ES
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good price and good experience overall in Kenya, but not a professional and kind service
In general, I give Apodiformes a 3/5 because the trip through Kenya as a whole has been a spectacular experience, and all the hotels included in the package and the drivers and guides were very professional, friendly, punctual and helpful.
Also, I found the total price for the package to be very good, beating many competitors' offerings, so if you want to save money, Apodiformes might be worth it.
But I have to reduce the score because all the interactions with Silas -responsible for Apodiformes- during the trip were rather a disaster, showing little professionalism and little kindness at all times. Although he was always very efficient before the trip, answering quickly via WhatsApp and adapting the schedule to our different requests, everything changed as soon as we arrived in Kenya:
Things already started badly with our arrival at Nairobi International Airport at 4:00 am, when there was no one to pick us up at the arrivals gate. Silas did not answer the phone, so after half an hour of waiting in the cold and with a 3 year old we had to take a taxi on our own to the booked hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, where we were very well received, we were finally able to contact him and he arrived minutes later. There were no apologies, just bad excuses that he was waiting “at the wrong terminal” (so why was his phone turned off?).
The next day we were going on safari. We had agreed with Silas to have a guide who spoke Spanish, but when we met the assigned guide he barely knew a few words. In the end it wasn't a problem because we were able to communicate well in English (and the guide -Leroy- was otherwise a fantastic person and a very professional and concerned guide that took very good care of us), but this lack of compliance with what was committed in the case of a client who didn't speak English would have been a big problem.
On the other hand, we had requested a child seat in the car that we would use to travel to Nakuru and Masai Mara and carry out the safari. The child seat was there, but it couldn't be attached to the car seat belts. We solved the ballot by buying a rope in a shopping center and tying the child seat with it. A messy solution that of course made us travel through the dangerous roads in Kenia feeling constantly anxious for the safety of our three-year-old.
In addition, that same day Silas told us he had unilaterally changed our accommodation on the Naivasha stage (from Sopa Naivasha Lodge to Simba) because at the Sopa lodge "there had been complaints of food poisoning". In the end it was not a problem because the Simba turned out to be very good but it seemed unprofessional to inform us of this at the last moment and base the change on a reason that sounded like an invention (no one else mentioned these problems in the hotel's opinions on Internet) .
At the end of the Safari, when we had scheduled a visit to a Maasai village, they wanted to charge us again for the visit even though the agreed program specified that it was included. We had to advance the payment and then claim the refund from Silas.
At the end of the Safari and going to the beach, we arrived at the Baobab Resort hotel, finding a standard room booked, although a superior room was specified in the agreed plan. We had to speak with Silas to demand that he negotiate with the hotel for an upgrade as agreed in plan.
On our return from Diani Beach to Nairobi, despite our flight being late, we had to wait almost an hour in the Wilson airport exit car park for Silas to show up to pick us up. It seems there was "traffic" but no other drivers who came to pick up the dozens of people who arrived on that flight had any trouble getting there on time.
Anyway, despite all these messes the thing could be forgiven if there had been sincere apologies and explanations in each case, but Silas did not consider to apologize for any of these inconveniences even once. He even did not ask us how the safari and other experiences had gone at any time, nor did he write to us to ask how the return home was, being unfriendly and showing total disinterest. A pity that our main contact and organizer of the trip was the least kind and considerate person that we have encountered in our trip to Kenya, otherwise fantastic.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve by Anne
Sabi sabi Game reserve is a grest place and you get to go very close to the animals. The accommodation where we stayed was also perfect. I would however consider going two different places for a safari, combining sabi sabi with another place where there are more water spots where animals gather (especially in winter time) and it is more likely to see for example big herds.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Tanzania was great, Can not recommend them for Kenya.
It was a great time in Serengeti and entire Tanzania, The crew in Tanzania took really good care of us, If i need to review just Tanzania I can give 5/5 rating.
In Kenya we did our game drives with one of their partner company and Not a good experience.
