Our Team with guests
Lenchada Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $400 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
Email Andrew | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst ever experience
As expats in Kenya, we have taken many safari trips, and the recent one to Masai Mara with Lenchada was unfortunately our worst ever experience. We chose this company out of their overwhelmingly good reviews on safaribookings.com. That probably means that most of their drivers are excellent. But our driver, named Tony, was an exception by a large margin.
Tony clearly hates his job and was cold and rude to us throughout the trip. Every time we met at the beginning of a game drive, he never greeted us and only responded to our greeting with a node. He never helped with our luggage either. During game drives, he never asked us or even notified us before starting the vehicle after a stop, never caring if we wanted to stay for longer. In several cases this interrupted our ongoing photography of animals, and sometimes even worse—the abrupt move of the vehicle on the bumpy road of Masai Mara caused us to fall on the seat. All three of us hit our knees on the armrest of the seats for a few times, and we all got bruises. Having paid a little more to take a private tour rather than a shared one, we expected that we could customize the game drives to a reasonable extent. When we tried to communicate with him about our preferences in animal viewing, however, Tony responded impatiently with cold words such as “You have to be patient,” “I have to follow instructions from the radio.”
And his words about following the radio turned out to be a lie, because his vehicle was not equipped with a radio! A radio is important for any safari trip, and especially for Masai Mara, since the natural reserve is simply too large. Even during the migration season, most part of Masai Mara at any given time would still be empty, and without a radio, on which dozens of drivers share their findings real-time, you will very likely end up not finding anything interesting for a whole hour. Two of the three of us fell asleep for around twenty to thirty minutes during the game drive. In the past we have taken safari trips in less renowned destinations and during low seasons, but the experiences have never been so boring for us that we fell asleep. It may be unbelievable that this happened in Masai Mara during the migration season, but when you don’t see any noteworthy animal for dozens of minutes it would be hard to stay awake. We did get to see some big cats, but that was only possible when we luckily encountered another vehicle that had radio, whose driver kindly shared the information, and our vehicle then made a U-turn to go back in the opposite direction for some fifteen minutes to get to the spot. With a radio we would probably have spent thirty minutes less to get there.
When we realized this problem, we contacted Alex, the managing person of Lenchada. Alex was responsive and attentive. He apologized for our experience, clarified that the driver’s practice of not carrying radio to a game drive is intolerable and against the company’s rules, and told us that he will soon make a thorough check on all the vehicles of his company to make sure that they must have radios. For us, however, the only thing he could offer as a remedy was to extend our final game drive by departing the lodge one hour earlier than planned. We appreciated his supportive attitude and accepted the offer, understanding that it was probably already all he could do within his capability. Tony was late, cutting the extended game-drive time from one hour to less than forty minutes. But the length of the trip turned out not a big issue, because during that extended final game drive, we again fell asleep, for the simple reason that the vehicle still didn’t have radio and we still had not much to see most of the time.
Although Tony had no radio, he attempted to cheat us by saying that he had one. It was only during the second day of the trip, when we heard him responding to another driver asking about information on animal spotting, saying in Swahili “Sina redio” (I don’t have a radio) that we realized he had been lying. When we contacted Alex about this concern, Alex hosted a three-way phone call with us and Tony. To our surprise, in the phone call Tony lied to his boss and insisted that he had a radio which he simply turned off because it was noisy. On our way back to Nairobi, Tony even blamed us for telling his boss about the radio issue, and still insisted that he has radio. When we pointed to the antenna holder in the front of his vehicle, where there was no antenna at all, he said that for some vehicles the antenna is in the back. But one only needs to get off the vehicle and look at its back to know that there’s no antenna there either. For so many times, Tony lied through his teeth.
Tony also told us that because of our complaint, he was going to lose his job. Due to his repetitive blatant lies, we would not believe in what he said. But if what he said is indeed true, that would be an indication that Lenchada really cared about their customers and promptly fired this unprofessional, dishonest, and rude employee. Such a person should simply not be allowed to work in this industry.
In other aspects of our trip that are unrelated to the driver, our experience was mostly positive. For example, the lodge was a good balance of quality and price. It is way cheaper than any accommodation inside Masai Mara, yet it’s only a ten-minute drive to the gate. Since their boss Alex is a responsible and honest person, and since there are many good reviews out there, choosing Lenchada for your safari may still be a good idea. But you have to make sure that your driver is not Tony, otherwise all those good reviews will be totally irrelevant to your actual experience.
DE
Email Juergen | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Unique animal diversity
We did a 6-day trip with Lenchada Safaris in September 24. Massai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli. All parks have their own character, the variety of animals is fascinating and unique. Unfortunately, the operator only informed us of price increases 2 weeks before the start of the safari and only after we asked. Communication was problem-free, however. Lenchada and Jokey Tours are apparently one and the same operator.
Massai Mara: large herds, many wild cats and the impressive Mara River with hippos and crocodiles. Accommodation: Lenchada camps. The tent was clean and spacious. The facility is getting old. There were no chairs on the terrace and the dining area was a disgrace. There was no “campfire feeling” here.
