IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Basic tour
The basic tour option is really basic. The worst part was the accommodation. The basic tent camp in Masai Mara (Lenchada camp) is barely acceptable, with 4 hour of electricity per day and low hygiene rooms. The food was ok. The other 2 hotels (hill court hotel and chambai) were ok, but the food at chambai was pretty bad. The parks are really beautiful, with the Masai Mara on top. Our driver, Charles K. was the best, he really loves his job and thanks to him we got to see the big 5 and so much more! I suggest this driver if you want to have the best safari experience.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Highly disappointed in our guide!
My partner and I hired Apodiformes Adventures as our guide group for our 5 day Safari in Kenya during the end of July through beginning of August, 2024. Overall our experience with the company was ok, but there were a number of things that came up during our trip that were less than ideal. I have never written a critical review before but felt obliged to do so after reading the review from a group that hired Apodiformes a week or two prior to us, which mirrored our trip to a near uncanny level. As a point of reference, this is my tenth trip to Africa, second trip to Kenya, and I’ve spent a cumulative 8+ months working around the continent. The challenges of running a tour business are not lost on me, but there are certain items that could be easily remedied, and tour guides should be held to standard.
First, we had outstanding communication with the company during the planning process of the trip and were very pleased with the level of attention to detail provided by Fred who handled our booking. We received notice of the name of our guide the day prior to arrival and arranged a pickup at 7:30 am. Our guide assigned was Ken who picked us up and took us to the parking lot of a nearby shopping center 15 minutes from our hotel to meet up with the representative from Apodiformes and pay the second half of our fees in cash. This is something that could easily have been handled in the hotel lobby from the standpoint of making things feel more “professional” but not a big deal. We then started traveling to our destination of the Masai Mara where we were anticipating a half day game drive to start the trip. When we were first picked up from the hotel I noticed that the back tire of the vehicle was very low, but not fully flat. An hour into the drive, we pulled over into a side street and a guy began to change the tire. During this time, Ken never mentioned that we needed to get the tire fixed or even that we would be stopping. While this only took about 45 min to an hour, this cut into the time of our game drive and is something that easily could have been remedied the day prior to pickup since it was clearly noticed, or at least we could have been notified of when we first started the day and we would have been very understanding. These vehicles take a beating and things often break, it is understandable.
On the way to the Mara and throughout the vast majority of our trip, Ken was continuously on his phone with various calls and texts to the level that if I were to ask a question after he got off the phone, his phone would ring again before I could even get the question out. I’ll not belabor the point, but Ken would answer questions when directly asked (at times with a one word answer) but would very rarely offer information, guidance or discuss plans unless we brought it up first. This was the theme throughout the course of the trip.
Eventually we made it to the Mara and had a great evening drive. To his credit, Ken is an incredible driver. He was always able to get us right in the action, was able to communicate well with the other drivers, and could find us a variety of wildlife. I really appreciate his efforts in making all that happen and led to us overall having a positive experience on the various game drives.
Our first night stay we were told that the lodge we were to be staying at overbooked and that we would be moved to a new lodge – not a big deal however this was not communicated until we were almost at the replacement lodge. Overall the accommodations were good and seemed to be of similar quality to the intended location, but just raised an eyebrow. Either way, the accommodations that night were ok.
The next few days followed this general course with limited communication from Ken minus a few good conversations we were able to engage him in with some prodding. We were never really asked about our preferences, what we wanted to do/see, but when we directly asked he was accommodating and was generally good natured.
On our 4th of 5 days when we arrived at our last lodge we were told that we could have lunch and then go on the intended boat ride. Of note, the boat tour included a 45 minute walking tour through a preserve off-trail which neither Ken nor the staff let us know about. Thank goodness we wore boots rather than the sandals we were considering wearing because it was a “boat tour”. When we met up with Ken for the boat ride he told us something about a “terrible problem” that had happened to the vehicle and that it would need to be in the shop, meaning he could no longer drive us. He arranged a driver the following day to “take us back to Nairobi in the morning,” not mentioning the fact that we were planning to go to Hells Gate for a tour before returning. Because we had assumed we were getting back in the vehicle after lunch we had not fully cleaned/removed our goods from the safari vehicle, I thought that I had left my hat and asked him about it. He said he would give it the the driver for the next day and though I found the hat in my bag the following day, he never messaged or communicated that he did not find it in the vehicle. Given that the previous group on the review boards experienced the same “sudden vehicle trouble”, this is either a habit of Ken or Apodiformes in order to free the vehicle up a day early.
The driver who picked us up the following day was AWESOME. Great guy, very personable, super helpful. Went out of his way to help us have a good experience and even drove us around Nairobi looking for fabrics. A+ overall. Of note: His vehicle was a standard hatchback van and not a safari vehicle, so if we had planned on a driving safari through Hells Gate the following day rather than opting for a bicycle tour, this would have significantly diminished the experience. Finally, we had been told on the first day that the rep from the company would meet with us back at the hotel when we returned to Nairobi to close the loop, but never heard from them again after the first day. I was hoping to provide this feedback to them in person but did not get the opportunity.
My purpose of posting this review is to note that overall, we had a good time because my partner and I enjoyed each other’s company in the beautiful natural wonders that Kenya has to offer, and all of the lodges and parks we visited had outstanding staff that were exceedingly warm and welcoming. It seems that Apodiformis Adventures has a few quality improvement points to work on with their team. While I much prefer to provide feedback directly to companies rather than posting on a public forum, the similarities to the previously posted experience tell me that this is something systemic that needs to be addressed.
CN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The guide is perfect，but the operater is changing the accomondation without letting us know.
The guide is perfect，but the operater is changing the accomondation without letting us know.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Didn't get what we payed for
Travelling with a friend we booked a 5N/4D safari, with the last day being a private day to Lake Natron. The guides was really good and knowledgable and we saw all the animals we hoped for and more!
So for the Lake Natron visit we spesifically booked a visit to a Masai Boma. Firstly, Lake Natron was a dissaponitment in itself and was nothing like the pictures (pink lake) and looked just like any other water. We saw a lot more flamingos in the other days on safari than here, where there was suppose to be so many. I know that you can't guarantee for wild life but it just felt like this was not a good time of year to go or maybe it was not the right spot? And finally we did not go the Masai Boma as the guide was not informed about this. We told him in the morning, but he later told us that he din't understand as he was not informed about this. We have complained to the office afterwards and they just blame the guide for this and have not responded to my follow up questions and comments. My brand new suitcase (USD0165 )was also broken during the safari and caused a lot of hassle for me for the rest of my trip. This is also ignored.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
5-night, 6-day safari to the Masai Mara and Amboseli
We booked a private safari for 8 people for 5 nights and 6 days. Starting from Masai Mara, to Lake Nakuru and Amboseli.
My rating (3/5) is due to the difficulty of communication via whatsapp before our arrival, I often had to write several times in order to receive a reply. Also in the program sent to us, for the two nights in the Amboseli there was a different facility than the one where we stayed, upon our arrival at the Amboseli they had overbooked and then moved us to a dirty "fallback" facility without a proper bathroom, the second night in the main facility was no better as they saw cockroaches in some rooms.
However, I would like to point out that our guide Denys was faultless in everything, friendly, helpful and we managed to see all the animals we had in mind.
Thanks to him we were able to have an experience that we will hardly forget.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing but disappointed with accommodation
6 days safari Masa Mara , Nakuru. And Ambosii
David was an amazing guide he was punctual, knowledgeable and patient . We saw all the big five . He stopped her let us take many photos . Amboseli was my favourite park saw many elephants.
I was able to stay with the same guide which was great however not everyone got the same experience. I was very disappointed with the accommodations because they advertise and claim you will be staying in particular camp sites but that is not the case . It’s pretty much luck of the draw. I stayed in Rino camp which is not mid range more like low range and I paid for mid range I was suppose to stay at enkok camp but 2 people form our group stayed there and the rest stayed Rhino camp. When I realized what was written on the receipt the accommodations I was suppose to be staying at I was fuming . Also last camp I was upgraded them the last night night the manager down graded and the mattress had a huge Dent in the middle i woke up with back pain . I addressed my concerns with the guide and mini and no one said anything. !!!
Make sure you are staying at the correct accommodations because they changes things last min. You should get what you pay for !!!!!
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hakuna Matata Roadtrip Safari
This was our first safari and our first time to Kenya.
I am an extremely exigent client as I have worked for a while in tourism and my husband and I (since we are young adult, we have travel a lot around the world).
Since the beginning, Fredrick (our Apodiform’s account) has tried to find the best combination to adapt our request to our budget.
The travel went smoothly and we really enjoyed Kenya.
However, I should divide my commentary, one for for the support on booking/organisation of the trip and another one the trip itself.
On the one hand, dealing with Apodiformes was not always easy, there were many issues regarding booking and organisation, this could be due to a lack of communication or to the fact they were not fully transparent.
Examples?
- our itinerary pdf reported a lot of mistakes and was not corrected even after having highlighted the discrepancies (wrong arrival time/departure day/activities).
- we had to chase them for pick up time from the airport (they did not reached proactively to give us all the information)
- they told us they could take care of our rigid suitcase when only soft ones were allowed onboard local airplane, but when we arrived at the airport they drop us off and we had to deal with the problem ourselves (the driver has disappeared)
- We were supposed to travel by train from Tsavo to Watamu, but the afternoon before we were informed that plans were changed (they did not book the tickets in advance so the day before the 1st class tickets were sold out! While our trip was prebooked in December)
- They did not include our luggages for another Jambojet Flight so when we arrived at the check in desk they asked us to pay (luckily at the end Frederick sort it out with a live online Payment).
