Andrew will take you to remote places
Wildebeest Safaris
- Located In:
-
China
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 1997)
- Member Of:
- ETT & TRA
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $450 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
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Email Eddie | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good itinerary, affordable price, friendly guides
Communicated and booked via email. Paid for the safari and gorilla trekking by credit card. Communication from the team was good, but could be better instead of having us ping them to get greater details - they need to be more proactive (i had to remind them to send me final itinerary and all when the final payment was due for example - makes you a bit nervous when you are booking via email with an agency in a totally different country). Guides are excellent and friendly. We had Moses for the Gorilla trip (via their sister company in Uganda) and Denis for the Kenyan safaris. Both were great, knowledgeable, patient, and friendly. Still giving 5 stars because they delivered the services as agreed and price is good value.
Email Steve | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We didn't get what we paid for or what was outlined in the itinerary
Day 1 - Collection from hotel was fine, on time. No problems with long drive or communication. Itinerary outlined a game drive from 2pm - 6pm, but we only did a game drive for approx 90mins. Lodge was excellent, however that has nothing to do with the tour company.
Day 2 - Full day game drive. Lodge told us to leave as early as possible 7am at latest, driver arranged to start at 8am. We saw everything we wanted to on this day. Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, Giraffe, Elephant, Hippo. However this was more due to the abundance on wildlife and luck than the drivers skill or anything like that. I can't really complain too much about this day, as we saw everything we wanted to.
Day 3 - We were supposed to have a game drive in the morning (leaving the lodge at 8am) before heading straight from the game drive back to Nairobi. However our driver slept in and missed his alarm and we were waiting for him to wake up and were late leaving. Upon arriving at the park entrance our driver welcomed a "park ranger" on board who he said we were "giving him a lift" we then proceeded into the park, where we just drove on the main road until we happened to chance upon a cheetah, who was starting a hunt. The driver stopped the van and we asked him to put up the roof of the van so we could get a better look, he refused saying it would interfere with the hunt, however he was talking and laughing with other guides in other vans and his phone was ringing loudly, so I didn't buy that excuse! We asked him again and he still refused, so we had to take pictures through the window. After a few minutes he drove off, and we left the hunt/stalk while it was still in progress/just about to start. We were so annoyed, especially as countless other vans and 4x4s were heading towards the cheetah, while we were driving away from it. We felt like we couldn't complain too much to the driver as we still needed him to take us back to Nairobi and didn't want him to get angry and leave us in the middle of nowhere! He continued driving on the main road through the park and didn't once go on a different road, he then exited the park. Meaning we did not have our morning game drive, he just drove straight through the park from once entrance to another, without lifting the roof - we just happened to stumble across a cheetah. If we hadn't seen that he would not have stopped once! This is not a game drive. We were basically being a taxi service for his friend/ranger. When we got to Narok, the "park ranger" exited the van and he continued to take us back to Nairobi, which was fine.
Overall absolutely disgusted with the final day and lack of game drive! The fact that he drove away from a Cheetah hunt that was in progress is absolutely indefensible - and also twice refusing to open the roof so we could look at the Cheetah while we were there.
I don't know if this was just our driver or it is the company (as our driver said he was fairly new to Wildebeest) But I wouldn't use them again!!
I will formally complain to Wildebeest about this....
Reply from Wildebeest Safaris
Posted on Mar 28, 2023Dear Steve,
Thank you for your feedback. We noticed of the mishap you encountered on the last day of your Safari with your driver/guide. We addressed the issue with him regarding following the itinerary as agreed with clients.
Kind Regards,
Noah
SG
Email Gurdip Singh | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience in Masai Mara
We were a family of 4 adults on a Safari to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru.
Our guide, Andrew was excellent. He had great knowledge and hawk eyes to pick animals. We saw all the Big 5 multiple times each during the 3 days. Besides the regular sightings, we saw a family of 4 Cheetahs prowling, a pride of lions making a kill, a prowling leopard, a lion looking for food, a big family of 14 ostriches. We were lucky to see the tail end of the migration of wildebeests and zebras, which was running a littke delayed this year.
Andrew was very flexible and accommodating to all our requests and Noah did a great job for making all the admin arrangements. The drive from Nairobi to Masai Mara was very bumpy (no fault of Wildebeest) but Andrew managed it well.
Would recommend Wildebeest Safaris to anyone making a trip to Kenya.
FI
Email Jaana | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Cats, cats, cats in Masai Mara
We spent a lovely weekend at Masai Mara with our driver/guide Dennis. We saw leopard eating a reedbuck, five cheetas with their tummys full, lions and even two amazing serval cats, not to mention the abundance of wildebeest and zebras. Our lodge (Mara Engai) was beyond this world. Thank you Wildebeest Safaris!
Email Danielle Mama Tembo | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
elephantastic safari
I would definitely recommend Wildebeest safari ; A super company who will always do her best to satisfy your wishes and desires ; Great , comfortable vehicles , drivers who know their job ; Always on time , open to any suggestion .
Book with WILDEBEEST safari for unforgettable wildlife experience
PT
Email Maria Ataide | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
Since the first email till the end it was perfect. Andrew was amazing on the safary, always trying to show us many animals as possible! It was a great experience!
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Email Matt | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience.
The trip was well organized. Our guide in Tanzania was truly world class. Our family felt safe and well cared for the entire trip. Overall the accommodations were excellent but we did have a couple of nights that were not up to expectations. In particular, the Nairobi hotel on the night of our arrival.
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Email Sue | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari
We visited Kenya last September and the whole experience was great. Definitely "Wildebeest Safari" is the best option for you to book your trip, a few reasons are:
- Clear and quick responses to all our questions (via email, WhatsApp and phone - basically 24/7 availability)
- Flexibility. Even though they give very good options (schedules, hotels, locations, etc.), they will adjust to your needs without any complaint.
- Excellent customer service. We were treated extremely well by them, during the planning ´process (by Noah) and while we were there (our guides).
- Knowledgeable and polite guides. We were fortunate to have Andrew and Frank as our guides. Both were great! They know where to go, how to get close to the animals without disrupting them and they are very friendly and patient. Good photographers as well.
Our recommendation for you is to go on a private safari. It is more expensive, but we truly found it worth it.
Email Lee | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Well organised. Exceptional guide.
Adequate communication with Noah. Happy to be flexible and adjust itinerary to our wishes. All travellers should have some understanding of safari and what they want and don’t want to assist your companies in organising what can be very diverse style of travel.
Email Sacha | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience
I absolutely loved it all - thank you for arranging a very good itinerary. Hamza, our guide, was such a delight and definitely made sure we enjoyed the safari.
The two minor things I would say for improvement is: under your information tab (on the itinerary), that the weather for winter needs to be updated. I didn't realise that the temperatures would be about 10˚C in the mountains, and therefore didn't pack a warm jacket. In terms of lodging - Ocean Paradise Hotel only gave us half board when we were promised full board according to our itinerary.
Apart from that though, the people of Tanzania are wonderfully warm and welcoming and we had the most wonderful time.