BCL taking clients on a safari
Bluerange Connect
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $115 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
IN
Email Sri Sai | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience at low-cost
5 days, 4 nights Safari- Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru National Park, Maasai Mara
9 Friends
Our journey began when Musa and Evans, our guides, picked us up at the airport. They were punctual, and we were promptly escorted to the office from the airport. We settled the remaining payment, albeit with a delay caused by a credit card transfer issue. Eventually, we had to withdraw cash from ATMs in Nairobi, and it was nearly 11 a.m. by the time the payment was completed.
Initially, our itinerary included a visit to Ol Pejeta Conservancy and a late arrival at Lake Nakuru. However, due to the late start and the considerable travel time to Ol Pejeta, we opted to modify the plan. Instead, we visited Lake Naivasha on Day 1 and arrived at Lake Nakuru by late evening, a change we agreed to.
Couple of things to note here, in the itinerary, the hotels mentioned were changed citing upgradation, complaints etc the moment after the payment was done. We were in the office from 7 am to 10pm and we were told about these changes only after the whole payment has been done. We were disappointed about this as we expected these changes to be informed before hand.
Then the drivers were called and the MD had told the whole itinerary in front of them so that everyone is on same page (continue reading)
Day 1 was amazing, Lake Naivasha boat ride is worth the visit. Simply put, it's a curtain raiser to what is coming ahead. Got a chance to see Giraffes, Zebras, Water bucks, Hippos very closely. We were taken to hotel close to Lake Nakuru. The hotel was amazing. 3 Triple rooms. Great food, good accommodation and everything went well.
Day 2 Lake Nakuru early in the morning. Flamingoes, Rhinos from far, few Giraffes, bunch of Baboons, few Zebras, African buffaloes. Overall 3/5 given the great experience the previous day at Lake Naivasha. Started from Nakuru late in the afternoon and had a brief stop at Narok to shop snacks. Reached Hotel Mara Ndovu by late evening. 3 triple rooms, 2 rooms close to each other and one far off. In one room, there was no power supply and no hot water in 2 rooms. After complaining repeatedly, they were given another room the next day.
Day 3: Since there was running hot water in only one room, everyone had to take bath in only washroom
"The Washrooms are bad, bad, bad"- No latches, no hot water, only few power sockets working. The food was bad, very bad.
On one day, we made to wait for more than 2 hours for dinner.
Coming to Safari, the best day in the whole safari, Maasai Mara is amazing, one should visit Masai Mara to appreciate it's beauty. No photo can translate its beauty. 5 minutes into the Safari, spotted a Cheetah. A pride of 15 lions was spotted by afternoon. Giraffes, Zebras have become very a common sightings by evening. Went to the Great Migration spot, sadly, the migration was not happening. Clicked photos at Tanzania border
Day 4: Again the struggles with taking bath continued and we are used to it by now. Game drive in Maasai Mara, this day was bit disappointing as it didn't match the previous day's experience. Didn't spot animals until afternoon. Spotted a few lions and a cheetah by evening. We asked the guides to return after 2pm to Nairobi the next day to which they disagreed. We tried contacting the office and they have become irresponsive by this time, no proper response was given. The guides wanted to start before 11am the next day( as opposed to what was discussed on the first day)
Day 5: The closing day: Started early in the morning to Masai Mara. Spotted a few lions and other animals in few hours and returned from Masai Mara to Nairobi.
Made necessary arrangements for packed food.
Special mention to Guides- Musa and Evans, very knowledgeable and have done everything possible to help us and make our experience memorable
Overall, our safari experience was good, although there were understandable hiccups along the way
QA
Email Gunjan Chellani | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wanna have a fun ride - connect to the Bluerange Connect
So when i planned to solo visit Kenya for 9 days, I contacted 3-4 tour agents thru this website. The tour proposal submitted by everyone was almost similar, however the lady named Bernadetta (i call her Berna) was most convenient and approachable to talk from Bluerange Connect. So i opted to go ahead with Bluerange connect and it was the best decision. Their process and co-ordination was smooth and pretty comforting.
The safari guide/driver for me was Edward. Before visiting Kenya, many of my friends told me that you should get a fierce driver who takes you to small pouches of the jungle so that you can enjoy the wilderness. And Edward was no doubt one among them. The accommodation and food were reasonable, however some adjustments are bound to happen in such trip and so i cant complain.
Co-incidently and luckily the group with whom i was paired was also fantastic. Therefore, it turned out to be one of the memorable trip of my life. And yes, major credits for this memorable trip go to Berna, Edward and Blue Range Connect. Cheers!
Next year i am planning to visit Tanzania and i am surely going to connect with this team again.
AE
Email Nancy Mwende | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing
We did a 6 day safari , Masai Mara, Nakuru , Naivasha and Amboseli I must attest it was the most magical experience. Ken, our tour guide & driver has a strong experience in the field. He knows perfectly the area and very brave.
He knows where to go and how to find the animals. The communication from the office was impressive they responded immediately
I would highly recommend this to my friends
I will definitely book with you on my next vacation
Kind and he knows the area very highly recommend him to be our tour guide again
My wife and i booked a 7 day tour - Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Hells gate, Amboseli. Our driver, George was very knowledgeable and amazing, he provided us with very interesting facts and information about animals. We were able to see the Big Five on our first day.The accomodations and food was nice (we were on the mid range).Words cannot explain how happy we were considering we had two little ones the driver was so accommodating
I highly recommend blue range.
