DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Trip with good organisation :-)
We did a Kenia & Tanzania trip in August 2017. Everything was well organised. The drivers were very exerted.
We saw a lot of animals and the Big 5 for sure. The price-performance ratio is very good.
Thank you very much for the great time we spent!
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Efficient and persistent. They got me a booking at a difficult time.
The roads are a vast improvement. Reception was friendly and helpful. Chalet neat and tidy.Viewing very good
and rewarding. Only negative - people not obeying the rules. Good to see security improved at the entrance gate.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A great time in an amazing environment
The memory of my three day safari in Masai Mara will stay with me forever. It was an amazing experience to come so close to so many beautiful wild animals. We saw the big five, and so many more animals. Our guide was nice, the group was nice and we stayed at a nice camp close to Masai Mara, sleeping in comfortable beds in tents. The only thing I am a bit hesitant about, is that I think we got too close to the animals. It was absolutely not only us, but almost every other van from other companies (mostly Bonfire), that drove very close to the animals, and we were about 15-20 vans in the same spot sometimes. I later, when I got back, read that you're not supposed to be more than five vans and you're not supposed to get close than 25 metres from the animals.
I wish more companies would respect that. (as I said before, it semis almost no one doesn't). And of course I was really happy to see so many animals so close, but when for example four cheetahs surrounding a zebra were followed, and in their turn surrounded by 20 vans - it didn't feel as if it were on the animals' conditions.
But overall it was amazing to see so many animals, and our guide really did his best to find lots of them.
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good experience, recomend it.
We hired from Deepforestsafaris two itineraries, one for a hiking experience in Mount Kenya (5 days) and a safari tour , both for a mid-range budget.
The usual questions arise, payments, organization, safety and etc. and the company was always very engaging and responsive. I felt safe with their work, and that is a really important thing traveling to a place you don’t know such as Kenia.
My experience to Mt Kenia was good, and organization wise I was rather happy. Nonetheless, we had some trouble in the last day regarding the amount of hiking, that was an issue with the local guide preparations. Reparations were made but I recommend that you discuss in depth your itinerary before closing, once it can be a demanding hike.
Our safari the experience was amazing! Our safari guide, Sammy, was very friendly and great in finding and spotting animals, especially the big 5 that we were so eager to see. Whatever trouble would arise – possible in Kenia duo to bad roads, unforeseen climate and etc, he was already prepared and made it as little as possible an inconvenience in our daily routine. Great guide.
All and all, a quite good trip, and a good cost benefit for our budget!
NL
It was a very nice 2 day safari. Good prep and nice drive and stay.
The service was very nice. It was a good driver and a very nice stay in the park.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome 9-day-safari with Edward & 4 leopards
We did a great 9 day tour with Edward to Massai Mara, Nakuru, Amboseli, Hells Gate and Tsavo East/West. It was booked as a budget tour with tented camps, some lodges (mostly outside parks, two inside) and one night of real camping in hells gate. Most of the accommodations exceeded our budget expectations esp. Oldarpoi Camp and Amboseli AA Lodge were very nice.
We were also extremely lucky with animals as we saw 4 leopards altogether, many many lions, 2 cheetahs, several rhino (I don't count elephants, zebras and giraffes anymore) . Saw the big five actually in the 1st two days at Massai Mara. Every park has its highlights and differences. It was wonderful. You need to know that roads to and in the parks can be very rough, though. Journeys to and from the parks were very exhausting, esp.the one to Massai Mara. And good roads in Kenia are generally full of overloaded and very slow lorries. Nothing much FlashMC can do about that, maybe improvement of suspension on the safari bus. ;)
Our guide and driver Edward managed all those things most greatly though. He is a well organized, very responsible und very lovable guy and a skilled driver too. We had a lot of fun together and he even taught us a Kenian card game (so bring a pack of cards). ;) Peter, the tour manager, is also a very nice guy, working hard to please every customer. He even met us persoally just to say hello. I am a very controlling person, so I asked a lot of questions beforehand which Peter answered all duly. Thus nearly everything went as planned. Upon request Peter also organized a day in Hells Gate incl. pitching tents inside the park with an extra guide who did a bicycle and canyon tour with us and also a cook for evening dinner. This was extremely cool and very adventurous. Merely the tents (brought by the extra guide) were in pretty chaotic and bad condition. Luckily our own camping experience made it all work out that night (of course we feedbacked all this to Peter). ;) Thank you, Edward and Peter!! We won't forget this great holiday!
