NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Safari!
At the end of October / beginning of November I went on safari with Ben (one of the owners). It was a fantastic safari! Ben is very friendly and great tour company. He has an insanely good eye for spotting wildlife, which is of course a very nice characteristic when you are on safari!
Every day again it was a beautiful one with beautiful routes, landscapes and wildlife! The safari car was fine and did what it was supposed to do and Marion was a very nice help in planning the route! The chosen places to stay were also very nice and were actually all above expectations!
If you want to go on safari in Tanzania, definitely choose Caracal Safari because of their personal touch, expertise and beautiful routes and overnight stays!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AMAZING SAFARI
I want to start by saying thanks to all those who contributed to make this trip unforgettable, each of the camps was a unique experience, I want to especially thank our guide Amos who at every moment had the best disposition and attitude when going out to look for the wildlife, we saw all the animals we expected, the stay was incredible, clean and unique rooms, the food in the three camps was of very good quality, the transportation and services included were what they offered, the customer service provided by the General manager was excellent, Mathew Wambua, always attentive to my needs and expectations, his response was always timely and on time, no matter how many times he changed the dates, the manager always had a very good response. I 100% recommend Bateleur Eagle Safaris, every dollar paid for this safari was worth it, without a doubt I would live this wonderful experience again.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Massive
Me and my family had the best round trip ,we started from ziplining in mabira forest via sipi falls to murchison falls national park. Ronald was with us and made us feel at home,he was very professional in all he did for us. Definitely I would recommend any one to chose pet petnah africa tours and travels.
BE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Highly recommended!
Having recently returned from an 8-day holiday/safari in Kenya... I hereby want to give an extended and honest review on Meektrails Safaris. As this was my 3rd time in Kenya (having previously travelled with Pollmans and Natural World Kenya Safaris) I’m in a good position to compare this safari with my previous experiences.
I came across Meektrails Safaris through SafariBookings.com... a site to find and compare safari operators. After having requested a quote through SafariBookings, Daniel Waruri (Meektrails its owner) was very very quick to respond to me. After some back and forth mailing and taking into account Daniel his tips and proposals, we came to an interesting itinerary. In total I requested quotes at +/- 10 different safari operators. In the end, although not being the cheapest, we settled with Meektrails Safaris. The reasons being, amongst others, the honesty of Daniel (not trying to upsell us like other companies), his long experience in the field, the quick and friendly replies, the regular updates on his social media canals (meaning his company was really active), his experience concerning photography and the fact the we wanted to support a relatively new operator during these covid times.
The itinerary we agreed on consisted of an 8-day/7-night safari consisting of 2 nights in Buffalo Springs National Reserve/Samburu (Ashnil Samburu Camp), 1 night in Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Sweetwaters Serena Camp), 1 night in Lake Nakuru National Park (Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge) and 3 nights in the Masai Mara (Zebra Plains Mara Camp).
Payment
Daniel was able to get me an extra Travel Industry discount at some of the camps/lodges as I’m active in the industry myself. We also agreed on only paying for the safari after we set foot on Kenyan soil (due to the uncertainties related to travel restrictions and a possible positive covid PCR test), meaning Daniel paid for the camps/lodges with his own savings. We highly appreciated this flexibility shown by him. In the end we decided to transfer 50% of the total sum once we had the result of our covid PCR test with the remaining 50% transferred when we were in Kenya. The covid PCR test in order to exit Kenya was arranged by Daniel and his staff meaning it was much cheaper than relying on a doctor visiting the camps in the Masai Mara.
