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Apodiformes Adventures
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2017)
- Member Of:
- Kenya Tourism Regulatory Authority, AFRICA TOURISM ASSOCIATION & FRIENDS OF NAIROBI NATIONAL WILDILIFE CONSERVATION
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $75 to $250 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
CN
Email Bianca | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very experienced and professional, patient and friendly
we all very enjoyed the tour,our guide is really experienced, we like Michael very much, I will introduce your company to all of my friends,when they come here will contact you.welcome to china,see you next time
CA
Email April | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall an excellent experience!
There are 2 ppl we like to thank for this tour: Gibson (our driver during our 8 day adventure) and Silas ( for helping us arrange this tour).
If this is your first African safari and you want safety, knowledgeable, professionalism, ask for Gibson! It's not easy being a driver for safari, especially when the landcan sometimes be bumpy and we experienced a hailstorm during one of our game drives. Gibson acted very calmly under unpredictable circumstances and made my husband and I feel very safe during this process.
As for Silas, I am very impressed with his communication abilities and how he was able to accommodate everything we asked for on our trip. Something tells me this won't be the last time we work with this company.
CN
Email Sunnie Wang | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
an unforgettable 9-day safari trip with excellent service and unforgettable suprises
Our 9-day, 8-night safari trip was a very enjoyable and unforgettable journey. When booking the trip, Fredrick responded quickly and warmly, adjusting and communicating promptly based on our needs and questions. Our guide was Sebastian, and I have to say, he was the key to our perfect experience. His driving skills were superb, fast, and steady throughout. Communication with him was comfortable, and he had a great personality. Each day’s itinerary was comfortable and personalized. On the first morning of our safari in Tsavo, we saw many lions, which was especially thrilling. Whenever we received information, the immediate rush to the spot was exciting. On the morning of the hot air balloon safari, Sebastian picked us up directly at the bush breakfast location, which was very thoughtful and saved a lot of time. This travel experience was perfect, and we were reluctant to part ways. Looking forward to meeting again next time!
AE
Email Peter Rubai | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing!!! 5 stars ⭐️ “ Apodiform”
Honestly the trip was outstanding. We came from Dubai for our honeymoon , Frederick our coordinator did a great job for us, he is super honest , everything he promised us it happened , and honestly it was over our expectations, big big 5 stars ⭐️ for you fred , also i want to thank Kim our beat guide ever , he was sooo nice and he knows everything about wild life and animals , he was so flexible and helpful , his english is super good , he was enjoying with us as well .
GUYS! Honestly from our heart , Apodiforme is the best , big 5 stars ⭐️
JP
Email Ryu | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
They are the one who you need. Communication, hospitality was excellent!!
We went to the 6 days Kenya group tour (Masai Mara, Nakuru and Amboseli).
Both the communication before the tour between SILAS and the safari experience led by our driver STANLEY was amazing.
If you are looking for a budget tour, they are the one who you should choose. Price is good, the safari experience is amazing and the staff are professional.
SILAS who seems to be the representative of the company responded our inquiries really quickly via WhatsApp. If you send him a message in a Nairobi working hours, you will most likely get a reply in a few minutes. His company is young, but he seems to have adequate experience in this industry. He picked up us at Nairobi Airport and sent us to our hotel on the first day. He sent us a driver the next morning, and the driver took us to a meeting point where we met our driver and our fellow travellers. SILAS was there too. We met him again on the last day of the visit when he took us to the airport.
STANLEY, who was our driver was a real professional. He woke up very early every day to inspect the safari environment, communicate with other guides and get information and to clean the van. It seemed that he was really wanting us to satisfy. He used radio as other guides and guides cooperate to find big animals, like lions and cheetas. We could see all of the BIG FIVES. We could also see two cheetahs eating an antelope which was really amazing. He was knowledgeable about the animals and explained to us how to distinguish them. He has good eyes and could find the animals from far where we could barely see even when we were told it was there.
Suggestion for the budget tour.
- Accommodations were okay. But don't expect a clean place like a hotel. It is a tent with a bed where you sleep and a hot shower is not that hot. Bugs may come in. It may black-out at midnight. I enjoyed it.
- On a budget tour, we will move by a van (e.g. Nissan URVAN). Sometimes more than 7 hours. Seats were okay but not comfortable like sedan cars. If you don't want to do this, you need to fly with a Cessna from Wilson Airport to the Park.
- Food was okay. But not what you expect in your country.
- Flying into the clean hotels/lodges near the Park may triple the price.
- You can't choose who you will be with on a group tour. We were really lucky to have great people with us. We talked over a beer every day after dinner.
