BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing tour to see wildlife!
We booked Suricata Safaris after the recommendation of a friend who had used their services a few years ago and was very satisfied. We visited Tarangire and Ngorongoro with our guide Vincent and were very happy with the flow. Vincent was super chill and a great driver as well as guide. We learned a lot of interesting stories about the animal kingdom. They are very professional and also flexible as we needed some adjustments in our travel plans. Hilary came all the way to our hotel to help us adjust and land and epic tour! Def. recommend them!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Exceptional service and perfect advice tailored exactly to my brief.
The Luxury Safari company and the Rekero Camp gave me the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. I’m so grateful!
Fro mtge wonderful kindness, lovely people and the amazing knowledge of my guide Nick. I am still blown away!
CY
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent customer service
From the consultation to booking and even getting our service, we appreciated the great and thorough support we got from the team. There was great coordination and in the end we got so much more than we expexted. Thank you so much.
BR
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Serious company
It’s a serious company. Almost everything worked as planned. The owner, Bartho, replies very quickly, showing they are trustful. The guide, Mike, was very nice. He even managed very well when one of the clients asked for something the guy that booked the tour for her had promised. The cooker was fantastic also. I wasn't expecting much of the food on the road, but had some delicious dinners, better than others i had in restaurants. That said, remember that a budget safari does not have any luxury, even the most common ones. The lodge we stay in is very basic, with no AC. The structure on camping sites are very disappointing. One of the campings does not have hot water in the shower. The other one has just 2 or 3 showers and then there is a long line to use them. And the toilet is indian style.
A small thing they could improve is that they have beer and wine on the road, but the beer is hot, so it is hard to drink. And during the dinner in the lodge, the beer is not included as advertised, we had to pay for it. But i definitely recommend this company!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Good value for money
From a lot or research beforehand and our experience, I would recommend Bencia over other companies for a value-for-money budget safari, despite one con. The review is very long becuse it can be hard to find specific details about most tours which in the end is the difference between getting what is promised and getting tricked.
Pros
1. Accommodation at Lake Nakuru is inside the park (Wildlife Clubs of Kenya - Nakuru) which is a big advantage over other tour groups because it means we could do an afternoon and morning tour on the same 24hr ticket. A 24hr ticket for Lake Nakuru only allows for 1 entry and exit. Though other companies say they offer both morning and afternoon tours, when I actually enquired how this was possible when their accommodation was outside the park, they then stated it was either morning or afternoon, not both. Bencia was the only budget safari I found, from emailing many companies, who could actually offer what the website says.
2. Our guide was thoughtful about the welfare of the animals and didn't harass them, unlike other drivers we saw. He was also nice to chat with about wildlife and Kenya in general.
3. Great in-house chef who travelled with us and adapted well to a vegetarian menu. An example of our meals, though each chef may be different, was: breakfast (omlettes, toast, sweet potato, pancakes, fruits, instant coffee/tea), lunch ( tasty and fresh buffets on the road between locations, and a huge packed lunch for the full day safari including fruits, sandwich, juice and snacks) and dinner (rice, great mixed veges, beans, potatoes and fruits). We were always so full, no snacks are needed to complement the meals.
4. Accommodation was good for the price. Good enough mosquito protection. The accommodation in Lake Nakuru is particularly good as the animals are all around the camp gates.
5. The joining tour ran with even 2 people, as promised, which not all companies could promise us and seemed important for changing circumstances like Covid. It also meant by luck we had a private tour.
6. Really, really responsive emails from the office beforehand always getting back within minutes or just a few hours.
Con
1. We felt we our driving hours and timing was not quite what was agreed upon and we had to negotaite to remain close to our planned schedule which was a dampener. As noted below, a bit too little time for the MM afternoon (which could have simply been credited the next days but wasn't). Additionally, it was very important to us, and promised to us in emails, that we would do a morning tour day 3 in MM from 6:30-8:30am. When we were there we were told we could do 6am-5pm on day 2 instead of the morning drive on day 3. We said no because that is not what was promised. Strangely, the last day we entered quite late going from 7am-9am which was the same duration but not the hours we were promised or that we asked for the night before. It seemed strange they would offer to enter at 6am on the long day but not on the short morning. I know some companies do an afternoon drive day 1 and then a long day 2 so they save money on gate fees nut but charge you for 2 days on entry fees, despite what their website programme states. So I was pleased that they at least stuck to the promise of 3 days of driving and not 2.
Trip details:
The order of our trip changed and we ended up doing 4 days nd 3 nights with Lake Nakuru first, which in the end felt better going from a small park into the huge expanse of the Masai Mara.
