MX
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great guides but little support from management during Safari
I have mixed feelings regarding Wildebeest Safaris. The first part of the trip was absolutely perfect, communication with Noah and Samuel at the beginning was very good but sadly everything changed towards the end.
Our trip started in Kenya where we met Jeff, our first safari guide. Jeff is the absolute BEST! He ensured we could see all the animals we wanted, he was very caring, funny and made sure we were having a good time at all times. He took us from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru and then to Masai Mara, accommodations in both places were amazing, they felt very luxurious and staff was very helpful and friendly.
From Masai Mara we went to Serengeti where we met Hamza, our 2nd driver and guide. Hamza was great, he is very experienced and knows A LOT about animals, plus, he knows great spots for photos ;) Both Jeff and Hamza drove 4x4 Land Cruisers, perfect vehicles for safari.
The issues started in Tanzania. One day before reaching Serengeti, the agency contacted us to inform that they had made the booking on the wrong dates so we didn't have valid accommodations anymore. Luckily we are not the kind of people who freak out and only asked for reservations at similar lodges, however, I do have to say that this was an unexpected situation and it was a bit stressful since they noticed only a day before! In the end they fixed it and booked alternative camps for us but one of them didn't have basic facilities like hot water.
From Serengeti we drove to Ngorongoro Crater and then back to Kenya's border to go to Amboseli. When we crossed the border, our 4X4 Land Cruiser was changed to a Mini Van, this was more than a huge disappointment because this type of vehicle is not made for safari, nor the roads in Kenya/Tanzania (way too bumpy + fishtailing when going at more than 20km/h, hence you have to go really slow and takes double the time to cover the same distance), most importantly is that is not the car Noah promised on the very first email he sent me. Our 3rd driver (Peter) tried to contact Noah to find a solution to this problem but we had no luck, he never answered. I also tried contacting Noah and Samuel by email... and we also didn't get any response, we were just ignored (up to date we haven't received any sort of explanation). We had to stick to the Mini Van the last two days of the safari and it became so uncomfortable that we decided no to go on a safari drive the last day.
It's a pity that a trip that started so well and that could have been rated a full 5-star was just thrown away because of poor management at the end.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Use to be fantastic for wildlife, now saturated with noisy disrespectful tourists vehicles
I first came to the Masai Mara 13 years ago, where it hooked me for life on wildlife and photography. Subsequent visits over the years, this was the forth, has shown a continuing decline in wildlife and a explosive increase of vehicles and the type of tourist that has little or no respect for the animals or landscape. Every spotting was swamped in minutes and upwards of 40 vehicles corralling the animal. Stressed animals, disrupted hunts and animals forced off rest-ups where common, and the norm. I would be surprised if you saw a hunt these days by any of the much rarer cheetah or leopard.
Parts of the reserve now seem devoid of wildlife, Rhino Ridge, Paradise Plains, Talek river, this was strange to us as these areas have always been good for wildlife. This could be seasonal but our guide, very experienced and many years in the Mara as a guide, indicated that it was rare to bother going over to these areas now unless a migration crossing was happening. So it sounds liked something else is happening to the wildlife. He indicated that a lot of resident wildlife is heading to the surrounding conservancies for a more peaceful life.
The lion population is still very good. Lions being lions spend most of the time sleeping so easier to find, although again if they had cubs they tended to hide much deeper in the bush.
The landscape is still beautiful and with the right timing you can get a vista without the ubiquitous white top safari van marring the view (why can't these trucks be in muted colors that blend?)
One of most my most loved parts of Africa seems to have become a victim of its own success, hopefully more controlled access and a cap on new developments will be implemented soon.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Rwanda by Genevieve
I only went on one game drive in Rwanda, but it was not such a good experience.