- No place to wash your clothes. I washed my clothes on the first day but it didn't dry.
- I bought a Safaricom SIM card at the airport. We got an internet connection at the campsite with this SIM. No WiFi at the campsite.
- Don't forget to tip the driver.
Bring:
- Portable charger for the phone
- Fleece or a windbreaker. It is quite cold, especially in the rainy seasons.
- Flip flops. Something you can wear at the accommodations.
- If you want to take a close photo, lense no less than 200mm. Sometimes 300mm is not even enough.
- Shampoo and body shower. There is none in the accommodations.
- A compact hairdryer. It is quite cold in the evenings and you might want to dry your hair. You also might want to dry your shoes, especially in the rainy seasons.
- Tissues and wet wipes.
- Binoculars (at least 10*30)
- If you have enough space, I would bring an extra pair of shoes.
All in all, the safari experience provided by Apodiformes Adventure, SILAS and STANLEY was really amazing. I will recommend them to my friends.
PL
Email Piotr | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
If you want to see the whole BIG 9 then only with Apodiformes
We were on safari with Apodiformes beginning from Nakuru and Masai Mara in Kenya, then Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tsvangirai in Tansania and then Amboseli in Kenya. We can only advise doing safari, specially require Tom if you want to animals from close distance. You will have to wake up early but morning is the best to spot the animals. We had excellent communication with Silas (the owner), quick and proper. We have chosen Apodiformes from top 10 companies on safaribooking.com and can only recommend. Everything was on time and on schedule, suggested lodges (Serena and Sarova) were totally ok, good food and comfortable accomodation.
ES
Email Fabio | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good price and good experience overall in Kenya, but not a professional and kind service
In general, I give Apodiformes a 3/5 because the trip through Kenya as a whole has been a spectacular experience, and all the hotels included in the package and the drivers and guides were very professional, friendly, punctual and helpful.
Also, I found the total price for the package to be very good, beating many competitors' offerings, so if you want to save money, Apodiformes might be worth it.
But I have to reduce the score because all the interactions with Silas -responsible for Apodiformes- during the trip were rather a disaster, showing little professionalism and little kindness at all times. Although he was always very efficient before the trip, answering quickly via WhatsApp and adapting the schedule to our different requests, everything changed as soon as we arrived in Kenya:
Things already started badly with our arrival at Nairobi International Airport at 4:00 am, when there was no one to pick us up at the arrivals gate. Silas did not answer the phone, so after half an hour of waiting in the cold and with a 3 year old we had to take a taxi on our own to the booked hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, where we were very well received, we were finally able to contact him and he arrived minutes later. There were no apologies, just bad excuses that he was waiting “at the wrong terminal” (so why was his phone turned off?).
The next day we were going on safari. We had agreed with Silas to have a guide who spoke Spanish, but when we met the assigned guide he barely knew a few words. In the end it wasn't a problem because we were able to communicate well in English (and the guide -Leroy- was otherwise a fantastic person and a very professional and concerned guide that took very good care of us), but this lack of compliance with what was committed in the case of a client who didn't speak English would have been a big problem.
On the other hand, we had requested a child seat in the car that we would use to travel to Nakuru and Masai Mara and carry out the safari. The child seat was there, but it couldn't be attached to the car seat belts. We solved the ballot by buying a rope in a shopping center and tying the child seat with it. A messy solution that of course made us travel through the dangerous roads in Kenia feeling constantly anxious for the safety of our three-year-old.
In addition, that same day Silas told us he had unilaterally changed our accommodation on the Naivasha stage (from Sopa Naivasha Lodge to Simba) because at the Sopa lodge "there had been complaints of food poisoning". In the end it was not a problem because the Simba turned out to be very good but it seemed unprofessional to inform us of this at the last moment and base the change on a reason that sounded like an invention (no one else mentioned these problems in the hotel's opinions on Internet) .
At the end of the Safari, when we had scheduled a visit to a Maasai village, they wanted to charge us again for the visit even though the agreed program specified that it was included. We had to advance the payment and then claim the refund from Silas.
At the end of the Safari and going to the beach, we arrived at the Baobab Resort hotel, finding a standard room booked, although a superior room was specified in the agreed plan. We had to speak with Silas to demand that he negotiate with the hotel for an upgrade as agreed in plan.
On our return from Diani Beach to Nairobi, despite our flight being late, we had to wait almost an hour in the Wilson airport exit car park for Silas to show up to pick us up. It seems there was "traffic" but no other drivers who came to pick up the dozens of people who arrived on that flight had any trouble getting there on time.
