20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Truly a memorable safari.
Firstly I must thank Kenya Walking Survivors and Mr Otieno for helping me and my cousins have the experience of a lifetime. We visited Tanzania and Kenya for two weeks in August and were sincerely amazed by the African wildlife, scenery, and people. We stayed in some of the most amazing lodges and camps and were taken care of well especially by our wonderful guide Fred ( who we called Uncle ) in Kenya.
This was our first ever trip to Africa and our very first safari. We had been researching for tour operators and safari packages for months prior to our trip. We chose Kenya Walking Survivors because of Mr Otieno's quick communication, the ability to customise our itinerary according to all the places we wanted to go, and also according to our strict budget. I was very hesitant wiring a large amount of money to a strange foreign account! Nonetheless, we are still grateful to have experienced so much for the price, but feel that it's important for other prospective travellers to be aware of some aspects of unprofessionalism & problems we encountered. These things whether big or small added up to create an atmosphere of distrust for us. Particularly when everything ran smoothly in Kenya and things went sour as soon as we met the tour leader Mike in Tanzania.
Examples of unprofessionalism:
-Multiple last-minute hotel changes, including changing our tented camp in the Serengeti to a lesser quality one without informing us.
-Mistakes on itinerary dates. Even after reviewing our itinerary before and upon arrival in Nairobi.
-Car problems, wasted many hours which could have been spent on game drives
-Asking for park entrance money from us. This favour was asked as a loan until our driver received the funds. Suffice to say we firmly refused. Unfortunately this resulted in us sitting around for hours at the park gate seeing lots of other people going in.
-Told multiple lies by tour leader Mike in particular regarding our internal flight times, resulting in us having to leave Tarangire Park hastily to drive hours to get to Arusha to catch a so called early flight to Zanzibar. It was only revealed until we had woken up early in Arusha and had checked out of our cosy room, that our flight was at 1 pm! Mike was extremely distrustful as he had changed our accommodations several times without requesting our permission or even informing Mr Otieno.
-Waiting almost two hours to be collected from the Tanzanian Border, resulting in us missing the Giraffe Centre and Elephant Sanctuary in Nairobi before our flight home to London.
I hate having to make this list, because until I began to write this review, I had actually managed to forget all the negative aspects of our trip and only think of the magic moments we had with countless animals up close and seeing breathtaking savannahs, and being looked after by a great driver like Fred in Kenya.
Even with all the drama of our trip, I don't regret choosing Kenya Walking as I'm not sure we could have packed everything into our time and budget with a different tour operator.
I have only the best wishes for Mr Otieno and his company, as he did try his best to rectify the problems that Mike created in Tanzania.
If you decide Kenya Walking Survivors is the best fit for your trip, please be prepared to respectfully advocate for yourself and your itinerary.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience!!
From the moment we arrived we were made to feel so welcome by Kanuth and his team - every member of staff was so friendly. The lodges were exactly what we were looking for, giving the real feel of Africa. The 3 different aspects of the safari were all so different and spectacular in their own way. Would 100% recommend to all friends and family - one for the bucket list!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience!
My wife and I went on our honeymoon with Odyssey to Kenya for a custom tour, and it was one of the most amazing experiences in our lives. Each detail of the trip was carefully planned out and taken care of when we got there! Odyssey accommodated us with each request we had, from the hotels to the parks and type of game we wanted to go see, and everything went flawlessly. Odyssey headquarters were easy to contact and quick to respond when we had questions during our trip, getting back to us within an hour each time.
Erastas, our guide, was one of the nicest people we met in Kenya and an amazing guide. He really took pride in his work, and went above and beyond finding animals that we were interested in, even spending extra time in the drives to seek out animals. I couldn't recommend him more, as the trip wouldn't have been the same without him.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
My 4 days at Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru were pretty awesome, i can't wait for my next R&R next year
I really enjoyed more than my expectations the best bargain ever for my vacation. I will recommend anyone willing to take a vacation to Kenya to go for Crossriver Safaris. One more thing, the driver was a good guide and the most important he knows all the types of animals so you can imagine how it was.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wonderful Package and Excellent Safari
I have been on several Safari's before. But this was the most amazing safari i have ever gone. I was really impressed about the organization of my tour. The staff at the company were excellent and we had a great drivers. The company surpassed my expectation and I highly recommend Tru Nomads.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable experience and very welcoming staff
I have just returned from Tanzania and Zanzibar where i combined safari and relaxing all in the space of 10 days. The most exciting part was by far the safari and only wish i'd booked for longer. Even though it was only 3 days it was still long enough as we had a full itinery and they really do make sure they make the most of the experience. We had the friendliest guide called Davis who made us feel so welcome and has alot of knowledge about the safaris and the best places to find the Big 5. I would recommend this to anyone, you would have an excellent experience and well worth the money!
US
Simply put we had a GREAT experience
Safari Multiways delivered what they promised and beyond. I travelled with my family that included two young children. Romeo contacted us the day before our scheduled arrival to check if everything was still as planned. They were there waiting for us in the airport when we arrived. All the accommodations were excellent. Our tour guide (Amos) was so great in knowing where to look for the animals. He was such a gentleman and so keen to the whole group needs(there was seven of us). We saw a lot of wild animals and got up close with lions. It was a trip to remember.
LB
Great trip!
My boyfriend and I booked with "It started in Africa" after reading their reviews, but also because they were extremely responsive as we asked lots of questions and changed our mind a few times about where we wanted to go and how long we wanted to stay. Each time, they gave us very detailed information and were quite patient. Once in country, the same type of service continued. Everything was very well-organized and planned. The flamencos in Ngorongoro were stunning, and so was the whole experience! I highly recommend this company. They're also a small local company so I'm glad to have booked with them!
BH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review of Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara trip
We had visited lake nakuru and masai mara through Visit Mount Kenya ours and Safaris. We got their contact from our friend who had taken safari through them earlier. I contacted Rufus from the company and he was really helpful in planning our trip and provided his valuable inputs and different options as per our budget. When we reached Kenya he was waiting outside the airport for us ad the car was also heir on the airport. The driver John was also really helpful. He took us to various corners of the parks always with a smile and provided us lots of inputs on wildlife. We were able to spot almost all type of animals including the Big 5. Overall a 5 star for the trip managed by Visit Mount Kenya.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Everything as promised
Rama and his team did a great job - all the way from picking me up from the airport to dropping me back after 10 days.
All the arrangements were as planned and the safaris / accommodation lived up to expectations.
I would recommend Rama without hesitation and am already thinking of using him for my next adventure!