BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
worriless wandering
For the time we spent in Queen Elisabeth and Lake Bunyonyi, Bushman Safaris booked our accommodation and made sure our days were filled with safaris, lake cruises, comfort and a hotspring. Perfect worriless traveling
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lions and tiger and bears oh my!!
We were a group of 4 and we did the 5 night budget safari (2 nights Masai Mara, 1 night lake Nakuru, 2 nights Amboseli) $650pp Driver: Edward
I highly recommend this tour company and would definitely use them again but would pay more for a private safari van next time!! Edward our driver is also excellent!!!!
From the beginning Robert answered all my questions and responded immediately to all my emails. I found Karibu Safari on safaribooking.com and decided to go with them because their prices were very reasonable for the budget Safari and they also have reviews on TripAdvisor so it gave me confidence to send my deposit and have trust that they were a valid company. Here are my observations and what we experienced
1) They recommended Decasa hotel in Nairobi... DO NOT STAY THERE! It was cheap at $32 a night but the neighborhood is sketchy and we had to have the hotel’s security guard escort us around the block to dinner where we also had to buy his dinner. The toilet was broken and the sink was clogged. There’s a tv but only god knows where the remote to turn it on is. Our friends didn’t take a shower for fear of electrocution due to low hanging wires. Find your own place and have Kirabu pick you up!
2) The van - it’s good and it’s the style that all the other budget companies use but.... it holds 8 people and 9 if someone sits up front with the driver but when you’re actually on Safari it’s not comfortable with 7 people which is what we had in our group!! 6 is the best but if you can afford the private safari van then DO IT!!! The front row is awesome because you get unobstructed views but very awkward as you have to stand on the seats but when you sit down you get your own side window, you also get jostled around a lot while on safari. The middle seats are 2 captains chairs and give lots of room but no side windows, the back row seats seats three and also good because you get unobstructed back views. The 7 of us switched seats everyday to give everyone a chance to get a different perspective and seat but if you have tall guys then the back row is best for them. It’s also a long drive to get to the different places!! 6 hours to get from Nairobi to Masai Mara, 5 hours to get to Lake Nakuru, 8 hours to get to Amboseli. It would be AMAZING if Kirabu would equip their vans with WiFi as some of the others had this feature to pass the time on these drives from place to place or have your drivers offer a personal hotspot via a company phone. *if you can sort out a SIM card before the safari do it!* oh and some of the other vans had coolers to keep drinks cold, that was probably the luxury safari tours but it would be a nice touch to add.
3) Lunch stops - it’s good! Usually a rice, bean, veg, meat buffet style with a bunch of other groups but they are efficient and it’s a decent meal to fill you up and you’re on your way. When you stop for lunch you buy your own water and drinks. They usually stop somewhere there’s souvenirs and a little market to grab a few snacks attached to the lunch place. ALWAYS carry toilet paper or tissues!!!!!! Also hand sanitizer is a good thing to have on hand as well.
4) Mara Springs tented camp - DO NOT USE their public toilet!! It is so gross!!! As soon as you get to the camp which really right next to the park and you can see the wild animals (zebras, giraffe) on the way there as you pass through these small villages and the camp looks directly on the hillside of the Masai (its a peek-a-boo view so don’t get your hopes up) still really cool though! The tents are what’s expected for a budget Safari but the beds look like the Great Rift Valley as they are very worn. We had 2 tents side by side and both bathroom windows the screens were broken so we had lots of bug visitors at night so keep that part of the tent zipped! I told them about this and they didn’t seem to be interested in fixing it. We also had to ask for chairs to sit on outside the tent which is a great place to relax at the end of the Safari day. The first night we arrived they didn’t have toilet paper or towels until around 8pm that night so again make sure you carry some. There’s power in the camp from 5:30-7:30am and then at night from 6:30-10pm and this is when you take showers and charge your batteries in the communal area. The showers were hit and miss the first night I got a barely warm shower and the second night it was HOT! With our friends it was the opposite so I guess it depends on your luck when you decide to shower. *pack shower shoes too* In regards to the charging area it was a total cluster!! The Chinese took over that area and almost all the available outlets so get in there quick!!! We forgot about our batteries one night and the next morning they were still there. Every one at that camp is very nice and accommodating. The food was good and I loved the packed lunch for the all day Safari day. The driver is given a case of water as soon as we arrive at the camp and I recommend you all divide it up as we only took one bottle and during dinner had to buy another bottle of water because the driver wasn’t sleeping at that camp so we had no access to the water that was included with the tour. I also recommend bringing a head lamp as it makes it so much easier to move around the camp and your tent when the power is off. There are no outlets in the tent.