There is a lot of unavoidable travel in between parks, though I think we spent too long between Nakuru and Masai Mara trying to arrange picking up some more passengers which cost us time that afternoon at Masai Mara and this was never made up later.
Rough timing; Nakuru to MM - 7 hours (should be much quicker), MM to Nairobi - 5hrs, Nairobi to LN 7am from hotel to 3pm arrival.
Anne was very responsive and attentive to our needs/wants during the safari
We were very pleased with the service we received from Mega Wild Safaris, Anne was very attentive to what we were wanting for our trip of a lifetime and was quick to respond to our emails/questions. We liked having someone local in Uganda because we think it made the price more reasonable and she had contacts in Uganda, our trip was booked for Uganda and Tanzania over the Christmas holidays.
Our driver in Uganda, Kassim, was the absolute best! Unfortunately, the airline lost our luggage for 6 days and finding medicine/necessities/clothing etc is not that easy but Kassim was very patient and we were able to get a few things so we could have the basics. Anne was instrumental in locating our luggage and was able to get it to the hotel where we were originally going to stay, because of the time and curfew it was a challenge getting it to us, but Kassim was able to get a couple of his friends to drive the 9 hours and we were able to have it before the Gorilla Trekking! We enjoyed the hotels in Uganda and Tanzania, in Uganda we stayed with the locals on holiday which was a wonderful experience and we met some of the nicest people we have ever encountered. We would definitely travel with Mega Wild Safaris again and would ask for Kassim as our guide/driver. Anne is very Professional, Calm and understanding to anything you may encounter along the journey which made us feel like we were always in good hands. Uganda is a beautiful place with beautiful people! Tanzania is better equipped for tourists and our guide in Tanzania was very good, Anwar, but it was definitely more of a professional feel as a opposed to a more personal experience we had in Uganda. Overall, it was an incredible experience and we look forward to returning!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing Tour Guide and ready to handle all twists and turns!!!
Janet was an amazing guide to work with in making our Kenya trip successful. The whole trip was pretty last minute overall due to complexities with Covid and traveling, but working with Janet smoothed some bumps in planning out sour activities and getting us the resources we would need during our time in Diani Beach Mombasa. Janet worked to get us some last minute travel and lodging and the resort she set us up with was a really fun one. We had the chance to participate in some of the outdoor activities she recommended out in Diani and those were very memorable. Highly recommended working with Janet as she’s as optimistic and resourceful as it gets.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
It was amazing to be on Safari with James. His knowledge and experience is simple unmatched.
It was amazing to be on Safari with James. His knowledge and experience is simple unmatched. He is highly reliable and very well organised. I would recommend him to anyone who feels like enjoying Wild Kenya
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Experience of a Lifetime. Buck List ✅
Experience of a lifetime! Lion King Adventure is first class in providing a luxury Safari adventure across Tanzania. From booking to departure, Pendo provided exquisite custom services incoordination of our flights, lodging, COVID testing, and provided great recommendations for trip length, locations - and answered every questions we had. She even coordinated a surprise birthday cake for my husband at our stay in the Serengeti.
We selected the luxury five day four night northern circuit tour. The hotels, lodges, and luxury tent sites were exquisite and top-notch. We received all the options across the parks and quickly recognized Lion King Adventures was perfect for us. They provided several options and price quotes to match our budget and requests. We even decided to stay for an extra day to explore Kilimanjaro - we are glad we did.
Our guide, Gilbert, was an amazing guide with a wealth of knowledge and history of the people who live in the area of off the land! A joy to be with and always made sure we had everything we needed and then some. A true subject matter expert. We felt extremely safe with him; he always looked after our belongings; and ensured the car was locked. We never felt pressured to rush, and he did a great job explaining our day, travel and itinerary so we knew what was next.
We initially started our research online and quickly recognized lion King adventures as a stand out company with their amazing reviews from other guests, to their ease navigation on the website and ability to alter lodging locations depending on our preference and extremely quick response. We made a last-minute booking and received exceptional coordination from Pendo every step of the way. She went above and beyond.
We would highly recommend repeating our adventure to any of our friends and family looking to experience a Safari in Tanzania.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
This a reliable institution with rich experiance in tour operation.
I have personally known Yuanda Africa tours and travel company for over 10 years. my experince with this tour operator has been very impressive. From the service given by the staffs in their offices to the handling of the clients outside in the field is quite a recommendable experince. The instituation has the capacity and mechanism to handle small groups to large groups of tourist. They are in a position to budget for different groups in terms of their financial capacity and requirements.