kenya bush Safari Vehicle
Kenya Bush Expeditions
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Jake janybek | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The tour guy was nice but demanded extra pay.
I booked the tour through TripAdvisor, securing it for the listed price of $85 for the 6:30 tour. However, the organizer contacted me via WhatsApp on the evening of the tour, stating he would pick me up at 6:15. Upon arrival, he proceeded to pick up other participants from a different hotel before reaching the park gate. To my surprise, he then requested an additional $45, catching me off guard. Reluctantly, I agreed to pay in cash upon our return to my hotel, complying with the unexpected demand.
To further add to the frustration, we were left waiting for approximately 40 minutes at the park gate, with no communication about the delay. Eventually, the tour commenced. My concern lies in the discrepancy between the advertised price paid online and the unanticipated extra charge in person. This unexpected financial request and lack of transparency about delays were disappointing aspects of an otherwise anticipated experience.
DE
Email Max | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good guide but contracts not honored
I booked a tour (2 days Safari Maasai Mara). Did the 50% prepayment.
One day the company owner contacted me telling me that park fees got raised and that he wants me to top up my fee about another 80USD per person.
I told him out of generiosity, that I can take over 50% of the increased fees, because thats his business risk and not mine (and package+price was already negotioated).
He declined and didnt even try to find a good solution here, just wanted me to take the whole fee. As client paying hundreds of Dollars for that tour already, that behaviour just felt really wrong and "greedy".
So just wanted to warn you that if you book with that agency, you might end up paying for additional stuff that was not negotiated (maybe he will also charge you for inceased gas prices, who knows.)
Tour itself was good. We had a great guide. Just be careful with your prepayment. Cheers
Reply from Kenya Bush Expeditions
Posted on Aug 22, 2023Dear Sir,
WE tried our best to give you the best tour. You gave agreed this. The government increase was announced at the last minute. Such fees are covered by the client. We had contacted you to cancel the trip but you insisted we continue with the tour. Kindly be candid and tell the whole story. We tried our best to give you the best tour.
NG
Email Dave | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nairobi Park 1/2 day tour----The Gilligan's Island 3 hour tour.
It was advertised as a 4-5 hour tour, it was less than 3 hours in the park.
Our expectations were not high so the bar was set low and they couldn't even meet that.
After everyone was picked up at 1:30 we were told "all the animals are asleep now and the best time to start is 3 pm." So to kill time we drive to a small souvenir shop/snack place for about an hour.
First question is if there nothing to see until 3 then why not pick us up at 2:30 instead of 1:30? Obvious answer---to take us to some place to spend money where I suspect the driver and/or company is getting a kickback. THIS ANNOYED ALL THE PASSENGERS (we talked about it) since it was very obvious what was going on.
So we get to the park entrance at 3 and by the time everyone has paid the entrance fee we head in around 3:20. Funny thing is there were numerous vehicles in the park already and we pass a few LEAVING. Didn't they know the animals were all asleep when they arrived a few hours ago? lol.
Long story short what we saw was: Virtually nothing, certainly nothing of interest until 30/40 min. in when we saw a pride of lions sleeping (they should be awake, don't they know what time it is?). There were long stretches of nothing but in the end did see both black (2) and white (2) rhinos, lots of zebras and 3 giraffes only because we happen to see them far off and luckily they were headed in our direction so we stopped and waited. We pass that area 30 min. earlier or later and we don't see them. We also saw lots of Impala, one Ostrich, a couple of hartebeest and 3 hyenas.
They tell you up front in their ads there are no elephants so we knew that.
All we saw of the "big 5" was Lions and Rhinos so no leopards or buffalo either. Also no cheetahs, wildebeast, Hippos, baboons or crocodiles or well....anything else. Of course there's luck involved and no one should expect to see everything but this was pathetic. We headed out of the park before 6 pm so the tour was less then 3 hours long.
The whole thing was more like a Gilligan's Island 3 hour tour gone wrong then an interesting African safari of any kind.
IE
Email Harry | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lying Cowboys
Kenya bush expeditions lied to me and my local guide about available tickets for the Sheldrick Trust tour for the 20th of December.
On enquiry they said they had 7 tickets available and we only needed 4. They asked for an email to send the payment link and we were slightly skeptical so we offered cash on the day which they agreed.
They charge $50pp US for the tour and the price is actually $15pp from Sheldrick. All they offer extra is pick up and drop off.
On arrival to the Trust, we pulled over and the driver said we had to wait. After questioning he said that we didn’t have tickets and we are waiting to see if there are any no shows. There were 6 other operators engaging in the same activity. Imagine if we had paid online prior!
Absolute cowboys! Sheldrick trust informed us that they are fully booked until the 6th of January and all bookings should be done through them. This company still offers available tickets every single day for the tour, complete liars.