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
Email Jack | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime experience
7 days, 6 nights safari
Arrived early morning and got free transfer to our niarobi hotel.
Accommodation was basic, but very much fit for purpose and allowed easy access into the nature reserves (which is what you are here for!), electricity is in short supply in some of these areas so a battery bank is recommended as they only turn on the power for a few hours. Other than that the staff at each place were fantastic and we enjoyed each stay.
Food was simple, but very nice at each stop and accommodation. Primarily consisted of rice, potato, two types of vegetable, a meat dish and fruit for dessert.
Packed lunches were available vegetarian and gluten free!
Transport was well driven and comfortable. Our driver Martin was incredibly knowledgeable about Kenya and the animals we saw. He couldn't do enough for us.
Side trips:
Boat trip was ok , didn't see much wildlife and was $20 per person, BUT the hotel we sailed from fed the hippos in the lake which was incredible!
Cycling tour of hells Gate was beautiful with a gradual downhill for about 1.5 hours, then a gradual uphill climb back. You get to see zebras, giraffes and warthogs up close and see pride rock that lion King was based on.
Massai village was a fantastic experience, incredibly welcoming and interesting, with tours of there houses and traditional dance. Highly recommended.
National parks are incredible. It's the reason you go to these areas and they do not disappoint.
Expect your itinerary to change as a lot of people we met had last minute changes. Also there are NO evening game drives contrary to the itinerary.
In terms of value for money, I couldn't recommend this more, but roll with the changes, a lot of them the tour company has no choice about as they are doing it on a budget.
It's a trip of a lifetime.
MY
Email Wei Sheang | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything was well planned.
I recently embarked on an unforgettable journey to Kenya, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Bluerange Connect for their exceptional itinerary planning and unique travel experiences.
Email Lin T | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great budget safari company with good communication
Bluerange Connect are reliable, friendly and knowledgeable. We had great communication before & during our 6 day trip and the budget tour exceeded our expectations. Guided tours of the chosen game parks were excellent & our driver was very knowledgeable. The accommodation was very comfortable with our hosts giving clear & concise guide lines regarding times of power outages, dinner time etc. Limited Wifi was available at most camps. I can definitely recommend Bluerange Connect for an honest budget safari with great service
Email Frank Hanningtone | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very professional and understands the needs of his tourists.
I loved everything about them,from reception to hospitality. It is simply incomparable. Their charges are just robust.
I would choose Bluerange Connect over and over again.
Email Kenneth | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Highly Reccomended!! Superb Experience.
The Bluerarange connect is very reliable.My emails were promptly responded to, and everyone showed up when they were supposed to. The English of our private guide was excellent. Both the guide and driver were friendly and courteous, and they constantly plied us with free bottled .Everything was perfect and perfectly arranged.I was extremely satisfied with the services of Bluerarange Connect.
US
Email Matthew | under20 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Absolutely incredible tour company and guide!
Bluerange was an absolutely incredible tour operator and the guide was amazing! If you are planning to go on a Kenyan safari look no further, Bluerange truly is a great company and very affordable!
US
Email Carissa | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great value!! Amazing animal viewing but company seemed disorganized.
PROS: Great value! The cheapest tour we could find in Kenya and we saw all the same sites! Our guide made great use of the radio network to find the most amazing animals!!! We literally saw every animal you could think of - in one day in the Masai Mara! Literally EVERY animal, including endangered and rare animals. Sami knew where to go to find everything, including the elusive and amazing dik-diks.
CONS: Company seemed disorganized. We were passed around a lot before the tour started and it felt chaotic and unsettling. They changed our itinerary to add 2 guests for the weekend, which resulted in a lot of backtracking on the dangerous Kenyan highways. Our guide was fairly quiet and answered questions when we asked, but spent a lot of time on the radio with guide friends. Every day was a long driving day.
Overall: Great value and worth the cons for the cost.
US
Email Sarah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Do it!!
We did the 8 day tour through Naivasha, Nakuru, Maasai Mara and Mombasa extension. We upgraded to the 'luxury accommodations' and also added on the hot air balloon experience.
Overall, this tour was definitely worth the money and we highly recommend to others.
Pros:
- the drivers provided were excellent. at one point, one of our drivers had a migraine and they arranged another driver for us and there was zero wait time and the driver with a migraine was able to get home. both of our drivers were vaccinated.
- Blue Range is quick to respond on the WhatsApp messenger.
- We wired the initial payment, then paid the rest with a travel reward card at his office in Nairobi. There is a transaction fee of 2% (I think!)
- Due to luck, we wound up being the only people in our safari car, so we essentially had a private safari.
- We saw the Big 5, plus many more animals. It was incredible seeing this all in person and hope you have good luck animal spotting as well!
- Do the hot air balloon tour!! This was our favorite thing. It also included a brunch on the bush which we were unaware of, it was really fun and we enjoyed meeting other people.
- the weather was perfect while we were there - light jacket in evenings and pants during the day were fine
- we took malarone just in case, but minimal mosquitos while there so that was a happy surprise
- initially we just upgraded one luxury accommodation, but then 2 others were upgraded for free because the original place was booked.
- everyone we interacted with was overall lovely
Cons:
- a lot of driving is involved. Bring snacks and something to do (i.e., a kindle or books to read when driving city to city). Also, driving and traffic rules are quite different than our experience in the US. We were fine but there were a few moments that felt a bit scary (traffic jam wise).
- there must have been a miscommunication re: our transport the the airport for our flight to the US and the driver charged us. The transport was supposed to be included, it was around $20 US. We had the cash so just paid.
- We weren't clear on a few things - be sure the read the PDF itinerary carefully. Our first itinerary said domestic flights were included, but then later it didn't include this. We had to book the flights. Additionally, due to the time we landed we had to book a hotel in Nairobi for the night. The Hilton Garden Inn was close, but we didn't realize we had to book this until we were en route to the DFW airport. It was momentarily stressful but we did appreciate a hot shower and a few hours of sleep before going off on our journey
- overall the places we stayed were great, the bathrooms at the Nakuru lodge didn't have working hot water, or perhaps we couldn't figure it out, but it was only one night and not a big deal to us
Other:
- bring money to tip your guides, waiters, etc. You can withdraw money upon landing in Nairobi. For the two of us we spent $400 USD (in Kenyan shillings) and it covered all tips, plus small incidentals. We didn't buy any curios or trinkets (just coffee). We overtipped on purpose due to the amazing service and understanding that tourism was really shut down with COVID.
- COVID testing in Mombasa was relatively easy
- Rules with COVID change fast, be sure to check you flight and country rules often. We overprepared with multiple copies of our negative tests and QR traveler code and I would recommend this.
- You'll be eating at buffets or prepared meals at the different resorts, overall food was good and lots of variety
- Our food was all inclusive at each place, at some places alcohol was and others it was not. Check your itinerary or inquire with Willis. The all inclusive at the Voyager Resort in Mombasa was fantastic. Another note - if you order water at dinner it may be charged, but you have plenty of access to water bottles with your driver.
- Read books by Kenyan authors before or while here - Anthony Bourdain's website has a great list to start with
- do the safari boat tour en route to Naivasha
- we skipped the village tour
- in Mombasa we hired a boat to go out to a water reserve, it was really fun
Email Zac K | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent and wonderful team!
Bluerange Connect team - very insightful and wonderful all through our trip to Sirville Lodge - Naivasha.
Excellent tour van, knowledgeable and friendly staff. Good coordination of events.
We would not hesitate booking with them again and again.