NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Flexible and good safarioperator
Oakland Tours and Safaris helped me to arrange safaries to Lake Nakuru, Hells gate, Masai Mara and Samburu/Buffalo springs. They were very helpful and flexible in arranging safari tours for me and they were very easy and nice to communicate with. They tried to do their best to find good solutions for me in accordance to my wishes, my economy and my time table. For example did I very much want to go to Samburu/Buffalo Springs. While other safari operators dismissed any option for these parks if I was not willing to pay a really high price, Oakland helped me to find and arrange a solution that made it possible for me to do this safari within my budget.
So to some comments on each park:
Hells gate: I really liked this park. You can do the safari by yourself by bicycling or walking in the park. It is really different felling than being in a car. It is a unique experience to watch animals from the ground with no fence between. I had for example zebras just 6-7 meters away and a giraff just 15 meters away. The landscape is also special and very nice: it is like walking in the movie Lion King. The price for doing safari here is also much lower than in other national parks. I saw a lot of common zebra and warthogs, a big heard of buffalos, in addition to baboon, hyrax, thomson's, grant's, eland, impala, hartebeest and giraffe.
Lake Nakuru: It is a nice park - epesially the view from the baboon Cliff over lake Nakuru is stunning. Because the van i was going with started from Nairobi in the morning and would continue to another place in the evening the time we got in the park was in the middle of the day. To see especially the carnivors it is probably better to be there in the morning and evening. But just before we were to leave we saw both lion and striped hyena. We saw also animals like rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, waterbukk, zebra, impala, eland, hyrax, thomson's, grant's and baboons. White rihno did we see far away. There were unfortunately also very far away.
Massai Mara: Unfortunately I was there a little bit to late to see the big migrations. But even though, we saw a lot of different animals. We saw 10 different species of antilopes/gazelles and in total 22 different species of Mammals. The hightlight was probably to the lions and cheetahs just some meters from the car. We saw several different groups of lions - many of them moving around. I had 3 days for this safari, including transport to/from Nairobi. But the first and last day we just did a couple of hours with game driving because the transportation to/from Nairobi took so long time. So it was mostly the second day that was the day of time for game drive. The park is also quite big and therefore it takes a long time to transport between different parts of the park (for us for example the mara river was very far away). I would therefore suggest to focus on getting whole days in the park, rather than just morning/evening drives. We were also 8 people in our minibus, which in my opinion was too many becuase it gets quite crowded. I would therefore suggest that one ask to not be more than 5-6 people in the minibus one is traveling with. The second day we also got away from our camp late because the lunch we were going to have was not made ready.
Samburur/Buffaloo springs: A very nice parks that have a landscape and nature that is quite different from the more popular southern parks; it is much more dry. I saw all the "special five" (grevy zebra, oryx, gerenuk, reticulated giraffe and somali ostrich). Not at east the gazelle called gerenuk is very faschinating: it has very, vey slim legs and neck and it stands on just its hind legs and eats from bushes and trees. I also saw the lions very close to the car (these male lions have just a very tiny mane because of the heat) and a lot of elephants. Can really recommend to do a trip to these parks in the northern parts of Kenya.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
A review of Wildebeest Safaris LTD
9/27/16
We started our planning for a 2016 September trip to Africa in early January. We had no clue there were so many tour companies and options. We knew that we wanted to be able to see part of the migration and we wanted the chance to see the "big 5". We investigated several companies and got quotes for what we thought we wanted. Only Wildebeest and Mr Noah Kuti seemed eager to tailor a trip for our desires and give us many itinerary options. He was very patient with our many questions and concerns and finally we had the locations and accommodations set. Because we traveled across the border from Kenya to Tanzania and back, it was necessary to have 3 different guides. All were extremely pleasant and knowledgeable and again .... answered our questions as if it were the first time they had heard them. It was obvious that these men loved their work. We were able to see everything we came for and so much more and in the process, gained insight into animal behavior that was very educational. The only glitch I can report on was the payment process. I don't believe this had anything to do with Wildebeest Safaris, but we were unable to use PayPal for our final payment as we had done with our down payment. It was a concern, but turned out OK. I feel very fortunate that we picked Wildebeest as our guide service and would recommend them to everyone.
ps: Because we traveled close to 1,000 miles, we stayed in 5 different lodges. During the middle of our trip, one of our scheduled tented camps became over booked before we arrived. Mu Kuti was able to get us accommodations, and not just a similar camp, but in a 4 star lodge at no extra cost. Thanks Noah.
