Shanjoy Tours Team
Shanjoy Tours and Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2013)
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $250 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
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Email Mr Ashutosh Godbole | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Patrick, our tour guide was very proactive, professional, full of information and fun to be with
We had a wonderful Kenya and Tanzania customised safari experience. We visited Amboseli, Masai Mara and Serengeti national park. Patrick, our tour guide and the owner of Shanjoy Tours and Safaris, was very responsive right from the beginning. He was always accessible via email and WhatsApp. He sent us a detailed itinerary as a reply to my enquiry, and patiently changed it multiple times, because of the changes that I kept requesting. In the end, we had a great safari experience. Patrick organised the whole trip very well. He is also an excellent safari guide himself and gave us a lot of information about birds and animals in Amboseli. We also had a great experience at Masai Mara and Serengeti. A big thank you to Patrick, Beth, Joseph and the entire team. We highly recommend Shanjoy Tours and Safaris for your next safari experience in Kenya and Tanzania.
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Email Julianna Canavan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded expectations in every regard; responsive, high-value, incredible experience.
We had an amazing experience from start to finish with Shanjoy!! Patrick was super responsive during the checkin process and during the trip, and the itinerary itself was a great value - prompt hotel pickup, smooth checkin and flights (flying saves time and is great for people like me who may experience motion sickness driving from Nairobi), and gorgeous, comfortable accommodations. The best part was our patient and flexible driver Joseph who was so determined to ensure every game drive was a dream come true. He seemed to have a sixth sense for getting us close to the most majestic wildlife, not to mention his skill driving the vehicle and his obvious passion for his work. Patrick was very helpful with communication with Ashnil Mara (beautiful! Great food! Hippo sightings!). Finally, Shanjoy booked a hot-air balloon ride as part of our itinerary and we highly recommend this unforgettable experience. I would call the whole thing ‘once in a lifetime’ except I can’t wait to come back and do it again. We highly recommend this company!!
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Email Stefano Miccoli | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great communication and value for money, even better experience
My 10 days solo safari in Kenya with Shanjoy was a blast!
Not only great value for money, but a tailormade itinerary and ton and ton of support from the whole Shanjoy team.
Since the first day, Patrick helped me to put together a great itinerary with and endless back and forth of emails in the previous month and several last minute changes to best suit my travel plans. In the end the tour consisted of Nairobi NB, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Ol Pejeta and Aberdare. in hindsight Aberdare could be left out and maybe dedicate one more day to masai mara, but this is mostly due to the very poor experience delivered by The Ark staff, Shanjoy could not do much about that.
As soon as the safari started, it was the time for Joseph to shine. I wasnt sure what to expect as this was my first solo safari this long, but we connected immediately and we had a wonderful time together, felt like a vacation with a good old friend. He's was so kind and talkative that even the long transfers between the parks passed quickly chatting about everything with him. Then it came to the game drives and you can definitely tell he has 15+ years of experience. The Mara felt like his home. Not only for spotting the animals or coordinating with the drivers from the other cars, but also to choose the right place to park the car. Always respectful of the animals and many times predicting their movements and behaviours to get the best angle possible. Thanks to his knowledge (and the amazing landscapes and animals of the kenyan parks), I managed to take hundreds of great photos, probably the best of my life.
I hope to come back soon
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Email Taylor | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime trip -- incredible tour!
Patrick answered all of my questions (and I had a lot of questions) before booking. He was detailed and helpful and gave great advice! They were also helpful and responsive during our trip for anything we needed. We did a safari at the Masai Mara and a trip to Diani Beach. Patrick picked us up personally with a driver from our hotel in Nairobi for airport transfer - it was very nice to meet him! We did flights between locations and they were smooth, easy and quick transport. We absolutely LOVED the Losokwan camp in the Lemek Conservancy. We were concerned staying outside of the Masai Mara, but we actually loved our drives in the conservancy. Such an incredible trip and we'd recommend to anyone!
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Email Roberto Buil | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Patrick made our first safari unforgettable and suited both our expectations and our budget.
Communication with Shanjoy Tours and Safaris was very good from the first quote. We made a multitude of changes both because of their advice and because of our interests. He always advised us and looked for the best solutions to fit our budget. Patrick accompanied us in Masai Mara, the 4x4 is very good and perfectly adapted with plugs (US, UK, EU compatible) to charge phones and cameras. It has an ideal tray to organize all our electronic devices. With it we were able to see Lions mating, several leopards with their prey in the tree, Cheetahs eating their prey and the harassment of Vultures. Lioness eating a buffalo, we even found a Serval that is the most difficult to see due to its size. Multitudes of elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, gazelles. A magical moment was being able to enjoy the crossing of the Mara River. In the Tanzanian part, we changed drivers and guides and we were accompanied by Mudy, a young guide who spoke Spanish, and Hasam, a great driver with a lot of experience and knowledge of animals. We had some problem with the 4x4 that was heating up and not starting but it was resolved. In Tanzania we were lucky enough to see a lioness hunt. The accommodations were perfectly adapted to our needs and Patrick even upgraded us to the latest Hotel in Ngorongoro. I must highlight that the airline lost our suitcases and Patrick did everything possible to help us recover them. Thank you, it has been a pleasure to enjoy this adventure with you.
Email Elizabeth | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
An unforgettable and truly amazing trip, thanks to the team at Shanjoy
Patrick and his team at Shanjoy were excellent from start to finish, and I would 100% recommend them. They really care about making your holiday great - I made a change to the itinerary before going, and also added on an additional game drive for the final day at quite late notice - we had a late flight from Nairobi so I was keen to make the most of it. Joseph (our guide in Kenya) and Harun (our guide across the border in Tanzania) were both phenomenal and made every effort to make the experience amazing.
