50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very efficient.
We have booked with damma tours on numerous occassions,and find the service great.
David and his office staff are very polite and friendly.
All aspects of our safaris have ran smoothly and problem free.
Our driver/guide has always been courteous and patient. I always ask for puis. He is an excellent safe driver.
We always go to davids office to meet him and book once we are in diani.
David will always negotiate a very good price for you.
Our last safari was to Masai masa. Flight..2nts governors. Around £600 pp.which is half you would pay if
Booked in the uk.
David will go out of his way to get you exactly what you want.
So please don't believe the negative comments,try for yourself.
We have been staying at papillon lagoon reef hotel every year 17 years sometimes twice yearly.
And always go to David. He does employ some people on the beach,but if your not comfortable with them,go to his office,he will even send a free taxi to fetch you from your hotel and back.
Can't wait to return again this year.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Shooting Dutch tv show on lake vic/the nile/murchison falls
I have worked together with Encounter Africa Safaris on a Dutch TV production. EAF made all the arrangements like media cards, accommodation, transportation, permits etc. They are reliable and fun to work with. As tv productions most of the time turn out to be a bit hectic, and especially a specific "outdoor/rafting" kind of show like we did, i must say they did very well. Even last minute chances and request were no problem.
I would recommend them as a local fixer/production partner.
Great all round experience
Easy to book, even last minute. Lodge was excellent with friendly guides, amazing viewing of animals, great food and good service.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Glamping and Personalised Service
Lene the booking consultand was very detailed and d patient because we were booking thw trip while we were on the road. From the drivers and Debbie and her team they provided everyone personalised service.
IL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We have a very good experience they are very professional and lovely team. Small family business.
The safari was very good and satisfied all ours expectations
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Five day safari
Great safari company for a budget safari. I went on a five day Masai Mara, lake Nakuru, lake naivasha safari. The experience was very good because of our driver Stanley. The company is very caring about ones wishes and preferences. Overall, it was a great experience!
LV
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3-Day Last Minute Fly in Safari from Zanzibar to Ngorongoro Crater
The safari itself gives a very good opportunity to quickly experience three different Africa, all three parks are bit different in their settings and we managed to see all big animals, lions and lots of elephants. Spending the first night in safari tented lodge was also very exciting as, we spotted lions resting some 50meters from the camp and there is no fence around it.. The third day flight back could have been later, so we could have spent a little bit more time in Menyara NP, we started the day at 5:30am, to spend at least 2 hours in the park and get on time to the flight.
The driver was very pleasant and adapted to all our needs. The experience overall was very positive, they were resposive and followed up on everything.
Great experience
We had an amazing trip organised by PaperJet. We absolutely loved our time on safari at Arathusa lodge, Sabin sands. Justin was great at organising it all for us and suggesting where we could go. He kept in contact the whole time to keep us updated on our booking and even got in touch before we left to wish us well and provide us with contact details in case we needed anything.
All transfers went smoothly and our safari accommodation was gorgeous. As first time safari goers it really helped to have someone organise it all for us.
SE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall a very good experience, a serious company at a fair price.
Despite some issues, we felt they wanted to give us a great experience. The rating is 4 and not 5 because of the logistic stuff mentioned below. The safari in itself was amazing, although that would have probably been the case with other companies as well. To get the highest rating they would need to improve on planning and information disclosure.
The good:
+ The safari was incredible with sightings of the Big 5 and other breathtaking scenes.
+ Our guide Stanley was knowledgeable but not very talkative without us asking the questions. It felt like we grew on him and towards the latter part of the 5-day safari he elaborated a bit more on the topics. He also knew all the parks very well and collaborated with other cars to find the animals.
+ Airport pickup/drop and hotel accommodation before/after the trip was great.
The bad:
- When we came to the hotel (which was also the office of Sayari Tano) we found out they were going to change the order of the park visits and do them “backwards”. This was because we were grouping up with another couple (we had ordered group safari) and the other couple started 2 days before. This was fine for us even though the info came very late. We also asked to be compensated with a half day Masaai tour afterwards which we got. In hindsight, it would probably have been nicer to start with Lake Manyara rather than finish with it (because there are less visible animals there), but this was a very minor issue.
- When arriving at the first camp site, we found out by the sticker on the car that we were actually going with a company called “World Tours & Safaris”. Apparently, they cooperate with other companies but not to tell us this felt very strange.
- When on the actual safari, we stayed in some different camps than those on the itinerary, which didn’t really matter to us because we didn’t know any of them anyway, but again this type of behavior felt very unprofessional. When talking about it afterwards, the management said that the campsites just had different nicknames and that we stayed in the correct ones, but it turned out that this was not true. We probably just followed the itinerary of the other couple travelling together with us.
- Because the park fees are paid per 24 hours, it does create some difficulties for the companies logistically to arrange the “full days” as per itinerary if they need to deviate from the original itinerary plan. Because we needed to drop off the other couple travelling in our car, we lost half a day on day 4 (of 5). We talked with management about this afterwards and they tried to defend themselves, blame the driver as well as the government for charging such high park entry fees, but we ended up getting a 5% refund (after asking for 10%). Before you book, try to ask them to be very specific about time frames to avoid this.
- The chef cooked “western” food for us like pasta etc. The food wasn’t that great and especially the lunches were super dry and tasteless (crackers, white bread, banana etc.). It would have been nicer to have some more authentic food and some love put into it.
- Sleeping bags were not very clean (probably never washed) but this was a very minor issue.
CN
Good company and contact
Edward is excellent, though we never met. He helped arrange all the safaris in Kenya with reasonable price and recommendations.