US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Stephen Baboineke, knowledgeable, very kind, and instantly we were like family. He kept us safe!
Jolie communicated very well with me. The Gorilla Treks were amazing!
Although they didn’t take as much time as I had allocated and therefore we had lots of down time.
And you won’t need binoculars to see the gorillas- so save the weight for souvenirs!
DK
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Kenyan Safari!
Visiting Africa and going on a Safari for the first time, you really don’t know what to expect. Through Safaribookings.com we quickly zoomed in on Beacon Safaris as they offered the locations we were looking for and they had amazing reviews. Robert, the owner of Beacon, was quick to respond and very flexible in accommodating our special requests: we started out with an 8-Day Best of Kenya Safari and ended up with 9 fantastic days through which we feel we got a good understanding of the true Kenya.
In the morning of our first safari day we were picked up at the hotel by our guide Daniel. We were going to spend the majority of the next 9 days with him, so no wonder we were a little anxious to meet him: what if we didn’t get along - that would make it 9 very long days... Now, Daniel turned out to be one of the nicest persons we have ever met; very knowledgeable about his country, it’s parks and animals, and it’s customs and politics (when spending so much time together you do get to speak about topics other than the Big Five). Make no mistake about it, your guide is the most essential part of a successful safari and Daniel is the best ambassador his company and his country could ever ask for.
And how did our safari go? We saw everything we came for - and several times. We saw big families of elephants and giraffes grassing the savannah and crossing rivers. We saw a leopard with her cub chilling in an old tree top. We saw lions hunting and eating a wildebeest. We saw a huge group of hippos hanging out in a mud pool. We saw lots of black and white rhinos (in Ol Pejeta we even got to feed sugar canes to the old and blind black rhino Baraka). We saw thousands and thousands of wildebeest migrating from the Serengeti through the Masai Mara - including their spectacular crossing of the Mara river. And we saw cheetahs, buffalos, gazelles, crocodiles, hyeanas and many, many other animals. Daniel made sure we were always at the right spot at the right time!
Finally, a few pieces of advice:
Make sure you go for the Land Cruiser; is does cost a little extra but it is money well spend (regardless, however, you will be aching all over after the long and bumpy drives).
Make sure you pick a least a few tented camp; it’s a unique experience to hear the sounds of the savannah at night and you feel as if you’re almost sleeping with the wild animals (which is a good thing on a safari...).
Be aware that the roads in Kenya can be as bad as you can possibly imagine. As a consequence, getting from one park to another will be quite time consuming.
And make sure you ask for Daniel to be your guide and everything will be just fine!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great safari off the beaten track
Having had safaris in several other African countries this was our first safari to Kenya and it compared very favourably. Daniel arranged a luxury safari off the beaten track exactly as we requested. Rather than following the more common tourist routes, our safari was based around the central Kenyan parks covering lakes, highlands and semi-arid areas. A diverse range of habitats with an equally diverse range of mammals (which included the big 5) and birds.
Accommodation ranged from lodges to hotels to tents and all were very good to excellent. Peter was our driver/guide. He was extremely capable both as a guide and a driver, and very patient when we struggled to see the animals.
Overall an excellent, well organised safari. I would use Transtrek again if we visit Kenya in the future.
JE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Loved it!
Exceeded our expectations. Incredible experience. Had a really great time and the best tour guide ever. Everyone was super nice to us. Everything was well organised and we felt very comfortable. Booked another day through the tour company as we had some more time in Kenya and will definetely book with them again when we get a chance.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dream safari!!!
From beginning to end our Safari was absolutely fantastic! Our driver and guide, George, was super friendly and knowledgeable and he was a great fit for me and my husband’s trip. We did a private safari which was perfect for us. He let us choose what we want to do and where we wanted to go and how long we wanted to spend. Everything was perfectly arranged from the food the accommodations with good communication.
JE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Tailor made experience
Once in a lifetime experience made possible through this Tour company.
