Guide Ken with one of our 4x4 Land Cruisers
Spirit of Kenya
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $150 to $300 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Prompt and reliable - highly recommend!
I went on a 4 day safari to see the Great Migration in September, 2016. I chose this company from the Internet with no prior experience with them.
Helder was my main point of contact and she was *fantastic* (I wanted to put this in all capital letters but this site won't allow it)!
I can't rave about her enough. She was beyond patient as I asked a million questions....and she was amazingly prompt with replying. I don't think she sleeps. :) I went on this vacation alone and Helder was really reassuring.
She is such an asset to the company.
The safari went of perfectly....I was met at the airport and escorted every step of the way after that.
The guide was great...the safari was fabulous.
Overall, I would travel with the company again without hesitation and I have already recommended them to a friend.
PT
Email Carlos Franco | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What a journey!
Me and my partner did a 12 days safari tour with it started in Africa covering both the north parks (serengeti, ngorongoro, manyara and tarangire) but also the south parks (Selous and ruaha). We did the north part overland with it started, with the best driver and guide in the world Patrick, and then they organized us flights from serengeti to ruaha, Selous and back to dar Es salaam, this time the game drives organized by the hotels.
I think the experience is more rewarding if you don't fly from park to park because you have the same guide every day, private game drives and all so you create a bound with your guide and he already knows your interests and everything. It was an amazing journey and we almost cried in the Serengeti when entering the Cessna aircraft out of the park when we had to say goodbye to Patrick. He did really make the experience extraordinary. The southern part of our tour was incredible too as we stayed in beautiful lodges from essential destinations.
Communication and logistics were top notch and I really have nothing to complain, on the contrary. We already made our decision to visit Kenya next year. A safari can really change your perception about the world.
IT
Email Francesco Casati | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Kilimajaro Climb and a wonderful safari!!!
A very good service from all the team of It Started in Africa. They helped me to plan this wonderful journey and they customized everything according to my demands, always fast in answering. Everything was all right! Kilimanjaro climb: simply great! Good gears, good tents, good and plentiful meals! And the safari simply amazing!!! The guides were nice and prepared and were able to answer to all of my questions.
CN
Email Ran | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very amazing and unique experience !
I chose It Started In Africa among 20 agencies. Helder is super impressive to help us customize the trip. The Star Bed he recommended to us is super unique and cool experience! Thank you very much for the tour. We enjoyed it a lot! I've heard from friends who traveled with other agencies with many problems, like the cars were broken many times, or hotels were not as expected, and etc. But we didn't meet a single time of trouble during the tour. Our driver, Charles, is really awesome and has been extremely professional on driving, guiding and communicating, I learnt a lot from him! I definitely want to come to Kenya again and travel with It Started In Afica!
AE
Email Pious Sebastian | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
it was a wonderful experience.
our guide Dixon was excellent. we were forunate enough to see a good no of lions ,leopards, chetta. we saw 3 hynae together and one of them was carrying something in the mouth.We missed a kill by mere bad luck. there were 5 lions in a group and they were planning to attack a wilder beast.The wilder beast some how smelt the attack and ran away
It started in Africa was very systematic and punctual in answering the mails and they arranged everything without giving us any chace to complain
US
Email Mary | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fulfilling safari experience
4 American senior citizens had a great 8-day safari, meeting or exceeding almost all our expectations. The best was our guide Martin, for his knowledge and dependability. Accommodations, balloon ride, itinerary were really good. Our desire to see wildebeest en masse crossing the Mara river, complete with predators, was realized thanks to Martin's efforts. We're glad we chose intra-Africa flight to return to Arusha. Disappointments: expected 4 pr binoculars, received only 3 by the third day of safari (we'd have brought our own from home); arrived JRO airport with no one to pick us up, until about 11/2 hours later; an arranged night game drive didn't happen. The safari company quickly reimbursed us for late pick-up, missed game drive. We'd choose this company all over again, based on our mostly very good experiences.
PT
Email Nury | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An amazing journey in Kenya and Tanzania
It Started in Africa made us a special safari, we chose the places we wanted to go and they made our trip absolutely unforgetable. All the hotels they recommended us were increadible, namely the Enkerende Tented Camp in Kenya and the Neptune Ngorongoro. Our guide Evans was extremely profesional, always very atentious and careful with us as we were a group of five women. The tour was incredible, as we went through all the main parks from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro. Our stay ended up in Zanzibar, where we choose the hotel, but It Stared in Africa took care of all transfers, including air transfers. We highly recommend this operator. It Started in Africa exceeded our expectations!!! Incredible experience. Thank you so much.
