NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Not as good as Botswana
I was at the Croc Valley Camp at south Luangwa NP.
Good accomodation, most lousy Safari vehicles ever seen. Never felt safe or Comfortable.
DK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Intense safari but poor accomodation
We had booked a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. We were picked up and dropped off in Nairobi. That means a very long drive for about 8 hours each way to get to and from Masai Mara. When we arrived at Masai Mara we were accommodated in a smaller lodge than payed for. It was not what we had ordered, but a lodge of very poor quality. The people at the lodge was extreme kindly and friendly. On the day of arrival we reached a short trip of about 2 hours before the sun went down. Next day we started early and had almost 10 hours of safari. We saw all animals. But it's hard to sit in a car where the bumping is going for hours. Our guide did a great job finding all the animals. The Masai Mara itself is exciting to drive around and it is amazing with the big scene and big flocks of animals. But the trip to and from Nairobi, the poor accommodation and the high price mean that we do not generally can recommend that kind of safari.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing animals and nice accommodation, but poor guide communication and incomplete itinerary
My boyfriend and I did a 3-day safari into the Maasai Mara on a private tour. I chose Beacon Safaris because they were quick to reply to my request for information, thorough in their response, accommodating to my customization for our trip, and reasonably priced within my budget. Overall, we had a nice trip - we saw a ton of animals and stayed in a nice accommodation just outside the park gate. The pop-up van was nice and it was great that it was just my boyfriend, our guide and me. Our guide was nice and did a good job of finding the animals, including a leopard, and getting us close to the animals.
There were a few things that made the trip less enjoyable:
1)We were told during the planning that the van had 4-wheel drive, but it did not. Instead, our guide had another van/guide travel with us and when we got stuck (2-3 times), the other van pulled us out. It was fine, but I would have preferred to have been told the truth up front.
2)We were disappointed with our guide, Eric.
* He had shared that he had just come off a long safari trip prior to ours and appeared to be very tired and trying to do the bare minimum.
* His communication left a lot to be desired - He didn't talk with us much and never discussed our plan for the trip or for each day. This was our first safari and it would have been nice to know what to expect each day (e.g., the overall day plan, how long the game drive would be, when we would be back to camp, when we would stop for lunch, etc.).
* During the safari, he seemed rushed and often didn't stop even though we had asked to stop to watch the animals. He would start driving off without warning and while we were still taking photos or observing the animals. Part of this could have been due to our short safari tour and him feeling rushed to get where we needed to go, but he could have communicated this to us. We were in the dark.
* Our guide was late starting every morning, at least 15 minutes. The second day, we were waiting out front at the meeting time, and he had just walked into the lodge to sit down for breakfast. The third day was a mess in the morning (described in the next point.)
* Our guide did not follow our defined itinerary. Our itinerary dictated early start times, but he attempted to start later than planned which we pushed back on. Our itinerary specifically said we were supposed to have a game drive in the early morning on the third day and then a visit to the Maasai village before heading back to Nairobi; however, we were told by our guide that we could do one or the other. Although, from the first day, our guide suggested we do the village tour on the first evening instead of on the last day so he could get back to Nairobi earlier on the last day, leading us to believe that he had never planned to do the drive the last day which was agreed during the trip planning. We disagreed and told him we wanted to stick to the itinerary. I had attempted to get the itinerary from my tent to show him what was agreed, but when I came back to the lodge, he was gone and there was no way to get a hold of him (he wasn't staying at the lodge).
On the third day, he told us to do the village tour in the morning and he would pick us up at 7:30 AM. He did not show up. We waited for 30-minutes before the hotel offered to call him, only to learn that he had intended for us to walk to the village without him, but this was never communicated. Our guide said the village tour was supposed to be 2-hours, but it was barely one hour. When we met up with our guide at 9 AM, he told us it was too late to do the game drive, he had never looked at our itinerary and didn't remember we were supposed to have a game drive. However, early in the trip he had been pushing us to get back to Nairobi as soon as possible on the last day.
Through this experience, we learned that the guide can make or break the experience and you don't always know who you are going to get. We also learned from a later safari (with a different company) that a lot of the safari company's hire independent contractors as guides. I recommend proactively reviewing the itinerary with the guide from the start and sticking to the plan.
Despite the shortcomings, we really enjoyed our experience and time in the Maasai. The abundance of animal life was incredible!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Caution to travelers considering Amazing Memories Safaris
Our 15 day safari tour was met with 3 days of frustration when the upgraded hotel accommodations we had contracted were not paid for in a timely manner. We contracted for all services in January 2018, made the $4K deposit and paid the balance prior to our departure from the USA as the Contract required.
