Our Team with guests
Lenchada Safaris
- Located 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)
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.
Email Sam | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professional, knowledgeable and accommodating
Our Lenchada Safaris tour along with our driver/guide Richard were excellent.
Communication was very clear and the schedule and accommodation options were as specified.
Richard was very friendly and knowledgeable and accommodating of what our priorities were, as well as flexible during a given day. We very much enjoyed discussing the wildlife, and indeed wider life, with Richard and he was always happy to engage in discussions.
It was a fantastic experience and I would highly recommend.
TN
Email Senda & Vladimir | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Delightful Safari
We took 4 days Masai Mara and Nakuru tour and it was more than we expected. The staff was very helpful and friendly, especially the driver Denis who was very eager to explain every detail on the Safari. The accommodation was also nice in both Masai Mara and Nakuru.
We definitely recommend the agency.
Email Javier | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Evans is the best guide ever i’ve seen in my life
Is a very complete service. You have a lot awesome experiences. Evans, our guide, choosed the best ways & tracks and it was the best thing so i could see the big five. The relation between food & price for the safari is good.
The car, Toyota Land cruiser, is very comfortable and hard. Necessary if you want to go for the best places.
If you want to feel the real kenya, you should choose this company for your trip.
ES
Email Laura | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Evans is a fantastic guide and driver!
Lenchada Safaris take care of us not just during our tour but in the previous months making sure we had all the informarion and details of the trip.
Our guide and driver, Evans, was always very willing to help us and adjust the schedule and stops to our desire. He answered every question we asked him and he made easier for us to find the perfect spots to see the wild animals.
We enjoy every part of this trip. We could not recommend you more Evans!
ES
Email Sheila | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We are so happy with the service
Everything has been Ok. I went with my friends and we are very lucky because Evans was our guide. The experience with him has been incredible. He is an amazing person
ES
Email Alberto Rodríguez | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unforgettable trip
First of all I want to thank Lenchada Safari for its professionalism, we hired its service in April, and we did the safari in August. During all that time Alex was very attentive and worried that everything went well. We made a 6-day Safari in Ambosseli - Nakuru - Massai Mara, and it was a success. I want to emphasise EVANS, our guide and driver. A great person who made our trip unforgettable. He has taken care of us at all times. His safari experience has led us to incredible places in each park, know all the paths necessary to see all the animals and incredible landscapes. Thanks for everything. We will recommend Lenchada Safari and Evans to all people who ask us about our trip.
IE
Email Erika | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic tour and lifelong memories
Fantastic tour which exceeded my expectations. I went on the 5 day tour of Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Nashiva and Hells Gate NP with our excellent tour guide Moses. Moses is an excellent guide. He always found the best places to find all the wildlife and has the ability to get into the mindset of the animals and predict exactly what they were going to do next which was absolutely fantastic for capturing the most amazing photos. We saw all the Big 5, so many baby Lions, a baby Rhino with its mother, a leopard jumping over water, Lions and their kill, Giraffe, Buffalo, Elephants, Wildebeest and Zebra making their way on their great migration all in the most amazing settings of the Masai Mara. The Masai Village visit was very interesting and great fun to participate in their dancing and learn about their culture. Lake Nakuru was beautiful and it was lovely seeing so much more wildlife against the beautiful backdrop of the lake of birds and flamingos. The accommodation and food on this tour was also amazing. We ate extremely well. Two of the places we stayed had pools which was lovely bonus. Moses would go out of his way to help you with anything. He even organised a doctor to call to conduct registered Covid test I needed for the next leg of my travels to Rwanda. It was such a brilliant tour. I have left with so many wonderful memories, new found friends and the most amazing photos I would never have been able to capture without the help of Moses and his passion and knowledge of all the wildlife. Thanks so much for the fantastic tour.
DE
Email Ali | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari, great Francis
It was really a great safari. I felt like all things i wished to see, i got it.. specially our guide Francis. We were in safe hands with him. Wheatever we asked him to do for us he was always there. He was also keen on letting us seeing all animals during our safari, which he achieved. Highly recommended..
DK
Email Mikkel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari in Masai Mara, lake nakura and lake naivasha
The 5 day safari to Masai Mara, lake nakura and lake naivasha was a lige changing experience. Francis was absolutely amazing as a guide. He gave us the chance to see every exciting animal (including the big 5) at a very short distance. He made us feel so welcome and gave me an experience, i will never forget.