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
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.
US
Email HK | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well rounded budget safari
Went on four day Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru safari. Solo female traveler. Safari was awesome. Caleb was the driver for Masai Mara. He was friendly and appeared to be well experienced. He made sure to stop and show several animals and at a very close distance. Not a dull moment with him.
Mostly good communication with Alex but he was not reachable when the airport pick up driver suddenly decided to transfer me to another driver half way to Masai Mara. He demanded and made me pay the money enroute instead of when we reached the park as Alex said . This got me worried. Alex was not reachable to clarify. It worked out okay in the end. There were other times in this trip where the plan was not communicated at the start and I was transferred between vehicles, or driven a longer route to accommodate other travelers. It would be much better if this is informed to a traveler at least at the start of the day.
My flight got delayed upon arrival and Alex arranged for a special pick up for an extra cost but unfortunately never refunded me the cost of Masai Mara park entrance fee for the day I missed. I didn’t ask. Last day, airport drop off was part of the trip but the driver from Nakuru dropped me off in Nairobi downtown. Another driver asked for some money to take me to the airport. I paid.
Budget tents in Masai Mara I felt are a bit too cheap. No charging outlets, food is quite mediocre, no lights in the tent after a certain time, shower/toilet are bad. Someone I met at breakfast felt the same way. Go for a better lodging if you can afford. Lake Nakuru hotel room and food were pretty good however.
All in all , I am satisfied with the safari and most importantly felt safe as a solo female traveler.
Taking away one star for poor communication about transfers, lack of park entrance fee refund and charging extra airport drop off charge.
Email Marie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very well organised, got to see the Big Five, amazing experience
Communication: quick responses
Organisation: excellent
Accommodation: camp was very authentic with a bomfire in the evening, lovely and welcoming people, baboons walking around freely
Food was a bit basic
ES
Email Marta | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Geeman the best driver!
Very good experience, if you have the option, do the safari with geeman
IT
Email Martina | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This Safari tour was amazing even tough a few minor issues happened
We spent a Safari Tour with Wilson as driver and guide. He is very nice and he was great in making us see all the animals, just the leopard was missing unfortunately. He spoke in english every time. Quality was good for the safari price. There were some minor issues: our car nearly broke due to an engine issues and we lost some hours to manage the problem and the accomodation was not always the same specified in the program.
JP
Email Rei | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well organized and friendly service
I am overall happy with the service by Lenchada. Quick response on the emails, friendly service, good organization, I can list many things.
I selected an economic 6 day tour, which I think the difference is basically the accommodation. Though things are not prefer as in 4 or 5 star hotels, the friendly and hospital service at Masai Mara/Amboseli camp accommodation exceeded my expectations.
I am also happy that the driver made all his effort to guid us through and I am happy that I was able to see all big 5 and spectacular view of Kilimanjaro. I surely recommend this tour when I return back.
US
Email Annelise | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome animal experiences, budget safari!
The first thing I would say is if you’re open minded and have a go with the flow flexible persona, then I think you will have a nice time on this safari! And thanks to our guide WILSON for making this an easy solo travel experience that I will remember and always getting us the best view of the animals.
Here’s what I wish I knew before I came:
-We saw so many amazing animals (4/5 of the big five!) and Wilson always helped us to get a good shot of the animals. I was truly blown away with seeing the elephants up close and also so many cute baby animals.
-Wilson was a very skilled driver (which you will come to super appreciate once you fully take in Kenyan roads). We did not get stuck once (writing this on the 5th night so I’ll cross my fingers for the last day haha) while Wilson was receiving calls/radio that other drivers were stuck frequently. I was particularly impressed with his driving in the dark skills and his driving on the Maasai Mara roads which are incredibly bumpy and rough it’s hard to explain you’ll have to see. Wilson was a hard worker and always went above to make the experience memorable and a bit more relaxing for example we stopped a lot for snack/drink or toilet which helped break up the really long drives. (As an aside if you’re wondering if you need to bring toilet paper in your purse I would say no although I always did just in case no matter where I travel, but definitley hand sanitizer as not all bathrooms had water or soap). Also the car was comfortable and I liked that you could stand up because the roof came up)
-Everyone I interacted with was so friendly and welcoming so you will feel at ease even if you’re there alone you’ll have plenty of time to socialize with others
-Depending on the tour you book you might be camping, if you don’t mind camping then you will be fine. Just a consideration if you have a really bad back or are just a bit picky about where you stay, this is definitely budget accommodations. Usually you’d get your own tent but one night I shared with another woman since there was too many people in the camp. This was fine since it was a big tent with toilet/shower. The car will contain not just Lenchada Safari passengers but from various different tours so keep that in mind (several times one person was staying at a different place/food than everyone else due to what they booked but we all did the same agenda). I mention this just to say I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this tour for an extremely important once in a lifetime situation like your honeymoon or if you are older and expect things a certain way, it felt more of a go with the flow and we’ll see what happens, backpacking kind of vibe.