Airport pickup
On our arrival in Kenya we were picked up at the airport by James. He would drive us to the hotel we booked ourselves in Nairobi (Best Western Plus Westlands) before starting the safari on the next day. Our flight got delayed a bit and it took a looooong time to pass the health check and immigration at Nairobi Intl. Airport... but James was still awaiting us when we finally exited the airport (the poor guy had waited almost 2 hours for us). Soon we were in the minivan on our way to the hotel. But then... we got unlucky. Just before leaving the airport perimeter the engine stopped and James was unable to restart the engine. With the help of a security agent, the van was pushed on the roadside. Miraculously the engine could then be restarted and off we were. However... after 1min on the highway the engine stopped working again with James being unable to restart it. We were thinking the worst as this van would also be our minivan for the safari. James stepped out, in the dark, in the middle of the highway to try to stop other traffic. Eventually a truck offered assistance and we were towed for 15min to a gas station. James filled some empty water bottles with petrol to fuel the minivan after which the engine could be restarted. While this “adventure” was initially a bit frustrating (after having already travelled more than 12 hours and just wanting a shower and a bed to sleep)... we soon saw the charm of this hiccup. I said to my wife... “if this airport transfer would be without issues you would have never remembered it... but now you’ll always remember our first day together in Kenya” ;-). And we’ve got a story to tell people. A big thumbs up to James. He didn’t give up and did everything in his power to find a solution. He was a bit afraid for his job due to this hiccup but I do hope he’s still with Meektrails as he showed he’s able to think out of the box to find solutions.
Safari minivan
We decided to do the safari with Meektrails black 4WD minivan. While many operators tried to upsell us and offer a 4WD jeep, Daniel was really insisting on using the minivan (even though he has the more expensive jeep option on offer as well). While the jeep looks “cooler” and more “impressive”... it doesn’t have any advantages. We encountered some thunderstorms during our game drives in the Masai Mara and the Meektrails minivan was as capable as the jeeps on the muddy and flooded roads. We got everywhere where the jeeps went and never got into trouble. Don’t expect a new or refurbished minivan though. The Meektrails minivan is a dusty and older van... but it is very very very capable when you consider the “offroad” and “bumpy” conditions in the safari parks. We couldn’t be happier with our “The A-team minivan” ;-)! The minivan lacks air conditioning (although a system seemed to be installed) and we were instructed to use the natural air conditioning during the transfers between the parks -> opening the sliding windows. This turned out to be more than sufficient. Inside the parks, air conditioning doesn’t make sense anyway as the roof will be open at all times.
The Safari itself
The proposed itinerary proved to be an interesting one. With each of the parks having its own attractions (the Samburu five in Buffalo Springs, the white and black rhinos in Ol Pejeta, the birds in Lake Nakuru and the big cats in the Masai Mara), the suspense was building up towards the end. The camps proposed can be found in the mid-to-luxury range comfort level. All of them were good value for the money paid.
The Safari guide
While we normally would have been guided by Daniel himself... medical issues meant we were given another guide very last minute. We were initially a bit disappointed by this as we would have loved to meet Daniel in real life and gain from his photography experience. Instead we were greeted and picked up by Peter who turned out to be a great guide. Peter had 17 years of experience in the field and always took initiative to tell us more about the different animals we saw, the landsights we crossed etc. He was very knowledgeable. While the attendance in the first 3 parks was rather low, Peter was always able to find us the special animals during game drives, not relying on radio information from other drivers/guides as there were none. During our game drives in the Masai Mara we were initially a bit disappointed when he parked the minivan a bit further away from the rare animals (leopards and cheetahs) and away from other vehicles. But it turned out he always made the right decision as the animals walked towards our minibus and passed at less than 1 meter. You might think... that’s just being lucky. Maybe... but it isn’t if it happens all the time. I would call it experience instead of luck. One time he put the minivan on the main road some 10m away from all the other vehicles. The 4 cheetahs walked in the bushes towards our van and sat down on the road just in front of us. You could feel the frustration of the people in the other minivans and jeeps as they all had to stay behind us while we enjoyed the very best views. It seems Peter really knew how to “read” the animals.
Would we recommend Meektrails Safari? I think, from the review above, it’s pretty clear we liked our experience with them. If you’re looking for a personal service, a good price/value safari with knowledgeable and responsible guides/drivers... don’t look further... and choose Meektrails. They are a young company trying to find their spot between the well established safari operators in Kenya. Contrary to others, they also do seem to be aware and put effort in their brand image (branded water bottles during the safari, every client gets his own “Meektrails” safari hat to take home, regular updates on facebook/instagram, ...)... and this helps to get a “feel at home”-experience. Daniel is also very open to communicate, before, during and after the trip... and is easily reachable through whatsapp and e-mail. One small remark/advice... update the minivan a bit. A lick of cool paint and branding on the exterior and some cleaning and new seat covering on the inside.
