The Team Behind Kenya Walking Survivors Safaris
Kenya Walking Survivors Safaris Ltd
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2003)
- Member Of:
- Eco Tourism & Kenya Wildlife Services
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $64 to $490 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
Email Abdurrahman Uyan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A flawless journey with Kenya Walking Survivors
The manager Mr.Otieno organised a flawless tour for us and our driver/guide Ibrahim did his best for us to enjoy the trip. It was relatively short tour (1 day in Lake Nakuru, 3 days in Maasai Mara) but we saw all big 5 and many other animals. We even saw 2 male lions (which is difficult to see actually) after hunting a buffalo. We highly reccomend Kenya Walking Survivors to everyone.
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Email Lauren and Patrick | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience for our first Safari! Highly recommeded!
Mr. Otieno puts together a wonderful product! He was always very responsive when we had questions about our safari and would respond in 24 hours. Our safari for 14 days in Kenya and Tanzania was amazing! We had wonderful guides who were so knowledgeable, great meals, wonderful camps and lodges to stay in - everything was great. We saw so many animals and wildlife on our tour and had some great cultural experiences. Our favorite spots were Masaai Mara, Lake Nakuru, the Serengeti, and Amboseli. Serekani camp, Lake Nakuru lodge, the Savanna tented camps, and Kibo Safari camp were the best places to stay! We also loved the Hot Air Balloon Ride and champagne brunch over Masaai Mara. Our only two minor comments are to remove the Fanaka lodge from the itinerary (and stay on property at Lake Manyara) and let customers know ahead of time about the Flight Link flight to Zanzibar, incase they want to do the larger Precision Air flight. I would still highly recommend Kenya Safari tours, regardless! Thank you for a wonderful vacation Mr. Otieno! We would definitely return when we have the chance!
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Email Carol Schaffer | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic from beginning to end :)
When I was planning this trip with only 6 weeks advance notice, I had a lot of previous experience traveling, but not to Africa and not with safaris. I found the Safari Bookings website from a reference in Lonely Planet. As I started to put in what countries and the amount of time I had, KWSS kept popping up with wonderful reviews and fair to excellent pricing! The reviews cross referenced well with Trip Advisor, and I especially appreciated being able to email a few former KWSS clients with questions!
Mr. Otieno was a pleasure to deal with, quickly responsive and very professional, and he customized a 21 day itinerary just for me that hit all of the places a Kenyan friend had advised me to see! I did an itinerary that included Mt. Kenya, Samburu, Naivasha, Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo, Maasai Mara, Tsavo East and West, Amboseli, and Ngorongoro Crater/Arusha in Tanzania. Apologies if I somehow left anything out! All were wonderful.
Most of my accommodations were terrific. My very favorite was Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli (I could live in that "tent" long-term, and the staff were super lovely and food was great and oh, what a view of Kilimanjaro!) followed by Voi Wildlife Lodge in Tsavo West, swanky with a very cool watering hole! but many stood out -- Octagon Lodge near Ngorongoro and even the city hotels like the Charity Hotel in Arusha and Sky Hotel in Nairobi I really liked and would have been happy to stay longer :) The one exception would be the Ngulia Lodge in Tsavo East -- very nice views at dusk and I did get to see the leopard, but the room was outdated and uncomfortable and it was impossible with a single outlet and only 4-5 hrs of electricity to both charge my devices and have the fan working. And the food was beyond awful and recycled from one meal to the next. However, given the location and the view I understand why I was there for one night...
My main guide was Paul in Kenya -- he and I were together for 18 days and it was a delight! He is extremely knowledgeable, attentive to the vehicle and an amazing driver, proactive in having maintenance done so we didn't get stuck anywhere, concerned about my safety and enjoyment, with a lovely personality. He was very very patient with my wanting to stop for photos just about everywhere, and I got some great ones! :) I would recommend him wholeheartedly as a guide/driver to anyone. In Tanzania I had Innocent for 2 days -- he is terrific and super bright, fluent in many languages, and seriously interested in the birds and animals. Takes his professionalism seriously and I'd love to go back and spend more time with him as my guide in Tanzania! At the end of the trip for the last day and a half I had John as my driver around the Nairobi area and to the Giraffe Center and David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where I had requested to go. He is absolutely great as well!!
Kudos to KWSS for helping me organize such a kick-ass amazing trip, and taking care of all the details, and supplying me with fabulous guides and great accommodation at a very fair price! Would absolutely recommend and I would love to travel with them again!
