Taking you to the exotic African wild!
Morning Star Tours & Travel
- Located In:
- Size:
- 20-50 employees (Founded in 2018)
- Member Of:
- IATA, KATO, AMREF & TOSK
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range & luxury tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $134 to $806 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
FR
Email Emma | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professionnel and excellent service from start to finish, I knew I was with the best for my safari
Communication was fast and professional, with any questions answered quickly. I loved the detailed agenda, tips for packing and guidance I received from the team on visas. It was a pleasure working with them and they made me feel very comfortable as a solo female traveler. My driver was Willy, the ultimate professional who gave me the best experience I could have wished for! We were together for 5 days and he was always very kind and patient, answering the millions of questions I had. He is so knowledgeable about the parks, with great contacts, and works tirelessly to get you to the best spots to see the animals. We saw all the big 6, and managed to get so close, it was truly a magical experience. I wouldn’t hesitate twice in choosing Morning Star again and definitely would love to safari with Willy again. Their vehicles are excellent too !!!
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Email Jack | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent driver (Rono) and logistics
We had a party of 6 adults, with Rono as our driver. He did a fantastic job with our group, giving us many good opportunities to see and photograph the animals. Rono was also very well-informed on all the wildlife we saw.
Kudos to Morningstar as well for great logistics. We had a driver switch at the very end, but everything went well. Thank you for the memories!
BE
Email Dieter | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
My advice - Avoid Morningstar, There are better options
Before diving into our experience with Morning Star, just a note on the side that we were happy with our lodge Zebra Plains. Nice room and proper food, however all items which Morning Star had to foresee (transport & guide) were far below expectations.
Transport
- Car we very old and not clean
- Some windows didn't open and some didn't even have a handle anymore
- Seat belt didn't work so one of us had to move to the back of the car
- The back of the seats could only be reclined if you put all your weight on it and forced it down
- Every rest spot was a tourist trap next to a local souvenir shop, especially on the way to the Mara when you still hadn't even see anything stopping for souvenirs doesn't make sense. Other companies were stopping at the big fuel station where you had nice restaurants for a break.
"Guide"
- this was the most disappointing of all!
- Our "guide' was a disaster, actually he was not a guide, he was just a totally not interested driver.
- In case we saw an animal he said maximum two lines of explanation, or sometimes we even had to ask to give some info of the animals we saw
- He seemed not interested in us nor in the safari, his goal was to start late and return early to limit his time on the road
- We also noticed the lack of flexibility. An early safari was not possible, for some reason the earliest we could leave was 7 am which is again a huge lack of customer intimacy
- The only day he proposed to start early was the day we had to head back to Nairobi so he could finish early and go home
- He also didn't show any interest in taking our pictures at certain spots. He only left the car for our picture if there were other 'guides' around taking pictures of their customers
- All tips we gave him were a real waste of money
- I have wanted to go to the Mara since I was 10 years old, with a heavy heart I can only say that he ruined our experience and will always leave a stain on our memories of our Masai Mara safari. Zero conversation, zero enthousiasme, zero interest... just a disaster experience with him.
When looking at the other agencies parked at Zebra Plains, we noticed the drivers of Mufasa, African Horizons and the Holiday Dealers were much more friendly towards us.
They asked us several times how we were doing and what we had done on the day, while our guide disappeared as soon as we left the car. On top of that their cars were much more recent, clean and of better quality.
Looking at the money we spent for this safari, it totally doesn't correlate with the service we received from Morning Star.
There are many safari companies in Kenya who offer these tours, we took a chance on Morning Star and it is clear that it was the wrong bad.
So please choose carefully for your safari as well and avoid Morning Star. As mentioned above Mufasa, African Horizons and the Holiday Dealers would be my pick now.
Reply from Morning Star Tours & Travel
Posted on Nov 27, 2024Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback!
First of all, we are truly grateful that you chose to travel with us, and we're delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay at the Zebra Plains Mara Camp.
