy, from first contact through to payment. I can highly recommend Amazing Memories Safaris.
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Email Laurena | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Another fantastic experience with Amazing Memories Safaris
Amazing Memories Safaris has become to me like an extension of my family (all positive). Anne and Joseph are a wonderful couple whose skills complement each other to make sure no detail is missed. I had such a pleasant experience with them in March, 2017 that there was no question about choosing them again and no need to get additional quotes because their pricing is very fair.
Even though this was my eighth trip to Kenya, there are always a few questions that come up. Anne is prompt to respond with the answers. I had chosen my own itinerary and lodging for this trip. But we got a big curve ball the day before I was to leave the states. Anne notified me that the camp where I was to stay five nights (Offbeat Mara - where I stayed last year) had been flooded and they told her I would have to find other accommodations. Anne immediately sent me an email to let me know. I felt a panic. She suggested two other places for me to consider that were comparable prices. I looked at their reviews, got back to her with my choice, and she immediately confirmed my new lodging. Offbeat had a special offer of getting one night free when paying for three. Unfortunately, Eagle View did not offer this. When the change was made, Anne informed me that Amazing Memories would take care of that added cost. Thanks to her quick action, it all worked out.
On arrival into Nairobi, Anne, Joseph, and another Joseph (my Nairobi guide) were there to greet me with big hugs and smiles. After the long flights and the late hour, it is so nice to see such welcoming people waiting. The trip to the Fairview Hotel was short and they made sure everything was perfect on check in. We discussed my arrangements for the next day for my pick up time by Joseph in order to do some shopping and visit my elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust both for the 11am public visit as well at the adoptive parent visit at 5pm.
After the evening elephant visit, Joseph and I met Anne and Joseph at the Carnivore restaurant where I was treated to a lovely dinner and great conversation. Such a special time.
Joseph N., my Nairobi guide, that I first met in 2014, is amazing at navigating the traffic in Nairobi. His pleasant personality and sense of humor go a long way to making you feel at home.
Communication with the camps was perfect. On arrival, they all knew I preferred a tent with a full size bed and what my dietary requirements were.
As a photographer, my guide Daniel, who I have traveled with 4 times, is a real gem. He is an excellent spotter, even in challenging situations. As a photographer himself, he knows how to position the vehicle to get the best shots. He's a great conversationalist, and always fun to travel with.
When arriving back into Wilson from Meru, I changed airlines. Joseph, my Nairobi driver, was waiting for me to assist with the transfer. There was a three layover between the flights so I was taken to Aero Club to enjoy lunch. The food there was very good.
On my final day in Kenya, Anne met me at Wilson after my flight from the Mara, with driver Joseph. She wanted to know how everything went, especially at Eagle View which was not my initial choice. All went fantastic. She was also able to extend the Eka hotel regular day room check out time from 6pm to 7:30pm which really was nice and gave me time to repack and have some food before I was taken to the airport for my midnight flight.
I can't say enough good things about Amazing Memories Safaris. They are extremely professional, going above and beyond to make sure every part of your trip expectations are met perfectly. They are much more than a tour operator. Their warm, welcoming hospitality is yet another reason why I return to Kenya over and over.
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Email photoguy | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Memories Safaris treated me very well!
I chose Amazing Memories Safaris for my second trip to Kenya. Planning began with Anne in mid-2017 less than a year after I returned from my first Kenya safari which had been arranged with another tour operator. Anne was very helpful and responsive in the planning process and by August I had a contract in hand and had paid a deposit for a safari scheduled for this month, Feb. 2018.
Unfortunately, I encountered serious health complications in the fall of 2017 and eventually had to cancel this trip. I let Anne know of this possibility in Dec. but by this time payments had been made for lodging in Samburu and at Offbeat Mara plus a flight from Nairobi to the Mara. But Anne was able to get a refund from Offbeat Mara, so both are to be commended for their wonderful customer service.
Even though I was unable to make this trip, my financial losses were greatly reduced by the above mentioned refund and redeposit of my airline miles and a refund of airline fees paid to United. I expect an additional small refund from my trip insurance claim.
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Email Tina | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
12-Day Safari in Kenia and Tanzania plus 3 Days Zanzibar
The trip was truly amazing and I would recommend AMAZING MEMORIES SAFARIS (AMS) without reservation.
I found the company's name on the website and was intrigued by its strong reviews. I did more research and obtained quotes from 2 other providers, but they could not beat the price offered by AMS.
My husband and I booked a tour that we found on the website of AMS (the "honeymoon" tour), but customised it a bit with Anne's help, covering Amboseli, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Zanzibar. We corresponded with Anne exclusively via email which was easy and productive, because her responses were always prompt and very clear. Anne also picked us up from the airport in Nairobi, and her colleagues delivered two heavy suitcases to us for the return flight, which we didn't need for the safari and were able to store in the office. That was super helpful!!
The tour itself was truly amazing. We saw so many animals and were able to take spectacular pictures thanks mainly to our great guides/drivers, Kennedy in Kenia and Ikamba in Tanzania. They were great in pointing out animals at far distances which we would have never seen without them, and both were very professional and likeable at the same time.
We were also very happy with our itinerary--though if you hate long drives, I would probably stick with either Kenia or Tanzania instead of going to both.
As to the accommodations, most of the hotels and lodges (Eka hotel in Nairobi, Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli, Mara Sopa Lodge in Maasai Mara, and Next Paradise in Zanzibar) were very comfortable with excellent food, and we really liked the experience of the tented camps in the Serengeti (Katikati and Ang'ata). Only the Crescent Camp in Lake Naivasha and (to some extent) the Rhino Lodge in Ngorongoro were a bit in need of repair, but we only spent one night in each--so it was ok.