US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tsavo West National Park by Ariel Smith
Thick brush made it difficult to see wildlife, but the views of the mountains and Mt Kili at sunset were incredible!
IN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari With some minor hiccups by the Driver
First of all, I would like to thank Sylvester for offering us such a fabulous Safari.
The hotels & the plans were spot on. I am also thankful to his recommendations for the safari itinerary, and saving timing by not doing back-tracking.
Our Hotel selection was fabulous for the package that we opted for. And we felt that everything went as per the plan :)
Minor Hiccups (Driver : Pascal):
1. The driver would take unnecessary stops & waste time at Curio shops, expecting us to buy stuff, despite telling him that we didn't want to.
2. There was no WiFi offered by the driver, despite Sylvester confirming that he has the device.
3. There was only 1 pack of 20 1/2ltr bottles being shared by the two of us & the driver, and that ran out on day3 (of our 7 day safari), we had to spend a lot on buying from the hotels.
4. The driver wanted an evening off (on easter eve') on our stay at Naivasha. We were happy to skip our boat ride & allowed him to go back and spend time with the family.
Despite us being considerate, having him join us for meals all the time, offering him wine & beer after all game drives, he fooled us on the last day by making us skip the safari at Amboseli in the morning. Which we later found out made him save a full day's park fee! We kinda felt cheated.
This was discussed with Sylvester on our meeting before the flight, and he agreed to investigate.
Sylvester also mentioned that he will take action against the driver & offered us refunds for unused safari/park fees/resources - if the driver is found guilty - as they have GPS trackers and can confirm his holiday & skipping the game-drive. The investigation led to our facts being True.
But it's been 4 months+, Sylvester hasn't carried out any refunds as promised, even after regular follow-ups.
Overall -
I feel its a Great experience being in Kenya which in itself is a 5-star experience. I would have given a 5-star rating if the post-safari experience was Prompt & Professional as well.
These minor hiccups surely are something which can be avoided by paying attention to details and making sure the Drivers & Managers don't want to make these minor cost-cutting stunts.
I wanted more
I would have preferred my tour personalized. I paid, got picked up by a hired taxi, got dropped off then got picked up again. All without seeing anyone from your office and I wasn't informed of all these
For that, I expected more value for the amount paid which was higher than should have been
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Nairobi National Park by Kam
Not as many animals, very close to the city and worth the visit if you can't get out the bigger parks.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Lake Nakuru National Park by Em
Heavy rains made lake level to high to access flamingo sites but still plenty wildlife to see. Large Buffalo herds.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve by PyLb29
Combined with a cruise on the Pongola River, it was especially a relaxing moment to enjoy the scenery rather than a discovery of species. The visit of the animals in the encampments, zebras for example, remains a pleasant moment.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
In the nature
The wildlife and landscape is great and beyond my expectation. Felt like staying more there and didn't feel like coming out from there.
US
Met many Kenya people who are not honest, always try to swindle money out of visitors
1.Wildlife is great.
2.No smog control on vehicles, therefore, air pollution is serious especially in big cities.
3. Met many Kenya people (people on street, Guide/ Driver, Park security) who are not honest, always try to fool you and swindle money or taking advantage of visitors. (Some women asked me to take ONE picture for them, then asked for US$20. Tour Guide said he has no money to buy me food/water after I had paid meals/water/tour to the tour company. Security at Masai Mara asked a tip of US$ 50 for a 5 minutes walk. etc.)--I have travelled many places around the world, and I have never met so many greedy people in one place!
AT
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Guide + Lodges excellent, vehicle catastrophic
The Safari tour was very well organized, the company delivered everything that was promised. Innocent our driver and guide was excellent. Accommodation was very good, especially Tortilis Camp. The heavy set back was that vehicle - quite old, holes in the bottom pannel, leaking wheaterstripping - even if all windows were closed the dust came into the car, our suitcases were dusty inside - on top of that one gearbox damage and 2 tire blow-outs.
Conclusion: Have a closer look first before climbing the vehicle.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
great safari with very good Gide/driver and amazing cook.
We just had an amazing safari in selous-mikumi-ruaha (7days). The driver (William) drove really safe and had al lot of knowledge about the animals and provides answers to every question. He's really experienced, knows the parks and the surrounding areas. Even when the car broke down he made sure it was fixed as quick and possible and that the safari wasn't compromised. The cook (Amos) was really friendly and happy all the time. He made delicious food (even for us vegetarians). We loved his veggie pies and he even made bush pizza! He made a lot of delicious food (often more than we could eat) and enjoyed taking care of us.
All the places we stayed where good especially the one in Ruaha which was inside the park! Because it's a rather new company we didn't really know what to expect. Just make sure to check beforehand if you sleep in or outside the park!! There where some small misunderstandings in our case but the company is open for feedback and we are happy with the way they solved the issue.
The only thing we didn't like was the walking safari. You won't see any animals and it outside the park. We also didn't like the way the bushman acted out all the things the local people did in the past. Some of the information was interesting but he was pretty loud and he was pretty focused on elephant dung (drinking from it, smoking it etc).
Concluding: great safari with very good Gide/driver and amazing cook.