AR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Once in a life time experience
Our experience was excellent. From the beginning the communication with Erick was quick and he answered all my questions. The itinerary was followed perfectly and our experience was amazing. Next time I would probably skip lake Nakuru. The trip was too long for the time we spent in there. The guide was ok, I would have liked a bit more explanations though. Overall, Masai Mara exceeded our expectations and having done it with Jocky Tours allowed us to enjoy it a lot.
Apart from the safari, we did a city tour in Nairobi as soon as we landed. The driver was waiting for us on time, and the last day they dropped us at the airport.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Generous and flexible to meet my safari parameters.
Communications= a small glitch at the beginning relating to the meals of the driver while on safari. On first day at lunch, the driver seemed confused who should pay for his lunch. We had to call Jinja office to clarify.
Expectations= the vehicle was in good condition, it was comfortable. The hotels were nice and friendly. The service was excellent.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Experience.
Applied for their services for my trip to Hells Gate National Park and The Maasai Mara and it was all smooth,no glitches,enjoyed every bit of their services.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very, very good but wanted a bit more educational
The registration staff was helpful and considerate of our needs and always responded promptly to our email inquiries. They were accommodating and customized a tour to our specific needs. Extremely reasonable in price. Accommodations were very comfortable and above expectations for camping and price. All staff friendly and helpful and we were very pleased that it was Eco tourism and local people were employed. Also pleased our guide respected environment and rules...saw several other tours that damaged the grasslands all the time and crowded the wildlife, not ours. Food was made fresh and with attention to our preferences and was tasty and excellent. Accommodations were clean even though rustic. Locations of campgrounds less than 5 minutes from entrance to parks so no time wasted each day. Tour guide kept us safe, and was excellent at predicting where animals would be, go or do and we saw 23 lions including two cubs and a mating adult pair, 7cheetahs including two kittens, lots of herd animals, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, jackals, birds, tons of elephants (:-) and more and generally VERY close! A wonderful, beautiful week. The rainy afternoon weather was the only obstacle to seeing more. Especially impressed with night guards at campground in Masi Mara who watched over us all night. Van was clean and very comfortable for all day travel. Loved pop up roof for 360 degree viewing. Only wished for more educational information from guide about the animals, plants, country and people. It was not lacking but we would have been happy to learn more about this exquisite country. Small problem with radio not working on last day and 4wheel drive needing maintenance so only two for part of tour. Driver was skilled so not a problem, he navigated all terrain expertly but should be 100%. Food at restaurants was only average, food in campgrounds wonderful. Our guide protected us from hawkers when we did not want to shop and brought us to excellent places to do so when we did want souvenirs. Tour of Masai village very interesting and really glad for that part but watch out for selling at the end....set up to get you to buy a lot, which we were happy to do because tour was free and extensive, but be prepared to haggle down inflated prices at end there and in all locations...haggling is expected. Tour office kindly stored our unneeded luggage for the week. Driver willingly modified the days to maximize out tour time versus eating time, which was our preference. Wish there was a "very good" before excellent for rating. Website needs a LOT of improvement. Our driver's son will graduate with that skill and we feel strongly that he should be hired right away so the website can be improved. It was not easy to navigate and was not engaging or appealing. If we had not had a recommendation from a friend, we would've gone with another company with similar pricing but much better and informative website. Very grateful that driver shared his binoculars and recommend taking a pair or having camera with strong zoom...rhinos we saw were pretty far away. Happy the crocodiles were also far away! Other side of the river suited us fine as well as the soldier with the rifle escorting us! After watching video postings of "lion opens car door" would NOT recommend the other companies with open sides/no doors as well as locking your door (although ours only opened on one side and was a slider which they didn't seem to open) as the lions came right next to us! Our driver was so good at placing us in their path! Was an amazing experience we didn't think we could afford but thanks to this company we had an awesome, unforgettable, memories for a lifetime safari. Thank you!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very nice safari
We had a very good driver and guide (Simon). We didn't expect to see all these animals. We are very satisfied. Only two litle problems : water was included but we had to ask for it at the begining of our travel, and during the meals ; the camp was not very confortable but with that price (low), we couldn't expect for moren and we have eaten well. The program we had signed for has been respected.