Great experience from booking to actual tour. Communication was quick and clear. The places suggested were excellent.
Richard, our guide, was always punctual and had good knowledge about the area and animals. He went out of his way to show us all the sights.
Highly recommended to book a tour with this company!
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime adventure seeing these amazing animals up close.
We had an amazing adventure with Tanzania Roadside Expeditions. Everything was more than what we expected seeing all the animals up close. Everything was organised to perfection. Our driver Ezekiel showed us the Big 5 plus many many more. He was always on time and found animals in the grass that we couldn’t see. We would recommend this company to everyone.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great value, but understand what you are getting
We did a 20 day trip to Tanzania that included a Kilimanjaro Summit via the Lemosho Route (8 days), Safari to Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire (5 days) and finished with 5 days on Zanzibar. Add a layover day in Arusha and a travel day to get to 20 days. Overall, I would rate our RightChoice adventure as a 4.5 (4 star experience at a 3 star price). In summary, the Kili trip was 5++ stars (absolutely amazing). Safari was 3.5 stars and Zanzibar was 4 stars. The people were great and the food was excellent (I'm pescatarian/vegetarian and they did a great job of accomodating). However, to get the lower price, you do have to compromise, so read on for the details.
Kilimanjaro: We had the two best guides that you can imagine (Ismael and Mongo). If you book with RC and get either one of them, you will be in good hands. Ismael was our lead guide, picked us up at the airport and took care of us through our trip. NOTE: RC was pretty casual about "what to bring to Kili", so you really have to do your own research. We packed pretty well, but forgot a couple things (BYO TP...) and Mongo helped by loaning us an item or 2. The food during the Kili trip was very good. Hot coffee/tea w/ eggs for breakfast; soup, rice or noodles with veggies, etc for dinner - very good. There was a box lunch when we didn't have a hot meal. Meals were served in the mess tent and Abdul (our waiter) took great care of us. There is not a "toilet tent", so you use the public pits, which range from acceptable to disgusting. The toilet pit at the first camp was the worst, then they got progressively better. The park service is installing new toilets and starting to actually clean them, so the situation should improve. We carried our own day packs, snacks, lunch, etc, as we hiked to base camp (not a problem). On summit day, one of our porters became the "summit porter" and the guides carried our pack while the summit porter carried hot tea and snacks to ensure our success - this was critical and I would definitely elect for this. The guys that took care of us (12 in all) were great and we really bonded - lots of singing, etc. It was definitely a trip that we will very fondly remember forever. Remember that you have to bring a lot of tip money. The recommendations that we got from our guides on tipping the porters were much higher than what I read online (like double), but they deserved it. After being with a great group for 8 days, the last thing you want to do is leave them high & dry.
One other thing to be prepared for with RC is the transportation. We viewed the transportation as being part of the adventure. Our trip to the Kili gate was memorable as we were picked up by a minivan (we called it the Mystery Machine - scooby doo) that looked like it could comfortably fit about 8 people. We drove all around Arusha picking up porters, etc., and by the time we were genuinely on the road to the gate there were 11 porters, the two of us and the driver packed in. Again, its part of the adventure, but be ready for it.
We had one evening in Arusha (at Charity Hotel) prior to being picked up for Safari early the next morning. Charity is ok, but its down a crazy back alley, so if you are first arriving at night, expect this. The food at Charity was below average and there is no power (in most of Arusha) during the afternoons.
Safari: Safari in Tanzania is a little bit like going to Disneyland. There are tons of trucks, all basically the same Toyota Land Cruisers. Most seat 6 passengers in the back plus driver & passenger seat. They all have the pop-up roof. We were shuttled out from Arusha in a minivan to pickup more people at Lake Manyara, then head to Serengeti. Our agenda was changed at the last minute by RC, but it didn't really matter. RC paired us up with three other English speaking tourists (2 from Holland, 1 from Germany). It seems that RC subcontracts with other Safari providers to place you in trucks. We were with "Big 5" Safaris for the first two days in Serengeti. We had a fun group and a good driver, so it worked out. We also had a very good Safari cook who stayed with us for the entire 5 days.
