US
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Went on the walking safari and did not get to a nice advertized spots.
During the walking safari in September be prepared for a hot day. Nice cliffs, not too much animals. Great guide Sophie.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Medium
we did a 6 day private safari from Nairobi to Mombasa (Masai Mara-Lake Naivasha-Amboseli-Tsavo). The safari was amazing and very beautiful. However I want to point out that we slept every night in a different place than those indicated on the agency's website (without having been notifed before) and the guide we had was only a driver, because he didn't explain anything to us during the safari, he only showed us where the animals were.
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Tsavo East National Park by Momi Giampaolo
Not many animals
IT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Nice place for safari but stay away from beaches!
Had a nice experience overall, safari was decent organized: we liked almost everything but lunch box were very poor with cold chicken, driver was nice (he only would have to explain a bit more once we are experiencing the safari).
We had a problem with one of our transfers from Mombasa to Nairobi (was supposed to be by first cass train and it was paid 10 months in advance to Silas) but the day before we had to buy a flight ticket by ourselves just to avoid to join a 10 hour bus! By the way Silas recognized us some money back.
The rest of the organization was just perfect!
We really appreciate the animals and the experience, the structures we stayed, we only think that kenyan people are not a very welcoming (I am not saying they are not polite!!) ….. most of them are just doing their job to get money without any kind of care or love…. we experienced some (just 4/5) of them which really liked their job, and it was very clear: they were just adorable!!!
Now the very bad thing about the coastline: ladies and gentlemen get ready to be constantly bothered by people for every kind of thing… the just try to make you pay for something, also to walk behind you just to make sure their friends won’t bother you while walking on the beach!
The beach in Watamu was full of plastic, it was everywhere!!!!! That’s unacceptable!
Outside of the hotel (we stayed in Watamu and Diani Beach) is just a mess: people driving like crazy, roads are destroyed, people constantly try to approach you for some money or trying to sell something, very very disappointing and stressful.
Our vacation was ruined by people who live there, the same people that prefer bother tourists than find a job and try to make their country a welcoming destination!
We got back with one big certain: WE WILL NOT BE BACK IN KENYA ANYMORE!
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
happy with the whole experience, except for handover at the end which was very poor
We were happy with the pick-up arrangements, although our contact was late arriving at the airport and the vehicle was good (there were a few minor problems but given that we were travelling on bumpy, gravel roads this is fair enough). The accommodation ranged from good to excellent and the country itself is really spectacular.
However, the handback at the end was dreadful. I had a lot to do in Windhoek, including looking after a young child. The handback time was delayed which necessitated me hanging around my hotel and, when someone eventually turned up there was no apology for the inconvenience I has been caused. The representative then tried to charge me an exorbitant sum for not returning with a full tank (fortunately I had photographed the fuel gauge at the start of the trip which showed it had been handed over half-full). As the full gauge showed 60km less than we had started she then tried again to charge me an exorbitant amount to make up the balance (I went to a petrol station and filled up with for 25% of the price she wanted). Given the very large amount of money I had spent with the company and the generally positive experience we'd had, this was a very poor way to end the trip . We will return to Namibia but not with Secret Namibia
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Mixed experience - really depends on your guide
I have to give a bit of a mixed review. I was on a group 4-day safari in Maasai Mara and Nakuru, which I booked specifically because it had good reviews.
For the first half of the trip, I had an amazing experience. My guide was Sir Charles and he gave us a lot of information about what we were seeing, scouted out where animals may be, and tried to get us the best views of everything. I think you really couldn't ask for more in a guide and the park itself really exceeded my expectations. I think we saw pretty much everything except a leopard and I had a lot of fun as well.
After Maasai Mara, I was the only one from the group not going back to Nairobi, so I was passed to another guide for the end of my trip in Nakuru. The other guide (Andrew) unfortunately did not seem to care much. He didn't give us any information and when we asked questions, only gave one-word answers. He was not looking for animals. If we wanted to see something, we had to spot it ourselves and then yell for him to stop. He also did not have water, which was supposed to be provided. He generally seemed to not care about our experience and the entire group was pretty upset. Still very cool to see rhinos and such, but it put a bit of a damper on the experience.