We'd like to take a moment to address a few of your concerns as follows:
**Transport**
We sincerely apologize for the issues you experienced with the car seats and windows. The safari vehicles used for game drives in East Africa are not luxury vehicles; they are off-road vehicles equipped with pop-up roofs for game viewing and navigating the rugged terrains of the game parks. Due to the dust in these parks, the windows may get stuck occasionally. To prevent similar occurrences in the future, we will implement regular checks on the windows and car seats after every safari.
We're also pleased to share that we've recently invested in a new fleet of 4 x 4 Toyota Land Cruisers, specifically customized to enhance clients' comfort and safety while on safari.
**Driver Guide**
We completely understand how frustrating it must have been for you, especially considering your long-held dream of visiting Masai Mara since you were 10 years old. We sincerely empathize with the inconvenience caused. Based on feedback from other clients, we take pride in ensuring that all our driver guides undergo rigorous training to deliver exceptional safari experiences and maintain the high standards set in the tourism industry. Unfortunately, Mwololo, the driver guide assigned to your group, did not conduct himself appropriately, and we will take disciplinary actions to ensure this does not happen again.
We greatly value your feedback, and we're committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure that future guests will have a memorable and fulfilling experiences they deserve.
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Email Patricia | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great and easy communication over whatsapp and email. They adopted everything to our needs, were ext
Great and easy communication over whatsapp and email. They adopted everything to our needs, were extremely responsive and understanding and kind. I would recommend!
CN
Email Fion (Yue) | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Memorable Tour with Morning Star in Kenya
We've booked an 11 days tour in Morning Star, traveled in safari for 7 days and relaxed in Mombasa beach as the end.
Joysharon helped with all the arrangements! We've experienced walking safari, boat safari and game drive, and also lived in different kind of hotels which made the trip has a variety of experiences! She helped a lot and responded quickly when we have questions as well, so our issues can be fixed very fast.
Our driver is Augustine, he drove safely and also is an experienced guide to find animals, we saw the big five, elephants groups and many animal babies with a very nice spot! Thanks him a lot to left such beautiful life moments for us, and we've learnt many animals knowledge with his sharing!
Just trust the Morning Star, they will provide a wonderful trip for you!
Bali kiwa, asanti sana!
US
Email Rozhan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Responsive and good service
We did two safaris in Kenya with Morning Star Tours. One was a four day experience in Tsavo East and West. The other was a seven day experience in Amboseli, Nakuru, and Masai Mara. When planning this safari, I spoke with Dennis. He was very polite, helpful, and responsive. With his help I was able to curate a safari experience that included everything that we were interested in. Huge shoutout to our first driver Julius for making our experience unforgettable. He was kind and tried to help us spot as many animals as possible. I felt like Julius went out of his way to make it an amazing time. Our second driver Alex was very knowledgable about the parks and answered all our questions about Kenya. He also knew how to navigate the parks very well. I do have to say that the drivers are more focused on driving rather than being a guide, so keep that in mind. We did a private tour with the 4x4 land cruiser, which I recommend over a van. The vans get stuck sometimes and we even had to pull one out of the mud. There was a lot of driving involved because we saw so many parks so plan accordingly. We enjoyed the food as all the places offer a buffet style meal, so there are plenty of options to find something you enjoy. One important thing to note about the airport is that we thought we could arrive early and stay until it was time for our flight to leave. However, they will only let you in the airport about 2-3 hours before your flight. There is a cafe outside the airport that you can sit at, but it is uncomfortable and the wifi did not work well. Unfortunately, we did not know this ahead of time so we could plan accordingly. Overall, our experience was great, we got to see most of the animals we wanted and for a competitive price.
CN
Email lingwang | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Morning Star is a big cheater.
Morning Star is a big cheater. They owe me a total refund of $8,372 which hasn't been returned yet. During the process, they kept telling us that they would transfer the money to us, but they kept delaying it. It has been almost a month since the trip ended, but we still haven’t seen the remittance.
I would like to ask if this company still has any integrity and if it is so difficult to bear its own mistakes. Why should tourists pay for your so-called hacker mistakes? This is outrageous.