The good thing about Safari was the wildlife (of course). We saw a lot more than I thought we would. The bad thing was that we were there during the "high season" - it was packed. I also thought that we might see the "great migration" in the Serengeti during July, but found that the main activity was about an 8 hour drive away. That said, we saw a ton of wildlife - no rhinos, as they mainly hide in July, but everything else. The camping situation at Serengeti and Ngorongoro is pretty bad (not an improvement from Kili) and we were in very old tents with broken poles and zippers that we put up ourselves - again, part of the adventure. However, since we aimed to get out of camp at 6am each morning, this seemed like a good compromise to staying at one of the hotels/resorts in the area. For the last two nights we stayed at Manyara View campground, which had permanent tents and cots (very nice) as well as cold beer in the fridge (very welcome). The last two days of safari we had different trucks (different companies). Again, it worked and was just part of the adventure.
Zanzibar: After safari, we changed cars about 3 times on the way to the Kili airport and checked in with George on our way to Zanzibar. RC did a good job of arranging all of the transportation, but expect to change cars a lot (are we supposed to tip every driver?). Willy picked us up in Zanzibar and we spent a few days in Stone Town prior to heading to Smiles Beach Resort. Smiles was very nice - again, friendly people, clean rooms, etc. The food was pretty average (overcooked seafood). It is located right next to the Hilton Doubletree. If you walk 100' up the beach you can pay about 4x for a meal that (probably) tastes better. We did two days of diving with Spanish Dancer divers (not through RightChoice). The diving was very good. Again, RightChoice got us from the north coast of Zanzibar via ferry to Dar as Salam for our flight to Kili and home. The transportation was definitely crazy, but we made it.
Summary: I'm really glad we chose RightChoice for our adventure in Tanzania. It wasn't the "high end" vacation, but it was the adventure that we were looking for. We may have preferred a little "upscale" at various times during our trip and I know we were both ready to be back in the US, but the trip was incredibly memorable and really had an impact on how we will view the world going forward. Thanks, RightChoice!
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Safari so good!
Just back from a wonderful Kenyan safari with Natural World. And I have no hesitation in giving them five well-deserved stars.
From the initial quote and the fine-tuning of the itinerary to the post-tour customer care by Humphrey and Caroline, this company was excellent.
Our superb driver Moses picked us up from our Nairobi hotel, the (upgraded) Land Cruiser full of wildlife guides and Moses' head full of the knowledge of 19 years as a safari tour guide.
He took us on a 5-night (bumpy - wear a sports bra, ladies!) road trip to Tsavo West, Amboseli, Lake Naivasha and the Masai Mara, and made it his personal mission to ensure we saw as much of Kenya's amazing fauna and flora as possible.
We managed four of the big five (no rhino sadly, but understandably) after a very determined day seeking out a leopard, and then spotting two!
We opted for Comfort-level accommodation, which was actually very, er... comfortable, though the first night's camp at Rhino Valley Lodge was very basic. But it made up for that with incredible panoramic views. The other camps were lovely and the food was very good too (with a special mention for Zebra Plains Mara Camp).
Crescent Camp at Lake Naivasha initially seemed as though it would be disappointing, as the lakeside was strewn with litter (one would think the camp might make an effort to clean up its lake front, even if it is public access), but the boat tour and walking safari on the island more than made up for this - as we strolled among the zebra and giraffe.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, and we have with wonderful memories and spectacular photographs to cherish.
Thank you to the team at Natural World Kenya Safaris, and Moses in particular.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
excellent travel company
This is a very good company, very friendly, very helpful. The design of the trip is perfect, and the hotels are great. Especially when we were going to Tanzania, the driver took us to the border with Tanzania, and the boss contacted the car handlebars from Tanzania to take us to Mozi. We had a very pleasant trip to Kenya.
