35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
overall experience was very good
we are a family of four ( 2 adults and 2 children)and first thought of going to Kenya in June 2016 when, after searching online, I came across this company and contacted them first via email and subsequently via whatsapp. David, company owner, is extremely helpful and was always very quick to reply to any emails/whats app messages that I sent. I called him via what app several times asking for advice and guidance and he was always very polite and professional and gave me all the necessary information.
We took 5 days tours (Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha) in August 2016 (started on 8th Aug) and as planned David sent a driver to pick us up direct from Nairobi airport at 8 am. The tour was all good although the lunch on day 1 on the way to Masai Mara was in Narok in a restaurant called Dream something (I cant remember the full name but the first world was Dream) and the food here was not good at all with rather poor hygiene and we hardy ate anything as we did not want to risk our health on first day of our trip.
The tent accommodation in Masai Mara was excellent and food was freshly cooked with good choices (we are all vegetarian). The accommodation in Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha was of reasonably good quality and they offered us good vegetarian food.
One problem we had was that in Masai Mara they merged us with another group of tourists in the same van who were going to take ballon safari on the last day which meant that we had to wait an extra 3 hours for them in Masai Mara on the last day of our Masai mara tour which would have meant a very late arrival to Lake Nakuru as travel time from Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru is good 7-8 hours. However after we made some noises and after some arguments they finally made arrangements for us to depart from Masai Mara at 9 am (otherwise we would have had to wait until 12 noon for other group to arrive from their ballon safari).
Driver Ben was very quite and did not give us much of the information other than telling us few things when asked directly.
Other than this small hitch, everything else was excellent. I will certainly recommend taking Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha. Although you see many of the same animals in Lake Nakuru but the ambience is very good. Its a proper national park and well looked after. There were no flamingoes there when we visited. The gorge in Hell National Park is definitely worth seeing and boat ride in Lake Naivasha should certainly be done (we negotiated a price of $50 for the boat).
We were picked up and dropped back at the Nairobi airport which was very convenient and meant that we did not need to go to Nairobi town. We flew from Nairobi to Mombasa and David even arranged a taxi for us at the Mombasa airport to take us to diani beach at a reasonable price ($40).
Overall, I will highly recommend Absolute Safari. David is very reliable and highly professional. I will give them a 5 star rating for making our tour so memorable.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience, but a horrible, bumpy ride.
AbsoluteHolidaySafari offers safari trips where you get a lot of value for your money. We chose a 3 day safari in Maasai Mara, and really looked forward to it. We were picked up at the airport and driven to our hotel on our first day in Nairobi, which saved us a lot of hassle finding taxis at the airport. They also picked us up on the first day from the safari and to the office where we met up with the others we were sharing a car with.
I was expecting like a range rover safari van, but when the trip is as cheap as ours was (300$ pr. pax) we had to settle for a Toyota van with 9 seats. And trust me, the trip to Maasai Mara and during our safari was horrible. If I could choose again, I would spend a little more money to get a better car, but we made the best out of it.
The safari in general was amazing!! We had Richard as our driver, and he's sort of the veteran of all drivers. He really gave us a nice experience and we got to see so many animals. We saw cheetahs 2 times, which we learned was very rare, and a lot of lions, elephants and other animals. You really get to see all the animals you want to on this trip, and if you're going on a safari to see animals and not for luxury, I would highly recommend this trip.
The beds are hard, the facilities are on a low standard, but not too bad. The food was okay, but as others have written here, there can be quite long gaps between every meal, so you should bring some snacks. And remember to bring water, you only get 1 litre per day, which is NOT enough...
We really enjoyed our trip and got to know some really nice people during our stay at the camp. If it's your first time on safari, this is a very nice tour that is affordable, where you still get to see so many animals.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
So exciting and grateful travel！
Patrick is very good tour guide and friends, funny, a lively, talktive person. Driver Guide Rashid deserve our respect！he is a professer！！！in safari he konw everything！！！I'm very happy in the pass 9days！I hope I can visit Kenya again^_^ I do love that magic place！！！
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience
Matoke tours was exceptionally professional from start to finish. Ilse was amazing with all contact to answer many questions. We travelled Uganda and Congo with a personalised individual tour which exceeded our expectations daily and everything was perfectly organised and safe. Matoke tours gave us the fortunate opportunity to vist Congo and experience amazing adventures off the beaten track. We visited the volcano and both mountain and lowland gorillas in congo and could recommend all highly.
We were so lucky to have our tour guide Anatoli who gave a wealth a knowledege, was super friendly and made our trip more memorable.
All accommodation was fantastic and felt very spoilt.
Thank you so much for an amazing unforgettable adventure
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolute Holiday Safaris are one of the best in the industries
Completely lived up to my expectation. The team was very helpful and accommodated all our requests. We had to change our dates and also one of our friends had to cancel and David was helpful in this regard. Overall experience was very good with David and his team. Very professional and friendly and experts in the industry.
However I have only one disappointment regarding the last day's morning safari. We were taken directly to the place where big cats were seen and we spent around 30-40 minutes there and came back, just to finish the time. I think the itinerary should clearly mention the specifics otherwise it's very misleading.
Overall a good experience. I highly recommend anyone and everyone to experience once their hospitality and services. Thank you David and to your team at Absolute Holiday Safaris.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Two Days, One Night with AAS
My driver/guide was terrific. His English was very good. He drove very carefully. He knew where to stop.
AAS was fine. As someone else wrote it is a leap of faith to send money over the internet. But it worked out fine. Nelson answered all questions.
Gorillas are pretty neat! Great trip to Volcanoes National Park, with a tour of Kigali the day before.
FR
Review about Timbavati Nature Reserve by pixpeeper
We got to see the "Big Five" on our first drive, in less than 2 hours! It doesn't get much better than this...
FR
Review about Addo Elephant National Park by pixpeeper
Addo seemed very tame after our week in Kruger. It is quite beautiful and hilly. Accommodation was very comfortable but seeing the wildlife proved a lot more difficult because of the bushes. We waited for one whole day to see our first elephants.
FR
A very comfortable access to wildlife
We planned a whole week in the park and we were not disappointed. We changed rest camps every night which means that we could see a lot of different areas. This park is diverse, it was definitely worse it! While the larger rest camps offer a more comfortable stay, we felt closer to nature in the smaller facilities. The game drives proposed by the rest camps are excellent value and complement your own drives.
TN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
You don't want to miss it
So big and full of wildlife, it is easy to forget that it is a park.
Try to be there during the migration season.