Classic Journeys Africa
- Located In:
-
United States
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2010)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $280 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Far exceeded my expectations for accomodations and wildlife spotting.
The choice of locations was great because each one offered more diversity and quantity of animals to view. The lodges and camps
were beautiful and meals were delicious. The staff at each location could not have been more accommodating and attentive (we have emails from so many and plan to keep in touch). But our guide Samme was the star of the safari...he made us feel like family! He not only was knowledgeable about the animals....but had an amazing background and passions for African birds....and would point out beautiful species on all of our game rides. This was my "bucket-list" birthday gift from my family....it really was a dream come true for me.
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Email Emily | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Thanks to Classic Journeys, we have the best memories.
The trip lasted 10 days, including a day trip to Nairobi and 9 days at safari. We were very satisfied with our journey. We saw many beautiful animals and cherished animals, stayed in comfortable hotels and learned a lot about animals. Thanks to Classic Journeys and Africa, we had such a special experience. Let me talk about the advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage: I got to know a lot of travel agencies at the beginning. Charles from the travel agency communicated with me. I was impressed by his quick reply. He helped me figure out how to arrange each place and then gave me a good price. After several modifications, we finally confirmed the final scheme, and the price is also satisfactory to us.
We went to Nairobi for a day trip, Amboseli2 days, Naivasha2 days, Masai Mara4 days. All these places have their own characteristics and are very beautiful. Classic Journeys helped us get great rooms.
Amir is our driver, drives very carefully. There is no problem with our car. The interior is clean and comfortable. Amir let us know about some of animals, we find a lot of special animals.
The driver Chris took good care of us during a day trip to Nairobi. He was very passion, friendly and responsible. I suggest you choose him as your driver and guide.
Disadvantages: maybe because of the language and the jet lag, when Classic Journeys talked to me about his plans, I hoped they would give me more advice and let me choose. For example, in Naivasha, we planned to go to Hellsgate instead of Nakulu, hoping that the driver would strongly suggest that we go to Nakulu, which is more meaningful.
It's a pity that we participated in almost all of the self-funded activities, especially the Naivasha lake by boat was more expensive than booking in the hotel.
Anyway,Thanks to Classic Journeys, we have the best memories.
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Email Debra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What an amazing company!
I cannot give enough credit to Classic Journeys Africa. I found them on safaribookings.com and reached out to them, even with a 7 hour time zone difference they responded the same day. Charles was my booking agent and I was very adamant that I had to stay within my budget but needed the safari to be a private safari and decent lodging in my locations that I had always wanted to visit. It took several months for me to decide on the exact time of year but we knew we wanted to be there during the Great Wildebeest Migration from Kenya to Tanzania. Charles suggested late September to early October which fit in right inline with our 25th anniversary and the Equinox. He made the entire booking process so easy. He suggested lodging that worked perfectly with our budget but were very comfortable and some were luxurious. We stayed at the Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club, Amboseli Sopa Lodge, Mara Sopa Lodge, Kati Kati Camp and the Ngorongoro Farmhouse- I highly recommend all of these options. Now, for the actual safari. I had requested to have Sammie in Kenya and we got him. Boy, was he good at spotting the animals and knowing there next moves. We were able to see a lion wedding (mating), ostriches mating, a cheetah chase, and a lion kill a zebra. In all while in Amboseli and Masai Mara we saw buffalo, elephants, lions and leopards then once we were in Tanzania with Mirage we saw rhinos to complete our big 5. Both guides spoke English very well, knew all about the animals, took amazing care of us and made sure that we had the proper angles to take photographic treasures. I said this was a once in a lifetime trip but we believe we will be contacting Classic Journeys Africa again in the near future! (I've already recommended them to my friends.)
CN
Email Ran | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We expected more animal-watching
We booked 4 day trip to Masa Mara. According to the schedule, we will have afternoon safari on first day, full day safari on 2nd and 3rd day , morning safari on the 4th day. Below are our actual activities:
1st day: We arrive hotel at 2.30pm. Our guide arrange a walk near the hotel with the hotel staff for us from 4.30-6.00. We didn't go for the game drive as the schedule said.