I think Rwanda is most known for Gorilla Trekking, which is probably a better option than going on a game drive.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Pretty good, but not excellent
I selected Benson Safaris because i was looking for a local safari guide vs. using the ones affiliated with the US. i thought that they would be more economical. I asked a friend what he used, and he told me it was Benson Safaris. I selected the Luxery tent and lodge and i thought the price was better than if i had selected the one from the US. I give positive stars for all the good things they did. Pendo was quick to respond, which i liked. The positive stars are for all the things that they did good, as one would hope for. I'm cutting off some stars because I had indicated I was very interested in the Great Migration. I had actually wanted to see the river crossing,but i guess i didn't spell that out. When my friend told me he used Benson Safari, I went directly to their website. Their website does not have an option for choosing the Northern Serengeti Trail where i found out that was where I would see the River crossing. I only found out after the tour that option was available in this Safaribookings.com. I think that its silly not to have that option in their own website, which was where I went to directly. Otherwise I would have gone to Northern Serengeti to see the river crossing, which i really wanted to.
I also wasnt happy that after I made selections on the lodges, after making payment, i am told that they are booked, and i have to pick alternate lodges. The alternate lodges were good; but their locations were not as good as the original ones. And only after i reached Africa did that dawn on me. Location, location, location. For example, I had been told reservations were going to be made for Kubu Kubu; but after payment, i was told that place was booked, so i would be reserved for Lahia Tented lodge. It was under the same ownership, and the quality looked the same, so i said ok. Only during the tour did i realize Kubu Kubu was in Central Serengeti, which was where most of the big cats were. We lost a lot of time driving to Lahia. I was quite disappointed that we did not get to see much of Central Serengeti. My children had really wanted to see leopards and cheetahs. We saw one leopard. We did see a lot of lions (but that was mostly in Ngorongoro). Our jeep broke down in Serengeti too + got stuck in the mud. But i won't make much of an issue of that, because that was just bad luck. I liked our guide and the owner and the staff, but I wasnt able to get the experience i was looking for.
I went with my wife and 2 kids (9 yrs and 6 years). We were given double rooms but they were huge. Like I indicated above, we booked luxury lodges. Each room were huge. We only used one room.
The following is not really a review of the safari guide, but of the optional package selected. I had also gone to Oldovai Gorge, but I don't think it was worth the money. Also, it took away time. Also night time safari in Lake Manyara, didn't really think it was that great. We saw a hippo, some birds, a chameleon, some monkeys, but nothing great like a lion, etc. Even the day in Lake Manyara wasn't great. Didn't see any lions in mountains, etc.
My main disappointment is that due to the website, I didn't go to see the river crossing even though I had said I was interested in the great migration. And the time in Central Serengeti got limited due to various reasons, and therefore my kids didn't get to see leopards and cheetahs. One leopard. No rhino. I had gone to Tarangire Park, Lake Manyara Park, Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
But I did give positive stars for quick communication; wanting to do the best; getting to see lots of lions in Ngorongoro crater; lots of elephants, and zebras, and wildebeests, and other animals.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Alexia Claudel
Guid not in the mood , we did all in a rush. Couldn’t stop to take pictures.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Alexia Claudel
Crater was nice but since we got a 2,5 hours late because they just hired a last minute free lance guide that was not aware of his mission.we did not went to olduvai i had to stuggle for the refund but i got it.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lovely Safari but not very happy with the Right Choice Tours!
Overall, the safari was good. spotted many animals in the wild. Once in a lifetime experience.
Tour Guide
Punctual, enthusiastic to show us animals in the wild but
a) he was almost all the time on his phone
b) he hardly explains anything about the places we are passing by
Tour Operator
he seemed responsive and professional. However, he changed a few things in our itinerary without informing us until we landed in Kenya. The worst was he changed the hotel he promised he would get us a reservation in and the one he booked was horrible. It was a nightmare.
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good bookings and tour guides but need to be more professional
We booked our first African safari with Wildebeest. Noah and Samuel were the point of contacts. They are very knowledgeable on the safaris and hotels. Kamande our safari guide was extremely cordial and experienced. We had a very good safari viewing. Kamande ensured that we were able to see all the animals and really put effort that we got the best views. However I feel the team can be more forthcoming. Our trip was fantastic because we had literally done all the research ourselves, right from the day wise plan on basis of what we saw on different websites. Wildebeest mostly helped us with the hotel and safari booking deals. They weren't very forthcoming on recommending what is best for us- many times I had to ask them multiple times if they, as locals, thought this was the best way to do the tour. We spent an entire day at Naivasha not knowing that the tour gets over in an hour!