DK
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Perfect day
It was very important to me that this day of Safari was going to be good since I was taking my parents who had never been on a Safari before. It was a one-day trip to Nairobi's National Park and we were picked by the driver and our guide in the early morning (they were on time which is very important to us :) )
We had a very good day in the park and both the driver and the guide was very good.
My parents had a very good experience so thank you for that.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We visited serengeti National park 7 day
We really enjpyed our selves I my wife and our two children
The staff where friendly, and the hospitality was so awesome
The driver guides where so professional
Indeed all went so well
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Had an excellent time on our honeymoon!
Spent 4 days with Kanuth, our guides name was Vomi, very friendly and very knowledgeable of the animals and history of the area. Kanuth was good to deal with via email and had all arrangements taken care of. There is really nothing to complain about other than very uncomfortable beds in the lodges.
ES
Beautiful days!
Hi!we're Sonia & Marc from Barcelona.We did the Selous tour (3 days,2 nights) with Nyasi Adventures,and it was a great experience.We could see a lot of animals,and very near to us!!we stayed at Hippo camp,and it spent a good days.With driver and cooker,we were like at home.Thanks for all!!
Marakele National Park is a hidden gem with magical scenery and good selection of wildlife.
My visit to Marakele took place at the end of September 2015. This is typically considered near the end of the dry season. The temperatures are above 30 degrees celsius daily with little to no sign of rain. The surrounding vegetation is quite dry, although leaves are starting to sprout with the advent of the coming summer. This means that the vegetation is not too thick enabling you to spot the animals further away from your vehicle than you otherwise would when everything is green and vibrant. Its also a good time to frequent waterholes in the morning and evening because water is still scarce and animals tend to congregate at the waterholes for their daily fill.
Marakele has a predator section and a non predator section. Camping is allowed at designated camp sites in the non-predator section. There are no fences around the camp sites so animals are free to walk through the camping area. This might sounds both exciting and scary, but what I noticed is that many campers are not used to this and do not respect the animals right to be there and try to chase them away when they come sniffing at the strange smells we humans bring. But its a lovely experience to see giraffes and rhino walking through the camp and the ability to grab the camera to get amazing photos. Additionally, Bontle Camp, where I stayed, has a waterhole alongside a wide plain that provides hours of peaceful wilflife entertainment where one can spend hours sitting and staring through binoculars. The non predator section has an abundnace of wildlife ranging from many species of buck, to more rare sightings of rhino and giraffe. Monkeys, babboons and warthogs are fairly prevalent too, as well as plenty of zebra and ostriches. There should be ample opportunity to spot most of these animals while driving through the park over the course of a few days.
The non-predator part of the park covers a small region of fairly flat savannah. The predator section takes you into the larger part of the park which is situated among some of the mountains making up the Waterberg mountain range. Most of the animals from the non-predator section can also be found in the predator section, but because of the larger area, sightings become more rare here. In addtion to the above, it is also possible to encounter lions, elephant and leopard. But these are rarer and they were mostly hanging around the single large dam which I, as a resident of the Bontle camping site, was off limits to me. But the most notable thing when driving into this part of the park are the high mountain peaks and craggy cliffs creating some amazing landscapes. The single tar road ends in a very beautiful scenic climb up one of the mountains ending at the top near a radio relay station with some spectacular views. Here you can also spend a while looking at the family of white backed vultures that fly gracefully around the valley and often come to glide above the viewpoint giving birders and photographers some great opportunities.
There is only one tarred road in the park. For the most part it is reasonably maintained except where it starts to rise up the side of the mountain leading up to the view point where you can encounter some tricky potholes. All other roads are dirt tracks of varying conditions. Most roads can easily be accessed by normal cars but some of the roads in the predator section are certainly uneven and can be very bumpy, and in some cases my require some careful navigation. There are a couple of marked 4x4 roads and certainly I wouldn't recommend low clearance cars trying them, but only the 4x4 track in the north eastern part of the park requires a capable 4x4 and a driver with some experience.
Overall the park is a lovely place and was not very busy when I was there, which is perfect. The guards and game rangers were friendly. Animals in the non-predator section were plentiful but the predator section was less eventful in this regard. But the spectacular scenery made up for that. Many of the local bird species appear in the park, of note are rollers, vultures and hornbill. Places like Pilanesburg probably have a higher density of animals, but Marakele has better scenery and certainly has its own charm that should not be ignored.