HU
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Helpful, always available.
The first day's game drive was missed. The camp is well equipped.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Overall Satisfactory
Though we were overall satisfied with the trip, there's room for improvements.
First of all, we paid higher amount for a big jeep as per quote. On the night we arrived, the van had no A/C. We had the same van next day.
We got a different van on the 2nd day of trip with A/C. After a delay in start, we were made aware of things beyond their control and a jeep was there on the fourth day but it was a very small jeep. We both being photographers, when the top was open, it was hard to stand without slamming our entire body onto each other and the window were too small to maneuver the cameras; unable to get the wanted shots. Our luggage and other things were on the back seats. The small jeep was too crummy to move around.
Frank took great interest in showing us the animals particularly elands and other rare monkeys. We gained a wealth of knowledge about Uganda.
There were things that we wish were taken care of just like other drivers. We are seasoned travelers and have seen the drivers/guides who clean windows, floors, remove garbage on daily basis, wait on the customers every single time. These are minor things yet make a difference when the new day comes to enter a clean jeep. The most important factor for any safari traveller especially a photographer is to capture good images and make videos capturing the essence of the sounds which give life to that particular situation. In our case, 95% of the time, we have videos with the driver's voice as he was on the phone all the time. After telling him in passing, I had to tell him straight on the very last day in a nice way telling that I would like the video to have just the forest sound and it is the last day. Other than that which is a major issue with video recordings, I should say that we were happy with the arrangement of the tour. We were recommended to this site by travelers we met in our other travels. This means people are happy with this company. I have already given much recommendations to many fellow travelers, shared the site info and Mr. Araali's name, our contact representative. He always replied to all my emails with all the questions answered. There are some travelers who are eager to contact this agency. Having said that, I will use this agency again if I come back to Uganda.
Small things can be rectified. Humans can change and Life goes on.
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65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
GREAT EXPERIENCE
Our tour operator was TOUR RADAR but very lucky to be directly in touch with an agent of MZANSI EXPERIENCE very very helpful for all special questions.
5-Day Okavango Delta Moremi Reserve Experience that was a great experience
In September this year was very dry and hot. Lucky that we did fly over Okavango to see the remaining of water and the traces of the real flow.
A real sportive vacation. Waking up early driving a lot.
The experience with the Mokoro was nice as long we were paddling but terrible for the walk in the desert in full sun at midday seeing only skeletons for tourists. Nonsense
Boteti lodge superb choice of a tented camp
What we will not forget of our Botswana trip is the staff, the people who were so kind so helpful and so concerned to show the best of their living.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Carol was very informative and at our services the entire trip!
Our trip was amazing. Although, we only spent 5 days between Kenya and Zanzibar, it was still a life changing & bucket list experience! We had seen the “Big 5” by day two of our safari. We swam with turtles in Zanzibar, Dolphin watched & went to Starfish Island. All amazing experiences! The staff was at our leisure & the safari’s & tours were beautiful. The only reason I give 4 stars is for three reasons. One, as beautiful and amazing as this was, it is pricey for the average person. Two, we had a slight hiccup with our return flight to Nairobi from Zanzibar. Make sure to double check all of your air plane tickets to verify the names of your party match your passport EXACTLY as these countries do not leave room for misspellings. Thirdly, I do not recommend flying with Precision Air out of Zanzibar. They delayed us for TWO HOURS for our flight to Nairobi & because of this, we almost missed our flight from Nairobi back to the USA. The third portion of this review was definitely out of Carol’s hands so we do NOT fault her for this but again, I HIGHLY suggest to ask to use a different airline if that airline remains an option. Overall, we would book with Carol again when and if we plan to come back to Kenya. Thank you so much Carol. Us having sn amazing time is an understatement.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Overall we had good safari time
We had a 8-day Safari trip in Kenya,organized by William,who had years of experience in operating.In general,we had good time in Amboseli NP and Masai Mara NR.We saw cheetah hunting and zebra crossing Mara River then got eaten by the crocodile.The accomdation in these two areas(Kibo Safari Camp&Osero Camp) are well located with delicious food and good service.
But there are two points I'm not satisfied with.
1.I made deposit payment on July 3(travel date is Sept 3-10).At middle Aug,William said that due to Kenya government policy,VAT hike by 16% so he need to adjust price.We need to pay extra USD300 each person.I checked with some other Madukha's guests and they didn't face price change.This is really annoying but we have no time to find other agency at that time point,we can only accept.
2.The accomdation at Naivasha is always marked as "Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort" at the itinerary during the whole process.At early Aug I also ask William are accomdations all confirmed and won't be changed.His answer is yes.But at last we were arranged to "Lake Naivasha Resort".I was very angry and William explained that staff make mistake when booking hotels and refund the price gap. (BTW "Lake Naivasha Resort"is more like a conference hotel,guests are loacl businessman/businesswomen.There are no more than 10 guests at dinner and breakfast....)
So I don't know whether I should recommend this agency or not.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money
This is an excellent package especially for those who are on budget. We upgraded the hotels as we found the the original ones too basic. Our safari started at Masai Mara and we very luckily got to see lions late evenings on arrival. the driver was excellent and kept in contact with other drivers so that if they spotted animals in one part of the park they communicated and would drive you over to see them. This way we got to see most of the wildlife. We didn't see many lions as we were expecting but I guess they come out of hiding in their own time. We got to see the Rhino at Lake Nakuru which fulfilled our dream of sighting of the "Big Five". the Rhino was the only animal we didn't see at MM. Lake Naivasha and Hells Gate were not exciting as we got to see the same animals we had already seen at MM and Lake Nakuru, however cycling thru was fun. The jewel in the crown was Amboseli where we saw lots and lots of elephants. the only disappointment was we did not see the lions but this was due to the van driver.