Hence, the tour has been done successfully with very competitive budget (1 full week of safari around Kenya), however we kindly suggest to improve communication/organisation set up to prevent unpleasant situation for the guests.
In addition, I would suggest to share with guests a small guide of extra activities they can do during safaris such as bush breakfast/Bush sunset or dinner or even night safaris. We were interested in that but when we discovered these kind of activities it was too late!!!
On the other hand, our safari guide Sebastian made sure our safari was unbelievable, he was always concerned that we were enjoying every day.
In each game, he tried to catch the information around to get the animals close enough. He was always asking if we were taking good pictures/spots.
Thanks to him, our trip was great!
To sum up, they are really good to adapt to your request and limited budget however they should pay more attention to details and to communication with guests.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good safari on a budget
SCB Tour and Travel offers a safari experience at a price that’s more economical than most other operators. During the planning phase, Salomon was incredibly helpful and precise in recommending the perfect itinerary. We were fortunate to see all of the Big Five, thanks to their expertise and knowledge of the best routes. Having two guides was a bonus—one focused on driving while the other spotted animals, making the safari even more enjoyable.
However, there are a few areas for improvement. Time management could be better, as we missed two sunrise safaris and only saw the Ishasha sector briefly. Communication during the trip was also lacking. It would be great if the guides engaged more with guests during long drives. Additionally, a couple of the hotels didn’t meet the expected standard for European tourists, so I recommend reviewing these and considering changes.
Overall, I would recommend SCB Tour and Travel, but keep these points in mind to ensure an even better experience.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice safari, but could have been better.
We had a nice safari with Professional Safaris in the Ngorongoro Crater & Serengeti National Park and saw many animals. Our guide was nice, but certain things could have been handled better. For example, it was only mentioned to us in the last three hours of the drive back to the airport that there was a fridge in the jeep. It would have been nice to know this at the start so we did not have to drink warm water for three days and this could have prevented us from throwing away things from our lunch bag that we no longer trusted after lying in the heat for half a day. Additionally, the driver kept his radio (through which I assume he communicated with other guides) on very loud even when we were less than 5 meters from an animal and the noise of the radio was disturbing our experience of enjoying the animals in their natural habitat. Another example is that the guide made us walk around an outdoor art gallery for 10 minutes so he would get some kind of lottery ticket.
Also, do not be fooled by the last day 'early morning game drive'. When you are going to (certain parts of) the Serengeti, you need to drive back to the airport for 7 hours. While we did see some animals on the first part of the drive, it was not the same as an actual game drive.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Safari but Poor Management in Tanzania
The complete experience is amazing but the organization in Kenya and Tanzania are really different.
Kenya: everything was really good. Daisy was really nice and careful from the day of the booking in January. Our guides (Derrick and Richard) were really nice and prepared. The camp sites and hotels are low budget but clean and functional. Maybe sometime there is too much hurry during the game drives and the customers are not really warned about the fact that if you don't choose to make the optional visit (as Lake Naivasha boat trip) you have to wait in the car. Total: 4.5/5 stars!
Tanzania: Super Eagles Tours doesn't manage the tour and gives the organization of everything to Seven Wonder Safari. Almost a complete failure. At Namanga border you need to wait (at least 1 or 2 hours) that a certain guy lets you get on the bus to Arusha (you can leave just when the bus is full of people) without any explanation. Our plan was almost totally changed: DAY 1 --> it was scheduled evening game drive safari (at least 3 hours) but instead there was an eternal and uncomfortable (9 ppl total in a van with 8 seats) journey to Serengeti (arrived at the entrance at 16.30) because of several and useless stop in gift shops along the road with a 2 hours rush to the campsite and some stop to watch animals. DAY 2 --> the optional Olduvai Gorge stop was removed and replaced with a Maasai village visit and the people that were not interested had to wait in the car. DAY 3 --> the scheduled plan was at least 6 hours game drive with packed lunch inside the Ngorongoro crater but our experience was entrance in the park at 8.30 and at 12.15 back at the camp site to have lunch. The game drive was done without any radio (the driver couldn't know if there were specific animals in specific part of the crater) for just 2 hours and half, with a very long stop for coffee and rest. Such a shame for one of the most wonderful places on Earth. Besides they probably should inform better the costumers about the fact that customers will camp in tent in public camp sites. The guides were nice and the food really good but the change of the plan really disappointing. Total: 2/5
We booked all the trip with Super Eagles so they need to be responsible for all the journey, Tanzania included. The experience was really amazing but the Tanzanian organization very disappointing.