I had made some other enquiries of larger companies and found they were quite one-size-fits-all, but the service from Shanjoy was personalised and thoughtful,. Even a little thing like helping us find a replacement camera charger on the first morning wasn't too much trouble, and made the whole trip so smooth from start to finish. Everything was on time, communication was great and the trip was great value for money (some of our experiences were priceless).
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Email Amy | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Worst experience ever, zero competent, zero respect to me, just for the money and tips
One star is for the animals! Don’t book with them, the worst tour guide ever!! The good reviews here are very short, most just says they are nice people, that’s not competent for a guide, you need an experienced guide to know where animals are. OMG where do I even start:
1> the tour guide Joseph, worst guide ever, he’s not even a descent human being. He’s constantly on the phone, talking to others, others calling him, and when we stop I take pictures of animals, he takes out his notebook, either writing down something or on the phone. First I thought he’s talking to others to know where animals are, so I asked him. He said no, he’s clearly doing something else on this side.
2> his knowledge for animal is just non-exist! He doesn’t know what the big 5s are, doesn’t know where cheetah is, he drives to the same area everyday. And you would expect a tour guide tell you a little history about the park, different animals, etc. NOPE, absolutely nothing, he drives quietly and when we see animals he stops, let me take pictures, go.
3> we would spend hours in the car just Joseph and I and there’s no talking at all! Can you believe it! And it’s becoming very awkward so one time I tried to make a conversation, so I asked him “hey what brand of phone people use here in Kenya?”, he goes, “oh you Americans use iPhone! You are rich!”, I was like errr no everyone uses iPhone it’s very common there, carriers give deals, you can get a 24 months contract for a phone. Do you know what he said, he goes "you should sign up for a new contract and give me your phone!" wow wordless… unbelievable. Another time, I told him I want to see cheetah, he goes “cheetah are hard to see, I want $100 tips if we see cheetah.” WOW after that I gave up, i dont want to talk to him at all.
4> and on the last day, his car broke. smoke came out of the engine, we wasted half day staying in a lodge fixing his car
4 days I spent in Kenya, didnt see much at all. last day, we finally found 2 cheetah, this guy refuse to stay longer because he wants to stay under the shade. and he doesnt want to move closer because he wants to stay under the shade.
I can go on, and on. this company and this tourguide ruined my Kenya experience. Please stay away! i will post the same review on other Safari platforms. I hope more people can see it. It’s not a cheap trip, please choose wisely!!
Reply from Shanjoy Tours and Safaris
Posted on Jun 24, 2024I do confirm that Amy booked a safari with us and I personally took her to the Mara and handed her to Joseph, one of our senior guides. We had a lot of communication before she came about her safari and choice of hotels, and since she was a solo traveller using high-end hotels that were very expensive, her safari cost was higher than normal.
Joseph spoke on the phone a lot; he admitted it, but some calls were necessary since her radio call was not working well.
Amy saw many animals, including a group of over 15 lions and two leopards, eating alone with no other vehicles nearby. This one is not mentioned anywhere. The reason she says Joseph was not going near Cheetah is because we have a 5-vehicle rule in Mara Triangle, and so the first vehicle had to leave and will go back when others have seen the animals. Joseph was going away to give others a chance, but she wanted to stay and not move.
It is normal to have car breakdowns or get stuck while on safari, and this is what happened. The car was fixed, but not for the half-day she mentioned.
She could tell me to change hotels for her, which was not possible at the time, saying there were no animals or saying she saw the same thing. She gave the two guides a difficult time during game drives, which was not good. We do game drives without expecting anything, as the wild does not guarantee sightings.
It is regrettable she felt that we ruined her safari. However, we must appreciate that the wild does not guarantee any animals to be sighted, and hotels cannot be changed at a minute's notice. Once an itinerary has been booked and the hotels paid, any changes come with additional costs, which the client must be prepared to incur. Amy did not want to incur the cost of changing the hotel, despite having recommended the hotel which we booked.
This is my first client to ever complain about us and I regret it. I wish to ensure that all our clients get the best from their safari.
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Email Erika oliveros | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime!
Found Shanjoy thru random search here in this website. They are very responsive from Day 0 to end. I highly recommend them especially if you are going to Tanzania (i love our guide Elly as he was so passionate in his job and we learned a lot). 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Email Yan | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dedicated reliable professional services
We contacted Shanjoy tours and safari by email to have a private tour itinerary for a very reasonable price. They replied our questions in detail promptly every time. Patrick picked us up at Nairobi airport in person. We had Steve as our driver/guider at Nakuru, Maasai Mara for 4 amazing days, then picked up at board by its partner, Mama Savanna, in Tanzania. We had Isaya as our driver/guider at Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater, Tarangire for 5 perfect days. Then we were back into Kenya to tour Amboseli. At last we were transferred to Nairobi for dinner then airport. Every accommodation is wonderful. What an unforgettable lifetime experience! Thank you so much!
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Email MichaelTeh | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shanjoy is synonymous with reliability and professional services, knowledgeable and friendly guide
It was quite easy to communicate with Shanjoy to create a suitable itinerary for our Kenya and Tanzania safari. Shanjoy was most approachable and flexible, and made suggestions that were very relevant to enhancing our safari experience.
Our highly professional driver/guide in Kenya, Patrick Roonan, had great communication skills and apparently very knowledgeable of the fauna and flora in the parks.
Patrick Roonan seems to have the knack of finding and locating the animals; we managed to see four of the Big Five within the first safari day itself! His patience and consistently right decisions has enabled us to be the first to arrive at some spots where we can have a close and undisturbed time with the animals.
Thanks to Patrick Ngire, Beth Kamatu and the Shanjoy team, everything went smoothly and safely.
Shanjoy is highly recommended for a memorable and hassle free safari.
