US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic from beginning to end :)
When I was planning this trip with only 6 weeks advance notice, I had a lot of previous experience traveling, but not to Africa and not with safaris. I found the Safari Bookings website from a reference in Lonely Planet. As I started to put in what countries and the amount of time I had, KWSS kept popping up with wonderful reviews and fair to excellent pricing! The reviews cross referenced well with Trip Advisor, and I especially appreciated being able to email a few former KWSS clients with questions!
Mr. Otieno was a pleasure to deal with, quickly responsive and very professional, and he customized a 21 day itinerary just for me that hit all of the places a Kenyan friend had advised me to see! I did an itinerary that included Mt. Kenya, Samburu, Naivasha, Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo, Maasai Mara, Tsavo East and West, Amboseli, and Ngorongoro Crater/Arusha in Tanzania. Apologies if I somehow left anything out! All were wonderful.
Most of my accommodations were terrific. My very favorite was Kibo Safari Camp in Amboseli (I could live in that "tent" long-term, and the staff were super lovely and food was great and oh, what a view of Kilimanjaro!) followed by Voi Wildlife Lodge in Tsavo West, swanky with a very cool watering hole! but many stood out -- Octagon Lodge near Ngorongoro and even the city hotels like the Charity Hotel in Arusha and Sky Hotel in Nairobi I really liked and would have been happy to stay longer :) The one exception would be the Ngulia Lodge in Tsavo East -- very nice views at dusk and I did get to see the leopard, but the room was outdated and uncomfortable and it was impossible with a single outlet and only 4-5 hrs of electricity to both charge my devices and have the fan working. And the food was beyond awful and recycled from one meal to the next. However, given the location and the view I understand why I was there for one night...
My main guide was Paul in Kenya -- he and I were together for 18 days and it was a delight! He is extremely knowledgeable, attentive to the vehicle and an amazing driver, proactive in having maintenance done so we didn't get stuck anywhere, concerned about my safety and enjoyment, with a lovely personality. He was very very patient with my wanting to stop for photos just about everywhere, and I got some great ones! :) I would recommend him wholeheartedly as a guide/driver to anyone. In Tanzania I had Innocent for 2 days -- he is terrific and super bright, fluent in many languages, and seriously interested in the birds and animals. Takes his professionalism seriously and I'd love to go back and spend more time with him as my guide in Tanzania! At the end of the trip for the last day and a half I had John as my driver around the Nairobi area and to the Giraffe Center and David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where I had requested to go. He is absolutely great as well!!
Kudos to KWSS for helping me organize such a kick-ass amazing trip, and taking care of all the details, and supplying me with fabulous guides and great accommodation at a very fair price! Would absolutely recommend and I would love to travel with them again!
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
very excellent personalised services.
The experience I had on my honeymoon with Jadi Safaris was the true definition of thinking without the box. Jadi safaris are the best tour operator I could have chosen for my honeymoon safari. I mean, These guys were extremely efficient and their primary objective was to guarantee total satisfaction by ensuring that the trip panned out as planned with their personalized itinerary for honeymoon goers. I would recommend this company to anyone who is planning a honeymoon experience in East Africa. Kudos Guys. See you for our anniversary trip.
CA
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Incredible eight day trip with Sunny Safaris
Our tour operator Jessica was professional and patient. She replied promptly to all of our emails, with detailed advice on how to optimize our time in Tanzania. Without her suggestions, we would have wasted many hours on the road and missed out on seeing the beautiful Lake Manyara.
Abdul, our guide, was punctual, fun and always accommodating throughout our trip. He is a steady driver, and is absolutely brilliant at finding animals. We heard of his reputation for having an eagle eye; it’s truly no joke. We were often the first to see the big cats. Abdul spotted lions under a dense bush, snakes in the grass, hyenas strolling two hundred meters away. He has been a safari guide for fifteen years; and his experience shows. He knows where to position the car to photograph an animal, how to circle animals in order to stalk them and when to wait patiently to see animal action. Most impressive was when we saw a male cheetah in the shades of a tree, Abdul immediately pointed out a mother cheetah with cubs far away walking towards us. As other cars moved on, Abdul urged us to wait patiently because he could tell the female cheetah was contemplating a kill. We watched the cheetah inch closer to a gazelle, and an hour later we witnessed her chase after, kill and eat the gazelle with her three cubs. We were able to enjoy this once in a lifetime moment thanks to Abdul’s keen eye and his shrewd call to wait with the cheetah. The previous day, he also directed three other drivers to stall a female leopard so we could all stalk and observe her for an hour while she walked by two meters from our car, carrying her baby in her mouth. My family had an unforgettable trip with Sunny Safaris; Abdul’s knowledge and intuition about animals were invaluable to our fulfilling and exciting game viewing experience.
