US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A memorable experience
This was the trip of a lifetime thanks not only the countryside and wildlife but to the guides, drivers and staffs who were knowledgeable, friendly and helpful in any way possible. Despite some check-in issues on arrival in Johannesburg and waiting for our pickup the next day, the hotel being right next to the airport was very convenient. Our safaris and lodgings differed in locations and in atmosphere. Driving between them was a good way to get an idea of the countryside.
Overall, this was a good value for the money
Communications before the trip ( which began pre- Covid) were good even though dealing with different people for various functions over a few years time.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good trip
Nice trip, but tell the driver in the park to don't focus only in the famous big 5. For european, even a small coloured bird, strange rat , zebra, antelope, is amazing!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a lifetime South African honeymoon
The trip in general was amazing, and planning coordination and expectations were on point. The reason for 3 stars is our first accommodation after over 24hrs of travel was overbooked. There was a lot of traffic due to a Formula E event in cape town so we had to get another Uber to another accommodation across town. This type of hiccup is the exact type of issue I wanted to avoid and have a flawless honeymoon. We had a tour starting early the next morning we had to get up extra early for and drive back across town because it was too late in the evening to notify the tour company our pickup location changed. Our travel consultant Vihann had been messaging on WhatsApp and told me to let him know if there are any issues. When I reached out to him he was unresponsive. To this day he has still not responded. Even if he apologized and said there’s nothing he could do, I would’ve felt better. It shows he truly did not care about our experience once he was paid. So minus 1 star for hiccup and minus 1 for lack of communication. Rest of the experience was A+.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Khalifa was absolutely incredible we could not fault him he had buckets of info and stories to share
We chose Axis Africa as it was recommended from another group of friends. I was in contact with Lennox who was organising our trip. The safari itself was incredible and our driver Khalifa made it more special. He shared loads of information about the animals we were seeing and always had a funny anecdote to share which kept everything so interesting! Unfortunately, Lennox scheduled and charged us for a day of activities that we were unable to complete as he didn't allow for transfer time to the airport that day which was a bit disappointing. He didn't have any way to compensate for this and my last two emails to Lennox have been left unanswered.
NZ
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Disappointed by last minute changes and miscommunication
A wonderful safari was let down by a last minute accommodation change and miscommunication between the tour office and my guide.
I'll start with the positives. Communication with Perminus at Africa Marvel Tours was quick and easy. He was helpful with making itinerary suggestions. I was able to call via Whatsapp before I left NZ. He was quick to let me know that my guide was running late for my initial pick up - which I appreciated.
I loved my stay at Tsavo East Voi Safari Lodge - the view overlooking the plain below was MAGNIFICENT!!! I highly recommend staying there. I have never seen so many elephants before. They were everywhere!
Amboseli had incredible contrasts between the dry landscapes and marshes. Overall Amboseli seems more affected by the current drought than Tsavo East. But I have no idea what they were like before the drought, and I was still able to see many animals at both. There are lots of carcasses at Amboseli due to the drought.
My guide was mostly good. He was knowledgeable and professional and I felt very safe as a single woman.
My disappointment came when my accommodation outside Amboseli was changed the day of arrival. I was most disappointed as I was moved to accommodation that was more basic than I had expected. I communicated my disappointment to Perminus, who said his supervisor would be in touch with me. That never happened. This last minute downgrade of accommodation left a sour taste in my mouth.
The other disappointment was a miscommunication between the Tour office and my guide. My guide told me that I HAD to do a full day in the reserve as I would have had to pay for an additional entry fee, if we wanted to enter again. So I agreed, even though I would have preferred a morning and afternoon drive. Full day drives are tiring and less enjoyable. (At this point I had forgotten that my itinerary specified that I had a morning and afternoon game drive.)
At the end of that day, as we were confirming plans for the next day, my guide told me that we wouldn't be able to enter the park again on my last morning as we didn't have an entry. This time I remembered that my itinerary specified that I had a game drive that day, (and lunch in the park). I had to contact Perminus to get this cleared up and was able to have that final game drive. I wish I had done this the previous day.
Make sure that you get what is written in your itinerary!
I had my hot air balloon ride moved to another day, as the day it was scheduled was already booked. This was mildly frustrating, as I had booked this months in advance, but Tour Office only booked it a few days before. The one positive of this, was that I was able to see 5 cheetah the morning I would have been on the hot air balloon ride.
Going on a safari is a wonderful thing to do. Both Amboseli and Tsavo East are very different. The accommodation at Tsavo East, probably means I rate it more highly.
Unfortunately the accommodation downgrade, lack of follow up and miscommunications between the office and my guide, means that I would not book with Africa Marvel Tours again.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
George is fabulous! You’re in great hands with him!
George is fun! He knows everything there is to know about the animals, the flora & fauna, the people and hoe to make things happen! Knowing where the big 5 hang out is essential! ! He’s organized, knowledgeable but his personality improves every moment of every day! I’ve been on many tours, in many countries but George Killas is the best! You will love it!
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Got quick replies. Could texted by WhatsApp. Guide was friendly. Office wasn‘t eas to find.