5) Masai Mara Safari - BRING GOOD QUALITY BINOCULARS!!!!!! We were hoping to get to see the great wildebeest migration but missed it by a week. However...... the first night drive was fabulous! There’s a CB radio and all the drivers work together to find out where the good stuff is and then we get to see it! We saw two lioness and 3 cubs the first night. We also watched wild dogs on the hunt but had to leave because there’s a rule about having to be out of the park by 6:30?? The next morning we were told we would start at 6:30 as they start serving breakfast at 6:00. The all day safari was excellent! It’s kind of a traffic jam if something exciting happens and I mean 30-60 vehicles all trying to get their people a good view. Edward is AWESOME!!!! Incredible driving and maneuvering!!! He did his best to get us up front every time and he succeeded!!!!! He took us to the river crossing and there was not one wildebeest but lots of hippos. We had lunch under a tree which was so cool! This is where it gets a bit confusing. When I messaged Karibu I was told drivers can drive off road in Kenya which is why it’s better to Safari in Kenya but we were told by Edward that there’s a $500 fine for driving off the designated roads. Every time we saw something it wasn’t anywhere near a designated road and there were a million Safari vans and trucks there so I’m not sure what is up with what I was told by Karibu and Edward. On the final morning before moving on to Lake Nakuru you are given an option of Masai Village or Lake Navishu??spelling?? Half our group wanted village and are group of 4 wanted to do the lake. Both of these tours are $30pp extra and Edward was nice enough to allow us to do both. We went on a morning safari and then to the village where 3 people went in and we hung outside with some of the kids and played ball and tag the. Edward drive us to the lake (must pay in cash in local, USD or euro) where we got on our own boat and it was wonderful!!! So many different kinds of birds! Loved our boat tour around the lake. We had to drive an additional 3-4 hours to get to the hotel.
6) Citymax hotel- It was a nicer hotel than Decasa. The WiFi only works in the main lobby and for some reason when you charge your electronics and phones in the single room outlet it takes FOREVER! Shower was HOT and water pressure good! It’s nice to watch the sunset from the rooftop area but they don’t have any chairs to sit and relax which would make it so much better. We asked for ice and sparkling water and one of the guys at the hotel said he would run and grab it for us. He came back with a small bag of ice and 4 bottles of sprite and said it was $17. I don’t recommend asking them to run to the store for you!! We had been used to eating a buffet style meal and so when we sat at our assigned dinner time we had noticed the group before us had a nice buffet selection but with us they said that we would get fresh food brought to us. Well..... the plate had the tiniest chicken leg and tiny portions. We asked if we chould have more but they said we would have to buy it and gave us a menu. Half a chicken was $15usd and a bowl of soup $5. I would expect to pay these prices in a 5 star hotel but this was a BUDGET hotel ripping off the tourist in my opinion!!! It was just one night and we were off to safari around Lake Nakuru. The hotel was 3 minutes from the park but as with every park entrance (Masai, Nakuru,Amboseli) we sensed that there was some kind of underlying politics with the drivers and the parks where some vans went straight in and others had to wait in line while the driver sorted things out. We got into Nakuru and they don’t have the million flamingo like before and you have to stay on the road so we never got really close to the rhinos and we wished we had brought binoculars!! It was still sooooooo amazing to see them!!! We drove around the whole lake. I would have liked to have stopped at one of the view points but 2 people in our van were on a time crunch but I never felt cheated and enjoyed the Safari!! This is were we said goodbye to the couple and single guy as they were heading back to Nairobi and we continued on to Amboseli just the 4 of us and it was HEAVENLY to have the whole van to ourselves!!! I honestly think Edward is super human as he drove from 6:00am that morning and got us to Amboseli around 9pm that night without any rest!
7) Kimana tented camp - WOW!!!!! Talk about a night and day difference from Mara Springs tented camp. This place was fantastic! 24hr power, outlet in the room, 24hr hot shower, a bar!!, a chef that comes out and talks to you about the food, the staff that works there are incredible, public communal toilets are clean, the area is very well maintained, fire pit at night!!!! So happy to have finished with this camp!!! Also super close to the entrance of Amboseli park and looks directly at Mt Kilimanjaro! We were offered the nature walk for $10usd per person plus tip and this is a rip off. They just walk you in a circle and you don’t see much. We just saw an enormous bird on a tree and talked about dating and customs. Very underwhelming. They will also ask for a tip at the end and it was only 45 minutes. Amboseli however is the park to go to if you love elephants!!! So many and they are so HUGE!!! We witnessed huge male elephants refuse to let safari trucks pass on the road and made everyone back up. Edward read this one elephant family’s route and positioned us perfectly to have them cross right in front of our van!!!! What we didn’t know then was how lucky we were to see the mother with the twin elephant babies and then there was another baby elephant with so much attitude we were in hysterics laughing and watching!!! The elephants in Masai were very mellow but the elephants in Amboseli were so mesmerizing to watch!!! We saw hyenas in Amboseli that we didn’t see in Masai but we did see lionesses and the usual zebras and wildebeest. Loved Amboseli!!!
