US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Knowledge + Service = WOW!
Rex and the great folks from Kalahari Tours coordinated tours of Chobe National Park & River for 4 days for our group of 12. Every single person was very experienced and knowledgeable. Most had been with the company for years, were very personable, and knew all the best secrets and tips to locating the animals. They were easy to understand, funny, and great smiles. They seemed to truly love guiding us.
Every jeep was stocked with all sorts of cold beverages to keep us hydrated and happy. After a morning expedition on our day tour of the park, we dined on a delicious spread of foods and beverages in a picnic area. The tables were covered with colorful African material, and the buffet food line was mouth watering. Martha Stewart would have been envious!
Our experience was delightful from start to finish. Trust Kalahari - they know how to do it right!
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Unprofessional and unreliable
I don't know if the 2000+ positive reviews for Karibu we saw on safaribookings.com were fake or were they just related to mt Kenya climbing. I wouldn't recommend our 7 day safari experience to anyone.
When I was booking the safari, I was a bit hesitant since their package is cheaper than most other operators and therefore I was expecting barebone properties and campsites. Surprisingly, the accommodations were mostly decent and the cost cutting was done at the expense of the safari experience which was really unfortunate.
Robert was quite good with communications before the safari started, afterwards he stopped responding to messages or calls. So no matter what the issue is, if the safari is not happening as per the itinerary, or if the hotel is different than what was specified as part of the quotation, or there's some other issue, don't expect Robert to be available. Instead you are stuck with Edward, the guide + driver who was a moody individual with moments of courteousness sandwiched between rude and abrasive behaviour.
The itinerary promised 1 full day safari and 2 half day safaris at Masai Mara. On the first day of the trip, we reached Masai mara campsite and faced 2 separate issues - first that the evening safari is not going to happen and that the campsite was different (+inferior) than what was promised (I had confirmed the names of the properties that very morning at their office in Nairobi and still they preferred to not disclose the truth). We let go of the campsite issue and focused on the promised evening game drive. Robert obviously did not answer my calls and Edward in a passive aggressive manner threatened to organize a half-assed safari the next day if I continued to find discrepancies in the written itinerary and what was happening in reality. When I pressed further he called Robert, who answered his call(!) and said that the itinerary that I booked does not exist anymore (they took the webpage down from Safari Bookings that very instant)....luckily I had taken screenshots of the itinerary to share with my mates so they had to oblige. But not really in a way that counts. We did do one full day game drive as promised + 1 evening drive near the entry gate that was around 30 minutes + on the 3rd morning of the trip, we drove in from one gate and exited from another gate, a 40 minute ride that doesn't really count as a half day game drive. During the game drives, Edward mostly drove around quietly, sharing very little insight into the national parks or wildlife. If you pointed towards any animal and asked he would accurately name it. Compared to other game drive experiences that I've had, Edward was more like a driver than a safari guide. To be fair though, Karibu arranged a very comfortable 4x4 Land cruiser for us and Edward was a highly skilled driver (the 5 of us slept through bad roads and highways alike).
On the third morning of the trip, we reached the vehicle before our driver and since he was still having breakfast, I started loading everybody's rucksacks in the back of the vehicle. I was half way done when Edward showed up. He looked at me for a minute as a I stood there waiting for him to take over. Instead he told me to hurry and finish the job. I dont mind putting my bags in the car and dont really expect anyone to do it for me but I didn't see any reason why I should load rucksacks of the other group members. I dont see the point in treating your clients like that either, maybe he just got a kick out of it.
The quotation included drinking water but in reality that meant only 5.5 litres per person through 7 days so keep that in mind when choosing your operator.
Regardless of whether you go with Karibu or someone else, if you're keen on making the most out of your itinerary, I would recommend the following -
1. Start with Amboseli or Nakuru instead of Masai Mara
2. Skip Hells Gate if you are short on time. If you're going there for the lava wall, that section is inaccessible to tourists now.
3. Skip Naivasha unless you are into birdwatching. And if you are, spend some time near the lake and find a legit boat tour. The current version of the boat ride is a tourist trap where you'll see 1-2 hippos in the water (that was pretty cool) otherwise it'll be an hour long uneventful boat ride with 3-4 bird sightings that are anyway commonly seen in other parks. Not really worth $30 (additional 30$ to step foot on the island)
4. One full day safari in Amboseli is probably going to be enough. Half day in Nakuru is sufficient. Try to spend some extra time and money for Masai Mara. On day one, let the guide hurriedly take you across the park to tick off all the major sightings. On day 2, you go with a plan to focus on only the things that you missed out on day 1. Finish the itinerary with 2 days in Masai Mara so that you end on a high note.
Property Review -
1. Mara Enkajiang - Clean tents but dirty toilets. Bad food. This was given to us instead of Enchoro Wildlife Camp (highly reviewed). If any tent turned on their bathing shower the whole row of tents would lose electricity till a staff member repaired the fuse. This happened 5+ times in one night.
2. Lanet Matfam - Resort property with a nice swimming pool. Best food but very small and weirdly constructed rooms.
3. Leisure Apex - Overall best - new property, clean rooms, good food, no nonsense motel.
4. Nyati Safari Camp - Clean and spacious tents, well maintained, good food. This was given to us instead of Manjaro Campsite but we were happy either way.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Reactive
The Gorilla trekking is something amazing, once in a lifetime. The agency help me to adapt the tour to me needs and to buy permits outside working hours.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Simply extraordinary!