RECOMMENDED!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great tour for Masai Mara
From the beginning, Steve was very communicative and responded quickly to every single question we had. The driver picked us up at our hotel just as planned and we joined a small safari and became close friends with the other travelers (we were 4 in total). We had two different drivers, the first day driver knew where to find the best animals but did not communicate any additional info to us about the habits of the animals, so we didn't really get any background info on what we were seeing. The second day driver was excellent. He was extremely passionate about what we were seeing and doing, had incredible eyesight (he spotted a rhino deep in the bush that took us all forever to finally see!), and brought the details of the animals to life. It's an incredibly valuable price for what it all entailed. We have no complaints, just be weary of the Masai Village, in our opinion. It is interesting and worthwhile, but they hassled us left and right to buy things, lying about selling us lions teeth (it was a zebra bone), and plant-hand-dyed cloths (they were from factories in India), tried to charge us double the fee for the village tour than what the driver had told us to expect, and generally grossly overcharged on all of the items that they sold (but that's common in Kenya). You can easily opt out of the village tour to avoid these hassles though. Bring your own water despite the confirmation that it will be provided. Our guide did not have any for us. The accommodations were in a spacious camp with amazing hospitality from the staff. We absolutely fell in love with Masai Mara and hope to come back again soon.
TH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Professionals! The sole reason why I was able to get to the top of Kilimanjaro.
I went on a 7-day Machame Route Kilimanjaro hiking trip with 7 Wonders Safaris and they were all professionals from beginning to end. The porters and our guide were friendly and they would often analyze the situation and my condition every day and see what they can do to help me succeed in getting to the top of Kilimanjaro.
The guide, Issa knows a lot about the mountains and he always help instructed me on what was to come everyday making the hike smooth and problem-free.
I was able to summit the Uhuru Peak, all because of them so kudos.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magnificent
My wife and i came to kenya safari for our honeymoon, we had such an amazing time, people are so nice very easy to communicate, everyone goes above and beyond your expextations, our money was so worth. If youre looking to have a good time and enjoy everything you can i suggest you request Jackson as ypur tour driver. He was so wonderful very educated in everything, not to mention his personality is beautiful. He really really really made sure we had a good time and he made sure we left happy and he forsure did everything on his side to help us see all big 5 animals. It was such a wonderful trip. Its been a week since we got back and we are still not done talking to everyone about our experience, we have some friends and family who will be coming back with us soon. :) and we are definetly looking forward to having jack as our tour driver again he really was outstanding, very outgoing we even played some board games together. My wife had a wonderful experience to. She was not a big big fan about going to africa,the distance and the heat (which was nothing like what she thought) and Kenya,Jackson,Newton,Daniel at lyok camp, all of our new friends over in kenya,all together made her experiece the best shes had. She said kenya turned out to be the best trip we have taken and we have been to plenty, but she said kenya has topped all the other trips and now she cant wait to go back. Thank you Kenya & Bateleur Eagle Safari Team for being such an experience!!
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Helpful, friendly and a fair price
I went on a 4 days Safari trip with three friends and it was amazing. We saw a lot of different animals. The guide was friendly and could answer all of our questions about the animals. The food was really good and homemade.
It was easy to get in touch with the company and they were very helpful with accommodation (which is included) and with transfer to and from the airport.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing
We just finished the most amazing safari with Suricata. We had the best driver who knew everything about all the animals and was really good at finding all the great spots where we could see all the animals really close.
Besides seeing amazing animals and nature, we also had the best chef who cooked homemade meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We really enjoyed the company of our driver and chef and would recommend this trip to everyone we know!
ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
If you wish it, Meektrails Safaris can get it!!
I have just arrived from Kenia and have come completely delighted.
I never imagined to enjoy a Safari, i thought i was too expensive for us, but fortunately we met Daniel (the owner of the company) he could addapted our budgets perfectly so he has made the best tryp i have done in my life.
So, don't hesitage , ask them, you will be over the moon!!!