8) Edward our driver - He was not a man of many words but when he did speak his knowledge of the animals and the parks are incredible!!!! He had answers for every question we threw at him and he had to put up with 4 Americans, 1 single American and a Swedish couple and I commend him for really giving us a fabulous safari!!! I’m not the easiest person as we’ve travelled a lot and so my expectations and demands come in waves, fast and lots of them but he really was so incredible!!! He never lost his patience with any of us and truly tried to please everyone and get everyone exactly what they wanted! He is an incredible driver!!! He has been doing this for 9 years if I remember correctly and you can tell! He knew where to go and would be on his radio trying to find us good stuff!! Since we missed the wildebeest migration I asked him when we left him if he could do me two favors. 1) send a video of the migration as soon as he sees it 2)send a video of a kill which he did 3 days later and it was so sad I’m actually glad I never saw it in real life. It just reinforces my opinion of how awesome he is and that he did this for me after our Safari was over and we were out of the country but so I could see these things!!
Here is my list of packing essentials...
Packet of mustard!! Those packed lunch sandwiches are dry.
Safari hat!!! Just for the fun photos!!
Neck pillow- eye mask for the long drives
Bandana or surgical mask - lots and lots and lots of dust
Binoculars - no cheap ones!!!
Head lamp
Sunglasses
Toilet paper/hand wipes/hand sanitizer
Travel towel
IL
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was unforgettable vacation! Everything Peter from the company organized - was excellent !
It was very nice to organize the vacation with Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel .
Peter answered in short time, gave clear answers and really tried to meet our needs.
We were group of 8.
Peter is very organized, pleasant, reliable, accurate, gave us good price.
All the vacation was excellent and met our requires.
The driver, Edward, was very nice guy and it was pleasure to go with him to Safari and the day trip at Nairobi.
I really recommend Africa Flash Mc Tours & Travel to your vacation!!!!!
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Vacation of a LIFETIME!!!
I don't like to keep repeating verbiage from other reviewers, but it has to be done. Ben and Aurélie communicated with us better than I could have expected, especially in an area of traveling that my wife and I were both out of our realm. We have travelled abroad many times but generally handle everything ourselves with transportation, sightseeing and we usually skip the guides, because we like to do our own homework (it makes the trip planning even funner). The safari was a different story, even though we did a lot of research, we pretty much talked with Ben and let him know a little about us and what we expected in Africa. Ben and Aurélie taylor made a 10 day safari that allowed us the entire "buffet". We got to do as much of Kenya in 10 days as anyone could possibly do. I love meeting people and one whole day in Nairobi was great. We stayed in tent camps, cabins and lodges...pretty much traveling all over central and southern Kenya, finishing in the AMAZING Maasai Mara. I really believe eTrip Africa gave us the best 10 days for the price that we could have expected. We have ZERO complaints about any of the places we stayed at. The people of Kenya are gracious and have it "figured out". When I say it that way, I mean they really appreciate the patrons of their services. We are not "royalty" and don't expect to be treated as such, but it seemed everyone along the way treated us like we were the most important guest of the day....maybe Kenya or maybe eTrip Africa just picks the right places. Whatever the answer, you will benefit. Our guide, John, although took some time to warm up, was exceptional in his knowledge of Kenya. You can really tell he loves his country and that is what you want in a guide. His knowledge of everything Kenya was amazing (agriculture, tribal, geography, people, economy and of course wildlife). I have to be honest that I was marginally skeptical in seeing the "Big 5" in such a short trip, especially as the leopard is usually so shy...and my wife and I have had bad luck in other areas of wildlife. This was not true with John. We easily saw the "Easy 4", as I have coined that phrase and travelled an hour to see a leopard that had recently stowed a freshly killed Thompson in a tree...John asked us if we minded being late for lunch, as we were almost guaranteed to see this leopard (John and a small group of friends keep in close contact via cell phone). We chose to drive more than an hour to see a leopard that had hidden himself in a dense tree more than 200 meters from his kill that he had lodged in an acacia tree. There were a number of tour vehicles that chose to drive off rode closer to the tree (in essence harassing an animal that didn't want to be see)...and violating park rules. John and I agreed this was unfair and we saw a tail and a few spots...as John said, you see the tail that counts. We waited 2-3 hours and she just stayed in that tree. Well karma came through...the next day and last full day of Maasai, we found a lone male leopard in tall grass....we photographed this leopard and he even chose to walk towards our vehicle closer than 10 meters. It was amazing and my trip was OVER...I could have boarded the plane that day. John was also quite persistently patient during a cheetah spotting, as many guides chose to leave, we waited 2-3 hours, realizing this cheetah was hungry. John came through...we witnessed this cheetah attack a small group of Thompsons killing the youngest in the group. I have amazing photos of this. As I am a huge animal lover, I chose not to post this photo, as it broke my heart, but I do understand nature and EVERYONE has to eat. I've gone on long enough...BOTTOM line, we have checked with camps and lodges, looking at prices, park fees, guides and it really is hard to beat what eTrip Africa offers....we will definitely be doing business with them on our next trip to Africa
Thank you Ben, Aurélie and John for the trip of a lifetime.
