20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
it was an exciting and well thought out trip
Has good services and a high level of customer care. I was happy with the professionalism portrayed by the staff both at their booking office and field team.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I really had great time there,,,,am greatful
Every thing was perfect,,,I really had fun,,,,the hospitality,,,I don't dream getting back to lake mburo,,,thank you
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Budget Safari
We chose a 5 day safari that included Masai Mara, Lake Navisha and Amboseli and opted to extend to 6 days. A few things to keep in mind when booking your own safari 1. The mini vans used for the safari are not the most comfortable and 2 people out of a possible 8 will NOT have window seats (but will have access to the roof). 2. They are not four wheel drive so if there is a lot of mud you WILL get stuck. 3. There is a lot of driving between parks (4-6 hours depending on where you go).
Our guide Albert was great. He took into consideration what everyone in our group wanted to see and paid very close attention to the radio to make sure that we didn't miss anything. He was also a fantastic driver.
Our accommodations were a mixed bag. Lenchada Tourist camp has a baboon problem and several tents have holes in them where the monkeys sneak into during the day. The food and staff there were great though.
We also stayed at Navisha Resort, which was fantastic. We were able to take a boat to crescent island and walk around with the animals. Definitely a MUST do if you are tired of sitting in a car. In Amboseli we stayed at Kibo lodge which was a luxury camp site just on the boarder of the park. Gift shop was over priced and we had the worst bloody mary from the bar- but everything else was fantastic and the perfect place to end our adventure.
Over all, very good value for the money, well worth it.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful experience lieved with Dome Africa .an unforgettable safari experience .
Great guiding experience by our safari guide
Wonderful knowledge and communications ready to answer any questions any time . My children were more than happy.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4.5 / 5 A fantastic experience, with a few minor - very minor - glitches
From the beginning, Pendo at Benson did an outstanding job communicating with us to arrange our trip just to our liking. This was not an easy task, as we had 2 families with different needs attempting to create an itinerary that would appeal to everyone. She took all of our changes to the itinerary in stride and arranged everything to our liking. Our guide, Kessy, was amazing - we could not have asked for better. When you spend as much time in a vehicle with someone as you do on safari, it's really important to have a good rapport. The first part of our trip was with my husband and me with his brother and family. Kessy was great with the kids, even when they weren't always the most fun to be around. Kessy was very knowledgeable and friendly, and was always open to our whims when it came to animal-watching and our questions about everything. The second part of our trip it was just my husband and me, and having Kessy all to ourselves was wonderful. He even put up with my obsession with watching dung beetles and my husband's need to get just one more really good picture of that giraffe... one more... (As a bonus, he was also very patient with my unending - and at times pathetic - attempts to learn Swahili.)
We did a side trip to Zanzibar, (midway through for my husband and me, at the end of the trip for my in-laws), which was unfortunately a little disappointing. The hotel we stayed in was great, but it was a very busy area and swimming and playing on the beach was not pleasant because we were constantly being approached by folks trying to sell us tours or boat trips. This is of course not the fault of Benson Safaris, but it would have been nicer to stay somewhere where there was a little less commerce happening at all times of day and night. There was some confusion with Benson when it came to the snorkel outing that had been planned. In our itinerary it stated that we were going to Chumbe Island, but when the guide came to pick us up he said that no, we were going across to Prison Island, a much shorter trip and by all accounts not nearly as interesting for snorkeling. After some back-and-forth telephoning with the tour representative in Zanzibar and with Pendo we figured out that the tour was incorrectly represented on our itinerary. It turned out to be too choppy for snorkeling in the Prison Island area unfortunately, so we missed out completely on that. Obviously the tour company has no control over the ocean conditions, but had we actually gone to Chumbe as we thought we were going to, it would have likely been better due to the location of the snorkel site there.
The other minor hiccup came with meals. My in-laws are vegan and we were assured that accommodating this would be no problem. Somehow, however, it was not communicated to the lodge we stayed in for safari, and lunches were not only not vegan, but there was only one lunch packed as vegetarian at all. Also, there were extremely limited options for vegan for the family at the lodge. Kessy did his best to try to fix this, but I think that communicating what vegan means was difficult. Again, a minor hiccup, but if you have very specific meal needs it would be a good idea to double and triple check on this.
Overall, though, an amazing experience! My recommendation overall is Benson Safaris for safari, and perhaps a different, local Zanzibar tour company for visiting the island.
NL
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very well experienced touroperator, good program including lots of game drives
Safaris in 3 different parks, Ambosseli, Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru.
We have seen all the big 5 and lots of other game. Very good driver George and he was a good spotter. Accomodation is okay. Kind staff.
For 1 week you will have a good image of Kenia and their people and animals. Onyl remark, lots of driving and distances.
NP
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall is good.
Alls are OK as per the expectations except Food is the cause of concern being Hindu.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
He was one nice polite guy i mean i did enjoy my whole time touring
Everything here was absolutely amazing...the safari tour ..the service..the communications...please guys try this place you'll love it
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent value for money
everything was described. We went on the budget tour and standards were better than expected. Food and accomodation were better than expected.
Me and my 10 year old son had a thouroughly excellent and enjoyable time.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great team, knowledgeable and friendly.
Will definitely refer and use your services once again.