IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Simply a perfect safari with Greg Adventures!
We went on a 5 days safari with this great company. It was really a wonderful experience from our landing in Kilimanjaro Airport to the departure for Zanzibar. Pick up at the airport, first night organized by the company and 5 days simply perfect! Pick up new and perfectly working, staff always tidy and professional with their uniform. David, our guide, knows like everything about wildlife and habits and he was always at our disposal, ready to wait hours observing lions or looking for cheetahs as well as ready to run for making us look the black rhino! And what about the dinners and lunches prepared by Ray? Delicious!!! These guys really made go our trip the extra mile!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
3 day Masai Mara with cool driver
This review will be long but I will tell you everything I could.
The tour is actually below $300. I guess maybe I went to the off migration season. I’m solo/female which actually have to share a room with another female so I paid a little extra to make sure I’ll get my own room. Our group was lucky because turn out it’s only 3 people total so we feel like a private tour. Haha
It’s a van not Jeep but this price you will always get a van. The van is an open roof. There are 3 seat rows. They said maximum will be 7 people so that means 2 people per row. Everybody gets window and 1 will be at the front seat next to the driver. The front seat will not be able to stand but you get the nice view as well. The passenger side, definitely the 1st and 2nd rows are the best because you can get to stand easily to the roof and last one in the back can get to stand too but quite difficult and have to share with the middle. Like I said we are only 3 people so plenty of room to move around for us.
Karibu offered airport pick up or hotel pick up for free while the others charge extra for airport pick up. My flight supposed to arrive at 5am and Robert said no problem to pick up that early but I was delays 2 hours and they still wait for me! I was so impressed. I was so scared on the plane that they will leave me behind and I can’t call or contact them because I was inside the plane already so there was no service and it just parked there for technical problem. As soon as I got off, I call right away and he said still people wait for me outside. Thank you, Karibu.
After the airport pick up, we headed to the city to pick up another 2 and we made a cash payment USD on the van. Then we drove off to Masai Mara national park which took us around 6-7 hours but we had lunch break and souvenir stores in the middle. The road was good for the first half and you can sleep but the second half were so rocky and dusty. You definitely cannnot sleep and have to find something to cover your nose.
The accommodation is actually better than I thought. It is not exactly what they say on the website but the same class/level. Mine called ‘Miti Mingi Ecocamp’. You will find out there will be a lot more people from the other tour joining as well so I guess they have all connections. It’s like a place for budget travelers. You get to sleep in the big tent with your own bed. The bathroom is en suit so no sharing. There is no lock only zipper and they have hot water all the time but light only certain hours in the morning and night. No more light after 10pm. No internet. No outlet in tent. You have to charge everything in the dining room in centaines hours. They provide the 2 kind of sockets. One is normal local(same like England) and another one the same type of American can use but always busy. So if you are from America like me, bring your own adapter to make your life easier. The meals are all included and surprisingly good and a lot better than I thought. Come early because almost the end everything almost gone. I guess they don’t wanna make more to waste the food for left over. Water is included and you get from the driver. We actually didn’t get the water until almost the end of the first day. We should have mentioned it earlier. I should minus one star for this but there are still plenty of good things.
After arriving first day, right away 1 game drive started around 4:30pm. The driver will take you out until almost dark. The second day will be all day long game drive which will be 2 separated with lunch break at Masai river. There will be a park ranger show you around no extra fee but you have to tip him. The second day is the highlight since it’s the longest drive. We saw lions and elephants on the first day and all big 5 on the second day! Yay! It was really really nice. Oh, there are actually bathrooms you can use during the day. 1 at Masai airport(yes! Airport in the middle of the park) and another one by the river but don’t expect much.
The drives are really adventurous and somehow relaxing also. We saw a lot of animals more than just big 5. I was really happy.
On the second day from the program, the drives supposed to finish around 4:30pm and then it’s your option to visit Masai Village $10 cash extra. Then there will be one more drive on the third day around 1 hour before leaving. However, my tour is different. We stay in the park longer until 6:30pm I believe. It was a long day drive from dawn till dusk so our driver suggested it was too late to see Masai Village already. How about we skip the game drive on the third day and visit the Masai Village instead. It will be on the house. Since we saw all the big 5. We’re ok with his offer. It was nice to always see something new. After that, we head back to Nairobi and everybody gets hotel drop off for free as well.