DE
Tracking and obeserving nature at its best - a breathtaking experience
Klaserie, Okavango Delta, Kalahari Desert - three completly different Landscapes in one Safari
For my 60th birthday, we decided not to party but to do a Safari with a few close friends. Due to our phantastic previous experiences with Shaun Taylor in more than one Safari before we laid this project into his hands - with an unforgettable result.
Klaserie remains a dream place, from trip to trip even more. Less than half an hour driving from Hoedspruit Airport the wilderness adventure begun, and our warm-hearted hosts at Kitara lodge made this wonderful place on the Klaserie river our second home. Beeing alone within 30 or 40 km² requires some tracking (in which Shaun and Patrick have again proved mastership) but the outcoming spectacular sightings were more than rewarding. And we never had to share them with other vehicles. Highlight this time was a massive Rhino bull, which we could approach on foot, and a pack of wild dogs, which we have watched hunting two days in a row.
CA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Horrible, No Show No apologies
I have been communicating steadily with Safari Gates since March 2018 (after seeing an ad on safaribookings.com) regarding a one day safari to Nairobi National Park on July 18th 2018. Jose was supposed to pick us up at our Hotel on July 18th 2018 but never did. He even sent an e-mail saying he would be there 15 minutes late but he never showed up. No apologies and no reasons given. No more communication after that very cheap shot.
We are so deceived by Safari Gates that we will let many people on the internet know beginning with SafariBookings.com (service with them was always good, no blame here), a major source of clients for Safari companies and also on social medias.
To Jose @ Safari Gates, You cannot just not show up and not say a word afterwards. That is not a business option. Very poor service. Very bad move ! Stay away from them, they will never show up !
IN
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
7 day safari to ambroseli ,lake Naivasha,Masai Mara
We commend Lucy and her team for meticulous arrangements from start to finish .
The logistics was impeccable.
CN
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
''''ENDLESS WILD CHEERFULNESS WITH HOME RWANDA SAFARIS'''
It was amazing to be hosted by Home Rwanda Safaris discovering Rwanda, at our arrival we welcomed by Aimable who is the best tour guide we ever met in Rwanda and he gave us a briefing about the country, tour and what we expected in the hole tour day to day. The second day of our visit in the volcanoes national park we were tracking the amazing Gorillas and we were happy to see them, a bit scared haha but the trek was unbelievable. The guide took us to the community cooperative (local people and ex-poachers) in Musanze which was not in the package we thank him for that. We cannot wait to recommend this company for their great services, helpful and professional guides. We will be back, promised.
NO
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Some issues during the stay - The experience got worse after contacting Outlook
I visited Outlook in Pretoriuskop camp in April 2018, together with three other travelers.
Although unfortunate for us, I understand unforeseen things and misunderstandings can happen. So I contacted Outlook to discuss these things, instead of going directly online to post a negative review. I also asked Outlookfor a compensation.
I received quite an aggressive, insulting an unprofessional reply from their general manager, Steven. This leads me to give them a lot lower rating than I initially would have based on the issues during our trip only. Instead of being credited by the fact that I reached out to them, I was told that "it is in poor taste to hold us to ransom with a threat of a review online. Please note that your decision to do so was the convincing reason in our decision as to how to conclude this matter."!
With the conclusion being that Outlook takes no responsibility of any of our issues and that we get no apology or compensation at all.
I would say that all in all, Outlook safari offers an ok safari package: Guides are good(we enjoyed our game drives with Jojo and especially Jeremiah). We saw quite a lot of game despite some bad weather. Tents are good, (really appreciated the night stand with power supply in each tent). Food and wine was ok to good. If you are looking for a group trip to meet new people, the setting is good for that. Beds were uncomfortable though (a standard canvas field bed would have been better than the option we got).