SI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Really good Safari experience - cheap & car on stand by in case of any car problem
First to let you know, there is not such thing as cheap safari. If you pay 170 per person per day, you’ve got a really good deal. The safari experience was amazing (we saw two actions - leopard catching antilope and two cheetahs hunting wild best and eating them). So that part was like Heaven. The only negative side was the food, but after we came back we told them honestly about “the food thing” and they offered us a free night at a quite good hotel. They said, that they paid enough momey to the guide and to cook for meals, so it shouldn’t been , like it was. They really gave us a filling that tehy really care about their costumers and told us, they will have conversation with them. We talk with John (he was our guy) - the best guy.
If you are looking for a cheap safari trip, this is the best agency to go with.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Value for your money for 21-day, 3 country safaris (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania)
Had done extensive research on Trip Advisor and Safari Bookings. Trip Advisor does a great job with reviews, but didn’t find it helpful for the tent camps we wanted for our experience in several countries. Would recommend using Safari Bookings since they have an easy search engine for your destinations. https://www.safaribookings.com/
20-Day Safari to Kenya Maasai Uganda Gorilla and Tanzania
Nairobi (Start), Masai Mara NR, Lake Nakuru NP, Jinja (Town), Lake Bunyonyi, Bwindi Impenetrable NP, Lake Naivasha, Lake Sonachi, Arusha (City), Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro, Tarangire NP, Zanzibar (Town & Beach), Nairobi (End) We took out beach portion and added Sambura at his recommendation which was the highlight of our 21 day trip.
Pros: KWSS had the flexibility to cater to our destinations for a reasonable price. Many places charge double what we paid for, but you do get tent camps out in the middle of nowhere a few times.
Drivers Marcus (Kenya), David, Richard (Uganda), and Michael (Tanzania) - all averaged about 15 years’ experience in travel guides. All showed above average knowledge and provided for above average gaming experience.
Cons: The hotels we did stay in cities were mostly concrete and noisy. Do not recommend Sky Hotel in Nairobi, Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala, or Sky Hotel in Lake Bunyoni area I believe. We awoke to noise in each of them. Silver Springs had 2 parties at 1:30 am in the morning. Also had call to prayer at 2 and 5 am from a distance at Octagon Lodge, but we were tired enough it didn’t matter much. Ask for other accommodations before you pay since we had early starts most mornings.
Forget the itinerary time tables – they were almost always off. Lunches and game drives were wrong in many cases even though they were cut out of their standard programs he used for our custom trip.
Road to Masai Mara was miserable, but they are paving a good part of it in 6 months or so. These African safaris are not for you if you can’t take a rough bumpy ride half the time.
Mr.O had promised 4x4’s the whole trip. We got stuck first day out and had our time taken up some and scary crossings due to sudden thunderstorm. Big .5 drop in ratings due to broken commitment. He attempted to make it up which is why it’s not a 1 point drop with extra activities on last day not scheduled.
What to bring:
Toilet paper always with you. Drivers try but many times we had to use squat toilets and no privacy for men urinals. Sometimes “bush” toilets were necessary. Driver usually has extra toilet paper. Not an issue for us, but can be a big surprise to many. Long lenses for cameras – standard lenses will not work in many areas where you cannot travel off the road. I purchased a new attachment for my Samsung 6 with no reviews on Amazon (look under telescopes – takes about a month to get and fits onto many phones with clasp over lenses – a bit of a risk, but fit my Samsung 6 – Ccloon Professional HD camera lens kit -$60 USA – does need refitting several times a day but competes with the thousand dollar lenses)
Flashlight for head is very handy for $15 dollars Energizer Vision HD LED from Amazon – one each. Portable chargers for phones since many tents shut down power after 10 or so.
Get your yellow fever shots a few weeks before going. They are out of stock currently and do check several sources for alternative shot. Nothing else was necessary according to OT. We purchased Deet and mosquito long sleeve shirts. We didn’t need them much in Oct./Nov.
Ponchos or rain gear for Uganda mostly.
Also bring an open mind for local cultures and lots of patience. We are 64 and 59 and in good shape (for Uganda jungle hikes).
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I have been able to experience my holiday in South Africa in a nice way ... great !!
I went on holiday without preparation and expectation and thought it was a great experience. Good communication excellent service ... clear explanation and his enthusiasm was all right. Safaris trips well arranged together in consultation with us ... was very pleasant.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Magic trip in your lovely country Uganda
hello Abudallah, i leave just now the hospital it was a very hard day after our magic trip from your lovely country so yes we reached safely but tired thank you.
My children and i are really very happy to meet a great man like you are. Take care of your self and your family and hope one day you could realize your dream. during the flight i was seated just close to the french woman director whom i have given your name and the contact of Fred company (Gorilla Safaris Uganda) because she has just started a cooperation of medical students between Europe and Uganda so she will have to come back to Uganda