Dear Viatu-Team, yesterday we came back home from our beautiful trip to South Africa, and our hearts are full! We had an amazing trip discovering wonderful places, we‘ve met very friendly and welcoming people and we‘ve stayed in awesome hotels & lodges. We were lucky to see the „Big 5“ in less than 2 hrs of Game Drive and our rangers taught us to use our bush eyes (and also all the other senses). We discovered the beauty of watching out for animals and now we love observing whales. We felt very grateful because everybody tried to spoil us in million different ways. Everything went perfectly, also our transfers. We appresciated a lot the route of our trip because it showed us the variety of South Africa. Our trip was magic thanks to -your perfect organization -your right advices -your good taste -your empathy for us, trying to understand what was the right tour and which were the right places for us to stay. Especially we would like to credit two fantastic places we have stayed in: 1. The Mthembu Lodge, the combination of the beauty of the lodge and it’s amazing surrounding, their excellent service and their warm smiles made us feel home. Their passion for nature taught us a new sense of life. 2. The Pineapple Boutique Hotel, is truely ithe expression of “welcome” – sense of beauty, friendship, hospitality and warmth and we appresciated the position of the Sea Point neighborhood under the Lion‘s Head and very close to Camps Bay. Their breakfast is unforgettable. We are not sad that it is over, we are happy because it happened! Thank you Viatu team, great work!!!!
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The best trip in Tanzania
Crossing southern Tanzania, from Mikumi National Park to Ruaha National Park passing between small villages and City in the mountains, we discovered Tanzania less touristy Tanzania, which I wanted to see with my children. A perfectly organized trip, personalized according to our needs and desires.
We were always accompanied by a local guide who spoke perfect Italian, not easy in Tanzania, who with sympathy and professionalism introduced us to the history, culture and nature of this wonderful country. Both safaris were really exciting, with their Diversity, we came into contact with the animals up close and we admired them from afar. Each lodge had its own peculiarity, all beautiful, perfectly clean, integrated into the environment and with attention to detail. How wonderful to wake up at dawn to the sounds of birds and admire the colors of the sky!
Thank you Alessandra Gnesutta, thanks to you! We will remember this trip forever!
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Authentic Safari Experience
I felt safe throughout my safari experience under the management of Discover Africa Safaris and I was also able to experience the wildlife in the bush up close. I paid slightly more for comfort in a premium safari but there are also cheaper alternate options.
SI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent, amazing!
We booked a trip to lake Nakuru, Masai mara, lake Naivasha and Amboseli. It was organized really well and we saw everything we wanted. Excellent organization, amazing game drives and the best safari in Kenya!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing trip with Reny safaris!
Our trip was fantastic with Reny safaris, Japheth orgainsied everything extremly well for us, met us at the airport where we went strainght down to Amboseli, we had 2 days at amboseli where we saw everything there was to see from the moment we left the lodge for our afternoon drive. Baboons, huge herds of elephants, a cheetah, prides of lions, giraffes, hippos, flamingos, buffalo, zebra, wilderbeast as well as much more. Martin our driver was a really nice guy, very knowledgable about the park and all the animals, he went out of his way to make sure we saw everything available.
Tsavo east was our next stop where we stopped at a spring along the way and saw crocodiles and hippos up close in the river before getting to Ngulia lodge where we had lunch with a herd of elephants using the watering hole next to the lodge and had a visit from 3 leopards just before dinner, which was amazing.
We tried to find rhino's at the local sanctuary but they were all out for the day unfortunately. :-(
We went to Tsavo west the next day but on route we stopped at a buffalo kill that we had seen the day before where a male lion came along and resued his kill from vultures and african wild dogs. Along the way we saw multiple herds of elephants and groups of giraffes. On our evening drive, Martin found out about another kill where we saw a pride of lions feeding on it, one of the lionesses also had a cub, it was amazing! on our way back we saw another herd of elephants bathing in a big watering hole as well as more giraffes and other animals along the way. back at the Voi lodge there were elephants, buffalo and hyenas using the wateringhole near the lodge.
We then headed to Diani beach for a few days at the pool/beach which was an nice and relaxing few days after all the excitement of the safaris.
Japheth was in contact with us regularly along the way to make sure we had everything we needed.
Our group was 2 adults and 2 kids (11 +13) everyone had an amazing time, the kids loved every minute of the trip as did the adults.
We did 4 days safari, 5 days beach, I would thoroughly recommend reny safaris, Japheth and Martin did everything they could for us at a very reasonable price.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The tour operator was self-driven and enable us to bond with the animals
The service was reachable and greatly presented and reliable too.The tour was a lifetime experience
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, with a dream team
The success of our project to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro would not have been possible without the professionalism of the "Sheengai Pride Safari" team. The team of 23 people was exceptional in their kindness, availability and constant benevolence. Nicolas, our French guide was exceptionally kind and dedicated. Julias was perfect in the administrative management, and Johnrick took us to the summit of Killamonjaro with his smile, humor and great complicity. I do not forget the team who cooked and served excellent dishes for six days whatever the attitude and conditions! I also take my hat off to the porters for the work they did carrying the equipment and our bags every day! An exceptional team, thank you again to everyone for this stay in Tanzania. And for helping us reach the summit of Kilimanjaro.
