NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience
We got to see almost all possible animals. Accomodation was ok. The safari guide was not very good in english, and he did not know how to drive a car with manuel gearing
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Did work out at the end !
The company may be a good tour company but certainly can’t carter to luxury travellers. The communication was nonexistent but most things happened as they our itinerary stipulated. Safaris’s experience was rushed for later part of the trip but that’s because of wrong flights booked and so on.
RU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tried to reduce our time for game drives
We did 2-days safari to Amboseli with our guide Eric. All was good - Eric took us to Amboseli from Nairobi very fast, then was a lunch in a very beautiful Kibo camp. First game drive was in the evening and we saw a lot of animals against the setting sun. But in Amboseli there are not a lot of lions and cheetah so if you see them there would be a looot of other cars (compared to Masai Mara). Eric chose different routes so we saw a big part of Amboseli park.
But at the end of our morning game drive when we had just passed the gate of Amboseli park was an accident. We had noticed that our morning game was started at 7:30 instead of 6:30, and it was ended at 10:00 instead of 11:00. Yesterday there was the same thing - we depart to our evening game at 16:00 instead of 15:30. Eric showed us that he had different plan with other departure times but it is so strange that it's difficult to understand is it an accident or the organisers specially reduced our time and hoped that we are not noticed that.
After that Eric offered to us to go somewhere in Nairobi for that 2 hours but it wasn't satisfied us. The problem is that we had a one enter ticket for a day to Amboseli park and we couldn't go back by no charge (another one ticket to Amboseli cost 120$). Then we paid additional 20$ to enter Amboseli again for that 2 hours.
The safari was really good so as our guide. But on vacation we wanted to relax but if you relax you may be tricked.
NZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wouldn't use this company again
We were picked up 2 hours late as the owner hadn't communicated the correct pick up date to our driver. The first nights accommodation was absolutely disgraceful. Our driver only spoke when spoken to! He didnt interact with us at all. He was however good at driving and got us where we needed to go. Also at our last camp we discovered the owner hadn't even paid for the camp, poor form.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amboseli and Tsavo Safari
This Safari was fine. We had no problems with the booking process or whilst on Safari, despite being slightly sceptical due to a few bad reviews. Our driver/ guide was nice, but we would have liked him to interact with us more, giving us more information about the itinerary for the day and the animals that we saw.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
The promised itinerary was not delivered - adding hundreds of dollars to our cost
The guide/driver was very good – he deserves a rating of 5. But the company is not to be trusted - I would give it a zero but am giving a 3 overall because of the guide. Without notice, the company dropped a visit to a national park from our safari – which was listed as included in our final itinerary. At great expense to ourselves, we did visit the park - paying the park entry fees and the guide’s services – rather than spend the day stuck in the hotel, which was the only alternative. The company admitted it had made a mistake in our itinerary but refused to take responsibility for it. They had our money, they no longer cared. The cost of such a safari is already high enough – and we were then left out of pocket an extra several hundred dollars. I would NOT recommend booking with this company.
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.