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Lee Cooper
GB
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 10, 2019
Email Lee Cooper | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
The most complete safari experience - ever!
On arrival at Nairobi we were met at the airport and taken to our Nairobi hotel the Ibis Styles Hotel. This was perfect for a short stay, with a good restaurant on the top floor and a buffet dinner on the ground floor.
Early the next morning we were picked up to start our Safari.
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We’ve had the most fantastic Safari experience ever.
A huge factor in that was our hugely knowledgable guide/driver Evans..
he was truly a star!
We visited the amazing Meru National Park - a seldom visited park , in fact we only saw one other group of tourists in 4 days, and yet the variety of wildlife and scenery is truly stunning. We saw Lions , hippos, buffalo, lots of giraffes, many many elephants and large numbers of white rhino. Along with a huge variety of antelope and birds. Amazing!
Of course for us the reason we visited Meru was the connection with the story of Elsa
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the lioness as told in the film/ book Born Free. The film is the thing that ignited our interest in Kenya. Visiting Elsa’s grave was a very special moment for us.We stayed at Ikweta Camp just outside the park. This was a relaxing place to refresh between game drives and the staff were lovely. They have limited Wi-fi so be sure to turn off any background apps ( iPhone auto picture uploading to the cloud quickly used up the lot) but apart from that there were no issues- the luxury tents were very nice.
We then travelled on to Buffalo Springs and in to Samburu National Park. We stayed overnight at the Samburu Sopa Lodge - we’ve stayed in a Sopa lodge elsewhere and true to form this one was spectacular and the staff as helpful as ever.
The scenery in Samburu is rugged and beautiful.
We completed the ‘Big 5’ here when we spotted a family of Leopards.
Again the variety of animals was diverse and wonderful.
Along with the family of leopards we saw many lions and some cheetah ..and even more leopards!
Then there was huge numbers of elephants and a wonderful variety of smaller creatures including uncountable numbers of brown mongoose. Again the variety of birds here is huge. From smallest to the mighty ostrich.
After Samburu we moved to Ol Pejeta Conservancy and stopped in Ol Pejeta house.
Ol Pejeta is the most amazing building, our room had fantastic views of sunrise over the majestic Mt Kenya. The catering here is simply the best you’ll find in Kenya. Anywhere.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is somewhere we’ve visited before (1998) and was on our list of must visit again for a reason- it’s just amazing. There is a chimpanzee sanctuary here that’s a must see ( founded by Jane Goodhall) and a sanctuary for rhino. We got to meet and hand feed one of these gentle giants close up.
In the wider part of the Conservancy the range of animals was vast ..lions again.. and rhinos, so so many wonderful rhinos. For me a highlight was seeing the very rare striped hyena- something I’ve never seen in the wild before - and spotted hyena.
( I find hyena fascinating and think they deserve a better reputation)
After Ol Pejeta we returned to Nairobi, stopping off on the Equator.
We again arrived at the Ibis Styles Hotel and were sad to end our Safari and our time with Evans.
Next day we visited the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi National Park before catching the new train from Nairobi to Mombasa. Be aware there are no luggage trolleys within the new stations at all so don’t make our mistake ( we had soft heavy luggage without wheels - ideal in a Safari van not great to carry hundreds of meters across the vast stations) also be ready for the tight security and ensure a lot of time. We traveled 1st class, the seats were comfortable, the staff were plentiful as were the complimentary drinks and snacks.
The views from the train are a Safari in itself- we saw herds of wildebeests not long after leaving Nairobi and as we passed through Tsavo National Park I lost count of the number of elephants at about 40!
We were met on arrival at Mombasa and transferred comfortably to our chosen hotel. Savora Whitesands is a Hotel we’ve visited before , it was lovely to meet up with old friends and make new friends - we will visit again without doubt. At the end of our stay we were picked up bright and early and returned to the station for the train back to Nairobi. This time we traveled in standard class which was interesting but less comfortable - I’m a Railway worker so wanted to experience the full package but I’d stick with first class next time.
On arrival at Nairobi we were met again and as our flight home was late night we visited the Giraffe Centre where we were able to hand feed these beautiful creatures. Then we returned to the airport for our long haul home.
All in all we’ve visited fantastic places and seen so many beautiful creatures, we’ve stopped in delightful places, ate delicious food. We’ve met so many truly wonderful people and made so many fantastic memories.
I’d highly recommend it to anyone!
Nurlan Kubeyev
KZ
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 11, 2019
Email Nurlan Kubeyev | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A must experience at least once in your life. Amazing, beautiful, unbelievable.
