20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceeded Our Expectations - Seven Day Tour, Rift Valley Lakes and the Masai Mara
My wife and I took a seven day private tour which included Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley, the Masai Mara, and the Mara Naboisho Conservancy. Our trip spanned the end of June into July. From the outset, Daniel’s (with Transtrek) communications were prompt and helpful. He addressed all our questions and concerns, while offering suggestions without pushing to up-sell. Once in Kenya, we met our main guide, Peter, when he picked us up from the Nairobi airport Hilton. The tour was conducted in a seven seat Toyota Land Cruiser with a pop up canopy for 360 degree viewing. Peter was friendly and professional throughout the trip. He was always more than willing to talk about the country, people, and wildlife, make arrangements, and keep us well stocked with bottled water. Daniel made planning and booking our first trip to Africa as painless as possible and Peter saw to it that the tour went smoothly. We hope to return to Kenya in the future and fully intend to book with Transtrek again.
Parks:
The tour began with a roughly four hour drive from Nairobi hotel to Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru National Park is a pretty park consisting mainly of wetlands and forested areas. In contrast to the tan savannah of the Mara, Lake Nakuru was vibrantly green. In addition to many other species, we saw both black and white rhinos. After two nights, we traveled a bit over two hours to Lake Naivasha National Park. At Lake Naivasha, we took a private boat tour to an island which allows bush walks due to its lack of large predators. The lake is home to an impressive array of bird species. For the final three nights of the itinerary, we drove the five plus hours the Masai Mara region. While we enjoyed the Rift lakes, the Mara region was the highlight. The national reserve, with its grand sweeping grasslands and wild abundance of life, is rightly iconic. It can get crowded (particularly around big cats) but it was not nearly as bad as I feared. In early July, it was still possible to find areas with no one else in sight. The Mara Naboisho Conservancy, lacking the vast open spaces of the national reserve, is mainly covered in groups of shrubs and smallish trees. The conservancy offers a different experience in several respects because it is privately operated and visitor numbers are controlled: night game drives and bush walks (with armed guides) are permitted and it does not get crowded. In addition, it has one of highest concentrations of lions in East Africa. The cost to stay in the conservancy is higher than the nearby national reserve; however, once we saw what was offered, we did not regret the expense for a moment.
Accommodation:
We stayed at five properties while in Kenya: Hilton Garden Inn Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort, Basecamp Explorer Masai Mara, and Basecamp Explorer Eagle View. The Hilton was our airport lodging before and after the tour, which we arranged separately. Daniel did offer to book on our behalf but my wife had Hilton points to burn. The hotel is new, clean, comfortable, operated by friendly and efficient staff, and has a very good restaurant. The two Sopa properties were similar. Both consisted of a restaurant/reception area and chalets with two to four rooms. The rooms were spacious and well appointed. The bathrooms were clean but hot water is limited by design. The food, mainly served buffet style, ranged from fine to good and there was variety. The Nakuru Sopa Lodge is situated on a ridge and has a lovely view over Lake Nakuru. The Naivasha resort has zebra, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, several species of monkeys, and (at night) hippopotamus on the property. The Basecamp Explorer properties are both tented camps, though with electricity and showers in every room. Basecamp Explorer Masai Mara sits in a wooded area just over the Talek River from the Mara, within sight of the national reserve. The tents are a bit spartan but contain what one expects in a hotel room, with two odd exceptions: there are no mirrors or trash cans. Basecamp Explorer Eagle View is arrayed along a ridge with the Naboisho Conservancy. The dining/reception area has a fantastic view over a lightly wooded valley, regularly populated by herds of zebra, wildebeest, water buffalo, and impala. In contrast with Basecamp Explorer Masai Mara, the tents at Eagle View are certainly not spartan. This is a luxury camp. Both Basecamp properties serve excellent food, usually in 3-4 courses. Lunch and dinner typically consisted of soup, bread, entrée, and dessert. There are no options, you receive what they prepare for a given meal but we were never disappointed. I bought head chef’s cookbook.
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent and reliable tour operator
Quick and responsive, efficient handling, reliable service
KR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Warm-hearted and leisurely safari
My husband and I went to a private safari tour(lodge) for six days in between June 27 to July 4 with Shemeji Safari. It was a satisfied trip that fits to our expectations to see the wild nature of Tanzania. I recommend Shemeji Safari.
