IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good
6-Day Budget Safari: Masai Mara – Lake Nakuru – Amboseli
Overall, it was a very good experience. Patrick, our first guide, was amazing and very experienced, and Jemimah was supportive and responsive to every enquiry.
You’ll be joining different groups and guides depending on your itinerary. Keep in mind that some time may be spent waiting for others or dropping people off at specific locations.
It’s better and more convenient to pay for the tour in cash (USD). After that, you won’t need much cash for the rest of the trip, just enough for tips for the guide/driver, as well as small extras like water, snacks, or souvenirs
Accommodation and meals are basic but perfectly fine.
We stopped at Lake Naivasha (an extra $40 – $20 for the boat ride and $20 for the park walk), but personally, I didn’t find it really worth it.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Private 5 Day Safari! But read notes below :)
Had a 5 day safari with Jocky Tours, private tour with 3 nights Masai Mara and 1 night in Lake Nakuru.
Picked up by our guide and driver James.
Headed to Masai stopping at the Great Rift Valley viewpoint along the way. The trip took 6 to 7 hours, the jeep was quite old with seatbelts not working very well, seats not super comfortable for a trip that long. Arriving at Lenchada Camp we were greeted by the owners and brought for lunch. The food for the 3 days was good, rice, beans, veg. Happy to have Vegetarian option everyday.
We headed on an evening game drive & then had 2 full days of game drives. Then we left for Buraha at Lake Nakuru. We arrived at 3pm and had the evening free. I had thought we had a game drive that evening (my mistake upon re-reading the schedule info from Jocky Tours), but again we felt that this should have been communicated by our guide, a simple "today we are driving here, we will stop here and here, let me know if you need additional breaks, upon arriving you will have the evening free to rest for the game drive the next morning".
After our morning game drive at Lake Nakuru we headed back towards Nairobi stopping along the way for lunch at one of the Curio shops.
Safely back to Nairobi around 3pm.
Positives:
- Saw the big 5 + a plethora of animals, birds, lizards, was truly fantastic.
- James was a safe driver, was great for spotting animals and he was a chill guide for people who want a calm atmosphere.
- Lenchada camp had everything we needed, hot water, plenty of time to charge phones / cameras, amazing wifi, mosquito net (definitely needed).
- Buraha Zeoni resort at Lake Nakuru was great to stay.
- In all places staff were very friendly, helpful + accommodating.
Room for improvement:
- The jeep was old & unclean even when we were first picked up, seats extremely dusty since day 1, seatbelts not tightening properly, seats like rocks, very uncomfortable for a 7 hour drive.
- When we were picked up we headed to the Jocky Tours offices in the city centre, this was not communicated when booking and it felt a bit odd leaving the jeep open with many people around, with all our luggage inside as we headed to the offices, this needs to be communicated to your customers as I was not expecting this and created some apprehension.
- Really felt that information was limited from the guide in terms of schedules, plans for the day, info on animals was very basic. Would have been nice to hear more about the animals, their migration patterns, why certain animals graze together, who is nocturnal v not.
- Would also have been nice if we had been told about the Masai people, their culture, why they wear red etc found ourselves googling a lot as we were not being told by our guide.
- Buffet food at Lenchada camp is not kept covered and is left open for hours in the morning and at dinner. Many flies and insects landing on food.
- Despite communicating that we were vegetarian, our packed lunches on 1 of the 2 days were meat and we couldn't have our lunch that day, which was not great considering it's a 12 hour day out.
- On the second day of our full game drive, we returned to camp earlier than the previous day (2 hours earlier) this was not communicated to us, we just began the journey back to camp and it was disappointing as we had planned to take some pictures of the sunset on our last day in the Maasai.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
good
Our guide, Mudy Mohammad, was very enthusiastic and patient in helping us find the animals. We had a lot of fun.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not bad
Kevin，THE GUIDES，is very good ，very kind。Treat tourists very kindly and often satisfy our needs.
FR
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Sympathic
We liked the tour but were disapointed because we didn't see any lions,any cheethas,any buffalos
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Banabas was very friendly, reliable and talkative
We did a 3 day / 2 nights trip to Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. Tarangire and Ngorongoro were amazing. However, in comparison to the former two, Lake Manyara was less spectacular. Next time, we would rather opt for two days at Ngorongoro or a day at Serengeti instead. Otherwise, the accomodations were beautiful, food was good and the people were very friendly and accomodating. The trip was very well organized.
CH
Top organized tour
We did a 2 nights/ 3 days safari in Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Lake manyana. It was a great experience, everything was very well organized. People were super friendly and accomondations were great. Especially the second one in the Ngorongoro crater. The third day we spent at Manyana which was, apart from a lot of monkeys, not as interesting as the days before.
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
David was very attentive and available all the time, very trustworthy and helpful
Safari was an incredible experience. I had a 7 day budget safari, accommodation was better than I thought, food was amazing, loved watching animals. Thanks David for a great service and being available all the time in case I needed anything. Overall I am very satisfied with the whole experience
BE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
African Big Cats Safaris delivered a wonderful, safe, and unforgettable adventure.
We chose African Big Cats Safaris based on a link in The Lonely Planet of trusted safari companies. They arrived on our long list and finally on the short list. We picked them because of the interaction, price and the customisation of the trip. We initially drafted our route (Tarangire – Lake Natron – Serengeti – Ngorongoro – Lake Manyara), and the company helped us fine-tune it. The direct booking process was very good: emails were answered swiftly and clearly, and we even had a helpful video call beforehand.
Our driver was truly outstanding: highly experienced, deeply knowledgeable about flora and fauna, and always prioritised safety. He knew his way around the national parks, handled check-ins smoothly, and gave us useful briefings each day. We appreciated his punctuality, the way he coordinated with other guides to locate interesting animals, and even how the car was cleaned daily despite all the dust. We also liked the thoughtful planning of arrival times—always before 4:30 pm—allowing us to relax and enjoy the scenery before sunset.
Overall, we would rate the company as very good, a 4.5. The only reason we cannot give a full “Excellent” rating is due to a last-minute change in accommodation caused by a mistake on their side. While we had approved the lodges in advance, they had to make a change just days before the trip began, and unfortunately the replacement was a slight downgrade.
This safari was truly “Memories for life.” Despite the minor hiccup, African Big Cats Safaris delivered a wonderful, safe, and unforgettable adventure.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Carefully, kind and great experience
A very nice, kind, small and familia Safari Company. You can trust them 100% that they do their best to offer you a wonderful safari experiences for a very fair price also for students. Everything went smooth and I really enjoyed the time with our tour guides, the lodge we were located, the food and of course the wonderful safari we did in the Nyerere National Park. The guides are taking much care and have incredible knowledge, they are the best and greatest company you can wish for. What was a bit annoying unfortunately was that the veko, it was a bit broken and on one side the window didn't go down. In addition, the walking safari and the visit to the Maasai was very interesting but did not reflect how such a presentation and "show" for white tourists also reinforces a racist image about the "African continent" in many white people's minds... I think that as a tourist you have to deal with power structures, racist systems and postcolonialism before you travel to countries like Tanzania, which of course is not the responsibility of Asante Bibi. All in all we enjoyed our trip with this company and learned a lot it was a wonderful and unforgettable time .Thank you so much Asante Bibi!