It was one of the best experience in my life and my daughter (10 y.o) enjoyed it. We stayed in the middle of mara near the river and was surrounded by wildlife such as buffaloes, monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, wildebeests etc... Since it was migration time we saw almost all animals, thanks to our guide who made this possible. Even though the whole trip is a loooong drive: 14 hours to and from Nairobi and 22 hours of game driving it didn't feel tiring because of beauty, excitement and professionalism of our guide.
Charlotte
AT
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 12, 2019
Email Charlotte | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome
Went in a group of four (private safari) with Charles Classic Safari. They were very flexible about the program and stayed in permanet contact.
Our guide Elkanah was not only speaking an excellent English but also very attentive.
We were very lucky and saw a lot of animals and even gnus and zebras at a rivercrossing.
Loyk camp in Masai Mara was well chosen. And the staff were very friendly and helpful.
Maree
AE
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 17, 2019
Email Maree | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Felt like I was in an national geographic episode
Was all amazing, different options to suit everyone.
Dariya Gavrish
AE
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 17, 2019
Email Dariya Gavrish | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Absolutely captivating experience, something u used to see on TV and here we go it is all real!
We absolutely loved our trip! It is our first African country, so it was very scary to embark on such a journey. But we loved all aspect of it. It was a bit uncomfortable as well to send a considerable advanced payment to Africa for Safari. But we trusted a recommendation we were given for this website. Also we did a lot of research on our safari tour company and did not get upset about anything. We were also afraid and cautious about the food, but everything went fine. All the accomodation options were great, scenery captivating, weather very pleasant, a tour guide very knowledgeable, good sense of humor and very polite. Awesome experience overall!
Laura Taylor
GB
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 17, 2019
Email Laura Taylor | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
AMAZING
The whole trip was incredible we saw everything on safari and our driver was increeibk. I went from late August to early September and saw all of the big 5 as well as the migration. I would recommend Kenya to any traveller and as a lone traveller I felt really safe
Lila
US
Visited:
August 2019
Reviewed: Sep 17, 2019
Email Lila | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The Maasai Mara is insanely beautiful and such a luxurious, adventurous and intense place
The wildlife we saw was incredible. I definitely recommend going during the Great Migration if you can. We saw every animal that we wanted to see. All of the guides in the Mara were incredibly environmentally conscious and put the reserve and animals as a priority. The accommodations we stayed in were incredible. Mara Engai was absolutely stunning as it is nestled on top of the escarpment and Loyk was different being in the open plains but so so beautiful as well. The food was not a highlight of the trip, but the sundowners and special breakfasts we had on the savannah in the morning were incredible. The days are definitely long, and relaxing in the afternoon and evening was a priority after spending about 6-8 hours/day in the safari car. The Land Cruisers are incredible and I wouldn't want to safari any other way!
Olga Andersen Heckmann
DK
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Sep 19, 2019
Email Olga Andersen Heckmann | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great experience with Reny Safari!
Unforgettable experience in Masai Mara with Reny Safari (guide- Obama). All big 5 on 1 day! Total focus on our needs as guests, a lot of useful information during the way. This rather small but very efficient travel agency is highly recommended.
Marcel Jabbur Goulart
BR
Visited:
September 2019
Reviewed: Sep 24, 2019
Email Marcel Jabbur Goulart | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience!
Everything was great, considering I booked a budget safari. Masai Mara is big, I could see all the animals several times (except for the rhinos which are rare in that park) and also visit the Masai village. Food and accomodations were ok for a budget safari. The guide was very good and would get us very close to the animals. Transportation could be better, we were 7 people in a van, I think it should be limited to 6 people, because if you were in a row with 3 people one of you would not be able to stand up and look through the open roof if the other 2 were standing.
Carol
A truly unforgettable experience making fantastic family memories.
Although we had been on safari in other parts of Kenya this was by far the best. We chose Beacon Safaris because Robert always replied quickly to my emails and worked with me to arrange this fabulous family holiday. Our guide and driver Daniel was excellent in making sure our safari experience was unforgettable. Knowledgeable and became part of our family for the week. Kenyas Masai Mara is breath taking and we saw all the Big Five in the first few days. Our two days at Nakuru Lake gave us the chance to see rhino and the flocks of flamingo on the lake. Flamingo Hill camp, Mara Sopa Lodge and Emayian Lodge were all welcoming and lovely places to stay. The food in all lodges was wonderful especially the Emayian who specialise in fine dining, they also had individual jacuzzis for each lodge. A truly unforgettable holiday.