It was not until the night before we were to arrive at the Mara Serena that we were told by AMS that the hotel had over-booked and our reservation was not available. We did find out from the hotel manager that AMS had been contacted for payment due, and when it was not received they released our reservation. The same situation for our reservation at the Ngorongoro Serena.
We feel AMS broke our Contract by not paying for our hotel reservations in a timely manner and not providing the accommodations in our Contract.
FYI - these tour companies must pay upfront for hotel reservations. Our advice if you plan to use this tour group, demand that before you leave home you have Vouchers for all hotels in your possession. This is your guarantee the reservations have been paid for and will be there when you arrive.
We also coordinated a visit to Zanzibar for 3 days to relax at the beach, following the safari. AMS did a good job scheduling the airlines and driver for pick up. AMS recommended The Sands on the east side of the island. There is a floor of coral and sea urchins at the shoreline, so this is not a beach you can run out in bare feet and swim. It is a good choice if you just want to relax at a quiet location with lounge chairs and covers from the sun provided on the beach at no additional cost.
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He was friendly and told a lot about the country and the people.
The campsite was on an island, it was excellent: half-tent-half-house accomodation, campfire in the evening and some wine:) The "room" was also more than okay, better than expected (from an island without any electricity). Both David the operator and the staff were nice, I cannot say a wrong word to them. The reason why I rated to average comes from 2 reasons: according to the description "Travelling time from Lusaka to Camp takes approximately 4 hrs 30min to 5 hrs." while it was rather 6-7 hours (not counting the switch of the flat tire); so practically almost 1+1 days spent with just being on road. The other was that we almost did not see any wild animal (at the very end luckily we caught a leopard). Though I know it's rather an question of luck and for that the safari crew is not to blame, but still it was then bit of a disappointment.
SG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Satisfied with all arrangements except food
I will recommend this tour operator. Maintain / improve the safari car for best guest use.
LK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Masai Mara National Reserve by Rajiva Wijesinha
Fascinating to be there and the animals were all present, but not so easy to see given the size and also the sad state of our vehicle. The driver was young and followed the herds, so we missed out on cheetahs and rhinos, but still we did see a great deal in the short time we had.
LK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Hell's Gate National Park by Rajiva Wijesinha
The scenery was unusual and we had a wonderful walk in the gorge, to the Devil's bedroom.
LK
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very pleasant and I am glad that Safai Bookings gave me a wide choice of programmes and prices.
I travelled with Lenchada which offered a varied tour at a very reasonable cost, including all transportation, accommodation and food. We had a full day, plus an evening and a morning, in Masai Mara, and long mornings at Lake Nakuru and Hell's Gate Reserves. I also had a delightful boat ride on Lake Naivasha.
Rhino Camp just outside Masai Mara was a delight, and young Pixie set up a campfire early to relax before dinner. The other two lodges were also comfortable, and the food good though the general menu was very much the same everywhere.
The only drawback was a terrible vehicle for the first two days, and an inexperienced driver which made it worse, though we still saw lots of lions and elephant and giraffe. And Joshua who took over with another van for Lake Nakuru was excellent. And the flamingoes there were fantastic, as were the plentiful white rhinos.
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good experience thanks to the driver and guides, poor concerning the organisation and camp
Our experience with Bushbaby call has generally been good thanks to the wonderful guide driver Messe who knows perfectly the parks and tracks to follow near the animals, thanks to him who was for us a permanent ray of sunshine, always at the listen, kind and interesting, we will never forget the wonderful moments spent with him. The other two people who looked after us were also perfect and the cook was very knowledgeable.
On the other hand, there is much to complain about the organization of the trip. We took the BBC taxi, he drove us to the border, we were cared for by a charming young woman who had to make the connection with cars and staff, we waited in vain for the boat to the meal and the cruise that never came to get us, we had thanks to the young woman was able to embark on another boat that hosted us and gave us a very pleasant time and we shared the meal of tourists on board . On our return we waited a long time for the cars
The camp proposed was summary, one of the beds could not be used because dangerous (part had been forgotten) one could say "Wild camp" whereas we had reserved in comfortable lodges and that the person in charge of BBC had told us we provide the equivalent. Fortunately we kept one of them which allowed us to sleep well, restore and wash ... a real pleasure in Mogothlo that we had paid before and accomodations for our guide. On the other hand, we had no problem rectifying the bill which included an undue performance and we spent a wonderful day in mokoro with our friends ...
We had left a tip for the mokoro staff that was not paid to the recipients when the tour took place, so we poured it a second time ...
I think that BBC is an agency that has to make a lot of progress to offer the best services and that the staff that accompanies the tourists has been perfect for us.