Kenya safaris by a 4×4 land cruiser jeep
Tall Masai Safari
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2021)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $25 to $350 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Jordan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great
Really enjoyed the safari. Our driver was Eric and he was great. We saw so many animals including lions, cheetah, elephants, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, etc. The camps were really nice, better than the hotel in my opinion and the food was good as well. The van had a little trouble in the muddy terrain of Amboseli but there were plenty of jeeps to help tow us out and it an interesting experience. Good value for the money and would definitely recommend
ES
Email José Antonio Bermúdez | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The tour and driver IS fantastic, but the operator have a importante mistake
The tour is very good and the driver is fantastic. I had 2 single rooms reserved and they wanted to give me one for two people. It was not what was contracted. You had to suffer to get what you contracted. Unfortunately this error undervalues the tour, if it had not been for this it would be perfect
(automatic translation from Spanish)
SE
Email Volker | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Non-delivery and bad delivery of promised service
I really cannot recommend this company Tall Masai. My pickup at the airport for which I paid extra was 20 min. too late. My free pick-up from the hotel which was included in the price was 40 min. too late, because they combined it with another paid airport pickup. Be very careful which pick-ups are included in the price and quote they offer.
However, free pick-up from the hotel was included in the quote of Tall Masai, but suddenly Bensson wanted extra money for this.
I selected Tall Masai for an 8 days tour because Bensson indicated in the quote that safari start at 6.30 in the morning. On the first morning, they did not get one customer placed in another accommodation into the care in time, thus, the safari in Masai Mara started at 7.00. Then, the 2WD car got stuck in a mud-hole and we were lucky that there was another car around to pull us out. On the second day at 15.30 the second car broke, they managed to continue to drive slowly on the straight way back to the camp reaching already there around 5pm while the parks closes at 6.30 (and the walki-talki was turned off, thus, not hearing where interesting animals could be to drive to). Hence, the “late afternoon/early evening game drive was no real one” because no walki-talki was used and because they indicated if we stop we might not be able to continue. Thus, we hardly dare to even asked them to drive slower as they already did for taking photos.
The worst thing was in Amboseli where the (fourth or fifth) driver I had indicated already in the evening that the game drive the next morning starts at 8.30 (despite the agreement mentioned above to start at 6.30). Bensson did not intervene despite being reminded about the contract but tried afterward to justify this very late start with some Amboseli entrance fee issues, but he apparently does not understand what it means to agree on terms. But he just promises and then does not deliver.
They also work together with a hotel in Naivasha called Leisure Apex Resort. When I need to get medicine with a five-minute one way car ride, the receptionist told me that he called a driver who does it for 500 Kenyan Shillings in total for both ways. But then he informed me that he has to inform his manager "Sylvia" about this. And afterwards he suddenly informed me that the trip now costs 1000 Kenyan Shillings .... . And when that driver arrived he immediately also claimed 1000 Kenyan Shillings. Guess what happened.... . I cannot recommend to stay there. Even not jam or honey was provided, also not upon request, for the breakfast bread with butter.
Apparently, Tall Masai works together with a bunch of other companies, and you feel like cars are filled up every day newly just to maximize profit. For example, People who have seen for six days Zebras are suddenly confronted with one person of a one-day safari who's main goal it is to find a Zebra (not that easy in our case in Amboseli). Customers in the same van who contracted with one of the other companies (Karibu) said that they were promised that there would be only 6 people in the car during their 7-days tour but occasionally we were 9 people in the car.
I took the 8 days tour with two full days Massai Mara at the beginning. I ended up having the same route two times (main road via the viewing point to Mara River and back). They just put me consecutively on two vans which start in the Mara.
On the vans: they provide 2WD vans also during the rather rainy and muddy season in April. While you get what you pay, it is rather inappropriate in my opinion to offer at all 2WD cars in this weather conditions. And then get stuck in the mud in the first morning and the breaking down of the van on the second day just supports this opinion. In general, I got the impression that 2WD vans tend to stay mainly on the main roads, which reduces the covering range of the safari.
I asked for a financial compensation proposal after the journey, and since then I have not heard for several days from Bensson/Tall Masai.
As mentioned, I really cannot recommend Tall Masai safari, or you should try to at least not to pay the full amount.
I do not understand how a company like Tall Masai with such an opinion about an agreement can be further listed on this webpage.
NL
Email Yonah Lekkerkerker | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very stressful safari experience; we felt scammed!
We booked a 5-day midrange safari tour. We had a horrible experience with Benson. The night before the start of the tour we received a message of Benson if we could pay 55 dollars extra for the hotel because it had become more expensive. Of course, we would not pay extra as this was not stated in the quote, but Benson was persistent and kept messaging us for an hour straight. Then the next thing came up; the visit to the Masai village. The quote stated that this was included, but Benson called our driver that this was not the case. We sent a screenshot of the quote to Benson, but he did not agree with this. Benson kept calling us and the driver and even screamed a couple of times. This is insane! He told us that he already fixed the problem with the extra charge of the hotel, so now we had to fix this. This was very unreasonable because he caused these problems, not us! Of course, we did not pay for this as it was included. Now the third problem occurred. Before the safari, we agreed to pay extra to get another hotel; instead of the Citymax hotel we wanted to stay at the Waterbuck hotel. This was confirmed multiple times by e-mail and WhatsApp. The extra charge was paid on the first day of the safari. Our driver told us he would take us to the Citymax hotel, but we explained and showed him we paid extra to go to the Waterbuck hotel. The driver understood it, and called Benson. Benson said it was not true; we did not pay extra and we did not agree to go to the Waterbuck hotel. We discussed it for 3 hours!! We showed him multiple times the emails and WhatsApp, but he did not want to help. Finally, he wanted to pay back the dollars we paid extra, but he wanted to reimburse us in shillings which which didn't equal the amount we paid. Another hour of discussing went by and he finally paid us back. It was a very stressful experience for us. Something you do not want during your holiday. Benson did everything he could to screw us over. Fortunately, we had proof of everything, but this was the worst experience ever. I would not recommend booking with this agency!!
IR
Email Ghazal agharezaei | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect.value for money
Trust me this is 100% value for money. They did step by step what they told us before starting safari.
QA
Email Vivaan | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was an incredible and well organized tour
I had an incredible safari experience with Tall Masai in Kenya! Our driver, James, was knowledgeable, professional, and ensured we saw amazing wildlife up close. The accommodations were budget yet close to nature, offering stunning views and excellent service. We had no issues with food or accommodation. They also connected us with Shuttle to explore Tanzania. Highly recommend this operator for an unforgettable adventure! Hakuna Matata! :)
JP
Email J.M | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very quick reply with friendly support
The agency itself was super nice. They answer all my questions and solve my problems in a proper way.
However, since drivers are from a different company, it really depends on how lucky you are what kind of driver you will have.
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Email Tony Arias | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simón was such a chill guy and excellent guide. We saw almost every anyone besides the leopard
We had such a good time with our guides simon and Joseph. We got shown everything we requested and when we needed to make changes to our trip Benson was able to accommodate us quickly. Make sure to double check all your details before you leave because sometimes things get lost in translation but that is to be expected. Overall 5 stars and will definitely be back to look for that leopard.
3 day saafai mara
Great service. The staff was super helpful with everythinf
ES
Email Andrew F. | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great First Safari Experience!
We had a great first safari experience (masai mara, nakuru, amboseli) for 6 days total. The scheduling was on point for most of the trip. The driver Dereck was solid and new his ways around trying to get you the best shots of the animals. Only room for improvement could be the food options for vegetarians.