Reply from Morning Star Tours & Travel
Posted on Nov 20, 2024Hello,
We would like to take a moment to address the concerns raised in the review mentioned above.
Our client, Lingwang(the same group with Shi and Junjie/Marshall Ding), had booked an 8-day Kenya Safari, starting and ending in Nairobi. Due to unforeseen failures with our banking systems, our clients faced unexpected challenges while checking out of the hotel, which forced them to pay the outstanding hotel balance. We fully understand how frustrating this situation must have been for our clients and sincerely empathize with the inconveniences they experienced.
To ensure that they did not miss out on their game drives, we suggested they pay the park fees directly with the assistance of the driver-guide, assuring them that we would refund these costs as soon as our banking systems were stabilized.
Our technical team has worked tirelessly over the past three weeks to resolve the issue, and we are relieved to share that we have successfully processed a full refund for our client.
It saddens us to see our clients dissatisfied, especially when we strive to provide memorable experiences, as evidenced by other client's feedback.
We are committed to learning from this incident, and the following actions have been taken to ensure a similar situation won't happen again in the future;
1. Transitioning our banking operations from the current bank to a new bank.
2. Adding an additional signatory to our banking operations.
We want to assure you that this situation is taken very seriously, and we remain dedicated to providing all our clients with the attentive service they deserve.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
CN
Email Matt | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unfulfilled refunded after 1 month due to their mistake
Our recent 8-day trip to Kenya and Tanzania with Morningstar was far from the unforgettable adventure we’d hoped for. Starting from Tanzania, everything went wrong and they still own us a huge number of money for nearly a month. They promised to refund next week everyday, but still seeing no money yet. And we even got a message from him saying we are NOT PATIENT!
In Tanzania, we had to pay for multiple services, including park fee, transportation fee, etc, twice, losing 2 half-day of safari due payment not done in advance. Despite reassurances from Dennis, Morningstar’s owner, promised refunds for these extra expenses never received. Further more, Morningstar has no direct staff in Tanzania, so they rely on a partner agency, which resulted in poor coordination and minimal support.
Having made our full payment two weeks prior to departure, we trusted that all fees were covered. However, upon arrival in Tanzania, we learned that key expenses, including park entry and transport, hadn’t been paid. Faced with the risk of being stranded, we had no choice but to cover these costs ourselves. Dennis blamed the missing payments on a hacked bank account and again promised a refund once we returned to Kenya—a promise that remains unfulfilled 25 days later.
While our guide Caleb in Kenya was experienced and dedicated, Morningstar’s overall handling left us disheartened. The lack of support, broken promises, and financial inconvenience made what should have been a dream safari a frustrating experience. Sadly, I cannot recommend Morningstar based on our trip.
Furthermore, I don't know if there’s anything related to racism or not, but I do find that reviews from other countries are great, they did not had to experience paying everything twice, while many Chinese tourists report money loss without timely refunds.
We do sincerely wish that the excuse from Denise is true and he will refund as he promised. Please get us the refund ASAP. If so, the whole trip is a memorable experience with MorningStar.
Reply from Morning Star Tours & Travel
Posted on Nov 20, 2024Hello,
We would like to take a moment to address the concerns raised in the review mentioned above.
Our client, Matt ( same group with Becky), had booked an 8-day Kenya and Tanzania Safari, starting and ending in Nairobi. While the first four days of the safari unfolded beautifully, our clients faced unexpected challenges as they entered the Serengeti due to unforeseen failures with our banking systems. We fully understand how frustrating this situation must have been for our clients, and we sincerely empathize with the inconveniences they experienced.
As soon as we became aware of the issue, we immediately prioritized communicating with our clients. To ensure that they did not miss out on their game drives, we suggested they pay the park fees directly with the assistance of the driver-guide, assuring them that we would refund these costs as soon as our banking systems were stabilized.
Our technical team has worked tirelessly over the past three weeks to resolve the issue, and we are relieved to share that we have successfully processed a full refund for our client.
