IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Magnificent Maasai Mara Trip
When someone recommended jumbo adventures to me i did not know what to expect but they assured me they do a clean job.I booked a 4 days stay in maasai mara.this was to increase the chances of experiencing migration.I had made the best decision of my travel days.The migration was as seen in Nationak geographic lions and crocodiles hunting.It was major and huge.Thank you Jumbo adventures for the opprtunity.It was worth it
RU
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Satisfactory budget safari with some negative moments
We (3 persons) took the 9-day Kenya and Tanzania safari in June-August 2019. The safari consisted of 2 parts organized by different tour operations: Masai Mara/Kenya part (organized by Baboon Budget Safaris) and Tanzania part (organized by 7 Wonders Safaris). Between these 2 parts we spent 1 night at a hotel in Nairobi (booked by ourselves)
As for the Safari, we were overall satisfied with its organization considering the value-for-money component. Game drives in Masai Mara National Park (Kenya) and Ngorongoro crater (Tanzania) turned out to be just awesome (saw lots of lions and other animals very close and enjoyed magnificent lanscapes). At the same time, we were regularly facing challenges and unpleasant surprises ruining the enjoyment of our vacation.
What we liked particularly (in addition to awesome game drives in Masai Mara and Ngorongoro) includes the following:
- Cooked food in the camps and particularly prepared by a chef at Seronera/Simba campsites (in Serengeti and Ngorongoro respectively). Simple, but always diverse and delicious food with completely no cases of stomach upsets (which is important in Africa)
- Responsiveness of the company manager (Solomon) and flexibility/ the way, how the problems were solved. As mentioned before, we were regularly facing challenges and unpleasant surprises during our journey (some of them even not related to the safari itself). For example, our flight to Nairobi was shifted by Kenya Airways to different time just several hours before departure (with the arrival in Nairobi later then initially planned). Another issue was the attempt of 7 Wonders Safaris to bring us for overnight stay to some camp at Lake Manyara instead of initially agreed hotel in Arusha at the last day of safari (it was inconvenient for us to stay at that cmap considering our flight next afternoon from Arusha to Nairobi and one of our luggage bags left in that hotel in Arusha). In all the cases we called Solomon - he always responded immediately, was very friendly and professional in communication. But, what is even more important - we always got all of our problems solved in an efficient way.
- Hotel in Arusha and camp at Manyara lake (Sunbright camp). Very nice accommodation options for a budget safari. Hotel in Arusha was a very clean and comfortable 3-star hotel. Sunbright camp had a swimming pool and rooms with key lockable doors and en-suite facilities (just like in lodges)
- Friendliness of all drivers/ guides
What we particularly disliked includes the following:
- Seronera campsite in Serengeti park. A complete disaster - one of the worst accommodation options that I've ever experienced in my whole life (even as compared to similar format Simba campsite in Ngorongoro crater park). Contains small tents on a dusty ground, ugly kitchen/dining hall building with no windows and doors and a toilet building located relatively far away from the tents and completely no light at night. Wild animals all around (including buffalos) with no fence protection (with a hyena entering the dining hall during our dinner). No possibility to go to toilet at night (because of completely no light in a toilet building and screams of wild animals all around). In Seronera camp we (3 persons) were initially offered a very small tent for altogether (obviously designed for maximum 2 persons). In took me almost an hour of persuasion attempts (with scandalous behavior later) and lots of nerves to get ultimately offered an additional tent.
- Serengeti National Park itself. Actually it is the same park as Masai Mara (just its southern part). With more deserted landscapes and much less vegetation, however. And almost no animals. This is primarily due to seasonality issue - in early August the majority of animals from Serengeti are in Masai Mara. Considering very long and uncomfortable driving to Serengeti from Lake Manyara (we had to breathe in the dust for almost 2 hours during the last part of our long journey). The game drive in the morning took 6 hours of non-stop driving, permanent dust exposure and almost no animals seen (we had an impression that the guide was trying to drive us through the same circular route multiple times to show all the same animals to make visibility of diversity). Probably, Serengeti is worth visiting, but definitely not in August!
- Miti Mingi camp in Masai Mara. Initially this camp shocked us in a negative way (not very clean, dark and uncomfortable tents, electricity shutdowns at nights). Later (after experiencing Seronera campsite in Serengeti park) we came to conclusion that Miti Mingi camp was not so bad. At least the tents are relatively big, contain large comfortable beds and en-suite facilities. The issue, however, is that if you are travelling alone, you definitely be asked to share the tent with somebody unfamiliar to you. We were lucky as we shared the triple tent altogether.
- Packed lunches. They were the same all the time and not very tasty (included cold chicken, sandwich and juice). Once (in Masai Mara National park) we were stopped to eat our lunch in a very unpleasant location (having to sit on the ground, keep the multiple flies away from face and watch large baboons quarrying in the garbage heap). All other lunch stop locations turned out to be much better (at least equipped with tables and chairs).
- Road from Nairobi to Masai Mara camp (and particularly the road back). The 100-km road segment from Narok to Masai Mara is one of the worst road sections I've ever seen. Extremely bumpy. The way back to Nairobi took us 8 hours instead of 5-6 expected (because of the massive rain the day before). We got so tired that ultimately decided to buy return air tickets from Narobi to Arusha for the next day (and for the very last day) to escape another 2 days of long and uncomfortable driving.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service on short notice.