-Bring binoculars because they really made all the difference! Also shampoo and conditioner, sunscreen, good sunglasses, charger and charger converter if you need it and don’t worry too much about exchanging KSH immediately because you can go to an ATM (or at least Wilson took us to one so shout out to Wilson for saving the day when I had no KSH). You’ll need quite a bit of KSH for tipping and misc for example Wilson ended up bringing us to see Lake Naivasha for $50 which I didn’t expect so it was good to take out shillings at the ATM. Try to break your 1000 KSH bills on the way because once you get to smaller places it’s harder to break the 1000 and get change back and you need the smaller bills to tip
-Here are some things I brought but didn’t use: Tide stain remover, Insect Repellent, Travel Size Wipes, Travel Size Tissues, quick dry towel big size ( I did use a smaller size towel to put on my pillow so I didn’t get my pillow wet after the shower though), swimsuit, granola bars/snacks (no need there is plenty of food and can frequently stop at store and get a snack), diarrhea pills (phew), a second power bank (one was definitely enough because you can charge your stuff every night even while camping)
-Regarding the optional Maasai village tour, I have to say it’s the one part of the tour I regret doing and that’s because I felt harassed in their pressure to buy something and spend more money. I read the reviews and thought it would be like a you should buy something but it was a lot more intense than that and really bummed me out. I would be happy to donate more money but I just felt like the atmosphere of the way they applied pressure to you killed the mood for me and I left feeling upset. If you want to go, the best thing is to decide beforehand what you want to spend and put only that bill in your purse in a separate pocket from all else and to pick out just one item that would be reasonable for the price you want to spend (they say to take various and they’ll figure out which to get and the price later but then they’ll try to get you to buy all for a high price which in retrospect is obvious) and just be firm in your decision. Also try to insist on not being separated by yourself out of the group because if you are alone then you will obviously be in a more vulnerable place to pressure tactics. I don’t say this to fearmonger but so that you can make an informed decision about the tour
-I think it was quite a long week with all the driving. If you’re not too social like me or just unsure how many days is good for you I think 4 is probably good although seeing the elephants in Amboselli is really cool (you can also see elephants in other parks but in Amboselli we got close to a big herd and with the mountain in the back got such pretty photos). On days 1-2 I thought no way 6 days is enough but by day 3-4 I was like oh actually this has been a lot haha so just to take into consideration you can very likely always extend your tour as the company was very flexible to trying to accommodate everyone where needed for example being dropped off at boarder with TZ, go to Nairobi go to airport at the end etc.
-Try to be flexible with regards to communication because you might not receive complete or super quick communication about details from the office they are very busy, but this is a legit safari and you will make it to your destination rest assured haha, so try to just wake up a bit earlier and get ready so you can navigate what the situation might be timing wise, and try to be flexible and remember everything will work out in the end!
All in all I feel good recommending this safari to those who are looking for their next interesting animal adventure!
Email Matankiso | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Dickson was enthusiastic, considerate and well experienced
My friend and I went on the 3 day Safari and Village tour
Started in Nairobi and visited Masai Village- Day 1
Full day Safari with picnic - Day 2
Morning Safari & drive back to Nairobi - Day 3
Dickson, our guide was enthusiastic, and considerate. With him we saw 3 out of the big 5, but to no fault of his.
FR
Email Chris et JP | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
serious, punctual and well-organized travel agency
we took a budget Safari around 858 USD per person for 6 days 5 nights. the first camp at the Massai Mara, named Lenchada camp, is very dilapidated. It would be necessary to improve certain things, notably access to hot water at any time without asking reception or even access to lighting which was also faulty. To allow customers to better choose the type of housing desired, the agency should offer different types of prices depending on the different types of housing desired before purchasing.
Otherwise, the visits went well. Meals remain quite simple, especially for picnics. Our guide driver, Richard, was very good, he was able to share with us his knowledge of animals and exchange with Kenyan culture.