50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The Experience was great, but payment was an issue
The communications from the staff was excellent, the service was good and the trip lived up to our expectations. However, we expected to pay by credit card, but when we got to the lodge, they expected cash. They demanded that we use all our cash to pay for accommodation, so we did not have money left for tips and buying any mementos. The transport and permits were paid in advance, which was not an issue. We were not informed in advance that there won't be credit card facilities available.
TR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Double price for avarage service
The tour was ok, THEY put me with people from other tours and combine all of us. When I Sent to camp and talk with other I learnt I pains double price. So my advise choose your camp and organize with them.
CH
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very lucky with game drive
We booked a 4 days / 3 nights safari (Nakuru and Masai Mara) with Wildebeest Safari. I've been many times in Kenya (at least 10 times) and it was first time with my husband, my 2 girls (10 and 7 years) and I. I would say the safari was very good and we were very lucky with game drive. We saw the Big Five and plenty of other animals. We arrived in Nairobi 26th September. The Airport is Under construction therefore, it is a big mess. We were a bit confused as Ken (the person in charge of the welcome at the arrival) waited outside of the Airport. Many of operator waited Inside... Then the transfer to the Wildebeest Eco Camp for the first night (Nairobi Langata) was ok. But I would never never recommended Wildebeest Eco Camp. It could be a super place but the people working there are terrible. Nobody welcome you. They didn't find the booking etc... we had to walk to our tent (which was at the opposit of the camp) with all our luggage without help and explaination of the camp and facilities. Anyway it was just for the first night. Next day (first day of our safari) we should have meet our guide at 8h00. 8h30 nobody was there. I called Wildebeest and they told me that the guide was stock in trafficjam but he should arrive in the next 5 minutes. 10 minutes later nobody. No help from the reception of the camp Nothing. 15 minutes later the guide arrive at the reception. In fact he was behind the camp as the security guard at the entrance said that he has to wait outside.... well the driver guide finally came Inside at the reception and we left Nairobi 1 hour later. Our driver guide was Joseph. A very good driver... but didn't interact much with us. Didn't explain much. Anyway maybe a bit shy or I don't know. But he took care of us, the vehicle was comfortable and very clean during the safari. First stop in Nakuru at Nakuru Flaming Hill camp. Very nice place, very nice people. We liked this place ver much. Very good game drive also. Next day Nakuru - Masai Mara Serena lodge. What a terrible long day. We passed though the mountain (via Moa) . When we reached Narok after 4 hours we thought it would be ok yet. No way the road to the Mara is awfull. It is not a road. First time I came in Kenya 20 years ago the roads were better. Next time (if I 'll come again) it will be a flying safari. We left at 7 the morning and reach Mara Serena lodge at 4h30 the afternoon. We were tired and my girls were exausted. Wildebeest Safari should advise custumers that roads are so terrible specially when you travel with kids. Anyway this day was a long and uncumfortable day without game drive... just driving driving and driving. Thanks to Joseph who managed this very well. Next day was a full day safari in the Mara. Very good game perfect. The picnic lunch in the middle of the Mara was great. Mara Serena lodge (I've been there at least 5 times) was ok. 20 years ago was same... but staff are not so friendly. The girl at the shop was terrible. Then back to Nairobi with 3 hours drives again on this terrible road. And one more night at the Wildebeest camp. Next morning we should have a transfer at 7h00 to the Airport. Once again our driver (Ken) arrived at 7h30-7h45. He told us again that the security guard told him to stay outside of the camp with car. Ok you stay outside but come at the reception please. Our flight was at 10h00 and we were afraid to miss it. It has been a big stress. To resume the games were perfect (very lucky), the vehicle was also perfect (clean and comfortable), the guide (Joseph) drive his car perfectly but needs to interact a little more more with clients, accomodation very good at Nakuru, good at Masai Mara and poor in Nairobi. We found that Kenya changed a lot. People are not as friendly as they used to be (so disappointed with this point). Roads are poor ... but landscapes still beautiful. My family and I enjoyed the safari but not sure will come again.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Marvelous
They have trained and experienced staff who knows how to treat clients very well.there were no delays on tranfers.safety was quaranteed with the rest of the crew.the chef was so enteractive on menus
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari With some minor hiccups by the Driver
First of all, I would like to thank Sylvester for offering us such a fabulous Safari.
