IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Terrible customer service
Our visa arrangements were mismanaged and we were offered no recourse when we weren't allowed on our flight. Terrible company and really rude people.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent experience with Lenchada
A long overdue review as I had been with the tour last September for five days (Masai Mara safari and Lake Nakuru).
Alex was responsive and overall Lenchada Safari was reliable and flexible. I was traveling solo and Alex answers all questions that I had three weeks before the trip. I appreciate that he checked me when I arrived safely on my first day in Nairobi. I joined a group tour and met another solo traveler and they tailored our itinerary together. We ended up mixing with two different groups and two experienced guides.
Our guide for the first two days was Evans. He is just incredible. We had a great opportunity to see the big five as well as the crossing of wildebeest in Mara river. There was never a dull moment during the safari tour as he knows the park too well and we often get to see the animals first before other cars. Our second guide was Richard. He was communicative and flexible. He added Lake Naivasha to our trip instead of directly going to Lake Nakuru from Masai Mara. He always looked out at everyone needs during the trip.
The camp was lovely as well as the food. There is nothing fancy yet it is a humbling experience and there is an open socialization in the kitchen or in the camp fire with other travelers, locals and guides meets and chat. Overall, the trip is so worth it and I'm glad to choose Lenchada Safaris.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
6 day kenya safari: Masai mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli
The tour was fantastic and overall exceeded expectations relative to the price. The biggest contributor to this was our fantastic guide, Solomon. He was incredibly knowledgable about the parks, wildlife, history and culture. He answered millions of questions from the group and still took the time to point out hidden gems. He went over and above what is required of a guide and enhanced the trip with his humour and charisma. The trip would not have been the same without him; and we plan to come again with Solomon as our guide.
Manjaro camp in Amboseli was the highlight from an accommodation point of view. The bathrooms and lodging exceeded expectations and we will be back to visit again. Henry, Sapori and the team went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and VERY well fed.
The only blemish of the trip was that my girlfriend is very allergic to gluten, and this message (which was stressed before booking) was not relayed to the camps in advance. This meant they struggled to cater for her due to their remoteness.
FR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing safari
We booked a 4-days Safari with the agency Kitau Tanzania. The price was good comparing to other agencies and the service was on the top (professional and safe). Agency employee Ramadhani met us in the airport and booked two nights in a hotel in Arusha, before and after the safari. We visited three incredible parks: Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Serengeti, and saw a variety of animals. We recommend this agency, thank you!
NL
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Good organised tour operator with nice people
It was good 4 day organised tour. They picked me up in Johannesburg, brought me to Tremisana lodge. Nice tours in the wildernes. The braai in the evening in the dark in the middle of it was a great experience. Except for the bugs. But you are in the wildernes so you can't denie them. We had a great tour in greater kruger. We did see a lot of animals.
Marc's camp was also nice. Friendly people and the food was good. We had to walk a path to go to the tents or treahouses. There you could walk into a lot of animals. (we only walked into monkey's, nyala's and a buffelo). But if you leave them and let them do there thing it is oke. In the dark it's a little scary, (you don't know what you will see) but the guards were very nearby.
I didn't go to the toilets in the night. The toilets were outside and i had to cross over to go to them. The paths were all lighted bij lamps but during a loadshedding it is pitchdark. The bushwalks in the morning were very nice and i learned a lot about the bush. Thanks to Shane
They kindly brought me home to the place where i stayed in Johannesburg.
Overal it was a amazing holiday to remember.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A Must Do experience!
Aritsamaye Safaris Is awesome. They handled everything in a professional and timely manner. They stayed in contact with me throughout, before arrival, during arrival, and checked in once I’d arrived back to my hotel. Coming from Canada the advised me prior to arriving about obtaining a KAZA Viza and made crossing between borders fast and efficient. I can’t say enough about how seamlessly this was handled. 5 stars for Aritsamaye Safaris. I highly recommend, and will definitely use their services again if I get the chance.
FR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic Safari with Native Afrika
I have always dreamt of going to Africa and finally I realized my dream last week when I did 6 days safari with NAV. The safari was more than I expected apart from small hiccup when our vehicle had a small break down but thanks to our driver guide Alex that he had mechanical know how he was able to fix it although we lost whole 2 hours before he could figure out the problem.
We were offered different options and we choose one that was ending at Diani Kenyan coast since we also wanted to have a taste of the African beach life. We choose safari van and for sure it was very comfortable unlike most of the agencies would like you to have 4x4 at a higher cost it very well maneuvered all the terrain with less difficult and ease.
Alex proved very well equipped with immerse knowledge of wildlife, very punctual and always had his van clean before next safari and he would always make us feel very much cared.
The price was quite fair especially when you compared to most of other agencies although was not the cheapest, I was impressed by the fact that they would respond to my questions almost immediately this made us have confidence that we will definitely be in safe hands may anything happen while on the tour.
We booked our beach hotel directly since we could find better deals that even what NAV was offering (booking.com) and we had amazing 4 night's stay at Swahili beach such a great place to finish your African tour.
I will always recommend them to anyone travelling to Kenya.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional family trip
We had the time of our lives! Andre was instrumental in putting together an amazing itinerary for us. Charles, our guide was the best part of the trip. Without him, the whole experience would have been different. He was so knowledgeable, so kind and just amazing really. We visited Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara and had only 7 days. Although it was such a tight schedule, thanks to the diligent planning by Spirit of Kenya we got to see all animals (including the surprise ones:)) and nature. We also were able to make adjustments to the schedule based on our energy so flexibility was much appreciated travelling with our twins. All 3 places were very different and I am glad we got to see all of them. All we needed was more time. Thanks a lot for this memorable time.
We recommend them without a blink.
AE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Best Kenya Wild Life Safari Experience with Mr. George
It is impossible to review George as there is only 5 *****
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Safari Experience
Great Safari, very well overall planning, highly recommended to everyone!
We found twinkle Stars through SafariBookings.com and decided for them because of reasonable pricing and a fast reply. We were not disappointed. We were so satisfied with Twinkle Stars that we also planned other trips with them such as transfers, a visit to the Kisite Marine Park near Diana Beach, a Day-Hike up Mt Longonot and more. Everytime we got exactly what we wanted.
Some of the absolute benefits were:
- uncomplicated and highly flexible planning; even though we startet with a pre-planned 10 day trip, it was no problem to customize the trip according to our needs/wishes
- absolutely amazing guide; our guide was Albert and like most other reviews we can verify that the guides are one of the highlights; make sure you get along with your guide and he will provide you with a truck-load of knowledge, information and stories
-perfect nature/wildlife and accomodations; we saw everything we could have dreamt of and all accomodations were beautiful
Some tips:
-make sure you are in contact with the real Twinkle Star to avoid scams; during the planning stages you should only deal with James Collins Oketch; also cross-check Email adress and phone number with their website to make sure
-make sure to have a fixed agreement on everything including type of car, exact accomodations, activites etc. to avoid conflicts
Suggestions for improvement:
-make the payment process more transparent/accessible; payment is only possible through cash (who wants to travel with that amount?) or through a bank link (Credit Card); admittedly we did not feel well when we transferred a large sum of money towards an unknown Kenian bank account (no problems, but still scary); I am sure a payment method through PayPal or some official provider would reassure a number of customers
Thank you for an amazing time in Kenia
Julian & Leslie