Amazing Experience! Awesome Guides!
My experience was wonderful! The guides were awesome and found the big 5 for us. The lodges were so nice and the communication was excellent.
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Email Caroline | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience - exceeded expectations
When we started our search for a safari we made a list of what we needed:
-Professionalism
-A specific itinerary- 10 days making a wide loop from lake Nakuru -Maasai Mara-Serengeti -ngorongoro-amboseli starting and ending in Nairobi. I'd done a lot of research and thought this made for a nice kenya/Tanzania highlight reel
-Private vehicle and guide
-accommodations with Private ensuite bathrooms with hot water and clean, critter free accommodations with decent food
Aside from that, our requirements were minimal and we were trying to stick to a budget, so I think this puts in the solidly midrange category. I reached out to about 20 companies (i am neurotic): mr. Otieno at Kenya walking survivors was one of the first to respond with clear answers to all of my questions and a package that matched our needs perfectly. About half the companies responded with offers that didn't match my request at all; among the other half kwss was actually 10-40-% less than anything else with comparable lodge/camp quality, so it was an easy choice to book with them.
Throughout the booking process I received reliably prompt clear answers to all my questions and was provided with contact information for my driver well in advance of our arrival. We actually arrived the day before the elections and had received several state department warnings; I reached out to kwss and they provided clear reassurance with explanations and offered to allow us to postpone even though it was unnecessary - i am so glad we didn't!
Our experience on the ground was excellent and exceeded expectations. The lodging was actually significantly nicer than I expected overall: photos don't do several of the places justice. I have done medical work abroad and stayed in many pretty spare/rustic places, my husband is the picky traveler and he was very happy throughout. Even in the tented camps we had very lovely, well decorated rooms with nice en suit bathrooms, plenty of space and even turn down service with a hot water bottle. staff were universally friendly and helpful although we had one negative experience at our camp in serengeti it was related to a single employee. The food ranged from acceptable to extraordinary - packed lunches were just ok, but some of the dinners were top notch - shout out to the steak and curry at lake Nakuru sopa lodge, the entire buffet at octagon lodge. This was even more impressive given many of our meals were cooked to order and not buffet due to the high number of election-related cancellations. Also- not a single mosquito ever in any room we stayed in- key!
The game drives were amazing. We didn't have the fanciest vehicle and might've had a slightly bumpier ride than some people (we were in a pop up van in Mara and a land cruiser in Serengeti and we noticed a difference for sure) but we didn't care. Our guides were all incredibly nice, patient, relaxed and approachable. They were also all open to answering all questions- not just about the animals but about politics and life in Kenya and Tanzania. Their knowledge about animals varied and they weren't all necessarily high grade naturalists. They all could definitely identify every animal and were all agggressive about making sure we saw as much and possible were each genuinely excited for us when we spotted something unique (mating rhinos!) They really all had great attitudes and senses of humor and I'd argue that's more important for spending ten hours a day with someone. Shout out to mike and Abel our two guides in Tanzania - I have rarely gotten better vibes from two people. Mike's amazing laugh and smile seriously put us in such a good mood. When we did have a small incident at one camp he advocated for us with incredible professionalism. THE BEST!
The overall efficiency of the operation was extraordinary. We actually changed our itinerary mid trip! We originally planned on spending 4 days in Masaai Mara and 2 in amboseli (with three in Tanzania in between) but after 2 days we felt we had a full/incredible Mara experience so decided we would prefer to do 3 and 3. I emailed and asked if this was possible assuming it probably wasn't and to my surprise mr otieno responded immediately that he would be happy to make this change if it would make our trip more enjoyable.
That was really the sense I walked away with overall; that Kenya walking survivors safaris and all of its employees and affiliates genuinely wanted us to have a great experience. Friendly, professional, flexible, responsive and well-run operation. If I ever went back I'd use them again in a heartbeat. Thank you!
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Email Veronica | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amaizing company
At the beginning we had our doubts, they have prices that are much lower than the rest of the safaris, but the truth is that they are wonderful people, super competent, kind and serious. We had certain problems that they knew how to solve and they got our trip to be unique and unmatched, the wonderful hotels, the unbeatable guide, mr otiendo is a wonderful person has behaved great with us, we would repeat with them for sure.