Our issues though:
We were not informed before arrival that we were joining a group trip(only for the very first game drive was it mentioned that we would be together with other guests from the camp). That, despite the fact that I was from the beginning requesting a camping safari in a private camp. Once I realized that a private camp is not possible in the Kruger, I booked with Outlook still, since their daily itinerary looked quite exclusive. We were therefore surprised to arrive and see that the set-up was in a group with shared meals and safari vehicles.
The general manager addressed this issue by saying that Outlook has no control over how customers interpret the info they were given.....
...and by saying that he had looked through the information we were given, and that he could not see that it under normal circumstances could be misinterpreted by any normal people...
....he also said that it had been clear for their booking staff, that since we were asking for a camping option, clearly we were not willing to pay the price that a private safari costs. I think that should be up to the customer itself to decide.
Three of us got very sick during our stay. We all ate the same food, but the three that got sick all drank the dispenser water offered in the dinner-tent. And the fourth person that stayed healthy did not. After getting sick we saw the water being filled from a garden hose in the park. Outlook states the water is thoroughly filtered and therefore it is completely safe to drink. Even though water is filtered, that doesn't mean all bacteria have been removed and that everyone from around the world can safely drink it. Also, there is some question about the routine of refilling this dispenser bottle(hygiene of the bottle and the hose that they refil it from). We would have appreciated to have been informed that this was actually not prepared bottled water. Had we known, we would not have drunk it.
Because we got sick, we missed out on meals and game drives almost equivalent to an entire 4-day safari for one of us. Reports from us that we were sick were met with comments like: "That sucks!" No one checked in with us to figure out what made us sick or if any of us needed help. According to Outlook though, this is our own fault. As we were in a setting that was different from what we expected(we weren't looking to be in a group) and as we found some behavior of the guides weird, we were being a bit reserved and tried to make the best of it and enjoy the trip together with our chosen travel mates. We didn't ask anyone to "Leave us alone", but we weren't being personable with the guides. By doing that, they were apparently not supposed to follow up on us when we had a problem.
As mentioned, we reacted to some of the behavior of a couple of the guides, resulting in us taking some distance to them for the rest of our stay:
a) If you at dinner said "No thank you!" to another glass of wine, the guide try to convince you to drink more. Which could be innocent enough. but it's just unnecessary.
b) One of the guides came to our group one evening and loudly commented that we were not chatting or drinking enough. Then filled one of my travel companions glass even though she had turned it down. They could also say that this is only the guide trying to be friendly, but it's again unnecessary and unprofessional behavior.
c) One guide got intoxicated one evening in the dinner-tent. We only heard it as we were busy being sick, but other guests had been present.
Outlook stated further in their reply to me that their goal is to give customers their best holiday experience of their life. That experience we had last year while doing a private mobile safari with our own crew of three in Botswana. That experience cost us about the same as we payed for our stay with Outlook and not 10 times more as stated by Outlook that a private option would have cost us.
We also stayed at a lodge in Sabie after our stay with Outlook. It was better and at the same price that Outlook offers(stayed in tents there as well).
I realize and accept as stated by Outlook themselves, that most of their guests probably are happy after their stay. I guess I will also have to accept, as also stated by Outlook, that we are unfortunately part of the 1% of unhappy guests that they choose not to care about because they can "live with it".
All in all I would rate their safari package(not including our issues) as an ok to good budget option. Their way of handling customers on the other hand....Unprofessional and disrespectful!
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience that exceeded my expectations
Our group of 7 friends (all middle-aged) anticipated an experience of a lifetime and our time in Tanzania exceeded our expectations - Lilian at Zohar tours planned every detail based on our requests and recruited an amazing, professional team who made sure our adventures were a success. Our first part was the 8-day Lemoshe route to summit Kilimanjaro- to the top for all of us! Our guide, Isaa, along with his hand-picked team really wanted us to stand to complete our dream (one team/one dream was our mantra) - the encouragement and support especially the singing was a big help every day but especially on summit day. The celebration at the bottom with Lilian and everyone was very emotional- a day we will never forget. From there we went on safari with two vehicles/two guides (given that we were 7 the additional room was appreciated). Adam and Nixon proved to be very knowledgeable and I can’t believe how much we saw- all of our accommodations were unique and had their own charm. The food on the mountain and safari was wonderful; lots of options and definitely plentiful. I’d be happy to answer any specific questions you may have. Tanzania is a beautiful country with amazingly friendly people who welcome you warmly.