It was really really nice experience and very adventurous. If you’re type of easy person and travel on a budget, this is perfect for you. It’s safe for a solo woman. You don’t get out alone from the tour to do anything tho. Of course, you can’t expect luxurious accommodation and decent meal. You have to be prepared to get out of your comfort zone to eat and live easy because until now still I can’t think about taking any friend of mine. I’m pretty sure they will complain how difficult and inconvenient things will be. But put it on the bright side, you are in Kenya and you pay a lot less than the other so just live with it. My tent has some small amount of water flooded after the rain and my bathroom has a big hole on the wall covered with paper but I can still live with it. So like I said you have to be kind of easy and more on adventurous side. It’s not even a budget hotel but a camp! If you’re ok with it. Go ahead and book this tour rather than spending more even if I’m sure people who spend more will have decent experience as well but if you have limited budget, this is it to explore.
What make you take this tour and what different from others? I guess seriously every tour agency has almost the same schedule and accommodation. They even have walkie talkie while driving so every driver can communicate and get to drive to see animals quickly. So you pretty see almost the same scene with other tours within the same day but what make I go with Karibu and what make me really happy and satisfied and feel lucky I picked this one is their service and the driver. They reply email quickly. They’re very attentive. They have been in the business for long time so they know what to do. I asked them so many questions. I emailed them like I guess almost 10 times back and forth. Popping every new question everytime I’m curious because I have to compared with the other tour to make a decision. I even asked about the bus to go to Tanzania and they have this option available. They’re the second quickest to response tho but their price is cheaper than the first reply so I went for them. What really matters is the game drives which I know everybody hope for the highlight of the trip. Our driver is Raymond. He is really awesome. He is actually driver and guide. He doesn’t talk much like a tour guide style but he has skills. He will answer with helpful info if you ask but mostly he stay quiet but I kind of like that. It’s more peaceful and not annoying. What make the really big impression of him is his skills and knowledge of directions. There are so many times that we are the first car to see animals. He knows where they are. He really has good eyes. He said he’s been driving with Karibu for 7 years already if I remember right. We were so surprised when he found animals that very hidden in the wood. We’re like ‘omg, Raymond, how did you know!’. The other van just drove pass the same spot and didn’t notice. There was the route that Raymond took us and we were the only car there alone for the whole route. It was nice and relaxing. We found it very exclusive. Lol. He surely has skills for this business and that makes it different from the others. At the end of the second day everybody in my group was so happy. We stay silent and enjoy the drive and I just said, guys, I’m so happy I made a right decision and the rest of us felt the same way. Thank you Karibu for the memorable experience.
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic locations, wonderful and knowledgeable guide
Our journey from Victoria Falls to Cape town was wonderful, the trip of a lifetime. The 3-4 star lodge accommodation exceeded our expectations and a lot of the lodges were in fantastic locations. One was up on a huge ridge accessed by 4x4, another in the middle of the desert accessed again by 4x4, yet another in the middle of nowhere, others were right on river banks etc. We travelled towards the end of Sept. which is a great time for game viewing but Victoria Falls doesn't have a lot of water at that time because it's just before the wet season. We didn't find this a problem as we thought the falls were still spectacular and we enjoyed being able to actually see some of the huge gorge which would normally be covered in water.
Our truck / bus was not air conditioned but we found it was quite comfortable with the open windows. Bring a cushion if you have back problems or just like a little more comfort as a lot of the journey is over unsealed roads. Viewing the animals from the bus was easy due to the many windows. The truck also had a large fridge at the back which we could use to store drinks and snacks. Our guide recommended a daily rotation system in the cabin so everyone got to move around and chat with everyone else which worked well.
Speaking of our guide, Kembo would have to be one of the most knowledgeable guides. He was questioned incessantly about subjects as diverse as the flora and fauna, the economy, the history of european invasion, the history and language of the local tribes, their daily lives, education, aides and many other subjects. He always responded in depth to any question. Add to this, his ready smile, his exceptional organisational skills and his wonderful sense of humour and you have a guide made in heaven. A lot of us actually cried, including the men, when we said goodbye to Kembo at the end of the tour.