It saddens us to see our clients dissatisfied, especially when we strive to provide memorable experiences, as evidenced by other client's feedback.
We are committed to learning from this incident, and the following actions have been taken to ensure a similar situation won't happen again in the future;
1. Transitioning our banking operations from the current bank to a new bank.
2. Adding an additional signatory to our banking operations.
We want to assure you that this situation is taken very seriously, and we remain dedicated to providing all our clients with the attentive service they deserve.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
CN
Email SHI | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It's really a terrible experience! We feel that we have been cheated !!!
Before our trip to Kenya on September 28th, we had paid the full amount for the tour. However, on the morning of October 5th, the last day of our stay, we were informed by the hotel that Morningstar had not paid them, and therefore we were not allowed to leave. We were forced to stay at the hotel for nearly 2 hours. During this unexpected situation, our contact person Alice completely disappeared and refused to answer our calls and WeChat messages. In order to catch our flight back home, we had to pay nearly $4500 for the hotel fees in advance. But right after we paid, Alice showed up and claimed that she had an emergency and would refund us later. Out of trust in this company, we kept communicating with them actively after returning home. But until today, we haven't received any refund, and the people from this company are full of lies! They said the refund had been sent to us at one moment, and then claimed they needed to confirm the specific details of the expenses with the driver at another moment. They always put off giving us the remittance receipt! We also confirmed with the bank over the phone that we hadn't received any remittance information.
If you don't want to advance payment for a fraudulent company and don't want to be helpless in a foreign country, please don't choose this company. It's really a terrible experience!
Reply from Morning Star Tours & Travel
Posted on Nov 20, 2024Hello,
We would like to take a moment to address the concerns raised in the review mentioned above.
Our client, Shi (the same group with Lingwang and Junjie/Marshall Ding), had booked an 8-day Kenya Safari, starting and ending in Nairobi. Due to unforeseen failures with our banking systems, our clients faced unexpected challenges while checking out of the hotel, which forced them to pay the outstanding hotel balance. We fully understand how frustrating this situation must have been for our clients and sincerely empathize with the inconveniences they experienced.
To ensure that they did not miss out on their game drives, we suggested they pay the park fees directly with the assistance of the driver-guide, assuring them that we would refund these costs as soon as our banking systems were stabilized.
Our technical team has worked tirelessly over the past three weeks to resolve the issue, and we are relieved to share that we have successfully processed a full refund for our client.
It saddens us to see our clients dissatisfied, especially when we strive to provide memorable experiences, as evidenced by other client's feedback.
We are committed to learning from this incident, and the following actions have been taken to ensure a similar situation won't happen again in the future;
1. Transitioning our banking operations from the current bank to a new bank.
2. Adding an additional signatory to our banking operations.
We want to assure you that this situation is taken very seriously, and we remain dedicated to providing all our clients with the attentive service they deserve.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Email Dan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A truly unique experience, a perfect trip
We had an amazing trip with Morningstar doing 8 days/7 nights across Kenya.
Prior to the trip Joy was always prompt to reply and provide us with any relevant information. The whole process was very professional and felt well organised before we arrived.
Our guide, Willy, was fantastic - he always seemed to manage to position the vehicle in the right spot for where the animals were going to head. He moved along at our pace and had a knack of sensing when we might have needed a little more or a rest.
We saw every animal we wished to see - all of the big 6, ugly 5, wild dogs and more. Willy’s experience in knowing the regular routed of the animals and their behaviour was invaluable.
We had regular contact from Joy throughout, and Willy was also available on WhatsApp in the lodges when we were out through the week.
The land cruiser was spacious and comfortable, it had sockets to charge cameras/phones and reclining seats for the long drives between parks.
We feel we got fantastic value for money, all of the accommodation was of a high quality. The food throughout was varied and delicious, we never went hungry - my partner is a vegetarian and was well catered for at every hotel, with multiple options.
I wouldn’t hesitate to use morningstar again, and we certainly hope to return to Kenya with them again in the future.