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Email Michael | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Value for your money for 21-day, 3 country safaris (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania)
Had done extensive research on Trip Advisor and Safari Bookings. Trip Advisor does a great job with reviews, but didn’t find it helpful for the tent camps we wanted for our experience in several countries. Would recommend using Safari Bookings since they have an easy search engine for your destinations. https://www.safaribookings.com/
20-Day Safari to Kenya Maasai Uganda Gorilla and Tanzania
Nairobi (Start), Masai Mara NR, Lake Nakuru NP, Jinja (Town), Lake Bunyonyi, Bwindi Impenetrable NP, Lake Naivasha, Lake Sonachi, Arusha (City), Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro, Tarangire NP, Zanzibar (Town & Beach), Nairobi (End) We took out beach portion and added Sambura at his recommendation which was the highlight of our 21 day trip.
Pros: KWSS had the flexibility to cater to our destinations for a reasonable price. Many places charge double what we paid for, but you do get tent camps out in the middle of nowhere a few times.
Drivers Marcus (Kenya), David, Richard (Uganda), and Michael (Tanzania) - all averaged about 15 years’ experience in travel guides. All showed above average knowledge and provided for above average gaming experience.
Cons: The hotels we did stay in cities were mostly concrete and noisy. Do not recommend Sky Hotel in Nairobi, Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala, or Sky Hotel in Lake Bunyoni area I believe. We awoke to noise in each of them. Silver Springs had 2 parties at 1:30 am in the morning. Also had call to prayer at 2 and 5 am from a distance at Octagon Lodge, but we were tired enough it didn’t matter much. Ask for other accommodations before you pay since we had early starts most mornings.
Forget the itinerary time tables – they were almost always off. Lunches and game drives were wrong in many cases even though they were cut out of their standard programs he used for our custom trip.
Road to Masai Mara was miserable, but they are paving a good part of it in 6 months or so. These African safaris are not for you if you can’t take a rough bumpy ride half the time.
Mr.O had promised 4x4’s the whole trip. We got stuck first day out and had our time taken up some and scary crossings due to sudden thunderstorm. Big .5 drop in ratings due to broken commitment. He attempted to make it up which is why it’s not a 1 point drop with extra activities on last day not scheduled.
What to bring:
Toilet paper always with you. Drivers try but many times we had to use squat toilets and no privacy for men urinals. Sometimes “bush” toilets were necessary. Driver usually has extra toilet paper. Not an issue for us, but can be a big surprise to many. Long lenses for cameras – standard lenses will not work in many areas where you cannot travel off the road. I purchased a new attachment for my Samsung 6 with no reviews on Amazon (look under telescopes – takes about a month to get and fits onto many phones with clasp over lenses – a bit of a risk, but fit my Samsung 6 – Ccloon Professional HD camera lens kit -$60 USA – does need refitting several times a day but competes with the thousand dollar lenses)
Flashlight for head is very handy for $15 dollars Energizer Vision HD LED from Amazon – one each. Portable chargers for phones since many tents shut down power after 10 or so.
Get your yellow fever shots a few weeks before going. They are out of stock currently and do check several sources for alternative shot. Nothing else was necessary according to OT. We purchased Deet and mosquito long sleeve shirts. We didn’t need them much in Oct./Nov.
Ponchos or rain gear for Uganda mostly.
Also bring an open mind for local cultures and lots of patience. We are 64 and 59 and in good shape (for Uganda jungle hikes).
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Email Myriam Raymond | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unique experience and professionalism
I am back to my home country and we would like to thank you for a wonderful trip.
The souvenirs we will keep for life time are unforgettable.
ALthough we did not expect to be on the road for so long, each and every attraction was unique and special.
Kenya walking Survivors planned well our trips, our pick-ups and accompagnement.
Your services are remarkable and the people you work with are so professional.
We will never forget David who was our guide and I would like to thank him so much for taking care of us.
He was particularly attentive to our requests and to what we wanted do.
The flexibility the company showed is also remarkable given that this was a set program.
Finally, the choice of hotels and lodges are just Great.
Hope to be able to do more next time.
Outstanding service which guided me from initial inquiry to changing home bound flight:
It was like having a friend in the business: comforting to say the least
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Email Ruby | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Vacation!
OT was the best! We planned a trip at the last minute in high season and OT pulled off an amazing vacation for us! We wanted a custom 2 week vacation, staying at luxury hotels. We had a private car and driver for the entire trip and we saw the Big 5 several times! Because we had the time, we were able to see most of the areas in Kenya that are stunningly beautiful. I definitely recommend Kenya Walking Survivors Safaris for a wonderful and affordable vacation. OT is honest and planned a vacation of a lifetime!