For Tanzania: 5/5 rating
For Kenya : 1/5 rating.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Well planned trip but choice of accomodation was poor
It was a memorable week in Kenya considering a first time experience with African Safari. However, things didnt turn out the way it was expected. Firstly poor accomodation choices haunted the stay with no power in accomodations at Amboseli and Masai Mara where we sometimes woke up in pitch dark rooms in the middle of the night and couldnt charge our camera and mobile devices. On top that we had zero to poor sightings of the main 4 (Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and Rhino) which may be our bad luck or poor guide routes not sure. Also extreme long road trips every day were very tiring. I would suggest spend a couple of days or more at each location to get proper sightings as well as better rest between game drives.
LT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An okayish company with overpriced services
I had two tours with this company: Wasini Dolphin Tour & Shimba Hills. Below you will find my experiences with this provider.
1. The Wasini Dolphin Tour was so-so because we saw the dolphins only partly due to the overcrowdedness of the area where dolphins swim. There were too many other boats around, some people were even swimming though, technically, you can’t swim with the dolphins in the park (at least that’s what a guy from the ticket office told us), so yes, there are some dolphins in the area, but it’s simply overcrowded (at that was in their winter, or off-the-season!). On top of that, we followed the program only partly. In the beginning, our guide told us that we would be visiting a local village after lunch, but when the time came to do the walk, we were informed that the walk is canceled, giving us no adequate reason why.
2. The Shimba Tour was run by a very professional and knowledgeable driver that I really respect a lot! He did an awesome job, but the Shimba National Park is just too boring, and animals are too difficult to spot because of the lush vegetation. We spent half a day driving around and saw only a few antelopes, a small herd of buffalos, and a warthog family. No other animals were present, so you literally pay money just for driving around bushes in a hilly area.
All in all, the company is pretty reliable, they do what they promise to do, and I understand that it’s nature, so we can’t always predict or control everything. I just think the prices I paid for these trips were too high, considering how many animals you actually see during the trips.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Manyara National Park by Chiara
No flamingos, a lot of monkeys but less variety in comparison to the other parks
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very beautiful destination
The Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangine Park have been amazing, instead we have taken a bad decision going to Manyara lake, because we expected to find flamingos but it wasn't the correct season.
PT
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nice Accommodation, Poor Safari
Most of the value of this 2-night package, which is higher than most, is in the accommodations, a fairly luxury fixed tent on a platform with private toilet and shower, at a nice lodge with a pretty good breakfast and dinner included.
The mokoro ride my first afternoon on the river next to the lodge was actually better than the more-hyped full-day "safari" mokoro ride on the delta the next day. There were plenty of birds, some hippos close by, and a beautiful sunset at the end.
The "safari" mokoro ride on the delta the next day first required a long, bumpy ride to get to the launch site. The actual mokoro ride through thick reeds was just okay. Not as many birds and the hippos only briefly appeared a long way off and quickly disappeared. The mokoro then landed at some remote spot and my guide took me on a long "Bushwalk" that was basically pointless. For the entire two hours we walked there was no wildlife other than a few random birds. The only thing that made it remotely interesting were some animal skeleton parts that looked like they'd been there for decades. My guide wanted to walk me a long way off to another area where the animals "might be", but I declined as my mobility was not up to an even longer hike.
Even if there had been animals, I question if making such a trek on foot a long way from any help with an unarmed guide was even a good idea (we did see some lion tracks).
The only thing that salvaged the day was that on the long, bumpy vehicle ride back we came across a herd of elephants.
The other safari option in this package was a Full Day Game Drive, but I learned from other guests that while there was a decent amount of wildlife, the drive to get to them was even longer, bumpier and more taxing than the one I took.
Three positives were my mokoro guides Kaiser and Carrie and my driver David. They were all very amiable fellows.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Okay for low budget journey
The trip was really good. We had a very good driver and great fellow travellers. What really bothered us was the organisation in the background. Every fellow traveller had booked a different trip with different hotels, different activities and different lengths of the trip. For this reason, the plan had to be changed constantly. A game drive in the morning was cancelled once and the other times we were late at the reserve because we had to collect all the people for 1 1/2 hours or we had to wait for an hour until the entrance fee for the park was paid. On the last day we were out of the park after an hour because a new traveler had a village visit in his activities.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very diverse and varied experience!
The reserves and botanical gardens are breathtaking! I recommend seeking tours that offer transport to and from the destinations.
We found people friendly, food and activities affordable and readily accessible.