We had asked the team to do our bookings for Mombasa as well, and they misplaced our train bookings which meant we lost almost an entire day waiting to travel (since there are only 2 trains everyday). I think they could have been more helpful on that. So I would recommend you go with them only if you are absolutely sure of what you want. Don't rely on them to guide you
TW
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall, it was a good safari experience!
We had a 7-day journey in Kenya, including 6 days on a safari tour.
First, let me share why we'd chosen Bluerange Connect Limited as our safari tour operator. After we had been victims of Mr. Otieno's fraud (Kenya Walking Survivors Safari company), we were looking for a reliable tour operator. It was our priority. At that time, Bluerange Connect Limited had a private tour we could afford since we decided to have a private tour vs a group tour. Plus, they could make adjustments to our itinerary and the price negotiations went smoothly and fairly. Secondly, Willis (the founder, I guess) responses were clear and in a professional way. Thirdly, it's easy to check the company's background. They combine safari tours with logistics which gives you the idea that the company has another source of revenue. If reliability and safety is your priority, IMO I think they're a very good choice.
Our first 3 days had lots of fulfillment in terms of sightseeing and game drives and it was full-day itinerary (until the dinner time: 5-6 pm). The rest of safari days were just ‘half days’; everything was over around 2 pm. Most of the times, we just stayed in our hotel. I suggest everyone who’s traveling to Kenya to confirm the details about every single day of their itinerary including the time when their drivers are off. That way at least you’ll know that you’d have to spend your whole afternoon in a camp, hotel or somewhere in a nearby town (which is better to do accompanied by a hotel employee.)
On the very first days, I’d noticed some contradictions between what the itinerary price included and for what we actually had to pay. For example, on the first day, we had a city tour and the itinerary price included all three meals; breakfast, lunch, and dinner but we paid for those ourselves. Also, according to our itinerary, on the second day, the visit to Masai Mara village was included in the overall price of the tour and I took a screenshot of that fact in order to inform the office about that. We got a phone call with apologies about the confusion but we had to pay for the visit ourselves. I suggest anyone who’s going to have a safari tour confirm this kind of payments with tour operators beforehand. And for tour operators, they should put more effort to avoid this kind of contradictions as it doesn't give an impression of professionalism.
On our fourth day, we’d suddenly learned from our driver-guide that they were changing him and the vehicle. He said that the company scheduled the vehicle inspection for tomorrow so he had to go back to Nairobi. We found that weird because that meant that the company didn’t know he was on the safari with us? And so we asked this question and he couldn’t explain anything as he was a freelance driver-guide. We were quite upset because
not only the guide was changed but also the hatch top van was gone which meant we could not do proper drive games. The office neither informed us in person; nor they brought any apologies. So I’d suggest safari travelers to avoid this kind of situation by making sure that the company you’re traveling with.
As our new driver-guide arrived we asked him if he had water for us. He said he didn’t have any water for us as the office didn’t wire money yet but they were going to do so. When we asked when (because we were thirsty and the water in the hotel was sold like 4 times more expensive) we were told to go to our room and wait for it. As we thought the water would arrive in several hours or so we decided not to walk to the town to buy some in a supermarket. We were waiting and waiting until dinner when we saw our driver-guide who told us that he didn’t buy water because the office didn’t wire him money yet. So we had to buy our water from the hotel as it was already late to walk to the town. This is one more perfect example of bad organizing and service.
On a positive note, overall, it was an unforgettable experience as a safari traveler. I hope my review is useful somehow. Thanks for reading it. Cheers!
RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Satisfactory budget safari with some negative moments
We (3 persons) took the 9-day Kenya and Tanzania safari in June-August 2019. The safari consisted of 2 parts organized by different tour operations: Masai Mara/Kenya part (organized by Baboon Budget Safaris) and Tanzania part (organized by 7 Wonders Safaris). Between these 2 parts we spent 1 night at a hotel in Nairobi (booked by ourselves)
As for the Safari, we were overall satisfied with its organization considering the value-for-money component. Game drives in Masai Mara National Park (Kenya) and Ngorongoro crater (Tanzania) turned out to be just awesome (saw lots of lions and other animals very close and enjoyed magnificent lanscapes). At the same time, we were regularly facing challenges and unpleasant surprises ruining the enjoyment of our vacation.