US
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unforgettable safari experience!
First, they showed unmatched flexibility when our requirements were outside of the available options. Most other operators couldn't provide a solution that would fit our dates and requirements. Wild Wings worked with us very creatively, and when all "canned" options were exhausted, they offered a completely custom tour that was tailored to our needs.
Our guide, Frank Watts, was simply amazing - he was happy to be out there with us from 6 AM to 6 PM, telling amazing stories about animals, running from one sighting to another. Frank is well connected with all other guides, which allows him to be constantly updated on what's going on in the park. We didn't just see animals, we saw their stories unfolding in front of our eyes:
- Two leopards mating
- Lions killed a buffalo and devouring their meal
- Lions going for a hunt
- Lioness calling for her mate, while the mate is chilling at a distance with no interest...
- Elephants coming for a bath
Thank you, Wild Wings Safari and especially Frank Watts, for this unforgettable experience!
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Excellent service with personal care
Excellent service with personal care, able to form a personalized trip just for you.
EG
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very accomodating
Wonderful experience with Ewamanns. We needed to change plans last minute and they were so accommodating. Communication was quick in response and comprehensive. The whole operation was very slick. I would recommend them for their flexibility and attention. The safari itself was such an amazing experience. I would definitely use Ewamann as a safari operator again.
AE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a wonderful and memorable trip.
Our experience with namnyak safaris was very good. We were a group of 6 adults and 6 children. Earlier we were very confused about booking our package as there are many companies in Kenya which offer safari packages. But Mr. Clevers from Namnyak Safaris was really very professional and friendly to answer my all queries and gave all the details without miss leading us.
He planned a very good package for 6 days as per our budget which covered Nairobi, Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru.
And even our driver Mr. Ali was very experienced who made sure that we see all the animals, specially "The Big 5." So a big thanks to Clevers and Ali for making our trip so memorable.
Tip - Just make sure you have a detailed itinerary with you, considering each and every information before making the payment.
The tour with incredible tours to Tsavo East NPwas just awesome and tHe rates were execellent.
The service was affordable compared to other tour companies and we're guided very friendly. The tour was well packaged with fabulous actiVities.
it was an awesome experience, i cant wait for december holiday.
its the only company that would accommodate our requirements for the safari. You were able to alter the printed and scheduled trip and work it so our dream trip was realized at a reasonable cost. All the other companies, we spoke to, and there were many, were either unwilling to made the changes or were so expensive, we could not afford to go. Working with Erastus made our bucket list trip, affordable and exactly what we wanted and was incredible., our guide for Masaai mara was a source of amazing knowledge, catered to our every need and then some. He was Articulate, smart, funny, accommodating in every way and gave us the most memorable experience we could have imagined. top creams Tours & Safaris is a company you can trust implicitly while planning your next bucket list trip. Their attention to detail is among st the highest caliber and you can be rest assured... your dream trip will be fulfilled."
FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing hiking tour to Nyiragongo volcano in Congo (DRC)
We booked a tour to hike Nyiragongo volcano in DRC through Matoke tours. We chose it because of good reviews, price and the fast replies on my e-mails. Lionel did great job on booking the trip and answering my questions. The price was good and we had day in Gisenyi to see lake Kivu before the trek. They handled our visa to Congo and we had sleeping-back, water, jacket etc. organized for the 2 day hike, so we didn't need to bring our own. Our driver was good as well! It was definitely worth it! It took like 6h to hike up and way down was about 4h. We were back in Kigali 4pm after the hike.
CA
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
6 Nights Safari
My husband and I recently traveled with Hamza of Wildebeest Safaris. We went to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara. We loved our first safari!! The accommodations were better than expected, the drives were awesome and Hamza was very patient and very knowledgeable. We would not hesitate to recommend Wildebeest and thank Noah for organizing such a great trip. Asante Sana!