Paied USD 720.00 for 6 days (landcruiser) with the budget version. Visited Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli. Very long distances between. Also very bumpy roads. Guide (Jimmy) was friendly and helpful. But didn‘t introduce himself. Als didn‘t tell us about nice facts (countries, nationalparks,). Didn‘t ask about our wishes (animals) which we want to see. Because it was a budget trip we got simple lunch boxes. Accommodations were better than expected (AA lodget, hotel in lake nakuru and Maasai mara). It was sad that we didn‘t start in Amboseli very early with the game drive. We started at 8:30 (too late for seeing wild cats). Was sad that we didn‘t stay a long time at the place where the lions were. Saw 4 of 5 big fives. The driver/guide could be more interessted in us (aks questions of us). On the last day we finished 30 minutes earlier compared to another groupe. Afterwards we waited 30 minutes at the AA lodge in Amboseli there. I was happy that we could catch the train in Mombasa (3pm).
AR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Polite, Nice, good company
Overall the safari was good, except for the accommodation. They had told us we would be staying at enchoro camp in massai Mara, and they took us to another camp, that was of remarkable lower quality!! We were really uncomfortable there. The bathroom was all dirty, the floor of the tent too. And we had no hot water. Really disappointing and made us really mad they changed the camp without telling us. We even asked about it, and they answer it was the same, which was clearly not.
SG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good overall but 2 bad experiences! Do your research before booking
We booked a 4D3N midrange safari to Maasai Mara and lake Nakuru with hyrax. We had a great time with Hyrax Safaris and both my parents were extremely satisfied. We saw the Big 5 and our guide Solomon went the extra mile to show us the animals. He did all he could to show us a leopard and we ended up being the first ones to see it. He was also very knowledgeable on all the animals and shared interesting facts about each animal. He was also quick to rectify any problems that came up along the way. On the first day we had a flat tyre and Solomon took care of it quickly with the help of his other Safari guide friends. He also placed my bag in the wrong camp but quickly realised and had it brought back to me without 15 minutes. With the above being said, we had 2 BAD EXPERIENCE which you should read before booking Hyrax
Roselyn agreed to provide us Jambo Mara lodge and Saravo woodlands in her original quote. After we made the down payment, she told us that saravo woodlands is no longer available and instead proposed another accommodation. However, the other accommodation is much cheaper and there was no mention of discounting the price difference until I brought it up. She also did not apologise for her lack of oversight in accepting down payment before checking availability of hotel. After I brought up the price discount, she quoted us a discount which definitely did not seem enough. True enough, when I checked the hotel price online, the discount was supposed to be greater. When I brought this up to Roselyn, she did some calculations to show us that she was right. However, in her calculations she calculated the hotel price per person instead of per room, so the total cost was higher than what it should be. I pointed this out to her but she didn’t agree. In the end, I made it a point to call the hotel and recorded our call with them showing that we were right. Afterwards Roselyn told us that the hotel told them the higher price at first and that she will check with them and in the end she gave us the correct discounted price. While I do appreciate that she finally gave us the right price, it should not have been after such measures from our part. Also, it’s extremely hard to believe that a tour company which has been booking hotels for their business does not know that hotel prices are usually quoted per room and not per person. I do suspect that it was an attempt by Hyrax to take a larger profit but I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Secondly, before our safari Roselyn provided us with an itinerary. However, during our Safari, our guide changed the itinerary without asking us first. To be specific the change was as follows. We were originally supposed to have a pre-breakfast game drive on Day 3. However our guide changed it to Day 2 and on Day 3 we did not have the pre-breakfast game drive. Yes, in the end we got the same amount of game drive. However, I want to point out that entrance fee to Maasai Mara is on a 80 USD/24 hour basis if you are staying outside the reserve. By doing this shift, Hyrax is able to pay only 80 USD for entrance instead of 160 USD. However, they were not transparent with this information. I believe this is done so that when unsuspecting customers such as ourselves ask for the safari price breakdown, they can quote the entrance fee as being 160 USD but get away by only paying 80USD and hence have an extra 80 USD profit. We would have been okay with this had they been transparent. It is not professional to change an itinerary after we paid for it.
The above experiences might not be unique to Hyrax and might occur with any tour companies possibly. So for anyone reading this review, please do your research beforehand and do not let them get away with your money! If the review is confusing but you want to understand more, feel free to contact me.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari was great! However, we had some problems on the 3rd day and missed two planned game drives.
We booked a four-day safari in Masai Mara and Nakuru. The 3 out of 4 days went as planned. On the third day, however, we had problems. We planned a morning game drive in the Masai Mara, but our driver refused to take us there and instead took us to visit a Masai village (which we did not request and which we did not like, being an extremely touristy and rather sad activity ... and with a surcharge of $10 per person!). Also on that day a "game drive en route" was planned, which we did not have. So basically the day was wasted, with one hour at Masai Village and the rest of the day driving back to Nakuru. We were quite disappointed. The good thing is that we managed to contact Ann, who was very helpful and gave us back 3000 Ksh each (which was the equivalent to one entrance fee to the park in Masai Mara). Still, we missed something we had booked. So be careful, try to defend your rights with the driver, and in case contact the agency while you still have time! (from what we have heard is a very common thing that has happened to many).
Apart from this, we can overall say that it was an amazing experience and we really enjoyed it! The parks are beautiful, we saw so many animals. The lodge in the Masai Mara was also really nice, and we liked so much to be in nature for a couple of days. The people working there were also really friendly (also the food was great!). Ann was always helpful and stayed in contact with us before and during the safari, which was really much appreciated.