Overall Bluerange package is fantastic and the team go way and above to make the safari fulfilling. We got picked at the airport on arrival and driven to our hotel and even got an Uber to visit the town center. No other company would go out of their way to provide such a service. As we were in different groups, the driver always picked and dropped each group from theri hotels each day on time.
The only advice I would add was maybe incorporate a walking section in the tours as we were sitting in the van for 7-8 hrs which took away was not as exciting.
The drivers seemed very knowledgeable about the wildlife but our driver on the second leg of the safari did not give us much information as he seems to have fallen out with one of his colleagues. It would have made the safari complete if he had informed us about the animals and their habits.
I would highly recommend Blue range for safaris as they do look after their clients and ensure they are picked up on time. they have arranged a package which offers much more than other safari companies offer at a fraction of the price. For those on a budget, this is good value for money and the lodges are not too bad (wi-fi and electricity are not available during the day but then you will be out watching game so you do not need it).
EG
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The tour was good, the operation part in Nairobi could be better .. the Safari part was perfect
Okay, so communication was good
Operations part is good but needs to be better especially in Nairobi program
The Safari part was perfect
Ukunda part was okay but we both managed to improve the quality of the stay there
Generally speaking I am satisfied with the service, looking to improve few points and would love to collaborate again and have more trips
GR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good experience, excellent Safari driver/guide
Good services by kilipath african safari.
We had a 3 days safari trip flying in and out from zanzibar. They arranged our flights as well, however if flying domestically you need to be careful with timing as there are many delays.
The communication prior to booking was excellent. Felix was really helpful, quick in replying, and explaing every detail.
Our safari driver-guide was Lu, and he was excellent!! You would be lucky to have him.
We spend 1 day in Tarangire national park, 1 day in Ngorongoro and 1 day in Materuni waterfalls and village. Great experiences all of the days, we got the chance to see all of the animals that we were expecting to see.
However, we had some inconveniences. The last day it was planned to have the trip with a different driver, and he was 40 min late to pick us up from the hotel. During these 40 min we couldn't rich out to anyone from the office. This delay cost us for the remaining time of the trip, as our sceduled (domestic) flight was also changed to 1 hour earlier. To that end, we were a bit in a rush during our Materuni visit.
Another unfortune remark is that even if it is mentioned in their website that the bank charge is 3,5% and that is the amount we were charged while paying (online) the 10% of the money upfront, when we started the safari and we payed the remaining amount (by credit card) they charged us 4% extra without really explaining why. The 4% was calculated and added in the payable price, not as an automatic charge by the bank in the transaction.
As a tip, ask to start from Arusha really early in the morning if going for safari to any of the national parks. We were picked the first day at 08:00 o'clock in the morning, but it would have worked much better if we were picked an hour or 2 earlier.
All in all, we had a great experience as our safari guide was really really good!
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Customer driven provider, very helpful, and very courteous!
First the positives:
1. The owner, Carol Kendi, was very patient and helpful from the very beginning and worked with me to plan our trip. She is very customer-driven and it was a pleasure to meet her in person in Nairobi. I particularly like the name of company, Kameraz of Africa, to encourage safari visitors to shoot animals through camera lenses and not through the barrel of a gun! Great idea! Keep up your zeal in this effort!
2. The tour guide, Kioko, was OUTSTANDING. He was knowledgeable and thorough and went out of his way to ensure we had all the opportunities to see as many wild animals living free in their environment, including watching 3 cheetahs hunting a small antelope. I particularly appreciate the effort he put in so that we could observe and photograph Craig, the giant tusker, in the Tsavo Conservancy next to Amboseli National Park. We also appreciate the wonderful conversations we had on a variety of topics during the long drives between the different parks. He gave us a window into life as it exists in Kenya. And we also appreciate the extra driving he had to do to go back to Lake Nakuru National Park to collect our passports and money that we had left behind in our room.
3. Visits to Amboseli National Park (NP), Masai Mara NP, and Lake Nakuru NP were excellent. Loved every minute we spent there.
4. The lodges at Lake Naivasa, the Sawela Lodge, and Lake Nakuru, the Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, were SUPERB. Wish we could have spent an additional night at Nakuru. They had great scenery, great food, excellent staff, and very luxurious rooms. They were very peaceful places.
Now, the not so positive things:
1. The lodge at Amboseli, the Amboseli Sopa Lodge, was OVERALL good. The food service was very clean and the food very flavorful. The staff were very, very helpful. There was no pressure to tip anyone which made it easier to give tips where necessary. The area around the lodge was very peaceful with a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The only negative was that the room itself was very AVERAGE.
2. The lodge at Masai Mara, the Jambo Mara Safari Lodge, was very POOR. The room was small, the bathroom was tinier and there were large crawling insects coming in through the drain pipe every night that I had to collect and throw out. The food was quite poor and both of us got sick enough that we were less than well through the rest of our journey. The worst part of it was that there were so many Masai people who wanted to be tipped. There was so much pressure to give tips to people who just sat there and provided no service. Lastly, there were tour groups from Iran who made so much noise with their loud music that it was hard to sleep and yet the staff on duty did nothing to curb their behavior. Hope this lodge is never used by this fine company in future safaris.
3. We got no value out of Lake Naivasa NP and Aberdare NP. If we knew as much as we know now, we would have instead gone to Tsavo National Park.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari