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.
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.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Positive and negative aspects the basic tour accommodations are below acceptance
The driver (Charles K) was very good. The Masai Mara camp was amazing, many animals. The food was ok. The accomodations for the budget options were below the acceptable level (the hotels are dirty, old, no hot water and no electricity at the lenchada camp). The visit to the Masai village is a bit expensive for what it is and the hells gate is not very interesting.
IT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
All in the standard, nothing special
Accomodation at minimum level (lenchada camp no hot water and eletricity and all very old, Chambai hotel no services and no good food), the visit to Masai Mara Village no interesting, Masai Mara Park wonderful and driver Charles K. was amazing
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Standard service
The parks were really nice, and we were able to see many animals. The Lenchada camp in Masai Mara did not have electricity and hot water all day long, and we were not aware of that. The other hotels were fine. Our driver Charles K was the best. He made us live an immersive experience in the savannah.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Fair to Average
I booked 8 months in advance (group join option) with stated goal to spend as much time as possible with the migration. The itinerary indicated 1 day in the Crater and 3 days in the Serengeti including one entire day with the migration (large wildebeest herd) and at the river looking for crossings.
Unfortunately this did not occur primarily due to the driver. Room/board was good and the first two days went according to schedule. I was put in a Avocet Tanzania Safaris group (the 6 passengers had each booked with several different agencies and mixed together --this is apparently common in Tanzania). We had a very good visit to Tangamire NP. One passenger left and a young boy who did not speak english joined us presumably as a cook. He and the driver were always speaking Swahili so we got minimal information. Loud ranger station static over the 2-way seemed always on and prevented music from being played.
On the 3rd day we found the large herd early in the morning , an incredible sight. But after 20 minutes, almost as if the job was completed, the driver took us across the Grumeti where we spent another hour then told us they are not crossing today so we crossed back and despite request to return, we never saw the herd again. The rest of the day was spent driving at high speed chasing ranger reports of cats which we had already seen quite a few of (but no chases/kills). At dinner I found out other vehicles had seen groups of wildebeast crossing the river. The fourth day was spent chasing more cats.
My second complaint is that each time I stood up to take a photo, the vehicle would take off fast knocking me down. It would be nice to get a warning like "leaving in 10 seconds". The fifth day was at the crater. We spent only 3 hours and I was told that the 4 other passengers were on a 5-day safari so he was taking them to the airport. I was left at campsite near Lake Manyara for 18 hours without a guide. On the sixth day I had my own guide for Lake Manyara NP and then to the airport.
Of course, I will return to see another migration but unsure if at Serengeti or Masai Mara.
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Bellow expectations, but good
We booked a 4 day safari in Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. It was a good safari but to be fair on the third day you should except no safari, as you leave from Masai Mara after visiting the village and drive to Nakuru, arriving at 4pm at hotel. I think there must be something to do on the third day rather than being on the car and at the hotel. Also we couldn't see the herbivores crossing the river, male lions and leopards, and barely no explanation about the itinerary and the animals were given to us.
A girl from the group got a stomach infection and suspected it was from Lenchada Camp.
It was a bit disappointing but a great experience since Masai Mara and Nakuru are great parks.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Gilda Barsion
We could not ecplore the park because the lake was extended and blocked the roads of the national Park. Lots of baboon and monkey . That was Nice. Some zebras, birds. But not for long time
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
All good
He has complied with everything contracted. We would have liked the guide to explain information to us during the safari. The meals are repeated every day, but the accommodations were great. To repeat.
US
50-65 years of age
It was okay but could be a ton better.
I do recommend this tour of Soweto but be careful, they will try to pull at your heart strings and bring you to the slum area at the beginning to meet pre school kids in their “kindergarten “ building so that you will donate to the facility. Be prepared to have to give tips to different people too on this trip. The Nelson Mandela and Hector Pieterson memorial were the ones I wanted to see but the latter was rushed.