Freddy Parke
Email Tessa | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money
This is an excellent package especially for those who are on budget. We upgraded the hotels as we found the the original ones too basic. Our safari started at Masai Mara and we very luckily got to see lions late evenings on arrival. the driver was excellent and kept in contact with other drivers so that if they spotted animals in one part of the park they communicated and would drive you over to see them. This way we got to see most of the wildlife. We didn't see many lions as we were expecting but I guess they come out of hiding in their own time. We got to see the Rhino at Lake Nakuru which fulfilled our dream of sighting of the "Big Five". the Rhino was the only animal we didn't see at MM. Lake Naivasha and Hells Gate were not exciting as we got to see the same animals we had already seen at MM and Lake Nakuru, however cycling thru was fun. The jewel in the crown was Amboseli where we saw lots and lots of elephants. the only disappointment was we did not see the lions but this was due to the van driver.
Overall Bluerange package is fantastic and the team go way and above to make the safari fulfilling. We got picked at the airport on arrival and driven to our hotel and even got an Uber to visit the town center. No other company would go out of their way to provide such a service. As we were in different groups, the driver always picked and dropped each group from theri hotels each day on time.
The only advice I would add was maybe incorporate a walking section in the tours as we were sitting in the van for 7-8 hrs which took away was not as exciting.
The drivers seemed very knowledgeable about the wildlife but our driver on the second leg of the safari did not give us much information as he seems to have fallen out with one of his colleagues. It would have made the safari complete if he had informed us about the animals and their habits.
I would highly recommend Blue range for safaris as they do look after their clients and ensure they are picked up on time. they have arranged a package which offers much more than other safari companies offer at a fraction of the price. For those on a budget, this is good value for money and the lodges are not too bad (wi-fi and electricity are not available during the day but then you will be out watching game so you do not need it).
ID
Email Bruno | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Avoid this agent, a real shame !
We booked a trip for 4 people for August 2023 – Kenya Tanzania with this agency Bleu Ranger Safari Kenya for 11 days in the largest parks (7 in total), a still substantial budget. But it seems that this agency does not provide quality at all - the guides are drivers who barely speak English, have no knowledge, and do not even have the program in hand to follow it at least the vehicles are in poor condition, and the assistance when things start to go wrong, completely non-existent… We had to complain constantly to finally get a response from their office…….
The accommodations were 80% modified each evening and without any information even before arrival... it's pure amateurism for a trip that was supposed to be superb...
The impression we have is that they cut back on all the services from the start, driver as cheap as possible (he was not aware of the program, did not speak English at all, a real disaster) – the poorly maintained, dirty and uncomfortable vehicles – meals on the side of the road in dens where the menu must cost 1USD/person no more – hotels not at all up to standard and constantly dislodged from start to finish. We got so fed up that we cut it short and asked to send us back to Nairobi earlier at our expense at a last hotel (Radisson Blue) for the exceptional cost which saved us the end of the trip... With the last driver who almost came to blows with us because of the lack of tip..
This agency has completely put us off Africa... we are disappointed by this experience - don't trust it, because they are not professionals at all, just offering the worst services to improve their margins, to the detriment of the client! !!! Scandal !
DE
Email Matthias | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Musa our driver on one tour to masai mara was just amazing the guy understands his assignment.
It was an amazing experience. I already did a couple of different Safaris and Musa was the best driver I ever had. He took his time when watching animals instead of hastily driving to the next one. He was amazing at spotting them. The tour was customised to my preference. Super friendly. Recommend 100%.
Great value for money!
PT
Email João Zenha | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Even more incredible than my best expectations
I booked a 10 day Safari in Kenya with BCL Bluerange and I am 100% sure I did the best choice.
I made the reservation in June for me and my family of 4 (kids with 4 and 7 years old) to go in November. The communication was easy, via whatsapp and the 30% deposit was easy and enough so all the arrangements could be done.
I kept communicating with Willis- the BCL manager, until the day we went to Nairobi.
At Nairobi we were promptly received by our guide: John who drove us to the hotel. Next day we started our safari way to Samburu. Here I have to state not only in Samburu but all the accomodations booked by BCL along the ten days were incredible. Lodges in the middle of the savannah, (some of them we even could see the big animals) with picturesque views, sympathetic staff, swimming pool on most of them and nice rooms. We were two days and a half in Samburu and the last night there, it rained like it didn't in years, so everyway out was flooded. We noticed at that time the expertise of John's driving as we made the park out over rough terrain and mud. We then were in Lake Nakuru, Masai mara, Lake Naivasha and finally Amboseli. Last day we went back to Nairobi. We could witness the greatness of Kenya flora and fauna, the big 5 and the amazing landscapes, namely the different habitats and the magnificent Kilimanjaro. Along the 10 day Safari we had the unique experience of visiting a Masai village and to go on a boat ride in Naivasha lake. I have to state from all that went good in this safari, the top of the cake was John. Apart from of the already stated driving skills, John was always very friendly, helping us in all matters. We became great friends and I will recommend him and BCL to everyone who wants to have an adventure of their lifes in Kenya.
AE
Email Jacque | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding experience
Bluerange connect has the most efficient and reliable services. I have booked with them severally and I am always satisfied and wowed by their amazing service. Thank you Benedetta for your awesomeness and for your effective communication no matter the time. Bluerange connect is simply amazing.
Magnificent
I have recently had a fantastic safari experience with Bluerange safaris. The whole organizational part was at a very high level - starting from our meeting in Nairobi and through all the national parks. We have seen all the animals from big 5 and even more, my driver and guide were real wizards and we managed to capture unforgettable and rare moments with wildlife. I would definitely recommend Bluerange connect safaris for those looking for safari tours in Kenya.