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
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Brilliant and well worth the money!
I cannot thank Baboon Budget Safari enough for making my first two weeks in Kenya so brilliant! Of course the accommodation was basic but thats what you're paying for. The team look after you every step of the way from airport pick up to finishing in Nairobi, Tabitha was available by whatapp whenever I needed her to sort out buses and pick up times etc, really settling for any solo or new travellers. Mansur was my guide and he was fantastic making sure we saw as much as possible! The itinerary does change depending on weather etc but I still did everything as arranged just in a different order. thank you Baboon Budget!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect Tour to Rwanda & Uganda
I reached out to Ronald of Kajie Safaris early 2019 to see if they would be able to set up a customized trip itinerary for me and my friend which would include multiple gorilla treks in various parks in both Rwanda & Uganda, chimp trekking and a couple safari days. We are both photographers and so our goals for a trip are very specific and require more planning than the average tourist.
From the start Ronald's communication was prompt, courteous and concise. He answered countless questions for the whole year leading up to our trip and was amazing at obtaining all necessary permits, booking accommodations and even domestic flights for us to reach Entebbe for our flight back to the US.
Kajie was one of the only companies I could find that was willing to tailor a package to guest requests and even during the trip several times Ronald went above and beyond to make last minute changes to our itinerary to make sure that our experience was the best one possible.
All of the local accommodations he chose were fabulous and the staff very friendly. He clearly had very good working relationships with these lodges and their staff and it made for a better stay for us. He also did a great job of navigating the selection process at the national parks when it came to assigning guests to gorilla groups and ensured that we were placed in appropriate hikes for our physical abilities and also that would allow us wonderful photographic opportunities.
The whole trip was wonderful and we enjoyed our time so much we are already looking forward to planning a return trip to Uganda with Kajie. Ronald was fabulous to work with and to be around for our 12 day tour and I would highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to explore more of East Africa.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
6 days safari. Masai Mara - Lake Nakuru - Amboseli National Park.
From the day we met Henry , He was very jovial and helpful, we went through the Great Rift Valley down to Masai Mara where we managed to see a big number of wildlife including some of the big five and the small five.
During our safari in Mara we were excited to see a pride of lion chasing and killing.
In Lake Nakuru we saw both white and black rhino and a leopard on a tree.
In Amboseli National park we saw a big flock of flamingos and big herd of elephants crossing the road just right back of our jeep which I never thought would happen
Dume is the company that I can recommend to all that would like to visit our national parks and heritage. I will definitely use it again, thank you Henry for making our dream come true.
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
AVOID !!! .... you must pay a deposit and then he runs away with your money and no safari !!!
in the beginning (before payment deposit) , he answers very quickly .. everything looks okay, but 2 weeks before start, you can't reach him anymore..
we paid already a deposit of 2.000 € and never see it back...
nothing was booked (no car, no lodges) .. so bye bye safari
please don't book this touroperator ... he is a swindler
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall excellent value and highly recommended
I just came back from an 11-day / 6-park safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I found the safari on this website, and corresponded exclusively with Dennis Solomon. Dennis owns Baboon Budget Safaris in Nairobi and apparently takes bookings under several different entity names, including Explore Africa. Even though all correspondence came from Explore Africa, the actual company behind it was Baboon.
Communication with Dennis by email was excellent starting with my very first inquiry. Everything was explained properly and although there was little room for customization of the schedule or vehicles, he made that clear upfront and did not try to upsell me.
Once in Narobi, I was met by a company rep at the airport and taken to a hotel I had booked separately. In the morning, the same friendly gentleman, George, took me to Baboon's offices in the center of town. It is best to book a hotel near city center, or at least between the airport and city center as traffic in Nairobi was really bad in the early morning. I made the whole payment for the safari in cash at Baboon's office. I didn't know it but it’s best to make the payment in $100 bills, as pristine as possible. I paid in $20s but fortunately I had enough bills in a good condition.
I spent about an hour at the office, and together with another couple was taken directly to Masai Mara. It was a long journey, about 7 hours net of stops. Our driver/guide was Simon Kanyi, and he was excellent. The accommodations in the 3 parks I visited in Kenya (Masai Mara, Lake Naruku and Amboseli) were excellent for the price. Two of those were in permanent tents with bathrooms, and at Lake Naruku it was a decent hotel. Masai Mara to Lake Naruku, and Lake Nakuru to Amboseli were both about 7 hours. From Amboseli's south entrance to Namanga was about 2.5 hours net of stops.
The transfer to Tanzania went without a hitch, with Simon dropping me at the border, and a Baboon-contracted agent, Abaz taking me through the border point into Tanzania. Yellow fever certificate was required but the vaccine can be had at the border for $50, and there was an even cheaper alternative. At the border, I boarded a little bus to Arusha that had been prepaid by Baboon. I spent about 2 hours at the border, and then the journey to Arusha also took about 2 hours. The bus dropped me off at the hotel, Ambassador, which was really excellent and the best accommodation on the entire trip. The next morning, a van picked me up from the hotel and drove me to a camp at Lake Manyara, about 1.5 hours, where the Tanzanian driver/guide, Spear, was expecting me together with 5 other tourists. After an hour at the camp, we departed for Seronera in Serengeti, a 6-hour long trip net of stops. We also visited Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. The rest of the overnights in Tanzania were spent in field tent camps, without permanent tents. There was warm water at one of those camps, but no towels at any of them. The Tanzanian driver/guide, Spear was friendly but drove too fast through the parks and was reluctant to stop or wait for people to enjoy the sights. As a result, the safari experience in Tanzania was not nearly as good as that in Kenya but still acceptable for a budget safari.
