Reviews

Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 61-70 of 96 Reviews
Vivaan   –  
Qatar QA
Visited: October 2024 Reviewed: Oct 13, 2024

Email Vivaan  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

It was an incredible and well organized tour
5/5

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! :)

Ghazal agharezaei   –  
Iran IR
Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Sep 19, 2024

Email Ghazal agharezaei  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Perfect.value for money
5/5

Trust me this is 100% value for money. They did step by step what they told us before starting safari.

Yonah Lekkerkerker   –  
Netherlands NL
Visited: June 2024 Reviewed: Jul 30, 2024

Email Yonah Lekkerkerker  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Yonah Lekkerkerker and not that of SafariBookings.
Very stressful safari experience; we felt scammed!
1/5

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!!

Volker   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: April 2024 Reviewed: Apr 17, 2024

Email Volker  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Volker and not that of SafariBookings.
Non-delivery and bad delivery of promised service
1/5

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.

José Antonio Bermúdez   –  
Spain ES
Visited: March 2024 Reviewed: Apr 4, 2024

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
4/5

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)

Jordan   –  
United States US
Visited: March 2024 Reviewed: Mar 20, 2024

Email Jordan  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Great
5/5

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

Tove   –  
Sweden SE
Visited: February 2024 Reviewed: Mar 2, 2024

Email Tove  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Safari with a personal and humble approach
5/5

We could not have had a better experience than with tall masai for our safari. Our guide Eric is one of a kind. Humble, kind, funny, has so much knowledge about the animals and can spot them from an impressive distance. We were in good hands with his 15+ years of experience and we really liked how much he cared about the animals. We made a friend. Benson helped us arrange everything and met with us and is also such a nice and professional person supporting us With all our questions. Both of them being Masaii and happily sharing their experiences was so interesting and valuable for our experience. They have a very personal approach and I recommend tall masai for anyone looking to have their safari experience of a lifetime.

Fede   –  
Italy IT
Visited: February 2024 Reviewed: Feb 29, 2024

Email Fede  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Great Safari Tour Operator
5/5

I went on a 6-day safari with Tall Masai and it was really great, we were able to see the big 5 as well as many other animals.
Miti Mingi and Nyati Safari Camp were great accomodations. Citymax was average but still fine for its purpose.
Masai Mara, lake Nakuru and Amboseli were really amazing, but Lake Naivasha was not as exciting (if you have to leave one destination out, it would definitely be Naivasha for me).

Benson from Tall Masai was always responsive and willing to help.
Overall, definitely recommended!

Bénédicte   –  
France FR
Visited: February 2024 Reviewed: Feb 22, 2024

Email Bénédicte  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Good experience
4/5

We had a great time thanks to maxwell (our guide)
We booked a 3 days 2 nights safari but we actually only spent a full day plus three hours the next day on safari
The camp was great with a view of the kilimangaro

JC   –  
China CN
Visited: February 2024 Reviewed: Feb 21, 2024

Email JC  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Excellent.
5/5

It’s excellent. If you have any questions, just tell Benson. He will fix every problem. Thumb up.

Average User Rating
4.7/5
Rating Breakdown
  • 5 star 79
  • 4 star 10
  • 3 star 3
  • 2 star 2
  • 1 star 2
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