The hotels & the plans were spot on. I am also thankful to his recommendations for the safari itinerary, and saving timing by not doing back-tracking.
Our Hotel selection was fabulous for the package that we opted for. And we felt that everything went as per the plan :)
Minor Hiccups (Driver : Pascal):
1. The driver would take unnecessary stops & waste time at Curio shops, expecting us to buy stuff, despite telling him that we didn't want to.
2. There was no WiFi offered by the driver, despite Sylvester confirming that he has the device.
3. There was only 1 pack of 20 1/2ltr bottles being shared by the two of us & the driver, and that ran out on day3 (of our 7 day safari), we had to spend a lot on buying from the hotels.
4. The driver wanted an evening off (on easter eve') on our stay at Naivasha. We were happy to skip our boat ride & allowed him to go back and spend time with the family.
Despite us being considerate, having him join us for meals all the time, offering him wine & beer after all game drives, he fooled us on the last day by making us skip the safari at Amboseli in the morning. Which we later found out made him save a full day's park fee! We kinda felt cheated.
This was discussed with Sylvester on our meeting before the flight, and he agreed to investigate.
Sylvester also mentioned that he will take action against the driver & offered us refunds for unused safari/park fees/resources - if the driver is found guilty - as they have GPS trackers and can confirm his holiday & skipping the game-drive. The investigation led to our facts being True.
But it's been 4 months+, Sylvester hasn't carried out any refunds as promised, even after regular follow-ups.
Overall -
I feel its a Great experience being in Kenya which in itself is a 5-star experience. I would have given a 5-star rating if the post-safari experience was Prompt & Professional as well.
These minor hiccups surely are something which can be avoided by paying attention to details and making sure the Drivers & Managers don't want to make these minor cost-cutting stunts.
I wanted more
I would have preferred my tour personalized. I paid, got picked up by a hired taxi, got dropped off then got picked up again. All without seeing anyone from your office and I wasn't informed of all these
For that, I expected more value for the amount paid which was higher than should have been
AT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Guide + Lodges excellent, vehicle catastrophic
The Safari tour was very well organized, the company delivered everything that was promised. Innocent our driver and guide was excellent. Accommodation was very good, especially Tortilis Camp. The heavy set back was that vehicle - quite old, holes in the bottom pannel, leaking wheaterstripping - even if all windows were closed the dust came into the car, our suitcases were dusty inside - on top of that one gearbox damage and 2 tire blow-outs.
Conclusion: Have a closer look first before climbing the vehicle.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great safari with very good Gide/driver and amazing cook.
We just had an amazing safari in selous-mikumi-ruaha (7days). The driver (William) drove really safe and had al lot of knowledge about the animals and provides answers to every question. He's really experienced, knows the parks and the surrounding areas. Even when the car broke down he made sure it was fixed as quick and possible and that the safari wasn't compromised. The cook (Amos) was really friendly and happy all the time. He made delicious food (even for us vegetarians). We loved his veggie pies and he even made bush pizza! He made a lot of delicious food (often more than we could eat) and enjoyed taking care of us.
All the places we stayed where good especially the one in Ruaha which was inside the park! Because it's a rather new company we didn't really know what to expect. Just make sure to check beforehand if you sleep in or outside the park!! There where some small misunderstandings in our case but the company is open for feedback and we are happy with the way they solved the issue.
The only thing we didn't like was the walking safari. You won't see any animals and it outside the park. We also didn't like the way the bushman acted out all the things the local people did in the past. Some of the information was interesting but he was pretty loud and he was pretty focused on elephant dung (drinking from it, smoking it etc).