Anyway, despite all these messes the thing could be forgiven if there had been sincere apologies and explanations in each case, but Silas did not consider to apologize for any of these inconveniences even once. He even did not ask us how the safari and other experiences had gone at any time, nor did he write to us to ask how the return home was, being unfriendly and showing total disinterest. A pity that our main contact and organizer of the trip was the least kind and considerate person that we have encountered in our trip to Kenya, otherwise fantastic.
NL
Email Sarra | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Love, Care & Attention, we had the best time!
We traveled with the 2 of us on a private safari and our driver Sebastian was an amzing spotter and tour guide throughout the whole trip.
He picked us up straight from the airport then we met the tour operator Sillas shortly for breakfast & final payment before we headed on our journey. Have seen the big 5 already by Day 3 and lots of other animals and birds, just mesmerizing. As two women travelling through Kenya we felt very safe & welcomed. He even went out of his way to invite Ken a member of the Maasai Tribe to spend a whole day with us, tell us about his culture and have lunch in the bush with us with huge birds roaming around us waiting to get a share from our lunch boxes. For our last days on the beach he dropped us at a train station where we traveled 1st class to Mombasa where our kind driver Joseph was already waiting for us, who also picked us up again to drop us at the airport once our vacation came to an end. Just a great package overall.
Organization:
Silas has a very quick turn around time from quotation to connecting with us via whatsapp and arranging all the details.
He was flexible in incorporating a balloon safari, too. Only a few small hickups on the accomodation booking for our time on Diani beach and a pre-arranged massage which was included in our package upon arrival after the taxing safari ride. I would recommend after paying the 30% upfront to pay the rest in local currency once there as you can easily withdraw Kenyan schilling if you are not from an origin country that has USD.
Accomodations:
All accomodations picked were a great build up from family run to high class every following accomodation brought the customer experience level one stage up and kept us in awe. The staff in all accomodations was exceptionnal.
People:
Kenya as a travel destination is remarkable, the saying every Kenyan is a happy Kenyan i have experienced myself. In addition to their long working hours being resilient to fatigue while staying kind and friendly not only towards us but also towards each other was a great sight. Lots of take away's for me coming back home. Please remember to always have sufficient Schilling cash in your pocket for tipping the staff.
Our Tourguide:
I recommend Apodiformes to everyone wanting to have a transformative amazing experience in Kenya & please do ask for SEBASTIAN as your driver & tour guide as he made this journey absolutely unforgettable for us. He was well connected with other spotters and made sure we have seen from Leopards, Cheetas, Rhino close up's, Elephant herds, Lion prides in action to lots of Pumbas, Gazelles, Zebras, Wildbeast & Buffalos etc. Simply more than we could have imagined. We even discovered our love for birds as there is such a big variety.
Patient, knowledgeable, fun & caring he handled the situation when our car temporarily broke down very professionally & even stopped to help somebody else change a tire while we were watching the crocodiles in the water. Nice to see & observe and fully immerse into Kenya's every day life :)
5 stars for the tour organizer Silas, our driver in Mombasa Joseph & of course for our amazing tour guide during safari Sebastian!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
CN
Email Simone | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Everything we'd hoped for and more
We recently had the great opportunity to embark on a 7-day Safari, and our experience was truly unforgettable, thanks to our safari guide, Denis. We'd never been on safari or to Africa before so we didn't entirely know what to expect, and we were very happy with the outcome.
Our trip itinerary was as follows: Day 1-3, Travel Nairobi to Masai Mara, Day 4 Lake Nakuru, Day 5 Samburu, Day 6-7 Amboseli, and Day 8 flight back to home.
Denis was great. From start to finish, his expertise for the wildlife and attentiveness made our adventure both thrilling and reassuring. He was tireless and enthusiastic, admirably drove us many many miles for many hours over incredibly rough terrain and still was keen to take us out on a game drive the same evening, he was very receptive to our questions and taught us a lot about Kenya. Of course though one of the best things about Denis was his knowledge of all the areas and was very patient with us. He always found the way to get the best angle of the scene for us to witness and take photos.
Our trip was a private tour, and so it was just my best friend and I with Denis in the vehicle. We had loads of space and it was great this way because we had the freedom to do exactly what we wanted, like go out on an epic 9-hour game drive (well done Denis). It also meant that everything was done at our convenience, we could choose what we wanted to see and also always have the best views out the vehicle. The roof was open on the van for game drives so you could stand and look out, which was great fun and the breeze was lovely.
