CA
Kids loved the trip and the guide was super!
Combined Lake Nakuru with the Masai Mara for a four day trip. Raphael did a great job with the organization, responded to all messages quickly, greeted us at the airport on arrival and saw us off at the end of the trip.
While Lake Nakuru was interesting (buffalo, white rhino, Rothschild's Giraffe), given the distance and lack of flamingos we should have taken an extra day at the Masai Mara. That said, the Flamingo Hill Tent Camp was wonderful and the food was great.
The food and hospitality at the Base Camp Explorer Masai Mara was also super and an extra couple of days there would not have been hard to take. The children (10 and 7) really liked the Masai staff who escorted us while about in the evening and the "family" tent was huge and comfortable.
In terms of the safari, we could not have asked for a better guide than Joseph. With 15 years experience he knew all the best spots to find the animals, knew all about them and was able to pass on the information in an interesting and engaging manner (even the kids listened and learned). We saw lions eating (and mating), the wildebeest crossing (with one taken by a croc), a mother leopard and cub, ostrich's doing their mating dance and _________ , lots of cheetah, elephants, etc. All in all a truly great holiday.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Experience
We had Just finished our 7 days kenya safari fully organised by Big Time Ltd... Great Experience..They arranged best hotel in our Budget except the one in Naivasha..
Driver cum Guide was highly experienced person, the way he drove the vehicle..
Will definitely recommend to other as well..
Experience level: first safari
Excellent, a memorable first time safari in East Africa!
We took a 13 day Kenya/Tanzania Safari with Wildebeest including Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Amboseli (with stopovers in Nairobi). From the beginnings of our communication, Noah was always extremely prompt and helpful in his correspondence with us. He was very flexible and allowed us to change the itinerary multiple times based on our needs and budget. Upon arrival, we were met at the airport by our first driver Dennis, who drove us through the first Kenyan leg of the safari. Dennis was always enthusiastic and cheerful and ready to share his knowledge. He met all the challenges of the journey, always trying his best to ensure we still got the most out of our trip, and making sure we were well taken care of.
We did have some mechanical troubles with the 4WD during our time with Dennis - his car was well worn to say the least! While he was very focused on ensuring we got our time in the parks, it would have been more beneficial to have the car completely fixed and ready to go, avoiding several break downs in the middle of our drives - this was probably the most trying element of our safari, but ultimately something that couldn't really be avoided or foreseen.
Upon our arrival in Tanzania we swapped over to a new driver Hamsa, who was always friendly, helpful and had great knowledge of his surroundings. While it was a nuisance to cross the border so far from the Mara (due to border restrictions), we were treated to some fabulous scenery in Tanzania, en route to Serengeti. Hamsa was always very flexible with the itinerary to suit our needs, and his vehicle was thankfully in a better state of repair!
When back in Kenya, we spent just a few days with another driver Eustace (this time in a minivan with a pop-up roof). Once again, Eustace was a great driver, friendly, helpful and knowledgable. He went the extra mile on our last day, making every effort to drive us back to Nairobi (from Amboseli), getting us there just in time to visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage during its limited opening hours (something that wasn't on our itinerary, but we'd hoped to do). We were collected by Noah on our last day in Nairobi for our transfer to the airport. It was great to finally meet him, and really helped not to have to worry about arranging our own transfers.
Overall, our safari with Wildebeest was a great experience, we were able to see all of the Big Five, and enjoyed some great animal sightings throughout our stay. The accommodation was a bit of mixed bag, ranging from budget to very nice, but was always exactly as we had agreed. We were very well treated wherever we went, and were lucky to be upgraded in quite a few places. We would certainly recommend Wildebeest for a quality for money, mid-range safari tour.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Incredibly diverse safari experience
The Kruger is one of my favourite places in the world. The sheer size of it and all its diversity makes it a treasure and should definitely be on one's bucket list. There is something quite fun about driving yourself around looking for animals and birds - you never know what you'll see and that's one of the positives (or negatives if you only have limited time). The camps are charming but basic - this is not the five star safari experience, and you'll meet more locals in the Park than you would at the private game lodges that neighbour it.
My favourite area of the park stretches from Olifants camp to Shingwedzi as it tends to be quiter than around Skukuza area.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Review about South Africa by duncsboyd
The range of bush / safari options in South Africa is outstanding - there is something for everyone and every budget.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly a memorable safari.