Concluding: great safari with very good Gide/driver and amazing cook.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful Safari-Best driver-be careful with pricing
We were supposed to be a group of 4 Italian friends; we ended up being only 3 as one of us could not travel at last minute because he got sick. We had a 10 days tour touching Tarangire, Manyara, Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Lake Natron. We were extremely happy about the places, animals and tribes we have visited. All very authentic except for the Masai tribe in Ngorngoro that was quite touristic (paid 20 dollars each for 15 minutes very touristic tour); they were asking for money every now and then. Lake Eyasi and Lake Natron are out of the touristic places and so worth visiting. Other tour operators refused to offer Lake Natron as the road to get there was adventurous, and it was indeed. The best part of our trip was Chediel, our fantastic driver! He has never been tired of showing us things, telling us stories about animals (African tales and scientific things as well); he was able to spot the farthest ceetah and taking us close enough to count all the spots on the fur! He was joyful and nice all the time. He also very quickly solved the only problem we got while driving. The jeep sank into the sands and he worked hard to take it out. If you ever choose this tour operator please ask to have Chediel as your guide!!
Unfortunately we could not say exactly the same about Joseph, the tour operator leader, as he was paying more attention on money than on services. He did not provide us with a detailed program and he did not provide us with useful information for what is surely a difficult trip. For example, he did not send us general information on what to wear, what to bring, how a day/meal/dinner was supposed to be (I had contacted 25 tour operators for a quotation and most of them sent these on quotation without even waiting for us to book the tour). For example we were not told to wear a bathing suit when visiting the waterfalls in Natron; we were said we would have had wifi in every lodges while this was not the case for two out of seven lodges (and in other two the wifi was not really working although apparently available). At the end of our trip he helped us to arrange our connection from Dar es Salaam Airport to the ferry harbor (tricky! please allow you lots of time in advance as the traffic is horrible). We thanked him for this, but listen to my consideration: he charged us 50 dollars for the ride (which was absolutely fine) plus 7 dollars each on top of the price for the ferry ticket (that we had booked in advance) because apparently he had to change shelling in dollars to buy the tickets and the commission was to be payed by us (which I absolutely agree), BUT I disagree on EACH of us. Do you really think he paid three commissions and not one? do you ever change money in three different rounds for three friends or would you change money all together to avoid three commissions? Also, as said, one of us could not travel last minute. He gave us back less than 1/10 of the money paid by him saying it was just because of my kindness otherwise he would have not given the money back because apparently he had already used that amount to book the places and even payed the ticket to the parks (which were not). I understand this was last minute and high season, but let's try to be reasonable and honest. I do not believe he could not save money from all the amount my friend had paid and I explain you why: we had paid in advance only 1/3 of the whole trip, but we had not signed any type of contract. What if the all of us had not shown up at all? would he have risked to loose all of those money?? i don't believe so. And by the way when asked to provide a receipt he only issued one for the money we paid there and not for the ones we had send by bank transfer... One last thing... (and ok maybe this was a genuine mistake but when you have more things to complain about it's better to say)...he took me to the counter to change money I needed to give him... he gave me back 8 dollars less than due...
Having said all of this, I am not "Not suggesting" to book with Tomodachi, I am only suggesting to make sure your driver is Chediel and you make clear everything with Joseph before agreeing.
CA
Very good driver/guide, but we were badly misled about the accommodations.
Booked 3 day Masai Mara months in advance with Noah. Promised accommodation at Lenchada Camp (which is great, by the way). On the way there, our driver/guide, Alex , was searching all over for another camp (Eco Destination or something) that not even the locals had heard of. Apparently, without telling us, Noah had changed the booking to that place. When we finally found it (after an hour and a half of searching), we discovered that it had really limited facilities and was not very clean. When we finally got Noah on the phone, he told us he had made the change because the Lenchada Camp was full. As I say, we had booked months in advance and, as it turned out, the Lenchada Camp was not full at all. By the time we got to Lenchada though, we were too late for the afternoon game drive that was part of our safari package. Happy ending: a great time in the Masai Mara with Alex who took us out for almost 12 hours the next day to make up for the screw-up the previous day. Saw lots and lots of animals.