Absolute Holiday Safaris
- Located In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2006)
- Member Of:
- Ministry of Tourism Kenya & Kenya Tourism Federation.
- Tour Types:
- Custom mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $600 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Jessica | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent! If you are looking for a high quality budget safari this is the one!
The safari was exactly what I expected. Extremely knowledgeable drivers, backpacker style lodging, an overall amazing experience!!
IN
Email Shilpa | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent ! Nature at its best, very good hotels, excellent guide Patrol. We would highly recommend
Awesome! Very good veg food, masala tea nature at its best. Plenty of animals in their natural habitat and wilderness.
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Email Colleen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Budget Safari a must do!
We took a 10 day budget safari in Kenya and Tanzania. We had a seamless experience with all our transportation, hotels and campsites, and food. Our guides were awesome and we saw more animals than we could have imagined. Camping in the Serengeti was amazing. You could hear hyenas and lions nearby and there were more stars than I have ever seen. At the end of the trip we had an extra day in Nairobi. David from Absolute Safaris set us up with a driver and activities including the elephant sanctuary and giraffe center which we loved. Great experience though if you are looking for luxury the budget trip is not for you. Would definitely recommend this company!
RU
Email Daria | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect organisation of safari tour
We took 5 days safari - Masai Mara, Naivasha and Nakuru. This company offered the best price with the same conditions as others offered, and they made everything perfect. We had long negotiations in advance and they agreed to put in contract some extra conditions. All staff was very helpful and did even more for us than just safari (e.g. helped to buy train tickets). We highly recommend them for your safari tour - very reliable and professional company
IN
Email REX B M | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A buget safari with all details coverd
I went to Masai Mara-Nakru-Amboseli 6 days safari in Sep-16 ....3rd week
Highlights:
1. A worth visiting place & safari...a must see place
2.. Absolute Holiday Safaris is a reliable company and the Manager David was polite and good to us.
3. Driver cum Guide Stanley was extremely good. Initially he looked to be little different but he made the trip enjoyable
4. Stanley took us every where ... even near to the animals when other vans did not dare to do it.
5 . When I lost my video camera in Lake Nakuru and traveled 15 km with out knowing it , Stanley took every effort , called some one there and got back my camera safely.....Weldone....Thanx Mr. Stanley. God Bless you.
7. We enjoyed every hour of the day ....especially Amboseli,,,, but could not see Mount Kilimanjaro due to misty condition.
8. Over all the safari was well organised.
Negative points:
1. The tented accommodation was not up to the expectations.
2. Always the food was bread, jam/butter/ Watermelon /some rice/etc .
But I really enjoyed the safari .
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Email Mar Wo | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolute Adventure
We did a 7 day/6 night safari and it was incredible! We went to Nakuru, Navisha, Masai Mara and Amboseli and saw every animal that I can think of during that time. Our driver and guide, Jackson, was awesome and very knowledgeable about the animals, plants and tribes that we witnessed. It was obvious that he loves his job and he really enjoyed sharing his knowledge with us. Amboseli was, for me, the best part of the stay- quiet and beautiful with a camp with incredible staff just make sure to keep an eye out for scorpions (we saw four in our two nights there.) Food was plentiful (too much for me, if you're not a big eater, ask for a small plate), water is 1 liter a day so you will need to buy more which was not a problem anywhere we went. We had a rotating number of people (based on location and circumstance) so that also kept the trip exciting! On day one, it was just two of us, on days 2-4, there were eight of us, on days 5-7, three of us. In all, it was a mind blowing week made more so by Jackson's expertise!
Email Simone | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome 12-day Kenya & Tanzania Safari
We did the "12-day best of Kenya and Tanzania Safari” end of September/beginning October 2016 with Absolute Holiday Safaris and we had a great time. As a note, you will get lost in the thousands of companies, but a lot of the safari companies are actually the same (I think Big Time safaris and another one is the same as Absolute). We started in Nairobi, where we were picked up at the airport (be it a bit late) and the day after for our safari. Mind that you will be taken to the office first to pay and transfer to the safari van. Traveling with a backpack is recommended, you don’t have to walk with your luggage a lot, but it will fit in the vehicles a lot better. Obviously visa, vaccinations (yellow fever is mandatory) are required and malaria pills recommended. After this safari we went to Zanzibar on our own, highly recommend Demani Lodge in Paje, and Stone Town is good for shopping. I've reviewed Kenya and Tanzania separately below, with as a main message: the Kenya part was awesome with a great guide, the Tanzania was good too but the experience suffered from bad management.