IN
Email Charit Menon | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It Started and Ended Extremely Well!
Highlights:
- Very informative and helpful sales team
- Reasonable pricing, offering multiple lodging options to suit your budget
- Extremely informative website
- We had a wonderful extremely cooperative and driver/guide for our safari
- Very good with their adherence to timelines getting you to your destination promptly
- Have the option of pop up top minivans or 4x4s
- Their packages are all expenses included. We only paid for tips and alcohol at all the places and lodges we stayed.
The first thing that drew my attention to them is their very informative website that takes it a level further by giving you a brief of the many parks and national reserves across Kenya. While they do have off the counter packages to choose from based on the number of days you're in Kenya, they allow personalisation of your itinerary, as most operators do. You should leverage on their description of the places to plan your itinerary.
Planning:
I got in touch with them well before our trip via email and they were very prompt in the replies and very informative at the same time. Right from letting me the pros and cons of the options we had, the logistical feasibility, they were very frank about what could be managed and what couldn't. They even offer you multiple lodging packages based on your budget, and with multiple recommendations under each package. At the same time, they allow you to choose your own hotel and have them coordinate with the chosen place of stay. Well before we landed in Kenya, everything was already laid out.
Guide:
Our driver/guide, Charles, was a relatively quiet but was a gem of a person accommodating all our little requests here and there and helping us out any time we asked for it. He may not have been the more charismatic of guides, but he did his best to ensure we were comfortable at all times. We loved the football banter we had with him. He put his vehicle through hell to make sure we get to all our places. This included a mad rush to the Mara triangle on news breaking out of a herd of wildebeest making the river crossing and our final road trip back to the airport in Nairobi from Masai Mata at 5:00 am, planning for traffic contingencies along the way. I'm told they're very particular about their selection process with drivers and guides, and you can see they are.
Execution:
We were only 3 people yet were given an exclusive vehicle and guide to ourselves. Their on ground team deserves a lot of credit for their work. We kept them waiting, if anything, at the airport on landing. We reached every single location well on time and everything in the itinerary was well prepared and ready for us before we arrived at our different destinations. The hotels they had recommended in all but one location were fabulous.
There was just one minor problem we'd faces during the trip regarding the inclusion or exclusion of a safari organised by the lodge we were staying at. After a bit of a struggle to get in touch with their Nairobi team, the entire thing was resolved by them paying out of pocket for it within 30 minutes or so.
We were on a 5 day, 4 night package. The safaris for the first two days were handled by local guides but paid for by their team. The last two days at Masai Mara was a safari in their vehicle. The constant communication on their radios ensure you don't miss anything someone else spotted.
If I were to plan another trip to Africa, and had these guys as an option for a safari operator, would definitely go with them.
PT
Email Jose Luis | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excelente!
Great trip through West Africa: Kenya, Tanzania and a small tour of the gorillas in Rwanda. All organized by It Started in Africa with an unprecedented service excellence. All the logistics were handled according to our plans and save one or another small detail, nothing failed. We could not be happier. The highlight was the Tanzania where we visit the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar.
P.S. I'm using google translator to translate my text Portuguese to English
IN
Email Vivek Joshi | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Migration Dream Fullfilled !!!!!
We just returned from 6N/7days Safari with It Started in Africa which covered Samburu N.P.(2N),Lake Nakuru (1N) and Masai Mara(3N).
Helder Francisco and customer happiness team was very prompt in responding to all our queries / doubts.
Our accommodations were excellent.Especially being vegetarians , every accommodation taken care of this requirement and provided us nice tasty vegetarian food.
Our Guide Evans was very cooperative, knowledgeable person who helped us in photographing everything from Birds to Animals to Landscapes.
We could witness the Great Migration of Topi,Wildebeest and Zebras at Mara River Twice in a Day!!!!!
Overall The Safari was an Excellent and LifeTime experience for us.I will definitely recommend this agency for all those who are looking for a good value deal , professional arrangements and exciting wildlife experience.
Many Thanks our long awaited Great migration Dream Fullfilled !!!!!!!