On the way back, Spear drove us all the way to Arusha and dropped us off at the hotel. The next morning, I was picked up at the hotel by a van, driven to the bus station in Arusha, and onto a little bus that took me all the way to Nairobi airport, all again prearranged and prepaid by Baboon. The journey from the border point at Namanga to Nairobi took about 2 hours.
Overall, I was very impressed with the organization and punctuality of Dennis's operation. It took a lot of people to make everything happen, and absolutely everyone was there and on time and there were no glitches. My expectations in that regard were far exceeded.
Since it was February, everything was green and the dust probably much less than in June-August (it was still quite dusty). I liked the people we met, including the people from Baboon, as well as the camp personnel and locals in towns and cities. Without speaking the language, Kenyans and Tanzanians appeared similarly friendly, but it seemed to me that Kenyans were more outwardly happier. The roads were better in Tanzania. Both countries have some extreme poverty and corruption, examples of which I witnessed in traffic police interactions with our drivers. Of the 6 parks I visited, Serengeti had the most animals, Masai Mara and Ngorongoro were most picturesque, and Amboseli did not have as many animals but great views of Killimanjaro. However, I personally liked Lake Nakuru best, as it was small and packed with animals and birds. Sunrise on the lake was amazing. For photography, best time was between sunrise and 9 am, with haze becoming a problem later. All six parks, but especially Amboseli, Nakuru, and Manyara were great for birds.
QA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The services
The communication services are very well ad good. Well services to all customers.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
4-Day Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru Safari
Initially, correspondence with the company was superb and we had all details about order of locations and accommodation confirmed in October 2019 (we were asked which accommodation we would like to stay at and after specificity were told they were confirmed) I had been emailed with a daily reminder to pay the deposit up until the day I actually paid it, and then I did not hear from the company/ receive a completed itinerary. We next heard from them in February 2020 on the day before our safari only to make sure we had the remaining balance.
On the DAY of the safari, we met up with an employee to pay the balance and were told that the proposed details had been flipped and locations were changed. We did the safari backwards and did not stay at any of the confirmed accommodation that was specified in our initial correspondence. We were in a van and whilst ours did not break down, there were a number of them within the park which did break down.
Despite this, our guide was spectacular!! Eric had extensive knowledge of all the national parks we visited and knew of all animals and their habits. We saw the Big Five as well as a number of different animals; I feel as though we did not miss out on seeing anything.
Eric would break down the course of each day the night before with locations, game drives and time allowances for each activity throughout the day. We also had people in our car that were on shorter safaris, so he had ensured their departures were sorted for all car pooling changes.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I loved getting to interact with the other members of our group. If anything, it would be nice if we were notified of changes prior to departure.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Dishonest and unprofessional
Firstly it is important to understand that Adventure My Take is not a tour operator, but a travel agent. No matter how much the owner of the company, Tamara, will try and convince you that they use their own vehicles and drivers/guides, this is not true. They have only 3 employees, of which one is a driver/guide and who make take guests on tour during the high season. They also handle airport transfers and city tours in-house, but otherwise they will pass you on to whichever company can squeeze you into their van. The other guests’ tour might look very different from yours, but at no point will you be able to get this information from the company, no matter how many times you ask.
But let me start at the beginning. I chose to book my 3-day Maasai Mara tour with this company, as they were very responsive and offered different options regarding accommodation. I did not want to stay in the most basic option, so paid extra to stay in a lodge rather than a tent.
I also arranged all my transfers through Adventure My Take, as it made sense to work with a single service provider while in Kenya. The confusion around my transfers as well as the lack of professionally by the owner raised some red flags long before I went on tour, but as I had already paid a deposit, there was nothing I could do but hope for the best. I had to keep reconfirming my arrival times, the owner of the company was late on both occasions that she transferred me to the airport, she drove erratically and played loud music and generally would not answer my questions about the Maasai Mara trip.
On the departure day I was not driven to their office to complete the payment as per the itinerary, but straight to the departure point, where Tamara proceeded to tell me that I needed to pay additional “service fees”. As this had not been communicated to me at any point during our many emails and discussions, I refused. It was an extremely uncomfortable start to the trip.
After a long day of driving to the Maasai Mara, the other passengers were dropped off at their accommodation. I was however told that my accommodation was another 80 km away! If you have ever been to this region, you will know how long it takes to drive just a few kilometers on the very bad roads and it was inconceivable that I would have to spend another couple of hours getting to my accommodation and then drive back those couple of hours in the early morning to be at the gate for the 6am game drive. I’m sure the hope had been that I would be so tired that I would just agree to stay in the cheaper accommodation, but I refused. The driver was kind enough to contact his boss, who arranged for me to stay at a camp nearby. The quality of the accommodation was still not what I had paid for and the food was not good, but the staff were incredibly kind and did their best to make my stay pleasant.
Although I have nothing but praise for Edgar and Jonathan who work for this company, I would strongly advise against booking a tour with Adventure My Take. Tamara will promise the earth, but she is not in a position to deliver on those promises. She is unprofessional and dishonest and does not care what happens to you once she has your money. Avoid Adventure My Take!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic trip
Planning and support from San-Mari prior to the trip was outstanding. The plan included everything we wanted but the actual trip exceeded our expectations. Our guide Marius was brilliant; knowledgeable, fun, worked hard to find some amazing animal sightings and drove like a pro. The Living Desert Tour with Chantelle was oustanding. Lodges were very good and food plentiful!
We would always use Nature Travel Namibia for any future visits and recommend them highly.