Kenya (Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli): As we had seen his name mentioned in good reviews, we requested Patrick as our guide. We were very happy he could guide our trip, we felt very well taken care off and he made sure we saw all the animals and he was in touch with all the other guides through his radio. This part we travelled in a Nissan 4x4 pop-up van, which was actually quite comfortable. We travelled with 7 for a few days (which is a bit crowded) and 5 for the most part. Travel times in between parks can be long, with a big part of it on dirt roads (ladies, consider bringing a sports bra). The tented camps were a lot better than expected with actual beds and private bathrooms (including the one in Amboseli, which gets bad reviews online - we stayed in the wooden cabins which were great), and food was simple but really not bad and there was lots of it. Do bring some snacks, because there is not a lot of opportunities to buy something on the way and ‘picnic lunches’ are not great. I personally loved Maasai Mara for all the big cats and Amboseli for the elephants and hippos (take note that for Amboseli - in rain season it is just a big lake and animals won’t need to all go to the swamp to cool off so it is less fun). Lake Nakuru was good for views and we saw some (really far away) rhinos too. However, the flamingo’s have left that lake because of flooding. We made a stop and boat ride in Lake Naivasha which was really fun, seeing the hippos and there’s lots of birds if you’re into that. Patrick helped us getting over the border onto the shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania.
Tanzania (Arusha, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater): The Arusha Center Inn hotel (were the office of the safari company is based) is awful, consider getting an upgrade or pick out another) hotel yourself (we did this for our second stay in Arusha). The city itself is not very nice either, not much to see and unsafe. The safari company here (led by a man called Abraham, subcontracted by Absolute Holiday Safaris, we never really found out what the name of this company was, really vague) was not great, bad planning and scheduling all around. We were picked up very late on our first day, and got put with people staying at different places. This meant we all had to wait for each other each day, which made it impossible to get into the parks in time to see the rhinos and lions awake. We had researched our trip extensively and knew the ‘budget camping’ was not for us, so we upgraded to lodges and luxury tented camp. This was one of the best choices we made, these accommodations were fantastic. The lodges in Manyara and the crater were close to the camping site where the others were staying, however, the tented camp in Serengeti was different from what was in our itinerary and an hours drive from the others. Not ok. We travelled in a 4x4 pop-up landrover, which was allright but surprisingly less comfortable than the van. Also, when you’re tall you might want to check whether you can stand up comfortably (I’m 1.82 and just about could in this vehicle). We were with 5 people in total, however, some of the longer drives we had to take the chef in the front seat, which meant we were a bit crammed in the back. Our guide Estomy was allright, he made an effort to make sure we saw all the animals, but I feel like he was a bit to timide and could have taken a stronger standing point at times (‘if you want to see the animals awake we have to be there at 6 and not sleep in’). Also his radio was not working, which really is unacceptable because you’re always the last to know about the animals. I loved the Serengeti, and the crater was cool too. Even though we saw a lot of giraffes in Lake Manyara, it was not a spectacular park (again no flamingo’s and lots of smelly pelicans). When we had to be taken back to Arusha by another car, we waited on a junction for 45min for someone else to join, without any explanation or apologies. Very unprofessional.
CA
Email Jeff Lee | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience. Fantastic Service. Reasonable price.
Great Experience. Fantastic Service. Reasonable price.
We enpoyed the trip very much. Thanks.
FR
Email Anna Maillard | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing adventure with a professional team
Kind, friendly and profesional staff.
Simple but original place to sleep (tent).
Good food.
US
Email Jason | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime experience! Thank you Absolute Holiday Safaris
We are so very grateful to Absolute Holiday Safaris. They blessed us with one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. We booked everything online and were a little nervous about what we were getting. But everything was as good as we could have hoped. Their driver picked us up at the airport right on time and got us to our hotel. On the day our safari departed our driver, Stanley, was there early and was willing to help us track down a couple of things before we left Nairobi. Our drive with Stanly was great and he was incredibly personable. He took us into 2 game parks and always knew where to go to see the animals. He worked hard so that we could see all the animals that were available. If we are ever blessed with the opportunity to return we will work with Absolute Holiday Safaris again in a heartbeat!! Thank you for the incredible job. We recommend them to anyone who is interested!