20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Spectacular
I had the best experience travelling with Kensai.Communication was great and this made my trip smooth. It was totally worth every coin I paid ,as my expectations were met.
Can’t wait to book another tour with Kensai.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Experienced and Friendly Tour Operator.
Gasper and his driver Robert were excellent in catering for our 3 nights safari to Tarangire and we had an absolute blast. Our family had 2 young kids and they were extremely friendly and patient with them, even taking time to explain things to them separately from the way it was explained to us. A great team and company. Highly recommend to anyone. Asante!
MO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Adventure awaits
As a solo traveller, first time in the Africa -Africa
I am a little cautious when I arranged my travel.
But my concerns was swept away after I was in touch with Sheila, the sweet lady from kensai.
She went with me the whole time on the trip, taking care of me like a babysitter. So my trip was an enjoyable one. As I didn’t know what to expect the first time, so I just left the logistics to the hand of an experienced operator and take the back seat and enjoy the adventure. Sheila now well noted my point of interest, my travel style and can’t wait for my next encounter with the adorable giants of Africa.
IE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The holiday we will never ever forget 🥳
Once in a lifetime experience that we thoroughly enjoyed and can't say enough about! Morgan, our guide, was absolutely amazing going to all efforts in make this an unforgettable experience. Maruzuku answered all our questions and showed extreme respect for the land and animals. Thank you Zamunda tours for providing a great experience and such a perfect guide ♥️
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fun and knowledgeable tour operator.
We did the half-day Nairobi Animal Preserve Park Tour and it was exceptional! The tour operator was GREAT and we saw lots of wildlife. No improvements to suggest!
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good at first but turning bad at the end
We have our tour at the end of July 2024. We have been in contact with Silas all this while for the arrangement. His response is very fast and even like midnight hour for him, he still can give you a response. At first before we settle and confirm the tour package, he always able to give fast response and show his enthusiasm. We have made good discussion, to settle down with our itinerary based on our flight schedule.
At one point in time, our flight got canceled, Silas also tried to accommodate our requirement, where he awaited us to give him confirmation of our next booking of flight. He also quickly responded and re-arranged our booked accommodation as well after our flight was confirmed. Although our request and questions were too lengthy and troublesome, he was still able to make time to explain. But somehow, when nearer to the date, his responses were getting shorter.
On the day Silas and the driver Ken were already there on time to pick us up from the airport. They also took us to get a sim card and buy packs of water for us on the trip. Ken was our driver and guide for all the game drive. We went to Nakuru then go to Maasai Mara, and last go to Naivasha. Overall, during the drive, from one place to another, and also during the game drive, Ken been on his phone always, only on and off will put it down. Even during the game drive, he was on the phone, and we thought that this might be his way to get information on the game drive. We didn't interfere much on this, as long as he driving safely.
Ken is a good driver, an experienced driver, but not a good guide. The problem is Ken shares only the bare minimum information with us. I am not requesting too much on this, but we felt that we were only briefed on the basic information. Most of the time we needed to prompt him with questions before we can get the answers, if we didn't ask or say anything, most likely we might not have given more information. There is a point where another vehicle broke down, and Ken offered to help fetch them together as we were staying at the same place. During this short trip, Ken was also on and off on his phone, where one of the passengers tried to do a video recording on the animals, he had to tell Ken to quiet down so that he could do his video recording on the animal. At which, we had been tolerating him on this, while we also did video recording, but we didn't so harsh on this point to make him stay silence at all.
When we visited the Maasai Mara village, we were asked to pay for the entrance fee, even though the itinerary plan stated it was included. 2 adults ws 60, and 2 kids were 30, so a total 90, where we only had USD100. At that point in time, we just paid first and without getting any change. It is later after communicating with Silas, and then he returned the 100 back to us. This shows the poor communication between him and the driver Ken.
On the journey, I had to find the topic for our communication with Ken, but every time it just went silence after a while. During the end of the trip, we were told that another freelance driver will pick us up, at which this driver Jidraf was able to talk more and introduced us to more information about Kenya this country, even sharing with us the lifestyle, the language, the towns, all those details that seem to be not important, he was able to share with us and tell us the background of that. This gave us a big comparison and noticed how little we got to know on our first 6 days of the trips. We were basically brought from lodge to lodge, and animals to the next animals only by Ken on our initial 6 days drive.
The problem with Ken also less communication with us, first incident is from Lake Nakuru to Maasai Mara. We were never told that we would be going to a souvenir shop and have lunch there. He just drove there and told us on the spot, he could have told us beforehand, we also understand that visiting a souvenir shop is part of a guided trip like this, but don't give us a surprise since it is all planned out.