The game viewing was exceptional. We saw the big five and lots and lots more animals. Again Kembo was great, all we had to do was shout and he would stop the bus and back it up so we could see whatever animal one of us had spotted. Having said that, Kembo was also an expert game spotter. He would often stop the bus and we would wonder why, until he pointed out a lion under a tree in the shade or some other animal reclining in the shadows.
After the game viewing, our visits to Damaraland, the Namib desert and the Kalahari were truly exceptional. We particularly enjoyed our 10 km return hike in the Namib desert to the massive dunes. We began the hike in a sand storm which made for spectacular photos and lost hats. None of the other tour companies take their visitors on this hike, they go by 4x4, as can Kiboko clients if so desired, but for us this was one of the highlights of our trip.
I suppose the only place we found boring was Calvinia, the stop before Cape Town. It seems that there used to be lots of wildflowers in Sept. around the region but they have disappeared due to climate change. The town of Calvinia may be historic but there is virtually nothing to see there. We thought that this was a comfort stop as to drive all the way to Cape Town would be over 800 kms and too far in one day particularly for the guide who is also the driver. It's just one of those necessary stops. Bring a book, do your washing and think about the fantastic things you have seen in the past few weeks and what you have waiting for you in Cape Town. The restaurant where we had dinner and breakfast was very interesting with lots of old, historic implements and books etc.
We had a very special trip with a great company. Although the landscape, accommodation and safaris were wonderful, we would like to emphasise how much Kembo, our guide, contributed to our enjoyment of this trip. Four of our friends have already booked for next year after hearing about our experiences, two are going on the north south route and two on the south north route. Both in September.
Kiboko is recommended by us without any reservations.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very good organized and very friendly atmosphere with a fantastic driver for the gamedrives.
I was always very good informed about any changes of the tour. (Lodge fully booked, roads blocked ...) The safaris were very interesting and the driver did always his best to see the animals quite good.
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Keys in hand.
Once the travel plan is step, the whole trip goes smoothly even in unexpected case.
Very flexible also.
DE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great Safari experience!
I booked my Safari at Rhino explorers and got a fantastic Safari experience. Pick up from the airport, 2 nights in the hotel and 4 days Safari, I enjoyed a lot! Daniel was warmly welcoming me and organized everything. Because I was in my own, the first day I met my group and we could start the adventure in Serengeti. Our driver and Cook were really kind and made our stay quite comfortable. During nights some of the animals surrounded the tents which was exciting and a complete new experience. The meals were always yummy and water was for free. Our guide told us many things about the animals and parks and we could see a lot. So in total it was a great experience and I would recommend Rhino explorers to my friends.
Lots Of Birdlife & Rhinos
The wildlife seen within Nakuru NP complemented that seen in other Kenyan national parks. Didn't see any big cats or elephants, but plenty of zebra, giraffe, buffalo, baboons, warthogs, & a variety of antelopes. Highlights were the rhino sightings, adults and young.
Saw more birds (25+ species) here than elsewhere including plenty of flamingos, pelicans and other water birds (the lake level was very high such that several of the roads were underwater and impassable).
Definitely worth a visit.
SE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
An unbeatable experience.
I think the experience with Safari.com has been amazing. We got different alternatives to choose from and we where deeply supported in the decision making. And best of all, even though we were ensured this was going to be great, the real experience exceeded the expectations big time.
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Best Safari Ever
My friend and i went on a safari with Steve. we had a great time. Steve is very knowledgeable about Tanzania, the animals, the plants... We never felt rushed, he took his cues from us. If we wanted to stay somewhere, we did. He was on time, the car was clean and in good repair, ad he drove well. I have friends coming this year, and we will go with Steve again.
BE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Wonderful experience after internship!
Everything was so good organised before we went to Tanzania, the communication was very clear and honest; no surprises when arrived.
The experience was way more beautiful than the expectiations (were high already ;) ).
The private cook and private guide were so friendly and good english speaking! The guide followed our wishes!
One of the best experiences of our lives. Better than this, we could not end our internship of medicin!
Thank you Arnold!