Lake Nakuro: lots of water birds, rhinos, monkeys and buffalo. Accommodation: standard hotel in the Buruha Zenoni Hotel not far from the park entrance.
Amboseli: impressive backdrop with Kilimanjaro in the background. Large herds of elephants. Really great. Accommodation: highly, highly recommended the Manjaro Camp. Super friendly, good tents and good food.
Travel times/driver: The distances between the parks are very long. The main roads are heavily congested. Travel times of 6-8 hours are the norm. Our driver drove extremely carefully, but was not very taciturn.
Conclusion: The parks are truly uniquely beautiful. Lenchada Safaris can only be recommended to a limited extent. They look everywhere for savings. For example, they drove to an inferior lodge without prior agreement (but we were able to successfully refuse). You should have everything confirmed in writing beforehand.
(automatic translation from German)
IE
Email Alan Carr | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari and saw tons of wildlife but operations need some work
3.5 stars - Overall the tour was great. If you are looking for a budget safari this is for you.
Pros
- saw loads of wildlife
- tour guides David and Evans were helpful and informative (Evans especially)
- accommodation was clean and very comfortable
- food was very tasty
Cons
- the tour charged us a 5% FX fee which is outrageous (extra 25 USD)
- long periods of driving with no breaks or snacks (6/7 hours)
- we had to ask for bathroom breaks
- couple of other hidden charges that weren’t clear (bicycles in hells gate were extra and so was Masai Mara village tour)
- hot springs were in our itinerary and we never went
Fine
I had to share my room with a stranger. So I contacted the safari company in may ways. What they did was just ignoring me. I think that is not the way.
By the wat the tour guys were great!
Email Svenja Alexandra Reincke | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great camp, delicious food but guide was just a driver and did not explain anything.
Good communication and very punctual. Excellent food throughout especially at the camp. No water was provided however even though this was supposed to be included. Beautiful camp but guide was utterly useless - very good driver but he did not explain anything at all so really disappointing.
MY
Email XW | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great value, responsive and overall well organised.
The tour vehicle is solid as our guide Evans, his calm & steady demeanor is very reassuring for a safari tour. We had a great experience at the various parks. Seen many animals close up. Evans was able to bring us to see many animals and beautiful viewpoints.
The stay here was very refreshing, clean rooms and helpful front desk personnel. Besides the Maasai Mara tourist camp's unreliable hot water, the rest of the lodgings were nice places with good food.
CH
Email Daniel&Sandra | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Easy uncomplicated communication, on time and professional.
We had an amazing time, saw all the big 5 and even more wildlife than we expected. Our personal favorite was the full day in Masai mara. If we could do it again we would skip Nakuru, i.e. do Masai mara and Amboseli. Nakuru Park was very beautiful but the drive was very long and we stayed in a hotel next to the city, not a camp. The accommodations had everything we needed and the food was good, the best one was at Amboseli at Manjaro tented camp, where we had giraffes, zebras and impalas just outside the camp. Albert, our guide and driver, was a bit shy at first but opened up during the trip, always on time and very professional.
MA
Email Maritza | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
This was an unforgettable trip made special by our guide Charles who took great care of us. He was super professional, safe and was determined to get us to see the big 5- and we did. I wish the company had explained the need for a tourist ETA and other options for accommodations. You definitely need to ask lots of questions and they are very good about responding but perhaps things get lost in translation. Overall, an amazing experience!
GT
Email Maria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good budget safari with Dickson, a great guide
The experience was made memorable by our guide Dickson. He made sure we saw all the animals (missed just the elusive leopard but not for lack of trying) and patiently moved the car around so everyone could get a chance to see the animals and take a good shot. Dickson was knowledgeable about the species we saw and easily answered all our questions. He was patient with our group and requests. If I came again, I would ask for Dickson.
In terms of accommodations and food, upgrade if you can. The camps are fine but it is a lot like camping. If you don’t like camping, you won’t like the camps. Food was the same every day and…okay. A little more care here would make it be 5 stars.
US
Email Mike G. | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great safari for a great price!
Did the 5 night 6 day safari covering the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli Parks. All very interesting and unique in their own way! Thousands of animals. Saw all the Big Five although the Cheetah was at a distance and the rangers were on top of her right away and we couldn't get closer. Did not see any leopards but were told they are rare anyway. My driver for the first four days was John and he was a good driver, very conscientious of stopping for breaks and refreshments. Not for the faint of heart! It's bumpy and some of of the trips are really long! That being said, the camps I found to be quite comfortable, the food was OK and plentiful! John was extremely patient when we got on a "Big One"! The fourth day however was an extremely long ride with a different driver named Stephen. Not as conscientious as John and we kind of breezed very quickly on the last day through the Amboseli. I would not recommend him for your whole trip. I had been wanting to do a safari my whole life so I'm glad I went with the Lenchada. It got us really into the bush! No luxuries, a great taste of Africa in the wild, came in and out safely and all on an extremely affordable budget! Great safari! Great Price! Thanks Alex.