2nd incident is about visit a Maasai Mara village, Ken could have briefed us on how it is going to be the routine on visit a village, or introduced some background, but nothing was said. Whether to put it before or after the Maasai Mara game drive, it was also not told until we asked.
3rd incident is when visiting the Hell's gate, where we needed to get a bicycle, we are family with young kids, and the young ones still don't know how to ride a bicycle. As an experienced guide, isn't it your responsibility to pre-alert us on what going to happen in Hell's Gate, and what is the plan for that. As a guide, you could have told us how much the price would be and told us to arrange for a bicycle with a children's seat, or a kid's bike with 4 wheels etc. But none was told, only until we reached the bicycle rental some distance before the entrance to Hell's gate, which is USD30 per bicycle. But what we have googled on the website the rental of bicycle only needs less than USD10. If we had not been careful and done our research before, we would have been scammed by the locals there. When we asked why the price hike, then we were told that it was peak season. But, when we reach the entrance of the Hell's gate, and we confront to Silas, only get to know, it is actually can get less than USD10, then we only offered to get the bike at this rate. At that point of time, we really don't know who to trust, neither Ken nor Silas. For those that are going to Hell's gate, please take note there is a guidance fee as well, if you don't pay for that, you don't have a guide inside, and you going to roam by yourself in which you might not know where to go, nobody gives you direction, and nobody brief to you the background of that.
4th incident was after Hell's gate, we were told Ken could no longer fetch us to airport on the next day, also our last day plan was to go to elephant orphanage and giraffe center. (Ken told us his car was faulty and needed immediate repair, but no one knew the truth). They arranged a freelance driver, who knew nothing about our next-day itinerary. The driver was only responsible for fetching us from Naivasha to the airport. Again, all of these was not well arranged and we were not told in advance. I thought the driver going to pick up the rest of the day up until drop us at airport, but after picked up then only knew he only responsible to bring us go to Nairobi and change another driver and vehicle. The elephant orphanage was supposed to be pre-booked one week in advance, and lucky enough my wife mentioned this, only they amended their mistake and booked it like 3 days before. Else I think it will be screwed up and end up we only left with giraffe center to go for.
5th incident is about the departure time from Naivasha to Elephant orphanage, we are foreigners and know nothing about operating hours. We thought visiting can be any time. But in fact, it is only 11am to 12pm. A day before, Ken suggested picking us up at 8am, but we told Ken to pick us up at 9.30am, since we did not have much plan for the rest on the last day. Ken did not tell us about the operating timing when I suggested 9.30am, but after that only he message and told me it will be close at 11am that's why needed to depart at 8am (also this information provided by him is wrong). Then he was like it's not his responsibility anymore, because he was not going to pick us tomorrow. Only then my wife double confirmed the time with Silas, only mentioned we must depart at 8am. Still the driver due to traffic came at 8.35am.
Luckily enough we managed to reach in time for the elephant orphanage. We do understand some hiccups on the itinerary happen, not everything goes to plan well, we only hoped it could be well communicated with us in advance about all the arrangements made. As a tour and guide expert, you should provide sufficient information about those entrance fees, travel duration needed, etc. I surely can google myself for all this information and do my own arrangements, but I trusted you to bring me the best experience. I do have a few persons who enquired me about this trip, but now I hesitate to give them your contact, as I don't know how trustworthy you are after this experience.
Still, I do recognize the effort from Silas, his fast response to requests, only it turned bad at the end of our trip. For Ken, he really a good driver, where he can drive out of the muddy place in a very bad situation, and he helped a few fellows to get out of those terrible situations where their vehicles were stuck. He is helpful whenever someone needs help.
SK
Barack is a very professional guide. Maximum safety and you will enjoy everything
We saw gorillas and enjoy the National Parks. We spend a lot of time with talking about natural wonders and culture. What a great experience !
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Happiness, Fred and team top notch service; airport concierge; game drives; lodges A+++
What an experience, having done game drives in other countries this one arranged with Yield took us to another level. My focus for this July / August was the Wildebeests migration from Serengeti to Maasai Mara and what an experience. Appreciate Happiness and Fred’s coordination in each of our day to day aspect making it memorable.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Safari of a Lifetime
Tropical Wild Expeditions provided a personalised tour tour to Samburu with a highly experienced expert driver, David. He succeeded in finding lions (at a kill), a cheetah (with three cubs) and, best of all, a leopard during the 4 day, 3 night tour. These exceptional sightings were made more memorable by the dramatic hilly scenery and accommodation at Sopa Lodge which was excellent in every way. We felt the tour was very good value for money and our driver was very competent, experienced and polite.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Awesome
I had an awesome experience with Hekima safaris. I went with them in 6 days safaris and it was an incredible experience along with being an extremely value for the cost, All of the employees friendly,professional and organized. It was great way to see Kenya, Would highly recommend