What we liked particularly (in addition to awesome game drives in Masai Mara and Ngorongoro) includes the following:
- Cooked food in the camps and particularly prepared by a chef at Seronera/Simba campsites (in Serengeti and Ngorongoro respectively). Simple, but always diverse and delicious food with completely no cases of stomach upsets (which is important in Africa)
- Responsiveness of the company manager (Solomon) and flexibility/ the way, how the problems were solved. As mentioned before, we were regularly facing challenges and unpleasant surprises during our journey (some of them even not related to the safari itself). For example, our flight to Nairobi was shifted by Kenya Airways to different time just several hours before departure (with the arrival in Nairobi later then initially planned). Another issue was the attempt of 7 Wonders Safaris to bring us for overnight stay to some camp at Lake Manyara instead of initially agreed hotel in Arusha at the last day of safari (it was inconvenient for us to stay at that cmap considering our flight next afternoon from Arusha to Nairobi and one of our luggage bags left in that hotel in Arusha). In all the cases we called Solomon - he always responded immediately, was very friendly and professional in communication. But, what is even more important - we always got all of our problems solved in an efficient way.
- Hotel in Arusha and camp at Manyara lake (Sunbright camp). Very nice accommodation options for a budget safari. Hotel in Arusha was a very clean and comfortable 3-star hotel. Sunbright camp had a swimming pool and rooms with key lockable doors and en-suite facilities (just like in lodges)
- Friendliness of all drivers/ guides
What we particularly disliked includes the following:
- Seronera campsite in Serengeti park. A complete disaster - one of the worst accommodation options that I've ever experienced in my whole life (even as compared to similar format Simba campsite in Ngorongoro crater park). Contains small tents on a dusty ground, ugly kitchen/dining hall building with no windows and doors and a toilet building located relatively far away from the tents and completely no light at night. Wild animals all around (including buffalos) with no fence protection (with a hyena entering the dining hall during our dinner). No possibility to go to toilet at night (because of completely no light in a toilet building and screams of wild animals all around). In Seronera camp we (3 persons) were initially offered a very small tent for altogether (obviously designed for maximum 2 persons). In took me almost an hour of persuasion attempts (with scandalous behavior later) and lots of nerves to get ultimately offered an additional tent.
- Serengeti National Park itself. Actually it is the same park as Masai Mara (just its southern part). With more deserted landscapes and much less vegetation, however. And almost no animals. This is primarily due to seasonality issue - in early August the majority of animals from Serengeti are in Masai Mara. Considering very long and uncomfortable driving to Serengeti from Lake Manyara (we had to breathe in the dust for almost 2 hours during the last part of our long journey). The game drive in the morning took 6 hours of non-stop driving, permanent dust exposure and almost no animals seen (we had an impression that the guide was trying to drive us through the same circular route multiple times to show all the same animals to make visibility of diversity). Probably, Serengeti is worth visiting, but definitely not in August!
- Miti Mingi camp in Masai Mara. Initially this camp shocked us in a negative way (not very clean, dark and uncomfortable tents, electricity shutdowns at nights). Later (after experiencing Seronera campsite in Serengeti park) we came to conclusion that Miti Mingi camp was not so bad. At least the tents are relatively big, contain large comfortable beds and en-suite facilities. The issue, however, is that if you are travelling alone, you definitely be asked to share the tent with somebody unfamiliar to you. We were lucky as we shared the triple tent altogether.
- Packed lunches. They were the same all the time and not very tasty (included cold chicken, sandwich and juice). Once (in Masai Mara National park) we were stopped to eat our lunch in a very unpleasant location (having to sit on the ground, keep the multiple flies away from face and watch large baboons quarrying in the garbage heap). All other lunch stop locations turned out to be much better (at least equipped with tables and chairs).
- Road from Nairobi to Masai Mara camp (and particularly the road back). The 100-km road segment from Narok to Masai Mara is one of the worst road sections I've ever seen. Extremely bumpy. The way back to Nairobi took us 8 hours instead of 5-6 expected (because of the massive rain the day before). We got so tired that ultimately decided to buy return air tickets from Narobi to Arusha for the next day (and for the very last day) to escape another 2 days of long and uncomfortable driving.