- Communications and services
Froukje kindly consulted and reflected our requirements to the itinerary, which had changed a lot. We exchanged more than 10 mails for about a month. Froukje even struggled to get a room in one lodge that we choose where there was no room for agencies left.
When we had to send the balance, Emma came back from maternity leave to deal with us. She even offered us the transportation to Seronera Airstrip in our final day in Serengeti, saying that the drop service of the lodge was too expensive. I felt very warm consideration. At the end, they gave us a Masai souvenir.
- Safari car and stuff
We rode in a pop-up roof car that can holds six persons. The car had a small fridge and a charging station that we requested. It was very useful. There were cushions and blankets in the car, so I could feel their thoughtfulness. The car looked a little old, but there was no big problem throughout the safari. A binocular was available in the car, but we had our own thing that performs better. There was a animal dictionary with pictures, so it's very helpful to refer to them.
- Guide
Our driver and guide, Edward, had 14 years of experience as a guide and was very friendly and professional. Every day after the safari, he asked us how was the safari and checked that he meets our expectations. He communicated with his guide friends face-to-face or via radio to show us the animals we want to see. And he knows where the animals would move, so we could stop at the best place and see the animals very close. There was even a magic that showed up the animal that I told to want to see that day! We saw Big 5 except the rhinos.
He tried to find rhinos for 2 days, but that's just my luck.
During the six day safari, we became friends.
On the last day, he saw us off to the airstrip and helped to check-in. Thank you so much, Edward. I already miss his smile.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trip of a Lifetime!
Rose planned an absolutely epic city, bush and beach honeymoon for my wife Christina and I. The itinerary included 5 nights in Cape Town, 3 nights at Tanda Tula Safari Camp, 2 nights at Makanyi Private Game Lodge and 6 nights at Constance Le Prince Maurice in Mauritius. The trip was perfectly balanced, seamlessly organized and we felt completely relaxed and spoiled the entire time. All of the accommodations were first class! Thank you so much for planning an unforgettable trip!
CH
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience, great support, great driver, great animals in Maasai Mara
Joyce from CATS Africe answered all our question promptly by e-mail before the booking. The payment by wire transfer to the CATS bank account was completed without problems in one day and Joyce confirmed immediately.
As agreed in the contract, Moses, our guide and driver for the next 3 days, picked us on time with a Landcruiser from Karen little paradise, were we've been pampered by a wonderfull staff for the last 3 days. Moses is a very experienced guide and driver, we never felt unsafe during the trip, neither on the 4.5 hrs way to Maasai Mara nor in the Natl Park itself. Moses answered all our questions very professionally and he found all the spots where we could see hyaenas, lions, cheetahs, hypos and even a leopard and of course elephants and so on. At the mara river we finally witnessed the migration of thousends of animals which was a very magnificient nand unique spectacle. All things considered, we really can recommend CATS Africa, everything was perfect, from the booking until the return to the hotel in Nairobi. Thanks again to Joyce and Moses, we always felt to be in good hands.
GR
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Nomad company has destroyed for me a lifetimes dream of traveling to S. African countries .
I'm an older woman and I had a dream to travel to S. Africa ,Namimbia, Botswana etc , so I flew from Athens to Istanbul and from there 11 hours direct flight to Cape Town . I chose nomad tours to make my dream come true.
After ALL was set and DONE we started our journey with one of their trucks . 2 hours later and while on the road, Nomad called the coach of the tour to say that I had to go back because Namimbia required a visa and there was nothing they could do about it. Can anyone imagine the disappointment??? We were way out of Cape Town and I had to take a taxi to go back. I'm a very experienced traveler and had asked all kinds if questions while we were on the process of booking the tour. On the issue of visas, they had informed me that there was NO need.
Being in business they should have known. Then, I had to struggle to get my money back. They didn't even want to
pay for the taxis fare, plus a very rude attitude. They didn't even offer a solution on their behalf, something to "sweeten" the situation.So,for me there was no choice left. I didn't have another opportunity to take another tour because that would have mean for me to search and stay for another 10 days or so at Cape Town and I couldn't afford to do that as already I had spent so much money waiting for their tour.I had to leave the country very dissapointed. To do all this again , it's not easy at all, " thanks " to NOMAD TOURS.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Prime Safaris provided an excellent safari experience.