Overall, I think your experience really depends a lot on your guide, and it seems you have no control over this. I guess all these small companies are beneath one larger umbrella company and they pass customers around from vehicle to vehicle based on where each car is going. Overall, Maasai Mara is amazing, but I wish there was a bit more transparency about what we booked and who we would be with.
DE
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Dallago is good, but there is missing good knowledge about the location of the lodges
In the first step, Dallago was very efficient and good at organising the tour according to our wishes and locations. We were happy with the lodges they offered us. After we had made the first 30% payment for the safari, they came to the conclusion that two of the proposed lodges were fully booked. Dallago asked us to agree to change our booking to alternative lodges. We questioned the lodges as they were in different locations, but they assured us of the same conditions and we trusted them. However, one of the changes from Mara Serena Lodge to Mara Elatia Lodge was really not good because Mara Serena Lodge is inside the park and we could have started the game drive from the lodge, whereas Mara Elatia Lodge was very far from the park. So we had to drive 2 hours on a very bumpy and bad road to get there. We felt a bit betrayed. Some of the times given on our invoice also did not reflect reality, like one of our internal flights where the estimated time for the shuttle to the airstrip was very underestimated and we hardly had time for breakfast. We also had a bit stress with the payment of the remaining 70 % of the bill, because this bill only arrived to us after we requested it three weeks before our holydays started. Despite all these problems, with a good and experienced guide (David) we had a good safari and managed to see a lot of animals (the big five and all the big cats).
KR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Not bad, but can improve
Here is the review of our 7 day safari tour with Super Eagles
1. Communication
- Charity was very helpful both before and after the tour. She managed to answer all questions I had regarding the tour and was very accommodating for every request. We had to modify our tour plans several times before departure but it was arranged with no difficulty.
2. Driver
- Our driver John was one of the best driver I've met in Kenya. He drove safely from one location to another. He also helped our team find lost bag on the way.
3. Overall organization
- Unfortunately, overall organization of the tour did not meet our expectation. Here are the reasons
: We booked for a private tour and paid extra money. But it was only on the departure day that we realized they put us with 2 other strangers in a small tour van. We complained but the operator initially tried to put us with them and refund the extra money instead of arranging a private tour for us. We insisted and was put on a private tour at the end though it delayed 1 or 2 hours.
: We were also told on our departure day that the hot air balloon tour which we were supposed to do was not confirmed. I had hard time understanding the situation, for we booked the tour few months in advance which gave operator enough time.
: It was only when we arrived at Amboseli National Park that the accommodation we were supposed to be at was overbooked and that we had to be relocated to a different hotel in town, which was about half an hour away. It could have been communicated earlier. Also the new inn the operator tried to put us in was completely different from what we expected. We insisted to go for another one and was arranged accordingly.
4. Conclusion
- This was a budget safari. If we were to expect a perfect tour, we should have go for luxury so I think it was of good value for money.
- However, there are always rooms for improvement. I sincerely wish that these reviews be taken into consideration so that the operator provide more pleasant, memorable safaris in the future.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Responsive
I dealt with Paul and he was very responsive. I booked quite late (1 month) and so struggled with accommodation options. I asked for guidance between somewhere outside the mara or inside (the Lorian camp- somewhere I had found on google) and he has suggested that the one I found may be better in terms of luxury and being inside the mara and getting an extra game drive in the morning as we were travelling out. Unfortunately the camp was basic and the extra game drive did not happen as that camp was so far from the gate and you have to keep the windows up, we had to rush out without seeing a thing. I fed back our disappointment to Paul and he took this well. Overall Paul and the driver were very reliable and had excellent communication.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Uganda has terrible road structure, but wonderful wildlife and people.
Uganda is a beautiful country with wonderful people and amazing wildlife. What I did not enjoy was our car ride from the airport in Entebbe to Bwindi National Forest. It took 10 hours because their roads are in terrible shape, two-lane highways through small towns all the way. The distance we traveled would take 4 hours on roads from the US. But because they don’t have the infrastructure we do, it took 10 hours.