Firstly I must thank Kenya Walking Survivors and Mr Otieno for helping me and my cousins have the experience of a lifetime. We visited Tanzania and Kenya for two weeks in August and were sincerely amazed by the African wildlife, scenery, and people. We stayed in some of the most amazing lodges and camps and were taken care of well especially by our wonderful guide Fred ( who we called Uncle ) in Kenya.
This was our first ever trip to Africa and our very first safari. We had been researching for tour operators and safari packages for months prior to our trip. We chose Kenya Walking Survivors because of Mr Otieno's quick communication, the ability to customise our itinerary according to all the places we wanted to go, and also according to our strict budget. I was very hesitant wiring a large amount of money to a strange foreign account! Nonetheless, we are still grateful to have experienced so much for the price, but feel that it's important for other prospective travellers to be aware of some aspects of unprofessionalism & problems we encountered. These things whether big or small added up to create an atmosphere of distrust for us. Particularly when everything ran smoothly in Kenya and things went sour as soon as we met the tour leader Mike in Tanzania.
Examples of unprofessionalism:
-Multiple last-minute hotel changes, including changing our tented camp in the Serengeti to a lesser quality one without informing us.
-Mistakes on itinerary dates. Even after reviewing our itinerary before and upon arrival in Nairobi.
-Car problems, wasted many hours which could have been spent on game drives
-Asking for park entrance money from us. This favour was asked as a loan until our driver received the funds. Suffice to say we firmly refused. Unfortunately this resulted in us sitting around for hours at the park gate seeing lots of other people going in.
-Told multiple lies by tour leader Mike in particular regarding our internal flight times, resulting in us having to leave Tarangire Park hastily to drive hours to get to Arusha to catch a so called early flight to Zanzibar. It was only revealed until we had woken up early in Arusha and had checked out of our cosy room, that our flight was at 1 pm! Mike was extremely distrustful as he had changed our accommodations several times without requesting our permission or even informing Mr Otieno.
-Waiting almost two hours to be collected from the Tanzanian Border, resulting in us missing the Giraffe Centre and Elephant Sanctuary in Nairobi before our flight home to London.
I hate having to make this list, because until I began to write this review, I had actually managed to forget all the negative aspects of our trip and only think of the magic moments we had with countless animals up close and seeing breathtaking savannahs, and being looked after by a great driver like Fred in Kenya.
Even with all the drama of our trip, I don't regret choosing Kenya Walking as I'm not sure we could have packed everything into our time and budget with a different tour operator.
I have only the best wishes for Mr Otieno and his company, as he did try his best to rectify the problems that Mike created in Tanzania.
If you decide Kenya Walking Survivors is the best fit for your trip, please be prepared to respectfully advocate for yourself and your itinerary.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!!
From the moment we arrived we were made to feel so welcome by Kanuth and his team - every member of staff was so friendly. The lodges were exactly what we were looking for, giving the real feel of Africa. The 3 different aspects of the safari were all so different and spectacular in their own way. Would 100% recommend to all friends and family - one for the bucket list!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience!
My wife and I went on our honeymoon with Odyssey to Kenya for a custom tour, and it was one of the most amazing experiences in our lives. Each detail of the trip was carefully planned out and taken care of when we got there! Odyssey accommodated us with each request we had, from the hotels to the parks and type of game we wanted to go see, and everything went flawlessly. Odyssey headquarters were easy to contact and quick to respond when we had questions during our trip, getting back to us within an hour each time.
Erastas, our guide, was one of the nicest people we met in Kenya and an amazing guide. He really took pride in his work, and went above and beyond finding animals that we were interested in, even spending extra time in the drives to seek out animals. I couldn't recommend him more, as the trip wouldn't have been the same without him.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My 4 days at Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru were pretty awesome, i can't wait for my next R&R next year
I really enjoyed more than my expectations the best bargain ever for my vacation. I will recommend anyone willing to take a vacation to Kenya to go for Crossriver Safaris. One more thing, the driver was a good guide and the most important he knows all the types of animals so you can imagine how it was.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Package and Excellent Safari
I have been on several Safari's before. But this was the most amazing safari i have ever gone. I was really impressed about the organization of my tour. The staff at the company were excellent and we had a great drivers. The company surpassed my expectation and I highly recommend Tru Nomads.