I can’t say enough good things about the 5-day safari organized for me by Prime Safaris. From my initial email exchange with Cate right through until my guide dropped me off at the airport, I felt that their first priority was providing me with exactly the kinds of activities and accommodations that I would most enjoy. My guide, Arshley Brian, was extremely knowledgeable about Uganda’s abundant wildlife. His patient willingness to answer my many questions and his ability to spot birds and animals made the Safari a rich, exciting, unforgettable experience.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Beautiful Mikumi and Udzungwa spot but choose another operator
We highly recommend to go to Mikumi and Udzungwa, but not with these folks.
Here is an excerpt of what we sent to the tour operator:
"
Our guide was great and both parks are stunning, however we are mostly disappointed by the trip.
First of all, the way to Mikumi was 8 hours. We could see on the map that it was not close but we expected 4-5 hours top to get to an activity. It was instead 8-9 hours both ways, which on a 3 days Safari is a lot of time spent travelling. Knowing that beforehand would have greatly impacted our decision to do this trip.
This also meant that we arrived late to Mikumi national park and did only about 2 hours of game drive, but still had to pay the 82.60 USD entrance fee, which we paid again on the second day.
At the end of that first day, the lodge was comfortable but we had no running water for the sink, shower and toilet.
On the second day, the last minute change to stay in Mikumi and not do the planned hike to a waterfall meant that we did a game drive for the entire day, this was really disappointing since we chose this Safari for the hikes and activities on foot, but after two days we only sat in the Jeep, which again would have make us greatly reconsider taking this trip in the first place. Now another important point is the fact that the park was being torched to leave soil for the new grass. Because of this, the park was somewhat empty due to animals running away from the fires. This is a yearly event which we did not know would happen as outsiders, but we would have expected you to warn us when we did the booking at that time. Especially since we were spending much more time in Mikumi. So for the second day we rolled in circles for hours looking at the same few antelopes and zebras. It got to such a point that at around 4pm we simply told the guide to go to the hotel. We would have done it much earlier but we wanted to be respectful of our guide who tried so hard to find something interesting.
On the third day, we finally got out of the car to do a hike, but looking at all the available hikes in the beautiful Udzungwa (94.40USD) we felt like we missed a great opportunity to hike more. That last day finished late, at around 9pm we were dropped at Dar but we did not have any diner along the way, leaving us to wander in Dar after dark for food.
As for the money, we were also disappointed that you did not told us before that the park fees were to be paid by credit card. We withdraw a lot of extra chillings which we did not use in our remaining days in Tanzania and which we cannot convert in Canada. Around 200,000 unused chillings which were withdraw with a 15,000 fee, and then converted in USD at the airport again at a large fee. Also, the entrance fees were supposed to be around 80 USD per day, but the last lark ended up being a total of 259.60 USD (not 240 USD)
Finally, there were a few other points in the description of the tour, such as a visit to the Masaii and a python in one of the Mikumi lake, which apparently did not exist according to our guide. We choose your tour among other reasons for that and did not visit the Madrid village.
Overall, the guide and parks were great, but the whole management of the tour is simply sub-par.
"
From there we would have written a 2-3 stars above, but the response of the operator was aggressive and accusing us of lying, which is pathetic since all of the promises were clearly written in an email, so we had proofs.
The last email we received mostly stated that since the tour was a budget one, it was okay to offer the minimum and cut on what they deemed unnecessary. So if you don't like being played with, I recommend choosing another operator.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
amazing service
we had an amazing experience with an amazing guide Peter Mugogo. we are used of travaling solo around the world and we usually don't use an agency but this time we did and we are glad that we did. The service of African big five is a 5 stars experience. The email exchange were fast and Maria was so nice and she proposed a really good personnal itiniarery. The guide was nice, respectful of the environnement and people and animals and we could'nt have asked for more. He loves his country and gave us so much information and local stories. He brough us to local places and we felt secure. we had quite an adventure out of the ordinary (we got attacked by elephants) but he kept us safe and knew what to do and we are so glad we chose to go with a company. we highly recommand african big five and you can contact us in private for more information if you want. and please bring school material for the orphelinas and do community treks. Uganda is a great country, less touristic and that is what we like don't hesitate book with them :)
BR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
I had a wonderful and satisfactory safari with SG tours.
the comunications , services are excellent and I got what I expected.