IR
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
As someone put it, "absolutely worth every penny" !! :d
We dropped them a line saying we want a Safari tour tomorrow, and tomorrow morning they picked us! :d That quick and convenient! ...
DE
Safari Tanzania
We selected Mamuya because of some excellent review in teh internet and it was best choice we could made.
Excellent communication, planning and proposals! Warm welcome at airport and good briefing. Our guide Titus was excelent and got it, that we could see one of the Rhinos. Unforgetable the camp in Serengeti. We will never this experience. If you want to make a safari, Mamuya is the best choice!
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nature hike by with Namayiana Safaris and John.
The nature hike and interaction with John was one of the most memorable and incredible experiences of our trip to Maasai Mara. He met us at our lodging and we began our hike by heading towards his village. On the way, John informed us about the area and his way of life which is not only very interesting but also presented in a very authentic and personal way. John is sincerely interested in sharing his culture and history with travelers. This makes the experience that much more meaningful.
We were met by two other Maasai tribe members who accompanied us on the hike. John knew I️ was a physician so he made special effort to point out natural remedies used by people in his village. He provided us with cold water on the hike and at one point allowed us to throw his spear.
At the top of the hike, we had an amazing view of the blue mountains that line the Kenya/Tanzanian boarder. This was an excellent place to take photos.
This hike exceeded my expectations in every way.
NL
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
What een experience, unforgettable!
In november my boyfriend and I went on a 5 day private safari net Asili Explorer. Een local company run by Joe. It was fantastic!!
Joe arranged everything for us in a perfect manner. He picked us up at the airport in Arusha en dropped us at the and at the airport Kilamanjaro. We vistited 3 parks: Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorogoro. We saw so many wildlife, incredible. We saw the big 5, the great migration and many other animals. Het knows the way en is able to spot the wildlife, moreover he knows a lot about the ecosystem in the parks so he explains what you see. Nothing is too much!
He arranged all our accomodations in in consultation with us and the contact by email before the trip was really good. There was a packed lunch everyday en lots of cooled water in the car.
Finally he offers a really good price for the safari with high quality. So we recommend Joe en his company!
US
Hike above the Maasai Mara village near the Maasai Mara National Park
I think the hike was excellent, when doing the safari, you sit for most of the time. So the opportunity to get out and get some exercise was fantastic. John was very knowledgeable about the plants, animals, the Maasai. I would recommend him for the hike and a tour in to the park.
CA
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely amazing and beyond our expectations. Our guide Benny was so skillful and a great guy.
The service was five star in all the lodges we stayed in. Communication was excellent. The safari was beyond our expectations. We saw so many animals it was mind blowing. Even our guide Ben was pleased and said we saw some rare animals. Saw and photographed all big 5 including the elusive black rhino on our last day. Ben was so informative not just on the safari but on Tanzania in general. We couldn’t believe that he was driving and spotting animals that we had trouble seeing even when he pointed them out. First day in tarangire park, 52 elephants walked by our truck in a line all sizes. We were brought to tears it was so beautiful. Many giraffes, zebras and other animals. Serengeti was where we saw lions, leopards and cheetahs. Lots of gazelles and wilder beasts. It was the trip of a life time and we will never forget it. I whole heartedly recommend shemeji safaris and Benny for a guide.
SE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Special safari for two people
Looking for a suitable safari company for our trip to Uganda, we asked several companies for a quote. Crystal Safaris caught our attention from the start and after further contacts with a short list of safari companies we decided for Crystal Safaris, and it was a correct decision. The safari they created for us was very nice and in accordance with our request. They always replied very quickly to all our questions (and they were many!) and tailor made the trip as requested as well as giving suggestions in order to improve the trip, the schedule etc. When there was a problem with one of our hotels, which was not up to our standard, they arranged immediately for us to change to another one in the village where we were. The guide selected for us was very experienced with many years as a ranger as well as a safari guide. All in all very good! We can really recommend Crystal Safaris.