Fantastic service! I was visiting Nairobi and wanted to arrange a last-minute safari outing. These guys got it done and with ease! The booking team was extremely accommodating and arranged an experience above and beyond my expectations, which was very impressive on such short notice. For context, I e-mailed them the night before my flight, received a response (via both e-mail and whatsapp) the next morning, and had locked-in the trip all before taking off that afternoon. Less than 24 hours after arriving we were in the safari van and on our way to the Mara. Can't recommend these guys enough. They have a selection of safari lodges to choose from and my guide Joseph was both very knowledgeable and professional while keeping the trip fun and entertaining. The safari itself was beautiful and full of wildlife. I am grateful to have seen the wildebeest migration (seventh world wonder) and thank Mufasa Tours for making it happen!
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Disappointing experience
The Safai itself was quite well organized and very nice. I would also say that the price was fair, at least the initially planned price. That's where my disappointing experience kicks in:
The payment methods offered by the Red Chilli feel a bit like a rip-off. When I booked the tour, they insisted I would have to pay a 50%-deposit to confirm. They gave me some payment options, but without any information on which option has the lowest fees. As they all locked similar to me, I picked one randomly. This led to bank fees of 60 USD (more than 33% of the amount)! The management later said sorry for this, but refused to give me any form of compensation, even not a sign of good will (like a free night worth 12 USD for example, as proposed by me).
Furthermore, all cash payments in local currency at the hostel use an exchange rate that is 3,5% lower than the real one (there is also a 3,5% fee on card payments in the local currency) . Thus, you pay extra if you use the local currency! I obviously only found that out at the end of my stay.
Alltogether, it just didn't feel right. I would not recommand the Red Chilli, as there must be better options out there.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
First safari in Kenya
Hello! thank you very much for the excellent safari. Roselyne is quick to answer questions, John has made a good meal and Peter has funny stories. We saw the big five. We will never forget the experience.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very good!
Thank you Roselyne and your team for everything. The whole family enjoyed the safari. I highly recommend Hyrax Safaris!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Very exceptional services
The safari tour was the best we ever had as a family three couples all of us happy and the cruise was an eye opener.the staff was exceptional and we never expected to receive such welcoming hospitality.keep ot up guys
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Outstanding experiences with outstanding people
Following our safari with Moriti Private Safaris, we have returned to Australia with 3 enthused and animated teenagers who are all dreaming of return visits. Maurice and I first met Shaun two years ago on our own trip, so this trip in August was our second with him. It was a family holiday which included Shaun and all his staff in the Family.
Moriti Private Safaris provide outstanding quality of service and accommodation for an incredibly affordable price so we could share this wonderful experience with our 12, 14 and 16 year olds. Our trip was based on the 9 day Kruger tour, but tweaked to our wishes (an extra night at Kruger and the private game reserve). He is amazing with adults and kids, and has a broad knowledge and keen interest in learning at every opportunity with which he inspires everyone else to learn.
I would not hesitate to recommend Moriti Private Safaris to anyone looking for a professional private safari of outstanding quality.
HU
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfect safari - Joining 5 days Tanzania
We looked over many safaris on this website - the 5 days joining Tanzania safari was the cheapest on the whole site in its category. We were a bit afraid what we will get but we rolled the dice.
IT WAS AMAZING.
Paul (the owner) helped us with the bookings and making the beginning and end of our tour tailor made. He was always honest, never promised something that was not delivered and we felt really safe throughout the whole trip.
The program itself was really nice - in 4 full days we saw the most important parks in Tanzania, the accommodations were superb, actually we were really surprised how nice all of them were (especially considering the low price - same Hotels were used as the more expensive competitors do). The food was all included as well as water during our tour. Everything was tasty.
The safari guide Justin was nice, we were 5 in our private Jeep - he always followed our instructions, he had many stories of the animals and he had good connection with other guides so that we always knew where to go to see some action. He managed to show us the BIG 5 that is really rare to see nowadays.
All in all we were 1000% satisfied with RoadSide Tanzania as well as all the guides and Paul working for the company. We will come back to Tanzania and for sure we will go with RoadSide.
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
African Safaris - Make holiday dreams come true
This is our second holiday arranged by Claire at African Safaris . The first in 2016 to Botswana Zimbabwe and Rwanda and this one to Namibia.
Claire and Tracy have been visiting Africa for many years and the hands on knowledge gained during this time, the contacts and friends they has made are a perfect formula to be able to provide the very best holidays .
Our trips were private tours and Claire was easy to chat to, discussing our requests , expectations and needs. She then put together an tour which together we tweeked to fulfil our dream holiday .
Throughout the process communication was brilliant , information provided and we felt confident when we left to go on our holiday every t was crossed and every i dotted and it was. Both holidays went like clockwork.
The holiday was everything we hoped for and much much more. Everyday an adventure wether it was he scenery , the local culture , stunning landscapes or of course close encounters with wonderful wild life. The local guides are knowledgeable and speak understandable good English.
We have he African bug now and when our next adventure needs to be sorted we will definitely be using the services of African Safaris . Thank you for making our holiday dreams come true.