2nd day: We went hot air ballon. After the breakfast of balloon, other company have their guide pick them us at the breakfast place. We have no one to pick us up. The ballon company ask us where is out driver we have no idea. They try to call the hotel and the driver but he can't get in touch with the driver. He was not at hotel by then. So the ballon company let us share the car with others. After send them back to their hotel, then send us back to ours. We arrive our hotel at about 12, our car was not at the hotel, nor the driver. We talk with another guide from Classic Journey, he said our driver told him we would like to start the game drive by 4pm which is never the plan. The driver back to hotel at about 12.30 and we had game drive 1.30pm - 5.30 pm.
3rd day: We departure about 6pm, had picnic breakfast & lunch and back about 4pm.
4th day: No game drive in the morning. Check out at about 8am and back to Nairobi.
CA
Email Real Tremblay | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
In the end, satisfied with the overall expérience.
Lodging and food were appreciated. Landcruiser in Tanzania was way over it’s usefull and safe life i.e. So old that there were no headrests!
Guide Moses in Kenya very sharp and dedicated. Guide in Tanzania inexperienced and too eager to please all in party at once. Did not spot anything on his on.
Visit of Massai village turned out to be stressfull for all in party as we were submitted to pressure and intimidation by the villagers. They were after our money, all our money and gang-up on us after we were separated from each
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Email Adrian | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great customer service and expertise in planning a safari based on our interests and needs
We had a great experience working with Classic Journeys to book our long safari through Kenya and Tanzania and a few days in Zanzibar. I contacted multiple companies through safaribookings when we were first planning this trip about a year in advance and found Classic Journeys to be the most responsive and helpful. We therefore decided to use them for our tour and were very happy that we did! The staff responded quickly to my inquiry and were able to customize a few aspects of my itinerary before booking, but also provided recommendations for lodging based on their expertise. We ended up using most of their recommendations and had a great time. They handled every aspect of our travel while we were with them and allowed us to store our carry on baggage from our international flights at their office while on safari because we were worried about the weight restrictions on the local flights. The guides were great - friendly, helpful, and assisted us even after we had moved to the next leg of our tour. We saw every animal we hoped to see and more, including a lot of babies! Overall, Classic Journeys exceeded our expectations and we would not hesitate to recommend or rebook with them in the future!
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Email Hege Roberts | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our best holiday ever!
This trip exceeded our expectations! We feel lucky to have had Amir as our guide, and he really made us feel special. His love for, and knowledge about all the animals, culture and Africa is impressive. We felt that he was going out of his way to make sure we experienced as much as possible. It shows that he loves his work!
Chris drove us around in Nairobi and to the airport and even walked us in. Also a very friendly man, who gave us so much history and information.
Every pick up, all papers and all our communication with the guys from Classic has been excellent, and we would recommend Classic Journeys to whomever, without a doubt!! :-)
THANK YOU!!
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Email Amy | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great time on Safari with Classic Journeys in Kenya and Tanzania! then great trip to Victoria Falls
We worked closely with Charles for months in advance and he was so quick to reply and prepare us for this trip to Africa! once there, Chris was also our helpful person while in Nairobi. All their trip plans worked out very well, We had excellent guides, George, and Mirage, exciting Safaris, Great food and lodging and camping, A very educational trip, Enjoyed everything on Safari and all their destinations while there. The Safari guides really got us close to the wildlife, but always kept us safe.
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Email Mark B and Lori K | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding Experience With Classic Journeys
We had a rough itinerary for our first trip to Africa, and we wanted to visit Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. We had never done anything of this duration and scope before, and we were reliant on Elvis Ayieko and his great staff for their recommendations and input. We changed our plans several times, and Elvis was extremely patient with our questions and modifications. This was truly a trip of a lifetime for us. We started our trip in Uganda with a short visit to see and raft the Nile River. The accommodations in Jinja were wonderful, and Joseph, our driver was great. We took a short flight from Entebbe to Nairobi, where we were picked up by Chris, and we began our savannah safari experience early the next day. George was our guide and driver in Kenya and he was outstanding. He is very knowledgeable and taught us a great deal about the wildlife and the ecosystem of the Serengeti. He always went out of his way to highlight interesting spots along the way and inform and educate us about the fascinating culture of Kenya. We visited Samburu National Park, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Masai Mara National Game Reserve. Our timing placed us in the middle of the Great Migration, and we got to see lots of wildlife. We switched guides at the border, and once again, our guide Hassan was always polite, helpful and knowledgeable. In Tanzania we visited the huge Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro National Conservation Area. Truly a gem of our planet! The wilderness camps in the Serengeti were especially fascinating. We then crossed the border back into Kenya, and we were fortunate to have George as our driver once again. We then visited Amboseli National Park before heading back to Nairobi (with Chris as our guide again) to see the Karen Blixen House and the Kenya National Museum. I can't recommend this company enough. The lodging was all topnotch and the food was always outstanding. And finally, one of the main highlights of the trip was the friendly, considerate people we met. Travel in Africa can be difficult, but the tour guides, and the hotel staff were always kind, courteous, and helpful.
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Email Ken | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
ClassicJourneys made our visit to Kenya safari so easy
Classic Journeys was absolutely fantastic! Our experience to the Safari couldn’t have been better as they are just so professional and the services we received were way beyond our expectations.
They made the whole trip so easy and worry-free for us. I’ll start with the communications with Classic Journeys. The sales director, Elvis, was extremely responsive and accommodating on our requests and frequent change of travel dates. We booked the tour 2 weeks prior to our departure date and yet, he managed to get us a very good package with amazing “camps” and “lodges”. The communication on both email and WhatsApp were very easy and quick. Our expectations were properly managed and directions were clearly given (including what to expect when in Kenya, shots to take and etc).
Properly packed with the instructions (we packed a lot of items we didn’t end up using, because Kenya’s infrastructure and etc were way better than we expected), we were ready to go. Upon landing in Kenya, we were picked up by the customer representative, Chris, and also our tour guide, Sammy. Shortly after, we were on our way to our first camp on the 4x4 pop up van (quick note, van works ok on paved, concrete roads, but the SUV does make a difference on game drives). Sammy was extremely knowledgeable about not only the animals themselves, but also about anything related to Kenyan economy, education, politics and etc. He had answers to all of our questions.
After around 4 hours of car ride, we were at the Sweetwater Serena Camp. Oh boy, we were completely blown off with how beautiful this camp was, and the room (tent) was tastefully decorated. Everything you would normally need is there, except hair dryer (since most camps use power generator, they typically aren’t able to support high power consumption electronics). After a nice lunch, we were set off to go for a game drive at 4 pm. On the very first day, we were so lucky as we already saw 4 of the big 5s (elephants, rhino, buffalo and leopards). Sammy kept communicating with his peers and making sure that we get to see the animals we wanted to. Sammy explained thoroughly about the animal’s behaviors, habitat, and local weather etc. After 2 hours of game drive, we went back to the camp feeling extremely satisfied with the animals we saw. A word about Kenya weather in mid August, it was around 80 degrees and sunny during the day, but temperature drops to mid 50s in the evening. It was perfect for sleeping and chilling by the camp fire.
The next 8 days in Kenya was more of the same, but we were so amazed with how scenic Kenya actually is, and all the animals we saw and learned. We saw most animals that we wanted to see (Big 5, giraffes, etc), and also part of the wildebeest/zebra migration. In addition to that, we were extremely impressed with how simple, honest, friendly and pure the Kenyan and Masai people are. For this reason alone, Kenya is worth a revisit in the future again.
All in all, our experience in the Kenya safari couldn’t have been better, and we attributed all that positive experience to ClassicJourneys and its well-trained staff. Thank you, ClassicJourneys.
