LB
Great trip!
My boyfriend and I booked with "It started in Africa" after reading their reviews, but also because they were extremely responsive as we asked lots of questions and changed our mind a few times about where we wanted to go and how long we wanted to stay. Each time, they gave us very detailed information and were quite patient. Once in country, the same type of service continued. Everything was very well-organized and planned. The flamencos in Ngorongoro were stunning, and so was the whole experience! I highly recommend this company. They're also a small local company so I'm glad to have booked with them!
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.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Experience with Big time Safari in our Kenya Tour
Excellent Super Experience of travelling in Kenya.. Kenya tour is most amazing and remarkable holiday of Lifetime. With the support and co-ordination of Big Time Safari, our tour experience has ranked up higher.
Martha is very helpful, she is very responsive. She answer every mail for any query.
Its really enjoyable to work and travel with Big time Safari. Hope to have many more business with them in future... All the best wishes....
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Amazing trip
Very Happy and satisfied with the services of Big time Safari. They had make all the arrangements in a very organized way... Martha is very informative and very helpful, always ready to answer any question and clarify any query... love their services and greetings...
Hidden Gem
The park is marvellous.
Less traffic means more time with animals and birds.
Weather is moderate though does get hot most of the year.
Best time to travel is July or August as its cooler then.
Elsa Kopje is the best place to stay and for the budget people the KWS self help bandas are sufficient.
Patience is the key thing in Meru NP as it does get dusty most of the times and also the heat can take its toll.
Chances of seeing Lion or Cheetah are not as high as Maasai Mara but are often seen. Other animals like Elephants, Rhinos, the rare Kudu, Somali ostrich, Giraffes, and many more are abundant. So is the bird wildlife. Great place for Birders.
Need a minimum stay of 3 nites to enjoy and understand this park.
I would definitely recommend this park to those who are looking for real safari.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awwesome...
I enjoyed my trip to Tanzania with Global Insight Safaris, Ngorongoro trip was so amazing and the Serengeti too, I like how knowledgable the tour guards were they took me n my wife to all great place in the wild and on streets too, we enjoyed the nyama choma places they took us in Karatu town and mostly in Arusha, my wife still talks about the nyama choma we had on our last night at that bar called Rombo Shine Bar was sooooooooo delicious with tha cold Kilimanjaro lager after a long trip from Ngorongoro n Serengeti I can't say enough, thank you to all the team at Global Insight Safaris without you our trip wouldn't have been as good as it was for sure we will come back to that beautfull country TANZANIA......
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very helpful and friendly.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Hamza of Wildebeest safari. He was knowledgable friendly and flexible. He was friendly with many of the other drivers as well which benefited us in terms of seeing so many animals we may well have missed. We managed to see all of the animals we had hoped and Hamza was very flexible in positioning the vehicle for best results in terms of photographs. The views and experiences were incredible.
We stayed in some absolutely stunning camps and lodges. This was due to internet research and the advice of Noah who has direct contact with these places and negotiated us some good deals. Noah also helped us out with payment issues allowing us to pay on arrival as the final booking was too late for a credit card.
We saw plenty of shiny 4x4's really packed with people and baggage whilst we cruised past just the three of us. Plenty of room for cameras packed lunches and stretching out. Maybe not the newest vehicle but perfectly functional and very roomy. As with all a pop up roof and plenty of chargers (uk 3 pin) for electric items.
I believe that an East African safari is a must do for those who can. Tanzania and Wildebeest Safari served us very well in a never to be forgotten holiday. Thank you Hamza and Noah.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Memorable experience
We did a great team building to Maasai Mara with kwss and all accommodations and vehicles where perfectly organise ,we saw all the big five and food was great.
To be honest,we booking this tour 8 months ago and it was perfectly organise,I really recommend kenya walking survivors safari,Mr.Otieno was perfect also in communication
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A magical safari experience from beginning to end; everything well thought out and executed.
I cannot use enough superlatives to describe the perfection of our mother/daughter trip Marianne designed for us! She thought of every detail ensuring both our comfort and safety. The accommodation and food throughout all lodges and guest houses I would rate as a 10 and the people at each location were thoughtful and certainly aimed to please their guests. Our mail concern, being two women travelling alone, were the transfers between our many destinations and they all went smoothly as Marianne saw to that. She was professional and friendly in all our dealings and countless emails offering us suggestions and options to choose from within our budget. The safari lodges she chose for us were beautiful and comfortably appointed and their drivers and trackers ensured we saw eveything possible. Our trip was the dream of a life time and we owe it all to Marianne's careful and meticulous planning. We had a dream and she made it happen!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing.
I have been traveling to many countries for holidays with my family of 3. It was our 2nd time to come to Africa. The first time i visited S. Africa and now am in East Africa. I had no idea how Kenya is and when i contacted 5 tour operators in Kenya, i was given different quotations for Luxury accommodation. We went through all the quotations with my family and finally we settled to Flotish Tours. We organized with them how to pick us at the airport and when we landed there, we were very happy how they welcomed us with even flowers for it was a birthday of my wife. We were taken to the hotel which they had booked us and it was very nice working with them. The next day, we started our trip to Amboseli for 2 days, followed by 2 days Nakuru and 3 days Masai Mara. We were very happy and for what they did and on behalf of my family i say God bless Flotish Tours and their team for the wonderful trip they have made to us. Recommend everyone to use Flotish Tours company, they are very professional.