We saw some absolutely incredible sights while we were in Kenya. We saw all the animals from the “Big five” and not only, lots of lions, including some mating and hunting, and the tree-climbing lioness with her cubs looking up at us from the bushes in Lake Nakuru. We saw loads of hyenas with prey in their mouths. Samburu was also so picturesque, we saw different species of zebras and giraffes. In Amboseli we saw lively herds of elephants bathing in the sand and swamps as well as different species of birds. And of course the most prized sighting in the Masai Mara: we were treated to the sight of wildebeests running through the grassland and huge male giraffes watching us from afar as if they were standing still in the morning mist, and great herds of hippos in the river. On the border between Kenya and Tanzania, the sun is slowly setting, and in the distance a herd of elephants is slowly making its way towards us. The wind blowing through the African savannah at sunset feels like an eternity.
We really had such a fantastic time with Denis, he also arranged a picnic lunch for us in the wilds of the Masai Mara. It was wonderful just knowing that everything was taken care of for us, and we had absolutely nothing to concern ourselves with during our trip, except having an amazing time and learning about the beautiful Kenyan wildlife.
The only disappointment was that when we chose our hotel no one informed us in advance that our accommodation in Amboseli was outside the park, which meant that it would take more time to get there and back, and that we wouldn't be able to get to the park early enough to see the sunrise. Also, we would have liked to have been told beforehand about the time we would need to spend on the road and other details so that we could understand our options and better tailor our itinerary, otherwise the long drive would have been exhausting for both the guide and us. Other than that, everything's just perfect.
Asante sana, Kenya.
See you next time.
Simone
ES
Email AlanB | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Good & Bad
I booked a safari with my wife with Apodiformes for our 50th anniversary. I arranged it with Frederick who worked with me to organise a 4 days Masai Mara trip at a cost of about $3600, Frederick was very efficient & booked everything & communicated with me very well. Our driver as arranged collected us from our hotel 7-30am prompt. On our drive to the Masai Mara it became obvious that the land cruiser was very underpowered when it came to large hills & had to climb I second gear. The driver/guide Tom was excellent throughout our trip. We stayed as recommended at Jambo Mara Safari camp & everything was very good however I would not liked to have stayed in the wood cabins in hotter weather as there was no air conditioning only a fan.
As the safari progressed into the second day it became apparent that the vehicle had a number of problems, some windows didn't open properly, the seats behind the driver were so well worn that passengers were constantly sliding forward & having to sit themselves up regularly, the suspension on the vehicle was very hard, some electrics were not working & some seat belts missing. Far from ideal when on a 8 to 10 hour safari.
On our last day the driver said that we would need to set off for Nairobi at 6-30 am so we could make it to Nairobi to catch our flight to Diani Beach. ( As arranged by Frederick). This meant that we did not have the morning safari as was on the itinerary that Frederick had promised & we had paid for. $400 dollars for park fees plus fees for safari. The day after we arrived at Diani I emailed Frederick with my complaints & he said that he would have to talk to the driver, I told him that I expected compensation for the missed safari & the fees for entry to the Masai Mari that we did not get. In total I had to contact him 4 times over a week to be finally told by Frederick that he couldn't refund me until November at the end of there season as they didn't have the money.
I would not recommend dealing with this company as they are not interested in the customer service in fact they are thieves. Don't deal with Frederick or Apodiformes (Nairobbery)
****
In answer to Silas comments regard my earlier review.
Please find time to look at the itinerary supplied by Apodiformes, it clearly says it includes a morning game drive on the last day, there is no mention of complimentary. I don't know any other tour operator that gives complimentary game drives when it costs $200 per person to enter the Masai Mara.
My flight to Diani Beach was at 14-45 & it was arranged by Fredrick as part of the package, not noon as you stayed.
I think you are a professional excuse maker, look at the facts.
Reply from Apodiformes Adventures
Posted on Sep 8, 2024Halo Alan,
Thanks for your detailed review. We dont take it for granted.
Most importantly receive my apologies for the challenges faced.
I am happy our driver Tom took care of you nicely until the end of the trip.
Regarding your concern: For the last day in Masai Mara , we normally have an optional early morning game drive. This is never paid for but a complimentary service to our customers especially to those that normally have late night outbound flights from Nairobi. We prefer to extend this complimentary game drive so that they dont arrive in Nairobi early and stay idle/bored at the airport.
In your case we had to take a pre-caution since your flight from Nairobi to Diani Beach was leaving at noon hence any time wasted would have resulted into you missing the domestic flight . This is why we advised your driver to leave Masai Mara early enough since the roads are normally unpredictable.
Thanks and Have a wonderful time at the Kenyan Beach. We look forward to meeting you in Nairobi before you fly back Home.
SILAS